Mathilde Piard
A very eclective mix of things I find interesting.
#rhokATL is getting meta: “I wish this was… working.” #rhok #iwishthiswas cc @imagineatlanta (Taken with Instagram at ATDC)
Kids, don’t do drugs, seriously
You might end up eating someone’s face, throwing your own skin and guts at cops, or ripping someone’s heart out.
- Victim in flesh-eating attack on MacArthur Causeway had hard life on Miami streets
- Police: Hackensack Man Stabbed Himself, Threw His Skin And Intestines At Officers
- American cage fighter ‘rips out still-beating heart of training partner after fearing he was possessed by the devil’
Ok, grossed out enough? Make things better by checking out these photos of animals sitting like humans.
Mobile deals company Scoutmob raises $3.25 million, inks deal with First Data
The parent company (Cox Enterprises) of my company (Cox Media Group) just announced this morning that it’s investing in my favorite local startup, Scoutmob (along with a couple of other funders), so I’m pretty stoked. From AllThingsD (Scoutmob Attracts Investors and Partners by Saying It’s Not a Daily Deals Company):
The new funding will be used to support the company’s next wave of product development, which will include building out a mobile rewards program with the help of First Data and other payment companies it signs up. Tavani said it will work like this: When users make a purchase at a Scoutmob location using a credit card, they’ll accrue points automatically. Once enough points have been accumulated, they can be redeemed at any Scoutmob retail location.
This vaguely reminds me of what AmEx does with their Foursquare & Facebook partnerships. Or perhaps, more appropriately and timely, a new feature in AmEx’s iPhone app that lets users find offers at nearby businesses:
Merchants can also choose to extend the offer to everyone on the network or create loyalty-based offers for repeat customers. That’s a level of targeting that hasn’t typically been available to small businesses. Most of AmEx’s offers to date have been focused on national merchants. “It’s time now to get into helping more of the local merchants and to make sure that we have the tools that work for them,” said Ed Gilligan, vice chairman of American Express.
However, this is perhaps where it differs with the AmEx example (back to the AllThingsD article about Scoutmob):
Unlike traditional loyalty programs, which require consumers to go to the same coffee shop 10 times in order to earn a free coffee, Scoutmob will let consumers earn and redeem points by visiting any merchant in its network. It’s similar to frequent flyer programs, where miles can be earned at a variety of merchants and then redeemed at a handful of airlines. “We want to be the equivalent of an airline reward program, but for local,” Tavani said. “That’s exactly what we want to be.”
Also, apparently First Data processes about 55 percent of all transactions in the U.S. and powers part of Google Wallet.
Full disclosure: I once won a sweet PUBLIC Bike in a Scoutmob contest, which I now let bike-less friends borrow. I also happen to love Scoutmob a lot (my loyalty predates my bike win) - in fact, I use it so much I sometimes get emails about events for ”top Scoutmobsters in Atlanta,” so, there’s that.
How to Not Kill a Cyclist: Excellent Reading for Drivers Who Don't Bike
Friends who drive but who don’t bike: some really useful tips at the link above you’ll probably be grateful to know about - seriously. Putting them into practice will probably make you a happier driver less frustrated with people on bikes. Don’t assume you already know them, because often the advice is contrary to what you may think. My favorite tips:
Pass Deliberately (“If, for instance, you are behind a cyclist and approaching a stop, passing the cyclist likely will gain you nothing. In fact, you may end up passing the cyclist twice: once before the intersection, a second time after. Which, let’s face it, is going to annoy you.” - YES!!!)
Behave Predictably (“Ironically, one of the most common reasons motorists behave unexpectedly is out of courtesy toward us, such as at a four-way stop when a driver skips their turn and motions for the cyclist to proceed instead—it’s a kind gesture but a bad idea.”)
Lay Off the Horn (“A cyclist is on an unstable machine, travelling at a high velocity, and chock full o’ adrenaline; introducing a loud noise into a cyclist’s immediate environment may startle them—with disastrous results.”)
Just, be a good driver (Use your turn signals - OMG, yes, please do - and don’t use your phone, but really I don’t to tell you that, right?)
And finally, Judge Us Not by Our Jerks (TDDT)
And that’s just a sampling of some very good advice in this article
I am officially a transportation issues geek (also, CL to host free panel discussion about transportation tax May 10th)
So I guess after having turned into a complete bike nerd, the next logical progression was to turn turn into a full blown transportation issues geek. Evidence below.
Creative Loafing is hosting a panel discussion about T-SPLOST, also known as the “Transportation Investment Act,” “regional transportation tax,” or just the penny tax. And if you don’t know what that’s all about, here’s an interesting article from the AJC about how the Sierra Club is opposing it because the “list of projects to be funded by the one-percent tax measure feature too many road that will fuel sprawl” (that quote is from CL). Which makes the Sierra Club strange bedfellows with tea party members who are also trying to defeat the measure (because they think it includes TOO much funding for public transit, instead of not enough).
Anyway, here’s the email thread that truly confirms me as a transportation planning nerd:
Christina: A different perspective for you all to consider. Does this point of view have potential to change your vote? Thoughts? Sierra Club recommends NO on T-SPLOST
Jeffrey: On this note, we should go to this: CL to host free panel discussion about transportation tax — and you’re invited
Johanna: So in.
Christina: OMG I’M SOOOOO IN FOR THIS. Awesome. Thanks for the heads up.
Mathilde: Yes. Done. In my calendar.
