Rail Transportation in New Orleans

Posted on November 22, 2010 by admin

I believe that New Orleans should add a rail line to the city. We must show the world that we are eco-friendly. Something we are totally not currently expressing in numerous ways, but for now lets focus on Rail.

We have a dead Downtown CBD. There is no call for this. We have a vibrant entertainment district the French Quarter nearby. I believe there are several solutions for improving the CBD occupancy rates, and help the over all economy including tourist economy.

The big issue with commercial rentals, the major player in CBD’s around the nation — hence the name Central Business District –, is employee housing. Sure you can do mixed use, but obviously that is not being done. Increasing incentives for residential units downtown would play a role, but getting back to the title of this post, getting people into the city from the burbs via rail is the ultimate solution for the local culture.

That culture is 1-4 unit housing (Singles/Doubles/etc). People have proven that they want to still be near New Orleans, and have moved to the north shore.

The north shore is a 20+ mile drive mostly without any exits. That’s 29 miles on I-10 from Old Spanish Trail Rd  to Poydras; add 5 miles for Door to Door. That’s 18+ miles between Slidell and the first New Orleans East Exit.

I am only going to focus on Slidell to the CBD for now:

  • First, the bridge required is short. The crossing of lake Pontchartrain where it is narrow near Lake Borgne, and a little bit of swamp vs. ~28 miles at the Causeway (sure if the bridge can be easily added to, it may be feasable)
  • Second, one of the two structures of the twin span is still intact, and was being used for traffic. This could easily be adapted for train use even if used only temporarily to prove feasibility and/or while a permanent structure is built.
  • Third. There is talk of removing the Elevated I-10 Claiborne expressway bridge With or without a bridge, lets give residents, employees, and visitors an alternate way to enter the city.
  • Fourth, an additional egress to move people north. Even though we would still need to use buses to get evacuees north of Slidell, it would minimize the congestion, traffic, and delays of buses picking up in the city.
  • Fifth, if built, Mississippi can and would most likely at least look into extending the rail line to the Mississippi Gulf coast tourism district.
    • Something they spend a lot of money on.
    • This could help fill New Orleans hotels in quiet times.
    • Off load overflow during busy times
    • Add a viable airport to New Orleans (Gulfport)
    • Give people thinking about visiting another reason to choose NOLA
    • Eventually bring Mobile into the Metro Area — Making us an easier destination for much of the gulf coast who does not want to bring a car to New Orleans.

You could use dedicated lanes and highways for a bus like they do in Texas, but Rail is the solution that investors know they can count on not going away with the flick of a pen in the future. Plus rail in the end becomes more energy efficient, and that is important as we realize petrol fuels becoming an issue over the next 20 years.

Actually, I think that pretty much says it.

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I-10 Lane adjustment @ Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge

Posted on November 21, 2010 by admin

Some of this may help solve issues with the Claiborne Flyover bridge.

I am not going to actually discuss the removal of the Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge– See why in the conclusion paragraph of this post.

Instead, I am going to address improvements to the traffic flow. Most of the improvements to traffic flow are with the idea that through I-10 traffic should be going East via I-610. Instead, the traffic on I-10 over Claiborne should only be in the area to be going downtown. Downtown being the CBD, French Quarter, Tulane, and Treme. Preferial traffic could easily be going to:

  • Mid City*
  • Bywater*
  • lower 9th Ward*
  • Uptown/Garden District (including Central City)  via Claiborne South*
    * Much of which can also be gotten to via Carrollton Ave, City Park Ave, Elysian Fields Ave

Now how do we adjust the lanes

  • First, heading east on I-10 at the Poydras exit (#234B), the left lane should be EXIT ONLY.  After all we are encouraging people to go Downtown/to the CBD/the Superdome.
  • Second, that leaves a single lane of I-10 heading east. This lane becomes the center lane on the Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge allowing Lake bound traffic on the Pontchartrain Expressway heading to I-10 east extra room to merge. Thus also allowing Poydras to I-10 east room to merge as well. This also helps solve the issue of Pontchartrain Expressway traffic doing a dangerous merge via the Claiborne Flyover
  • Third, is to optionally make the last French Quarter (FQ) exit “exit only”-Esplanade. By making this exit only, it further encourages traffic to flow into Downtown (the FQ). It also encourages those entering I-10 via Poydras and the Pontchartrain Expressway to clear out of the right lane.
    Why is this important? Because there is already so much traffic in the right lane exiting that many people Exiting at Esplanade and Claiborne North stay in the center lane hoping the person next to them exits at Orleans or Esplanade so they have room to get into the right lane.
  • Optionally, the exit only at Esplanade could be Claiborne North.

