an interesting observation

I've been building a map in GoogleMaps, and I had it set to most of Scotland. I idly flipped on "traffic" and saw that bits of the Central Belt lit up, mostly green (it's the middle of the day, so that makes sense) but nowhere else much. I can see that making sense; there's probably less traffic in other parts of the country but also less infrastructure for reporting traffic.

Then I scrolled the scale out to show all of the UK. The image is kind of striking. There's traffic data that run right the way from Penzance to Newcastle, but it stops dead at the borders of England. Funny.

Then I scrolled out further to see all of western Europe. *No* data anywhere, except for France. So this is clearly an artifact of information-sharing agreements (I'm sure Germany has both traffic and the ability to monitor it).

(no subject)

A Letter to the Person Who Was Behind Me on the Beltway This Morning.

Dear sir,

Yes, if you drive so near the back of my car that I can't see your headlights, I *will* brake repeatedly. I am trying to convey to you the message that you are TOO &%$##$%ING CLOSE. I will *not* speed up, mostly because (a) I don't like bullies, (b) there is another car less than three car lengths ahead of me and we are driving at 40-50 mph. No, weaving from side to side in your lane will not get me to drive faster either. And, yes, when you decide to drive around me, you will find that no one else will respond to your tactics either. SLOW $&%$#ING DOWN.

no love,

me

and, while I'm being testy, acerbic, and disagreeable

I'll add that in my not at all humble opinion, adding a suit jacket to a sleeveless top, capri pants, and sandals does not make one's garb "professional", just tasteless.

my small contribution to Teh Intrawebz

a map of all the concert venues for the 2009 Blas Festival

(hopefully that works; if you see something weird at first, try clicking once on one of the list items)

Some locations are exact; others are as close as I could get them. Let me know if you see errors.

information on the festival here

Which is all by way of me trying to figure out where I want to find a place to stay while I'm there. And how many different venues I can get to.

One thought is that I've been to Skye and Ft William, and as much as I love the west coast, maybe I should concentrate elsewhere. A *lot* of the concerts are in Inverness and around the Black Isle; maybe I should focus there. Find a cottage north of the city, maybe take a day trip to Orkney and catch the Thurso or Wick concert at the end of that day, spend most of the time around Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland.

Thoughts? Comments?