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E-bikes are now allowed in US national parks, for better or worse
The next time you visit a National Park in the US, you can likely bring your e-bike with you. The National Park Service has expanded the use of e-bikes to allow pedal assist models on the same roads and trails as conventional bicycles so long as they cut off assistance at 28MPH. Officials contend that the policy shift could make parks more accessible and "mitigate" environmental damage while ensuring uses similar to traditional bikes.
'Planet Zoo’ is the modern ‘Zoo Tycoon’ we’ve been waiting for
If the explosive popularity of the The Sims over the years has taught us anything, it's that people love playing god. Players have been given control of everything from theme parks to hospitals, and now aspiring site planners can add a zoo to their CV, too.
Reddit users helped bust a national park graffiti artist
Graffiti artist Casey Nocket is learning first-hand about the consequences of sharing illegal acts online. She's facing a US-wide national park ban and 200 hours of community service after Modern Hiker and Reddit users identified her as the vandal who painted faces in six parks, including Colorado National Monument and Death Valley. A Reddit hiker drew the earliest known attention to the vandalism, but things really snowballed when MH's Casey Schreiner posted a story detailing Nocket's identity and social networking accounts. That led to a further Reddit discussion, which caught the eye of a National Parks Service investigator... you can guess what happened next.
Google brings 40 US national parks to Street View
Google just made it easier to visit some of the US' biggest landmarks without hopping on an airplane. It's teaming up with the National Park Service to offer 360-degree Street View imagery for 40 national parks and historic sites, ranging from Alcatraz's legendary prison to the ancient cliff dwellings of Montezuma Castle. The collection also touts photos of artifacts from those locations. Want to see furniture from Abraham Lincoln's house? You can. No, this won't recreate the grandeur you'd get from being there yourself, but it beats having to rely on tourists' photos to get a feel for what you're missing.
New York is getting a crowdfunded, sunlit underground park
New York City has its share of famous parks, but they don't pepper the landscape like they do in other big cities. The non-profit group Lowline may have a technical solution to that lack of greenery, however. It just crowdfunded preliminary work on an underground Manhattan park whose solar technology will fill an abandoned trolley station with natural, plant-sustaining light. The key is a collector that concentrates light above the sidewalk, funnels it through irrigation-like tubes and distributes it through domes. Provided the test run (Lowline Lab) works out, New Yorkers will have a 1-acre safe haven from urban chaos just underneath the Lower East Side -- it might even stay green all year round.
Boston turns park benches into solar-powered charging points
Let it not be said that public parks are anti-technology. Over in Boston, city officials are more than happy to try new things in green spaces, including the use of solar-powered smart benches, aka "soofas." These look a lot like regular benches, except they're equipped with big, steel-encased blocks that contain vulnerable-looking photovoltaic panels and charging points for weary-legged phone users. There's also a mishmash of Verizon-connected sensors inside, which record and transmit data about air quality and noise levels. The installation of the benches is being funded by Cisco, which is presumably looking for tangible and endearing ways to promote the internet of things. However, it's being left up to local Bostonians to pitch which parks deserve to get soofa'd up -- and these pitches need to be submitted by July 11th.
National parks will soon ban most drone flights
While we've already seen a few US national parks clamp down on drones in their airspace, it now looks like that no-fly rule is about to extend across the country. The National Park Service tells the Associated Press that it's about to order all 401 of its parks to ban unfettered use of drones on their grounds. Each park will have exceptions for high-altitude flyers, hobbyist clubs, researchers and rescuers, but you won't get to lug your personal camera drone around purely for the sake of remote sightseeing. If all goes according to plan, the Service will also have a preliminary national rule drafted within 18 months.
AT&T brings free WiFi to eleven NYC parks, untold pigeon ladies
There was once a time, believe it or not, when New Yorkers would go to public parks to engage in long strolls, unfettered cigarette smoking, and neurotic conversations with Diane Keaton. Recent years, however, have seen a sudden change in this behavior due to a variety of factors -- including AT&T. Yesterday, the provider announced an expansion of its ongoing New York City WiFi initiative, bringing free connectivity to eleven new sites across the five boroughs, including Prospect Park, Tompkins Square Park and Marcus Garvey Park, among others. With these new additions, AT&T inches closer to its stated goal of bathing 26 park locations in WiFi, though the Grand Poobah, Central Park, remains in the dark. As with its earlier rollout, visitors won't need an AT&T account to get online. In fact, they won't need any contract at all -- just a WiFi-enabled device, a cozy bench and bountiful downtime. Full PR after the break.