PS. #1 we are such, massive nerds. Reread the previous 3 emails and remind yourself they are in reaction to legislation about a transportation tax referendum. And hence, I <3 guys.
Bikes + data = nerd out with the National Bike Challenge (plus cool events happening this month)
I’m helping to organize a bike-in breakfast (7:30-9:30) this Thursday (tomorrow!!) at Sweet Auburn Market (just down the street) and y’all should come (pretty please?). Free breakfast, great company, giveaways. I’m also helping to plan Bike to Work Day on May 18th, with bike trains (aka bike convoys), energizer stations (incl at Woodruff Park, Colony Square, and near the Emory campus) etc.
The BeltLine Bike Tour on Saturday is hands down one of my favorite events of the year, bikes or no bikes. If you love this city )or want to learn to love it) and know how to ride a bike (you don’t need to be experienced), you should definitely sign up. Routes range from 7 to 30 miles, and there’s even an off road option this year for those with mountain bikes. I rode it last year before I even became involved in the bike community and finally really understood what the BeltLine was all about. Here’s a short blog post I even wrote to express so much awesomeness that just had to be expressed.
There’s also the National Bike Challenge:
- It’s awesome local/state/national bike data that’s fun to keep track of, with stats like calories burned, carbon emissions and dollars saved, as well as number of trips, miles, duration and speed. There are prizes to win - including a trip to California, teams you can join, addictive leader boards you can check obsessively comparing stats for riders, teams and workplaces. Gamification!
- Advocates can use [this data] in lobbying for new investments in infrastructure or better laws to protect cyclists. The four-month Challenge goal is to unite 50,000 people to ride 10 million miles, “which would be an awesome testament to the role of cycling in transportation and recreation,” and the League of American Bicyclists (one of the sponsoring organizations) will be tracking stats by state and community (like, Georgia vs. South Carolina)
- Employers can easily report the number of cyclists in the company, miles ridden, calories burned, carbon emissions offset and dollars saved, whether they are looking to motivate and reward commuters for sustainability purposes or recreational cyclists to encourage healthy lifestyles.
You can automatically log your trips and miles with the smartphone app, or manually on the website. “So even if you don’t need any motivation to get up and ride, please join the Challenge and play a part in this four-month celebration of cycling.”
Anyway, those are just a few highlights of things happening this month. Here’s a flyer below, or a list and event Facebook for you to invite your friends to.
This video from The Daily Show last week http://j.mp/HKHSOt, and namely the discussion about the Supreme Court deciding its ok to strip search people arrested for minor offenses, reminded me of this article from back when I used to work at the The Palm Beach Post (it took me a while to find it, no longer on original website): http://j.mp/HA6Zrl.
The lede says: “Police have arrested a former Florida Highway Patrol trooper on allegations that he followed a woman to her home, made her strip naked and then coerced her to have sex with him to avoid a traffic citation or a trip to jail.”
Ergo, why law enforcement should not be granted this kind of power.
“ Part of the answer, obviously, is that once women have worked their way up into executive levels of companies, they can start to shape the corporate culture in ways that work better for them—and hopefully Sandberg is doing that at Facebook. Eventually, this means the corporate culture is more sane for everyone involved. But the other piece is that men need to feel just as inclined to leave on time, or women will always be at a partial disadvantage. ”
Sheryl Sandberg Gives Us a Permission Slip to Leave Work Early Every Day, Jezebel, April 6, 2012
This reminds me of Arianna Huffington’s campaign to get women to “sleep their way to the top.” I first read about it a few months ago in The Daily Muse (co-founded by a high school classmate), but she’s been on the war path about this for at least two years and even gave a short TED talk about it.
Like the Jezebel article above says, sure, it’s easy for women like Sheryl Sandberg and Arianna Huffington to promote leaving work early and getting enough sleep, because they already have it made. But hopefully, they can also change corporate work culture too, and it’s awesome that they are trying.
PS. I wonder what Facebook’s paternity leave policy is.
I told my coworker and friend Cliff Barrett about Living Walls, he told me it reminded him of this video. So awesome. Damn, how did I not know all this awesome street art was in Miami? I know what I’ll be doing next time I’m in SoFla.
“In the first episode of HERE COMES THE NEIGHBORHOOD the stage is set for the Wynwood Arts District. Parking lots, loading docks and factory walls are transformed into “The Wynwood Walls”“
This Creepy App Isn’t Just Stalking Women Without Their Knowledge, It’s A Wake-Up Call About Facebook Privacy
A friend shared the link above with me on Facebook. Here was my response (I’ve made a few minor edits for spelling and clarity):
Hm, just finished reading it. Interesting read. But I disagree with Foursquare’s decision to cut access to its API for the app, and with Apple’s decision to remove the app from the store (see the updates at the bottom of the blog post linked above). What’s to stop people from recreating another app for android devices? If this app was still around, at least it would good for building awareness and educating people on using privacy settings. I don’t think Facebook, Foursquare, or Apple are to blame for this - a lack of education is. There’s a huge gap between understanding of online privacy and the technology that affects it, and that’s on all of us to address. If people checked out their Facebook settings, they could easily customize them - it’s pretty straightforward actually, if very granular, which actually just means more control for the user. Only my Foursquare friends see my Foursquare checkins, aside from the rare occasions I cross-post them to Facebook - and even then, I have specific privacy settings for the Foursquare app on Facebook so that only my Facebook friends see those. I’m kind of sad the app no longer exists actually because it would be a good excuse to double check everything works the way I think it does.