In the end, we have 2 through lanes on I-10 east. With it narrowed down to one lane at Poydras since all traffic should be heading downtown, and reduced traffic along with extended merge lanes helps with over all traffic flow in the area.

Further work can be done by connecting I-610 to the Pontchartrain Expressway. This way CCC traffic does not clog up the Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge, and when the bridge is removed, even if its just for repairs/rebuilding, Claiborne and overall traffic is manageable in the area.

The final solution is to put a rail system in.

for or against permanently removing the Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge. The damage to the Treme has already been done, and the neighborhood will never be the same. However, with the above suggestions, it should make the preparation for the removal and/or repairs smooth. It leaves the Pontchartrain Expressway (I-910 or I-49) with ramps to South Claiborne (north and southbound), Poydras, and possibly the French Quarter (after all it is a major route to cross Canal During Carnival Season)

Much info can be found on the removal topic by searching Google: Elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway bridge

Make Poydras exit only on I-10 East (leaving I-10 a single lane)

Single Lane I-10 gives the Pontchartrain Expressway ramp room to merge

Single Lane I-10 gives the Pontchartrain Expressway ramp room to merge

Currently you have 5 Lanes of traffic merging into 5, and 3 ramps on top of one another - Plus 4 more less than a mile further

Currently you have 5 Lanes of traffic merging into 5, and 3 ramps on top of one another - Plus 4 more less than a mile further

Exit only at Orleans, Esplanade, or N Claiborne -- 4 ramps in less than 3200 feet.

Exit only at Orleans, Esplanade, or N Claiborne -- 4 ramps in less than 3200 feet.

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Claiborne flyover fix

Posted on November 21, 2010 by admin

Double white line begins before Pontchartrain Expressway ramp merges

I don’t know how many of you have noticed, but there is a double white line heading north on the Claiborne flyover that starts shortly before the Pontchartrain Expressway merges into Claiborne Northbound.

Notice The short Merge point, and that there are 3 lanes merging, with 2 lanes for I-10 & Claiborne gets its own lane (See lane change link)

Notice I say merges into Claiborne Northbound. Pontchartrain Expressway Lake bound has its own ramp to I-10 east. Pontchartrain Expressway River bound is I-10 at this point. There is a double white line telling people not to cross after Pontchartrain Expressway joins Claiborne. Plus, there is a sign on the right edge with an arrow saying I-10 Strait ahead…. NOT ANGLED LEFT.

Notice the short distance between the two ramps -- The reason for the double white line.

View from the vehicle merging. See how it could be a cluster #*!?, and accident waiting to happen.

The view back after continuing down Claiborne.

Instead, we have people crossing from the far right lane to the far left lane. Crossing the double white line and multiple lanes of traffic. This is extremely unsafe. That’s right, It is an accident/wreck waiting to happen.

I have called the state, city, and CCC (Cresent City Connection), and no one wants to own it. Within the past 12 months:

  • Under the Nagan administration NOPD says it crosses two wards, and the traffic division is not patrolling the highway. They will respond to specific incidents, but not a general traffic control issue.
  • They also said the State Highway patrol is not doing enforcement within the City of New Orleans. (Jefferson Parish always transfers saying I-10 is the HP’s Jurisdiction)
  • However, a suggestion was made to contact the CCC as they maintain and enforce the CCC bridge, Pontchartrain Expressway and all ramps leading up to and away from it all the way to 10. (and further as its still called the Pontchartrain Expressway?)

When I called the CCC, the police didn’t take my call, and the maintenance department said they could put up a sign. But there was no follow through on how to make it happen. There is still no sign.

There are 3 steps that can be taken to help fix the issue.

I believe a sign is the first step. Not everyone is aware that crossing the double white line is illegal, and others believe the line must be a relic as there is no enforcement, and everyone is doing it. Adding a sign will bring it to there attention and let them know its still in effect.

The second step is to do some enforcement. Only a few sessions of a few hours each scattered one week weaning down over a month/year will do wonders. Once initially enforced, only a few hours a year of random enforcement is all that would be required–mostly complaint driven. Yes its hard as there is not much space, but it’s possible:

  • Before the ramp flag people down.
  • Radio ahead and flag down after the merge.
  • Pursue via motorbike.

