The Low-Tech Times

Text Messaging

OCRegister.com reports that the engineer of a Los Angeles commuter train may have been text messaging in the moments leading up to a head-on collision with a Union Pacific freight train that killed at least 25 people:

Nick Williams, who lives near the crash site, said he exchanged three text messages with the engineer Friday afternoon, the last one at 4:22 p.m., about a minute before the trains collided.

While the investigation is still ongoing, The Low-Tech Times urges people not to send text messages when operating vehicles (trains, trucks, cars, aircraft, etc.).  It simply is not a safe behavior.

See also:  Banning Texting and Driving

Missed Signals and Safety Factors

Since heavy freight trains can require more than a mile to stop, railroads provide Approach signals to give advance warning for trains to stop at the next signal.  In the case of the LA Commuter train, the engineer should have encountered an Approach signal prior to the station stop at the Chatsworth Metrolink Station.  It is possible that during the course of making the station stop, the engineer may have forgotten the previously encountered Approach signal and the need to stop at the next signal.  Even so, since commuter trains are typically lighter and shorter than freight trains, the engineer might have been able to stop in time if he had spotted the Stop signal at the beginning of the single track section where the accident occurred.  A text messaging conversation might have been a distraction that prevented that action from being taken.

On freight trains, there are typically at least two people (the conductor and the engineer) in the locomotive cab. Provided they are not distracting each other, having two pairs of eyes looking ahead reduces the likelihood of missed signals.  However, on passenger trains the conductor is normally assisting passengers back in the train leaving only the engineer to spot trackside signals.

Ongoing Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet completed their research and analysis of the accident.  Readers should wait for their assessment before drawing final conclusions.

A couple of recent Facebook articles caught my attention.

Waste of Time

Bob Bly wrote an interesting piece on whether using social networks, including Facebook, is a good use of his time:

…when you join, you get e-mails every day from people saying they have found you on one of these networks … and asking to be added to your list or be allowed to follow you or whatever you call it.

These e-mails interrupt my busy day, and so I don’t reply when I get them: It would destroy my productivity and take me away from the pressing writing deadlines at hand.

But I don’t reply to them LATER, either … because — well, because I am busy, and I have more important things to do, whatever time of day or day of the week it is.

I agree with Mr. Bly that facebook does seem like a waste of time and that is why I have not signed up myself.  However, I won’t deny that many people enjoy using the service.  Some folks I know do use Facebook and they find that it helps them keep in touch with their friends; I won’t tear them down for that.  I would, however, also suggest having low-tech, real visits with  friends, such as dinner parties.

Inappropriate Banning of Users?

The Washington Post published an article last week suggesting people are getting kicked off of Facebook, when perhaps they are not doing anything wrong:

“All I was doing is using it to communicate more efficiently, which is what I thought it was for,” said Coe, 25, of Centreville. “I don’t feel like I was violating any code of ethics.”

Others have been kicked off the popular site for adding too many friends at once; sending too many messages; joining too many groups; or “poking” too many friends, a casual greeting on the site. Shunned Facebookers said the punishment contradicts the site’s core mission — to help people connect and communicate.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent about an hour picking blackberries. The reward was a wonderful blackberry cobbler that my wife made. Blackberries are delicious and chock-full of antioxidants.

While I spent an hour or so picking blackberries one day, many other people spend hours every day on their BlackBerry handheld wireless email devices. Undoubtedly, much of that time is wasted. The BlackBerry devices are so addictive that many people refer to them as CrackBerries.

The Low-Tech Times strongly advocates choosing real blackberries over the hi-tech time-wasting devices that share the same name.

See Also: I Like Blackberries; They’re Delicious