Google Street View walks through parks, so you don't have to
Need to take a walk through the park, but hate all of the fresh air, foliage and sunshine that comes with it? Good news: Google has added a number of parks to Street View, including New York City's High Line, elevated train tracks that have been converted into a 1.5 mile plant-filled walkway. Also on the list are the statue-filled Kensington Gardens in London and Tokyo's cherry blossom-lined Koganei Park. The parks and their blurry-faced visitors can be easily accessed in the source link below. There's also a video of the High Line project after the break.
NYC to trial mobile payment parking system, Lovely Rita looks for a new gig
Tired of burning your hard earned cash on parking fines? You might wanna move to New York City, where the Department of Transportation will soon begin testing a "pay by phone" parking system. The mobile payment technology, which has already been introduced in cities like Washington, DC and Atlanta, essentially allows drivers to pay for their parking spots without ever having to interact with those menacing, metallic meters. After registering online, users would be able to pay for curbside real estate by entering the number of the nearest meter and the amount of time they'd like to purchase into a customized app, or by texting it to the city's Department of Transportation. The system would also alert users whenever their allotted time is about to expire, allowing them to add more money directly from their handsets, rather than trudge back their cars. At this point, the plan is to roll out the pilot program to some 300 parking spots over the next few months, most likely in outer borough neighborhoods with plenty of commercial outlets and, presumably, automobiles.
Viatag NFC system pays parking lot fees with an RFID tag, saves lives
Paying for parking isn't exactly a fun experience, but Germany's Fraunhofer Institute is doing its best to make it slightly less painful, with Viatag -- an NFC system that allows you shell out your hard earned cash without even reaching for your wallet. The setup is relatively simple, consisting of a small RFID tag, compatible transceivers and a centralized database. Once attached to your car's windshield, the tag communicates with the transceivers installed within a given parking lot, alerting the system whenever your vehicle enters or leaves. An application running on the central server, meanwhile, keeps track of how much time you spend in the lot, and charges your debit card accordingly. Researchers have already installed Viatag at car parks in Essen, Duisburg and Munich, and are hoping to expand it to other locations. It might not be as sophisticated as some of the other automotive communications systems we've seen, but it could come in handy during those moments when you really don't feel like swearing at a parking meter. Cruise past the break for the full PR.
RFID tags let you share waterpark photos on Facebook without leaving the lazy river
See this happy couple? They're smiling because they're in love, they're at a waterpark, and they haven't contracted E. coli yet. They could also be chuckling with the knowledge that all 700 of their closest Facebook friends will soon see them canoodling in an artificial lagoon, thanks to a strange new photo-sharing program from Great Wolf Resorts. From now on, visitors to Great Wolf's Grand Mound lodge will be able to automatically post their vacation pics on Facebook, using only an RFID-equipped wristband. All they have to do is register their accounts at check-in, slap on their bands and head over to any of five kiosks stationed throughout the resort, where they can pose for pictures that will be instantly uploaded to their walls (along with captions). Immediately de-tagging yourself, however, remains a uniquely manual task. Wade past the break for the full PR.
Google Open Spot alerts Android users to freed parking spaces
Oh, sure -- this has certainly been tried before, but given that things like this need a critical mass of followers to be effective, we're particularly jazzed about Google's own initiative. Dubbed 'Open Spot,' this bloody brilliant Android (2.0 and up) application enables motorists to search for unclaimed spaces that have been reported by other Open Spot users, and once they head elsewhere, it allows them to mark their spot as open and available. Once a spot is marked, the color gradually fades from red to yellow the longer it remains unclaimed. We've given it a quick test here on our end, and while it seems snappy enough (and yes, we definitely received a Karma Point for every space we dropped), the obvious omission is the ability to add notes to each marked place. There really should be a way to denote whether a spot is metered, covered by some wacky city permit law or submerged in a foot of water -- here's hoping the next update will enable comments. Hit that source link (or just open up the App Market) to grab it for free, and jump on past the break to see how your fellow city dwellers feel about this marvelous invention.
