LJ, MBTA, TV

[hermionesviolin]

link via ann1962: new LJ UserInfo/profile page setup being tested out
I'm not particularly a fan.

In a similar vein: The current LJ Portal is too cluttered for my taste (thankfully the normal webupdate page is still an option).  I would like LJ to have a page like myHBS where I can add my own bookmarks -- Tag Management, Poll Creator, other stuff that you have to poke to find, and also stuff that is on the sidebar like Recent Comments for convenience, and maybe even outside links like Joule).


On the Red Line home today the woman next to me was telling her companion that some guy had gotten killed at South Station this morning ~8:00, that some guy was leaning over to look for the train and it came too fast.  I find this difficult to believe, but okay.  This woman got her information from a friend who was stuck at the JFK stop for at least 20 minutes.  I know I got on a train to Alewife a little after 8:05, and when I got out at Harvard I heard something over the PA about a disabled train though I didn't hear which direction.  Boston.com and GoogleNews give me nada, which lends credence to my theory that this woman (women) is wrong.  I boggle at how this story got created if it wasn't true, though.  She was all full of details including "blood everywhere."

Update the next morning:
Coming into South Station on the commuter rail, I heard a woman a few seats away from me telling someone about how a guy had gotten hit by a train, don't people know you're supposed to "stand behind the yellow line," something about he couldn't hear though I'm not sure I caught that correctly, train had to be taken out of service.
I actually picked up a copy of the Metro, but nothing there, and Boston.com and GoogleNews still give me nothing.
/edit


TVGuide for May 1-7 came today.  The HotList actually intriguing.
Tuesday @10 on NBC: SVU focuses on teen obesity.  This is gonna make me angry, I know, but I feel like I have to see it.
Sunday @10 on NBC: Crossing Jordan season finale.  That was fast.  They win points with me for not dragging the Thing from the end of last episode through a month of sweeps.
I'm watching CSI and Without a Trace, natch.  Think I'll skip the upcoming House, though.
I should keep an eye our for the guest star season finale of How I Met Your Mother.  (trijinx, lemme know if there are other eps I should see.)

Comments

on the new userinfo

[wisdomeagle]

I'm not sure if it's an advantage or disadvantage, but on the new userinfo style, there's a list of my current fandoms (as identified by associated schools) at the very top of the userinfo. And I do like having

I'm not sure of the logic of having the number of comments I've posted being one of my stats but the number of posts I've made being one of my journal stats. (Well, I do follow the logic. I just think it's kind of weird.)

(I also think it clashes with dystopia, but then, I realize anything new that's developed will clash with dystopia.)

Re: on the new userinfo

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen mention of how any school that doesn't have an end date given is listed as "Currently Attending."

I kind of like the box at the top with pertinent info (Contact info, and website, totally shouldn't be at the bottom of the page as it is in this new style, should totally be in that top box.) though I just noticed the giant LJ user icon watermark thingy and I disapprove a lot.

My biggest rage is the loss of bolding for mutual friends. I don't wanna use the option to make "Also friend of" a separate chunk, but I do want to be able to tell at a glance who among my Friend Ofs I don't have mutually friended (if for no other reason than that it makes it easy to see who's friended you when your numbers go up, rather than having to pull up the joule.).

(And I saw "Reader of" for communities and cried that they didn't integrate that terminology into the single user portion but kept the "Friended"/"Friend of.")

People normally read left to right, so I wish the more relevant info (i.e., bio) were on the left. I concede the fact that the majority of LJ users actually think of the Interests section as heavily useful and thus privileging it above the bio may in fact be a crowdpleaser, but it still makes me sad.

*checks (http://www.livejournal.com/manage/siteopts.bml)* Yup, I have Dystopia. (XColibur is teh laemestxx0rsz.) The sidebar means the new style is squooshed more than it would be in a sidebarless layout, but I don't see it as any particular "clash."

[trijinx.livejournal.com]

re: New Profile page
Meh. What we have works; why mess with it?

re: MBTA
"Blood everywhere" isn't really a detail, is it? I mean, it's not terribly specific or hard to come up with...

re: How I Met Your Mother
See all of them. Seriously. Or at the very least, watch up until the season finale.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

1. True story. (And I wanna know who comes up with these new ideas. 'Cause there are features people actually *want* that don't get implemented and then they come up with stuff like this that nobody ever thought to want and often in fact *don't* want. And it's extra-frustrating if it's not an opt-in/out thing.)

2. I know. It stuck with me 'cause, gross, but there definitely was a fuller story. Guy's leaning over to look for the train and it came too fast and hit him, throwing him backwards against a wall and killing him; there was blood everywhere. First off I don't believe trains come through that fast at South Station. Second, aren't you more likely to be pulled *in* (which is actually where I thought her story was going)?

