Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Seeker and TEDx explain how self-driving cars will change cities for Autonomous Vehicle Day

Happy National Autonomous Vehicle Day! Here is what I wrote about the day two years ago.

I first blogged about self-driving cars in 2013, when I wrote "We may not get flying cars for the mass market, but another science fiction transportation idea, self-driving autos, looks like it's on its way." I wrote about them again in last year's Self-driving cars--fantasy and reality, which showed that autonomous vehicles are still coming but have a long way to go. They're a lot closer now that there is a day in their honor.

All three of my previous posts focused on the technology behind and business opportunities available self-driving cars. Today, I begin with the technology but end with the effects it will have on our communities, starting with Seeker/DNews asking How Close Are We to a Self-Driving World?

Self-driving cars could revolutionize the way we travel, giving us more time to work, play, learn, and relax on the road. But when it comes to making them a reality, cutting-edge technology is only the tip of the iceberg. So, how close are we ditching driving?

The answer is about only a couple of years for companies like Uber and Waymo, but a decade away for the masses.

Seeker also quoted the following from NACTO Releases the Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, a press release from the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

"The Blueprint outlines key tools and objectives for cities to use as they update their physical and digital infrastructure and on every type of street and intersection, from narrow, residential streets to major multi-modal boulevards. Future modules of the Blueprint will expand on these topics with new focus areas including roadway pricing, data partnerships with the private sector, regional planning, designing autonomous networks and autonomous freight delivery needs."

That paragraph is the one Seeker thought worth quoting from the NACTO press release. I found three more.

“The expansion of autonomous vehicles is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink city streets and save lives on an unprecedented scale – but only if cities are prepared,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, NACTO Chair and Principal at Bloomberg Associates. “The Blueprint gives city leaders across the country and around the world the vision they need to partner with the private sector and design streets that are smarter, safer and more efficient than ever before.”

“As cities guide the autonomous revolution, we want technology to solve our mobility challenges; not settle for more of the same,” said Seleta Reynolds, NACTO President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. “This Blueprint will help cities everywhere lay the foundation for 21st century streets designed to serve people first and foremost, no matter how they travel.”

“When it comes to autonomous vehicles, cities are where the action is,” said Linda Bailey, Executive Director of NACTO. “This is the start of a critical conversation with AV companies about what cities need today and will need tomorrow.”

As a Crazy Eddie, I approve. A little planning for the future will go a long way.

Speaking of planning for a future with self-driving cars and other autonomous vehicles, I present a TEDx talk by Nico Larco that asks another question, How Will Autonomous Vehicles Transform Our Cities?

Nico Larco's insights on one the most exciting technology of our time will open your eyes to a whole new way of thinking and show you how the world we live in could be fundamentally transformed. Nico is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at University of Oregon and Director of the Urbanism Next Research Initiative. He pulls back the curtain to preview how autonomous vehicles will shape the future planning of our parks, cities and life as we know it. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

I think Larco is right; autonomous vehicles are not just a transportation issue, they're an everything issue. Given how rapidly Americans are likely to adopt the technology, it's important that we anticipate its effects and prepare for them.

On a less optimistic note, Atrios expressed strong skepticism of autonomous vehicles and especially Elon Musk's efforts to make them possible in Your Kids, itself a commentary on https://www.thedrive.com/opinion/28247/my-infant-daughters-life-shouldnt-be-a-variable-in-tesla-autopilots-public-beta. I left the following comment on the blog post.

I find this post simultaneously both appropriate and ironic because tomorrow is Autonomous Vehicle Day. Let's celebrate the limits to our technologies.

Actually, that should be contemplate the limits of our technologies, but someone uprated my comment anyway.

Since today is a holiday of sorts, I'm using it to fulfill half of the promise I made to my readers in Tariffs on Chinese goods will reduce GDP and cause inflation, say experts on CNBC to recap the top posts of last year about holidays. Follow over the jump.*

I begin with a widely read holiday entry from the back catalog, Broken Peach: Singing Spanish goths and witches for Halloween from 2017. I noted that in Broken Peach: Singing Spanish goths on parade for Halloween last October.

Speaking of liking things, Infidel 753 wrote "I did a Google search on 'Broken Peach' and your October post about them was in ninth place in the results. You may have a few of their fans reading" in a comment to Merry Christmas 2017 from Broken Peach and Crazy Eddie's Motie News. My response was "I'm flattered by that. I hope they are!" It looks we were both right, as this entry had earned 2117 raw page views on the first anniversary of my posting it. It currently has 2322. The first would have placed it 32nd among entries posted last year and the second 31st. Wow!

The post ended the eighth year of blogging here with 3009 page views. It currently has 3116. It may not have been the most read holiday entry of the past blogging year, but it certainly came close. For what it's worth, it is still the highest ranking Google result for "Broken Peach" other than the band's own website and social media accounts.

Speaking of Broken Peach's social media accounts, I mentioned in CNN reports on Trump consulting Twitter for policy advice, that "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas from Broken Peach and Crazy Eddie's Motie News earned an honorable mention for most responded to on Twitter during December 2018 with one reply in one thread from Broken Peach itself." I quoted that response in my comment on Holiday odds and ends at Infidel 753's blog.

Thanks for linking to my Christmas entry about Broken Peach. I tweeted a link to Broken Peach and they responded "Oh! Thank U! kisses!" I couldn't (and shouldn't) ask for more.