Third, permanent plastic traffic marker between the two lines of the double white line. (another sample)

Fourth, adjust the lane assignment on I-10 east and the Pontchartrain Expressway merge onto I-10. I discuss this in my I-10 East lane adjustment post.

Of course, this whole issue would be moot if there were a ramp from the Pontchartrain Expressway to I-610 East, and/or there were no Elevated I-10 Claiborne expressway bridge

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Road and Lane improvement: Palmetto at Carrollton, New Orleans, LA

Posted on November 21, 2010 by admin

There are several roads in New Orleans that need improvement, and the one brought to top attention is the intersection Palmetto at Carrollton, New Orleans, LA.

The issue at hand is what lane do you turn into. Generally accepted practice is that the nearest lane turns into the nearest available lane. The difference here is that there are two lanes. Begging the question, where does the second lane turn to? Typically if I am in the second turning lane, I give as much room as possible to the first lane i.e. I’ll space it out one lane (or half a lane) so that people who can’t get entirely into the first lane while turning don’t hit me, yet not all the way to the far end so as to allow left turning vehicles coming from the other direction to turn.

That leads to confusion here. While there is a shoulder, right turning vehicles in the right most lane of Palmetto jut out into the second right most lane on Carrollton. I have tried turning from both lanes. When in the right most lane, I have trouble getting into the second right most lane to get onto the Interstate heading west. However, when in the second right most lane on Palmetto, I also have trouble getting into the second right most lane to get onto the Interstate heading west–because those in the right most lane randomly fill both lanes. Thus I end up turning at the sharp corner where people would go when heading south on Carrollton and are turning to get on the westbound Interstate.

I have called the city of New Orleans traffic engineering department this week, and they have said that they have had complaints before, and would have to get with the company they contract line painting to in order to see if they have the budget for it. My question is why wasn’t the line painted when Carrollton was redone. They took it to the base in many areas to build up a good base before resurfacing and relining–much of it with additional lines for bike traffic.

My suggestion, would be to have the right lane go to the first two full lanes plus the shoulder. This way all interstate traffic should be in the right lane. Why? First, because we want to encourage the ability for vehicles to drive fast enough to clear out the area from the Washington St. split to Carrollton, and at that speed we already see vehicles going partially into the second lane. Second, according to the wear visible in the image, a majority of the traffic in the right lane is already going only to the interstate, and the next lane in is mostly going strait across Carrollton. Thus any traffic going to Carrollton is minimal and can split between the shortest of the two right turning lanes.

Edit tags

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Merging – Come on Guys lets zipper!

Posted on November 7, 2010 by admin

Ok, this is the first of a series of driving posts. Whether its comments on driving habits and getting it off my chest, or suggestions on road improvements.

See view from street at the bottom of post

Where do these people learn to merge?
Part 1 of 2:
This all started with some guy stopping to merge. I was going down Claiborne on the ramp/bridge over Earheart/the tracks on the interchange with I-10/the Crescent City Connection/Poydras-Approximately 1100 S. Claiborne Ave, 70113, and this guy had his blinker on. I slow enough to let him in, and he stops. Swell, now he is holding up several people, and has to wait for a couple dozen cars coming out of the light at MLK Boulevard.

He has the whole shoulder ahead to stop in. There was no debris. Instead, he’s blocking the ramp, holding up traffic, and increasing the possibility of a wreck of at least a couple dozen cars. The rule is what is the safest move. Its generally accepted that you can overflow to the shoulder if necessary when merging, but do not count on it.         …. Its Considered an emergency maneuver.  NOTE: if he would have merged, he could have easily gotten in front of me rather than stopping. i.e. match speed and get into the lane.

Quote from: lowestpricetrafficschool.com
All expressway entrances have three basic parts: an entrance ramp, an acceleration lane, and a merging area. Follow these guidelines to enter an expressway safely:

* On the entrance ramp, begin checking for an opening in traffic. Signal for your turn.
* As the ramp straightens into the acceleration lane, speed up. Try to adjust your speed so that you can move into the traffic when you reach the end of the acceleration lane.
* Merge into traffic when you can do so safely. You must yield the right-of-way to traffic on the expressway. You cannot always count on other drivers moving over to give you room to enter, but do not stop on an acceleration lane unless traffic is too heavy and there is no space for you to enter safely.