Name a park, win a Champions Online beta key
So, Champions Online. Apparently a lot of you are interested in that game. Who knew? If you'd like to be immortalized in-game in addition to receiving a beta key, then boy do we know just the contest to point you towards over at the official website. Naming a park isn't so hard, really. We suggest combining some kind of heroic figure or event, with a plant one associates with parks. Something like Alien Invasion Ficus Park may suffice, but we should mention we're not judges.Just imagine if you won the contest. Whenever you're out and about smashing the faces of aliens, zombies, mutants and other various nefarious villains, you could point to your park and say, "Hey I named that, and there's a plaque over there to prove it!" Of course, we understand why you'd want to tell us this, but that doesn't meant we'd actually care too much.It's nothing personal, really. We just have more important things to consider, like whether or not we should wear boxers or briefs under our super-suits.
San Francisco to test wireless parking sensors, cause rat races to momentarily open spaces
We dig the idea in theory, we really do, but we can definitely see this causing more harm than good. Starting this fall, San Francisco will begin a trial involving wireless parking sensors in 6,000 of its 24,000 metered spaces, enabling antsy drivers to be alerted via street signs or cellphones when a spot becomes available. Only one problem -- give 50 anxious motorists the same message that a single spot is unoccupied, and you've just created a bona fide mess. Though it'd probably be fun to watch from the sidelines, wouldn't you agree?[Via Core77]
The DS Life: Damaris
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.Make the most out of what little warmth the autumn months haven't stolen yet. Grab your portable system, find a place outside where no one can bother you while you play, and enjoy these dwindling days when you can still afford to leave your coat at home. These weeks never stay still for too long, and before you know it, Halloween is long forgotten and there's no more Thanksgiving dinner to look forward to. Evenings creep in at 6PM, and the cold -- oh, the cold!You spend an extra minute shivering in your car while waiting for the engine to warm up, visible puffs of breath fogging up the windows until the damn defrost finally starts working. Chips of snow sneak into your shoes somehow, despite your best defenses, melting and leaving your socks wet. Week nights are spent staying in and watching television, and you walk around the house with a comforter draped around you like blanket royalty.So play with your DS outside now, while you still can!
Nissan's Around View arrives in the US December
Ok, it's not a jetpack or flying car but Nissan's new Around View Monitor is impressive transportation tech nonetheless. Best of all, it's available this month in Japan's new Elgrand before showing up Stateside December in the new Infiniti EX35. The Around View Monitor synthesizes the system's four, 180-degree cameras into a single display for a bird's-eye-view of your car's position on the road. Now even Bridge-n-Tunnelers will be able to parallel park outside their favorite East Village bar. Full video after the break. [Via FarEastGizmos]
Networked cameras to seek out parking violators
The folks in England just can't catch a break. As if hovering surveillance drones, camcorder-wielding traffic wardens and helmet cam-equipped officers aren't enough to keep you on the straight and narrow, London's city of Westminster is apparently looking to "install networked security cameras that can recognize parking permits and the plates of offending vehicles." Essentially, the system would enable parking violators to be ticketed without an actual human witnessing the offense, and it's being dubbed "the most significant application to be deployed on the Westminster's WiFi network." Eventually, the council plans to roll out about 250 of these sure-to-be-hated cameras, and it should ruin enough people's days to "pay for itself in two to three years."[Via CNET, image courtesy of BBC]
The DS Life: Summer's last throes
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handheld and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.If there's anything that closes summer, it's the clement passing of August, the noblest of the middle months. Families have their last barbecues, Jerry Lewis interrupts our channel surfing to remind us about muscular dystrophy, and custodians pull blue, creased tarpaulin over neighborhood pools. Labor Day rewards us with an extended weekend, and then just like that, summer is over.
E307: Furu Furu Park minigame list
Say what you will about Majesco's Furu Furu Park, but it's got taste. Taito and 505 Games picked some fantastic games to adapt into minigame versions. If everyone made minigames based on stuff like Cameltry, we would never have a problem with minigames.We thought it would be useful to post the full list of included games, because we hadn't seen it yet. If at least five of these are fun, we'll consider the game a winner. Arkanoid can't possibly be non-fun, so that's one in their favor!In our bleak world of cancelled Pocky & Rocky sequels, we must take what we can get. And at the moment what we can get is a Pocky & Rocky-themed shooting minigame. We can smile a little, thinking that there's still some Pocky & Rocky in the world.[Via press release]