I covered the other popular holiday entries in previous perspectives, beginning with ASAPScience on going vegetarian: Student Sustainability Video Festival 80 plus environmental impact for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

The 20th most read entry during the eighth year of this blog was Earth Overshoot Day 2018 is the earliest ever from August 1, 2018. It had 3318 raw page views during the year. It earned its page views by being shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page. I later shared the link at Ecosophia.net, the Archdruid's blog. It ended August 2018 with 3062 default page views, ranking it second overall for the month. It was also the most retweeted with 6 retweets and tied for most likes on Twitter with 5 during August 2018.

I covered the next most read holiday entry in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Brexit, which is now delayed until October 31, plus John Oliver for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Speaking of recycling posts, the next most read entry is from the seventh year of the blog. John Oliver on marijuana legalization for 4/20 was posted on, no surprise, April 20, 2017. It ended the posting year with 2793 total page views over its lifespan. However, this post had 297 raw page views before being shared to the Join the Coffee Party Movement Facebook page at 10:00 P.M. on May 2, 2018. 2793-297=2496, so that's how many raw page views it had during the eighth year of this blog. It finished May with 2763 total raw page views, so it earned 2466 raw page views during May, as well as 2444 default page views, placing it 6th for the month.

I listed another popular holiday post in Another bill introduced to admit Puerto Rico as a state, an update on Puerto Rico statehood for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Drink to Puerto Rican Statehood on National Pina Colada Day 2018 from July 10, 2018 earned a total of 2385 raw page views by the end of the eighth year of this blog. It ranked 31st overall and 30th among entries actually posted during the blogging year. It ended July 2018 with 2022 default and 2086 raw page views, enough for it to rank third among entries actually posted during the month and fifth overall for July. It was also among the most active on Twitter during July 2019 with 1 retweet, 2 likes, and 1 response thread.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Colbert updates Space Force for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on National Space Day looked at two holiday posts on yet another holiday.

Late night comedians on Space Force for Presidential Joke Day from August 11, 2018 was the 33rd most read entry posted during the eighth year of the blog and the 34th most read overall with 2229 raw page views. It earned its page views by being shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page. Infidel 753 also shared the link. The link was the most replied to on Twitter for posts from August 2018 with one response. It ended August 2018 with 2157 default page views, ranking it fourth most read for the month.

U.S. Space Corps and Orion -- rejected ideas for Moon Day from July 21, 2017 earned 2088 page views during the year to rank 40th overall. The post also ended August 2018 with 2006 default page views during the month, enough to rank it seventh overall. It earned its page views by being shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page. It also ended the blogging year with 2397 total raw page views.

Finally, there are all the most saved pins about holidays I listed in CNN and Business Insider reported on the U.S. Army and politicians using Pinterest.

Star Wars Drinks for Star Wars Day was the most saved pin of the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. It earned 107 page views in seven appearances in the top three posts of the month. Its the most saved pin three times, April 2018, May 2018, and June 2018 with seven, 54, and 13 saves, respectively. It was the second most saved pin twice, July and August 2018 with 3 saves each. Finally, it was the third most saved pin twice, February 2019 with 16 saves and the first three weeks of March 2019 with 11 saves.

Good news for animals in entertainment on the first Norther! earned 62 page views total in three appearances in the monthly top three, as it was the most saved pin during January 2019 and February 2019 with 22 saves each and the second most saved pin during the first three weeks of March 2019 with 18 saves.

For Winter Solstice 2016, the Archdruid and I discuss Discordianism and fake holidays appeared twice in the monthly top three and earned an honorable mention a third time. It was the most saved pin during December 2018 with 36 saves, the second most saved pin during January 2019 with 14 saves, and the fourth most saved pin during February 2019 with 8 saves for a total of 58 saves.

More on St. Patrick's Day from Tipsy Bartender earned 50 page views total in three appearances in the monthly top three, as it was the third most saved pin during January 2019 with 12 saves, the second most saved pin during February 2019 with 17 saves, and the most saved pin during the first three weeks of March 2019 with 21 saves.
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Shark Week drink and drinking games appeared twice in the monthly top three, placing third during June 2018 with 3 saves and tying for second during July 2018 with 3 saves for a total of seven saves.
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Star Wars drinks, drinking game, and music for The Revenge of the Sixth was the most saved pin from the most recent complete posting year during March 2019 with 6 saves, 4 of them by March 20, 2019. That would have placed it second among last year's pins. Checking Pinterest directly showed it actually had 14 saves during the eighth year of the blog, making it the most saved pin. Somehow, I missed most of them, probably by misidentifying the pin as one for Game of Thrones drinking game, drink, and music so I didn't recognize it as coming from the eighth year of the blog. Oops!

Drink to a drum corps Bastille Day 2018 with the Santa Clara Vanguard was the second most saved pin from the eighth year of the blog with 11 saves since it was posted. I caught it three times, first as the only pin from July 2018 saved by another user, next as the most saved pin from the 2018-2019 posting year during October 2018 with 3 saves, and finally tied for the most active pin from the 2018-2019 posting year during January 2019 with 1 save each. If I hadn't looked at the pins themselves, this would have been the most saved pin from the posting year just completed with five recorded saves.

Yes, the people who save my pins on Pinterest love holidays, especially fake ones!

I may be back for one more entry this evening. If not, see you next month!

*A final installment about the back catalog will have to wait until next Friday. Stay tuned.

Previous posts in this series

Previous retrospectives about holidays.

Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Friday, May 31, 2019

Seeker and TEDx explain how self-driving cars will change cities for Autonomous Vehicle Day

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