Merge defined by dictionary.reference.com

1. to cause to combine or coalesce; unite. [edit: i.e. two lanes of traffic]
4. to combine or unite into a single enterprise, organization, body, etc.: The two firms merged last year.  [Edit: Single Lane / Flow of traffic]

MORE on merging….. Part 2 of 2

http://jeffcaylor.com/2008/09/19/i-dont-know-everything-the-zipper-merge/

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More on merging…. The Zipper

Posted on November 7, 2010 by admin

I just posted regarding matching the the speed, and not stopping on the ramp or lane you are moving from.

However, we must continue on a similar subject…. The Zipper. Just like the zipper on clothes, we are bringing together two hard objects.
With clothes, its the teeth, and with traffic, its cars and trucks.
See how the zipper almost looks like a road below

Here is what you are supposed to do. You are supposed to match the speed of the lane you are trying to merge into. The vehicles in the lane you are moving into are to make reasonable accommodations to assist your merge.

This means if you are the one merging, should try and match the speed as soon as reasonably possible.  When I say as soon as reasonably possible, keep in mind that:

  1. minimizing the difference in speed is the safest.
  2. gunning it is not energy efficient — yea this goes out to you that wait to the end to try and match your speed.
  3. Start speeding up early; cutting in when you have not matched speed with the traffic in the lane you are moving to is EXTREMELY UNSAFE, and causes everyone else to use extra energy because you didn’t start speeding up early enough. twelve people losing a tenth of a gallon because you wanted to save a couple tenths still loses half a gallon to the oil tycoones, and higher gas prices (so you didn’t save anything).
  4. Use the shoulder to overshoot if necessary and safe to do so. Remember this is an emergency procedure. If you have to do this often, you need to start planning better when you need to merge, and possibly get the word out on proper merge etiquette/procedures. Oh and get people to stop doing #5
  5. Stop jumping the line. It pisses people off, and ends up hurting us all when people start not letting people in. Plus, pissed off people then piss you off, and both sides end up in a pissing power match that may end up with some sort of road rage.

This concept of merging works well anytime there is a merge. Getting on a highway, lane ends, construction, accidents, evacuations, major events (sports/concerts/etc.)

I have found several links supporting this, however without going past the first page of a google search, most mainly discuss closed lanes due to construction:

http://ask.metafilter.com/17966/Merging-Traffic-Lanes
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Lost phone — find it

Posted on November 7, 2010 by admin

Upon seeing: http://lifehacker.com/5680692/tektrak-tracks-your-lost-iphone-without-the-99-mobileme-tax

I have this comment:
Who needs to ring/ping a silenced phone if you can have it call you. I
don’t think mobleme can do that. Now you can reverse ping — “hello”
“hello”…. Just holler till you find it. If it can’t call you, you
could not have pinged it anyway. (must have two phones)

You can always use iLocalis as well. It installs in jailbroken phones
and you can set it to not be removable (not just hidden)-plus then apple
can’t shut it off when it wants more memory and shuts down background
apps. It can tweet you updates and you can give expireable links out.

The only downfall to all these, is that apple does not have two tiered
security. If someone does take your phone and you have it locked. They
might as well get rid of it. I believe Android has a separate data
password. At least Sprint’s HTC 4g evo does

The nice thing with tektrak is that is shows your track on the map. Not
just where you were at giving times one at a time.

——
Wish list – Oh and since all these generally only do a check every 10-20
to preserve battery, what if it were more frequent when the phone is
already being used. I mean, I didn’t know my phone was gone till it was
too late, and the “locate phone” feature turned on along with a
text/SMS/email sent when ever the wrong password entered too many times.
——————-
Previously that day, I posted this to a group for someone…

if you are cool with jailbreaking, I love ilocalis.com

It can even send you an alert when they change out the sim card, and have it call you. Then you can hear them talking with your iphone. No denying they had it when you hear them talking.

— it does not ping, but using the call me feature, I can hear what side of the room its on via the other phone.

You can even send a link to a friend saying hey, follow me on my trip — the link can expire in 1, 3, 7, 30 days or never — or it can tweet for you. (I setup a private tweet account just for this).

I only wish apple had a two tiered lock feature like android has. The way it is now, someone sees the phone is locked, and have no reason to keep it on them. So they throw it away. With the android I can hand the phone to a friend so they can call someone, but they still don’t have access to all my confidential data.

