A Progressive Alamedan

Various writings from a resident of Alameda regarding the political scene. The local perspective of local, state and national politics and a few other odds and ends of local concern. May not be particularly interesting to people outside of the Alameda area.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Come see John Edwards in San Francisco on Wednesday

Come see why real progressives are supporting John Edwards for President at this low-cost fundraiser event. I'll be there! (I'm volunteering, I think...)

What: John Edwards at Small Change for Big Change

When: Wednesday, August 1st at 12:15pm

Where:
Temple Club, 540 Howard St.
San Francisco, South of Market, CA 94105

Tickets just $15 for this fundraiser for John Edwards. Reservations are recommended. Here's the link to reserve tickets to see John Edwards speak on Wednesday, 8/1, 12:15-1:15:

http://johnedwards.com/r/24119/834777/

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

My Post about BART strikes a nerve

I commend BART for paying attention to the blogosphere. I got a very detailed comment from BART's chief spokesperson, Linton Johnson, following up on my post lamenting the proposal to put TV screens on BART trains and stations. It is worth a read. Go ahead, read it now; I'll wait.....

OK, I'm all for good presentation of accurate information. I would love to be able to look at a monitor and find out when the next trains are coming, as soon as I get into the station so I'll know whether to walk or run. I'd like to have live train information streamed over HTML and XML to the Internet so I can use the BART Widget on my Mac and know what is the actual projected times of arrival are, not just the scheduled times. I'm sure that people in wheelchairs will appreciate being able to tell at a glance which stations have broken elevators. And as Mr. Johnson says, the announcements and overhead displays are not up to that task.

However, it's clearly more than just the presentation of useful information, based on Mr. Johnson's description. I appreciate the fact that the TVs will not be blaring audio, but you know what? They are still TVs. How many times have you been a room where there is a TV on, and tried to read a book, or hold down a conversation, even if the sound is off? It's not easy: the constant movement and faces are constantly catching attention; TV programming is all but designed to catch our attention these days. Constant scrolling of information is even more eye-catching: Try watching (or try not watching) a tickered news channel and not find yourself reading the scrolling information, even if it's information you don't care about!

Televisions are popping up everywhere you turn these days: restaurants, supermarkets, at the gas pump, laundromats, ATMs, waiting in line at the bank, and so on. It's insulting to imagine the message that sends, that our society can't sit still without being distracted by the TV. How many more hours a day can we possibly spend with a TV screen on nearby?

The argument that there needs to be programming in order to pay for these screens is, frankly, outrageous. Sure, it will be another revenue stream for BART. But what if the revenue stream dries up like it did when BART installed the video monitors about a decade ago? Instead, BART should work on getting useful information out to their users and do so in a scalable, non-advertising method (or at least have non-moving, poster-like advertisements alongside displays filled mostly with information) so that one can use BART as a way to get AWAY from the screens, from the stress and stimulation of work (or traffic) so that you actually can doze off or relax or read a book on your way home.

Please BART, no TVs.

Campaign to keep TVs off of BART

Commercial Alert is an organization I've been supporting for quite a while now.

They have a new campaign against the proposal to put televisions on BART platforms and the trains!

Can't we have a respite from advertisements and TV screens? It seems like every new restaurant in Alameda has them. (Try to find a restaurant that has opened in the last year without TV screens) and now we must endure this on BART as well?

Help me spread the word about this campaign and send a message to BART's board of directors. (Please personalize the default message they provide...)

Click on this link and fill it out....

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/commercialalert/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12158