MaxaBlog.com

Flight Patterns As Art: The Sky Above Us Set to Music

San Francisco artist Aaron Koblin created this gorgeous video that uses flight tracking data from the FAA to create this magical piece of art.

This is just one piece of art that Koblin has completed by creating, as his web site puts it, "software and architectures to transform social and infrastructural data."  His work is shown all over the world and is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.  I'm particularly a fan of his "New York Talk Exchange," a graphic representation of the amount of voice and data communication emanating from New York to other major cities around the world.  It's in the "Work" section of his website.

Got a Sec? Take a Stroll Down Commercial Aviation's Memory Lane

If you're old enough to remember TWA, the original Pan Am, BOAC, Eastern, and a cavalcade of other legendary legends--along with the mini-skirts worn by PSA flight attendants--you'll enjoy this snappy slide show set to Andreas Bocelli's version of "Time To Say Goodbye."

Just click here. 

A Table Underwater, Sir? Certainly, This Way Please

If you're looking for a table with a view, the Hilton Maldives Hotel & Spa (recently rebranded as The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island) has just the dining room for you. It's an acrylic tube five meters under the water in the Indian Ocean surrounded by a coral reef and about 40 zilllion fish. 

A New Zealand design firm built this restaurant, called Ithaas, with a 270-degree view of underwater life, and it opened in April.  Just walk down the steps enclosed in a tube from the dock and ask for the wine list. 

You Gotta Love Those Canadians! Smart Moves Worth Copying

American politicians can debate all the day long about whether Canada's nationalized health care is better than the American privatized system, but when it comes to common sense and transportation, Canada is ahead of the pack. 

I was riding on the Toronto subway system the other night when I noticed a plaque informing riders that all night after dark, women may ask a bus driver to let them off almost anywhere between posted stops.

How sensible and reassuring.

Then there's the "risk maps" the Canadian federal government wants to make available to drivers.  The digital, color-coded maps will reveal the streets that are home to the highest number of crashes.  Nearly every road and street and highway in Canada would be graded according to the number of fender benders as well as fatal crashes that occurred on them. 

That's not only helpful for drivers, but it would also pinpoint for local officials the roads that need some construction work or better signage to make them safer. 

Actually, the Europeans and Australians thought of this first.  The European Road Assessment Program is called EurRAP, and a copycat program funded by some state and federal money in conjunction with the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is underway in the US, called usRAP.  Let's see who can be the first country in North America to get that color-coded information on the nation's in-car GPS systems.