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I have an interesting view of polyamory

Posted on November 1, 2010 by lifehappens

non-monogoamy graphic chart www.obsidianfields.com-lj-nonmonogamy2.5.gif by xeromag.comI have a backlog of things to post, but I came across this little image, and had to comment which lead me to continue on to my view of poly.

As I do my blogs, this is free thinking, and me trying to figure it out. It does not necessarily make a stand* but offers ideas. This is especially true since this is a work in progress that was posted early.

Interesting way to put it….  Open, closed….. whatever.
http://www.obsidianfields.com/lj/nonmonogamy2.5.gif by xeromag.com

As for my view of polyamory:

I have an interesting view of polyamorous… while not intimate, the common person may understand…. girls night out, cooking club, or the guys weekly golf/poker/basketball game.

Just like polyamory, your intimate relationship may not work out if you are limited in this important aspect of your life.

Just like many’s view of poly, many are jealous of these friends as if intimate. (not sure if that justifies polyamory, a special relationship with friends, cutting out everything but your partner, or god forbid…. makes them intimate and affecting the intimate and thus polyamory)

What’s better? Satisfy your partners needs… who’s–the jealous one’s or the one that needs there own space? Will it lead to more, and who pushed it along. Will the fact of being around these others who affect your intimate relationship allow you to keep faithful in your intimate relationship, or will it lead to “cheating”. Is it the Jealousy (or thoughts, and possibly accusations, of cheating) that leads to the cheating–if there ever was?

NOTE: (I suppose this  note should also be its own post–perhaps that will come soon)…I have made the argument that if your needs are not met, you should move on. What, when, and how much should you sacrifice? Religion says one thing, but many kids have said that breaking up before the kids are “out of the house” is the preferred choice. While both choices are hard, if done right moving on earlier is better. All can agree that trying to make it work is the first choice and step, but forcing it to work is just as bad and fighting during a breakup. Both take discipline, and couples that fight during breakup are the worst. The question is what’s right for a particular couple. Who knows if you’ll fight more together, apart, or both. Can they move on while the children are still dependents. If they are able to do a no contest, they can probably hack it, and should move on before they resent each other to the point that they can’t. If they can’t separate no-contest, they probably can’t get along together either and are harming the kids either way.

*My stand is that I am open minded and ok to at least think about it. I am not “poly” but with my Aspergers, many say that poly works well because of my specific quirks. — more on that later…. another post to come.

NOTE: thats polyamory not polygamy

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Who am I

Posted on September 28, 2010 by admin

That is the ultimate question everyone asks. Do we really ever know?

For me things are complicated. Well, I have Aspergers. I am very high functioning. Why? Time…. Addiction… Life happened. I was shown things, enjoyed them, and adapted so that I could continue, so I could enjoy, interact, communicate. I have setbacks, but above all, I am required to over think. I am always at a higher stress level. I am bad at social norms. I am horrible at communicating. I could go through the whole check list, but I have violated the list frequently. That said, I must reset frequently. I wander a lot, and above all, I am just plain weird. But then being weird can be fun. Thus I push the being weird, and it makes life more interesting. But there are times like everyone that I need my quiet, my alone. Only I need it more. Hence the wandering I mentioned above…. to many, it may appear to be ADHD.

See my next blog on me describing Asperger (AS)

Some things to keep in mind. I think of the 10 principles of burners are ideal. Now you can’t live them 100% 100% of the time. You must decompress. You must pay for your life. But then sometimes that is what makes it fun. If you can shock people in the real world, now that is fun. Plus, if you lived it 100% of the time, you would not have any base to come from. It then becomes its own boring. Change is interesting. Change is life.

Also, I am fairly laissez faire. I put up with quite a bit. I actually attribute this to my asperger too. I find fighting it just raises my stress a little too much. Thus I am easy going. Just remember you should not push it too far too fast. This is true of anyone. So guys perhaps you just think a little more too. Think “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” Only when considering the ‘Golden Rule’, consider that they may not have the same wishes; so you might want to put yourself in there shoes first. With asperger, I must do this and think of a dozen wishes then a dozen wants for every wish…. kinda stressfull huh. And that is on top of the already heightened stress of asperger. See why its good to just take things as they come and be ‘laissez faire’.

I think This is a good start for now. Its time to relax a little (well I actually helped someone else relax). I’ll repost an old blog on what is asperger to me in a bit. And eventually a little more on me.