3. *sticks tongue out* AA's role sounds interesting, hence season finale, but I don't actually have any deep desire to get sucked into the show.

[trijinx.livejournal.com]

Trains *don't* come in that fast at South Station, or anywhere, for that matter. If someone got hit that way, he/she would have wanted it, and that's a different sort of story right there.

You might try to watch the next few episodes anyhow. I'm not sure if AD's scheduled to be in them or not, but I think there's going to be some building up to the season finale, and you do want to fully appreciate your whedonverse actors, don't you? :-P

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Even when I was on an "Express to Chaals" from Harvard once we slowed to a crawl as we passed through each station. She mentioned offhandedly something about how they [that generic "they" -- MBTA officials or whatever] didn't think it was a suicide. I would think standing *on* the track would be a much more effective suicide method. Preferably between stations, so the trains are going at a higher speed and you're less likely to survive the impact.

Yeah, I wondered if perhaps I would need narrative buildup to really get the finale episode, but the question fell out between my brain and the keyboard.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Ooh, how could I forget about the Third Rail [capitalized for effect] ?

Is the risk of survival and/or amount of pain before death significantly higher for electrocution by third rail versus impact by a train coming into a station? Obviously one can't do empirical tests, but surely calculations could be made based on physics etc.

[Google/Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-rail#Disadvantages_of_third_rail) third rail electrocution deaths have happened (http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/03/10/third_rail_death_at_nassau_g_stop.php).]

In my previous comment reply I almost asked if I was getting too morbid, but I'm always like this. *considers adding "morbid" as a tag for this entry* (Feel free to tell me to stop at any point, of course, if I'm making you uncomfortable.)

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

My family, of course, celebrates dark humor/morbidity.

It's far easier to get onto the track between stations on the Green Line, though, so suicidally I think it's something of a wash.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

If I were suicidal I would walk along the track to between stations rather than the usual crossing points where the trains expect to stop, but still, good point that the Green Line conductors would be watching for pedestrians above ground.

Will screen your last three comments per your request.

[trijinx.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[paper-crystals.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you. The new profile set up is yucky.

[hedy.livejournal.com]

Could she have been retelling a dream?

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting idea. It sounded very much like she was telling a story of what she thought actually happened, but that is a possibility I hadn't considered. Thanks.

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

zomg. I have to be in South Station tomorrow. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I get off the Red Line at South Station and pass through the main area to the commuter trains and I didn't see/hear anything. But yeah, if you do hear anything, totally let me know; thanks.

While I was at work I saw your post about being in the city and meant to comment on it. I imagine you're not in long enough for it to make sense for us to try to see each other, but I hope you enjoy your stay.

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

Unless you're free around 1 or so for lunch (I was going to head up Harvard Square way to get my boy a present), I suspect not, unfortunately. Some other time, perhaps?

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I'd already gone to bed when you replied, unfortunately. Normally I would have attempted to finagle anyway, but we had an exam that needed to go up at 3pm today and Prof. B. had a whole bunch of meetings before then, so I figured it was best for me to stick around in case his RA needed help with anything.

But yes, there had once been talk of you/Allie coming to visit me in Boston, and that should definitely happen at some point.

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

Why in the world would you do that? Foreman might die!

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Does anyone actually believe the writers might kill off a character who's in the credits in this show?

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

Hey, I can dream.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Whatever happened to Little Miss "People are innately invaluable and even worth everything in the world when they do something like kill another person." (http://hermionesviolin.livejournal.com/696710.html?thread=2259334#t2259334)

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

Hey, they wouldn't kill of Foreman. You know it wouldn't happen. I'm just incredibly angry at him right now and think he's being an ass, so I'm ok with having him be a little on the uncomfortable side.

May I also note that if he were a real person I wouldn't have the same opinion at all. But, since he's fictional...

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

a little on the uncomfortable side

The blurbs I've seen say things like "unbearable and unmanageable pain" which I feel uncomfortable inflicting on even a fictional character. I do validate the desire for punishment and recognize the fiction/reality distinction, though I think such a distinction can be problematic.

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

Technicalities, technicalities.

Besides, I don't think he'll actually get to the unmanageable pain part. They'll save him first.

Maybe he'll realize the meaning of life and stop being an ass to everyone (backstabbing, et all).

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

*et al

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't put it past thr writers to inflict on him at least some of the unmanageable pain, but who knows. Would be interesting to see how he changes after this brush with death, since I hardly think the writers will saccharinize but obviously change is necessary (as we touched on much earlier in the ongoing House discussion).

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

What House discussion? ;)