gdp's Comments

Moonwolf's Lair : Infamous Viral 'Goblin Toppler' Video Taken Down In Copyright Claim

Sat, 26 Oct 2013 03:35:42 +0000

They're just Streisand-effecting themselves into looking like they have even more to hide - which I'm sure a prosecutor in Utah is gonna dig into if these smegheads ain't careful!

Moonwolf's Lair : Contact Moonwolf

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:24:26 +0000

Well hello there stranger ... first you sic Stig on me, and now come visit my site?! I iz happy :) Welcome to mine lair :)

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : GM Sarles Reacts to Washington Times Articles

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:38:22 +0000

In WMATA speak, they get that 90% through "reconciling" the statistics.

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : GM Sarles Reacts to Washington Times Articles

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:11:53 +0000

This is the problem with data and #WMATA *IF* Sarles is right, *IF* bad data was used in the original article, it's not doing us, the PAX, any favors because it simply gives WMATA ammunition when asked about things - they can turn around and say "This is how inaccurate people are complaining about Metro". It's about perception, and if we're going to make changes that benefit the PAX and the taxpayers, we have to avoid situations that give WMATA any sort of "out" claiming we're just ranting nonsense. On the other hand, Sarles didn't say what "facts" WMATA provided that were ignored - where is that data located so we can check ourselves? Also, he says the article used out of date information - does that mean the situation described in the article *did* exist at some point? When?

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : Lies or Incompetence?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:18:37 +0000

Easy solution, go follow @kytja on Twitter ... Not a Robo-Journo on WMATA by any stretch

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : Lies or Incompetence?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:13:52 +0000

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” -- Lazarus Long

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : Dupont Project Hits Snag

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:55:06 +0000

Isn't that a Capitol Crime? :)

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : If you Think Metro is Bad ...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:23:26 +0000

MetroAccess vans have DriveCams, pointing inside and out. I asked MetroAccess for a little more about it, and they responded that the cams are always recording but they don't *save* unless certain conditions occur (g-force from an accident, driver initiated). My guess is that when something triggers the "save", it'll save the past x time before it was triggered and from then onwards until reset by a road supervisor or something. It makes sense that a driver could refer back to a DriveCam's recording to back up their judgement that they needed to deviate from The Plan - there shouldn't be any reason why the DriveCams can't be used to protect/back-up the drivers as well as the passengers. Just don't ask me if such a logical thing could be put into practice by MetroAccess :)

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : If you Think Metro is Bad ...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:54:40 +0000

This is one place where policy and practice disconnect. Drivers are supposed to be able to use their best judgement in such things - but by *practice* it takes one very determined driver to deviate from the schedule and route and manifest handed down to them by The Computer™. There *are* such drivers out there, but again it's back to institutional

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : If you Think Metro is Bad ...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:52:38 +0000

We (DC Paratransit) have been asking WMATA to make the complaints/compliments process more transparent when it comes to MetroAccess - Trapeze, the software behind the operation, has a complaints module that plugs into the web that *could* let people keep track of their complaints as they're processed. WMATA said no.

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : If you Think Metro is Bad ...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:34:23 +0000

There *are* provisions in the contract for penalties that can be imposed on the contractor (MV) by WMATA for "excessively late trips" - but the definition of "excessive" is subjective, and there are ways to game the computer system to make late trips not *appear* late. But that's WMATA getting a pound of flesh from MV for such things - at most the riders *might* get one free ride out of the most egregious screw-up

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : If you Think Metro is Bad ...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:21:37 +0000

To a degree, yes it's a contract, but this isn't about lowest bid service - this is mostly policy stuff. Are you seriously implying that if it wasn't mandated by the ADA, MetroAccess *should* be ignored?

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : Metro Don\'t Care

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:46:20 +0000

We suggested to WMATA a few months ago that they needed a more streamlined contact form on their site, noting that most people weren't going to waste time going through a form with a bunch of redundant fields. At the same time, we suggested they implement COM-WEB, a web based interface to the software behind Metroaccess and its complaints/comments system, for the same reason (otherwise MetroAccess riders have to dig through the form on WMATA's site too). Unfortunately, it seems the idea of streamlining the form on the main site wasn't taken up, and we heard last week that WMATA had decided not to run the web interface for MetroAccess' system, wanting instead to keep it all inside Peoplesoft (which seems to be the "one stop fits nothing" solution in place there). WMATA doesn't seem to understand that people aren't going to bother filling out a long and detailed form to essentially say "Metro sucks" - and given a choice between a long form on WMATA's web site and tweeting something pithy, it's not hard to figure out which one is likely to be the route chosen. If WMATA is serious about feedback, they really should make it as easy as possible to provide it - if people are complaining about how the system inconvenienced them, they're unlikely to be even more inconvenienced to *say* so. The timing of this post is amusing, since I was going to bring up WMATAs decision about a simple form for MetroAccess riders to use at the AAC sub-committee this evening anyways - I just pointed out "if able-bodied riders think WMATA's form is too complicated/long winded to use just to send in feedback, what makes anyone think it's any better for the disabled ridership?" Since WMATA's stated policy is to reply to all feedback in the same media it was submitted in, maybe they'll change their tune if they had to fill out some awful long winded form to reply.

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : 7000-series Cars begin to Take Shape

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:28:01 +0000

That's probably what they paid $15 million to consultants to come up with - and let's be honest, it looks like the same sort of leprous LED screen you see over Verizon Center when their LEDs are borked :)

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : 7000-series Cars begin to Take Shape

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:37:57 +0000

That's extra, like carry-on baggage or a promise you won't get squished in the doors. Please check your smartrip balance after travel for pricing :P

Moonwolf's Graphics Lair : You are NOT helping!

Sun, 4 Dec 2011 03:12:21 +0000

Fae are notoriously bad assistants when spellworking, didn't you know that? :P

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ : Her Name Is???

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 18:31:01 +0000

We've been sending in reports to Christian Kent of Metro Employees who've done something good for several years - we've never heard *what* (if anything) WMATA does as a result of it, though.

Moonwolf's Lair : The practicalities of romancing aliens

Sat, 21 May 2011 01:15:33 +0000

I'd never have thought of it until I got hooked up to three eggs ... they *did* warn me it might affect my thinking, but that's too easy an excuse - I get weird stuff like this crop up all the time. Then again, I also sometimes suspect my (now grown) daughter might not have been an entirely human arrangement ... there's got to be *some* explanation for her sometimes :) (And for those of you who don't know @ZAMaxfield's work, her site is over at http://zamaxfield.com/)

Moonwolf's Lair : The practicalities of romancing aliens

Fri, 20 May 2011 22:34:53 +0000

Those Solumedrol packs look just like eggs ... a marvelous piece of equipment really, no need for IV pole or drip regulator or anything. But they're eggs ... and aliens and eggs are my topic - ask Shi and Tania :) Your musings were pretty, you should write more sis :)

Moonwolf's Lair : Skirmishing with MS Day Three - Last Egg On The Line

Fri, 20 May 2011 15:26:13 +0000

No, she agreed with *me* that she's biased. You've been sniffing those SL sharpies again haven't you? :P The metallic taste is really weird. You can tell it's got a metallic tang to it, but *what* is so hard to nail down. Thankfully, Dentyne Ice Artic Chill breath mints and good mouthwash seems to keep that down for me - even helped me eat my celebratory steak last night. I'm always good, you know this. When have you ever known me to be bad? (That was rhetorical :P) My recent post links for 2011-05-19