NOTE: Addiction above…. Things I have learned to like enough to overcome certain limitations of asperger–however hard that is (OMG). Include: Human contact, people (groups, events, etc), love, being needed, wanting others, interaction (even it you count it as keeping me busy) .

More on needs later.

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Starting out

Posted on September 28, 2010 by lifehappens

This is my first attempt at a public blog. I’ve had several of the major sites. Scroll down to “My own blog” to see my discussion on this blog

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

  • CouchSurfing — I travel and host. But they ‘don’t want to be a “social networking” site. ‘
  • Classmates.com — These reunion sites are just spammers right. I’ve created an account on a few, but they just market to you.
  • deviantART — Some great art — Haven’t posted
  • Facebook — they are GOD. Only not the one you should worship. I still use them, and its almost required if you want to keep in touch. It’s cheaper than flyering — who reads them any more anyway.
  • Fetlife — yea, I like to keep life interesting.
  • Flickr — isn’t this a picture site, what about photobucket or the others?
  • LiveJournal — never been a big blogger (see note on me and blogging — “My Own Blog”) so I never used it much.
  • Meetup.com — Honestly I’ve never used it much. Interesting, and limited. I friend people with similear interests, and they can invite me to events on facebook or myspace, and post what they are doing NOW. AND They are free. Granted the participants don’t pay.
  • MySpace — Was an active user, and still prefer it over Facebook. Perfect for what’s happening NOW. i.e. events. Rather than all the oh I’m feeling xyz, or just stubbed my toe. It died when people started saying I’m bored rather than hey I am doing xyz come join. That and when people started posting a dozen surveys (because they are bored) more than one, and you should put them in your blog/notes/etc. A cool quote is fine, but not a dozen bulletins — It got to where people had to post a dozen legit bulletins to override the stupid ones.
  • tribe.net — I follow the ten principles. This was a great site till they tried to do an upgrade during the peak demand time after the burn of ’08. Now no one uses it, but there are several attempts to get people to use it again. Especially with Facebook being too GOD Like and not as responsible as even google is now that its slipping.
  • Twitter — Don’t participate. I have an account. And even have another account that is private to track my phone. I’ve lost it 2 times, and vowed never to let it happen again.
  • Vampirefreaks.com — I never used, I just had some friends I wanted to reach.
  • Xanga — Heck people used to be torn between this and Myspace. Ok not really this was the kids version, but then they all came to myspace and ruined it. Myspace is more mature than that.
  • Yelp, Inc. — Isn’t this a business ratings and comments web site. Ok sure you can have friends… but still
  • Linked-in — Gee wiz what does business networking not count as social networking. If Yelp and Flikr can make it this one sure does. Though I don’t use it much. They are extremely restrictive. How can I network under those conditions.
  • My own blog. I installed some blog back in 2005 where I wrote privately all my gripes to bring to a relationship councilor. Kinda a diary just to get things out there and off my mind. Similar to this but this is public topics.  The thing I like about having it on my own server, I can add, remove, and do whatever on my own… not at a whim because someone didn’t like me one day and flagged it…. Just don’t read it, and move on–You are stifling. Heck I once had a pic flagged for a float that went down a public street in New Orleans. No there were no topless women or bottomless men. Plus, It can actually make it into search engines. Facebook is closed. Also, I can say who can see it… If I have a private or semi-private post, I can actually say these users can see it. Ok I can do that on Facebook, but if I allow the wrong person to see something, there it goes again deleted. I can add widgets. Yea, I thought about a CMS system like Joomla and Drupal — I even setup a wiki as well as a project management site once. These things just are kinda tough, and even all the crappy plugin’s seem to be for a fee. I can use HTML, perl, java, serverside commands, and my own databases just as easily. Things I really wanted are authentication,  project management and/or ticket system, and an easy way for standard users to update a site–all within the same database setup. Polls, and everything else would just be a bonus. WordPress can do all the basics (and has tons of widgets/plugins/themes/etc), then I’ll just get an independent project management and/or ticket system to supplement it if I need to. Heck perhaps I can share the database or authentication. I see there is OPEN AUTH or something to handle that stuff. Oh yea, and I can find the stuff I like again in the future. Who looking back on facebook can be a challenge.

    Thanks for listening. Hopefully

Some I’ve never done:

  • Bebo — just heard the name
  • BlackPlanet — Slowed down the computers at work more than Myspace ever did
  • delicious — also pretty much just heard the name, and see the delicious logo on all the blogs.
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