I cannot imagine a US citizen/resident uttering these words to a cop in uniform on his/her beat: “…why are you not wearing a seat belt? remove the mobile phone, you are on duty & in the official car, stop breaking the rules…” That’s exactly what is being told to a couple of cops in Russia and they comply, POLITELY!
I have had the privilege of listening to Bryan in person at many industry-related events over the years but never heard some of the things he has shared in this awesome interview with Channel Next Cast. He goes into details about his entry into the business and how his company is innovating the transportation data to solve the congestion, in addition to offering excellent advice for wanna-be innovators & entrepreneurs. It is truly refreshing to see a dynamic youngster like him bring the much needed innovation and fresh, outside the box thinking towards solving the age old transportation problems – primarily congestion.
One interesting fact that I liked from Bryan’s interview: He is not a fan of red light cameras (like most of us) and he thinks traffic congestion problems can be solved for the large part in the next 10 years. Hmmm!
For those interested, here is a graphic from today’s Wall Street Journal article that covers INRIX and other start-ups working on transportation-related “big data“.
Image Courtesy: Wall Street Journal
Summary of the interview (made available by ChannelNextCast on YouTube.com):
Bryan Mistele wants to eliminate one of society’s biggest issues — traffic. How’s he going to do it? Find out in this episode of nextcast.
Growing up, Bryan knew he wanted to run his own tech company. After spending time in high school working with electrical engineers, he wrote down a life goal: start and be CEO of a two hundred person tech company. Now with 300 employees, he and his team at INRIX are tackling the ever-present problem of traffic. Bryan tells Jeff how they’re making this worldwide problem completely personal, by optimizing technology and getting people where they want to go. He also shares his secrets of success with Jeff — the perfect combination of persistence and naivete. * When Brian left Microsoft, he thought INRIX would be completely funded within a month. Twelve months and 70 rejections later, his company finally came to life. He credits this with a healthy balance of persistence and naivete. “Venture capitalists all told us we would be crushed…now we are the leader.”
* He also says he owes much of his success to wisdom gained in his early years, working at an electrical engineering firm. Following their advice of finding a partner who shares your career goals led him to the wife who encouraged him to persevere in the face of VC rejection. “If I hadn’t had that person in my life I never would have gotten off the ground,” he says. * It’s always been Bryan’s dream to run his own tech company, from the time he wrote it down as a life goal at age 16. He noted that in a big company, your future is tied to someone bringing you along up with them. Now, as a CEO, “whether it succeeds or fails, it’s up to me…and I like that.”
* Is this a trend? Our second nextcast guest who says he’d eliminate traffic cameras, Bryan explains that they actually cause more accidents than they prevent. What other improvements to the world of traffic does Bryan have to offer? We’re less than a decade away from seeing them all come to life.
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It all started 79 years ago on June 6. A bloke named Richard Hollingshead debuted movies in an outdoor setting. As cited in WebProNews “Hollingshead’s drive-in opened in New Jersey, June 6, 1933, on Admiral Wilson Boulevard at the Airport Circle in Pennsauken, a short distance from Cooper River Park.” And today Google has unveiled an awesome doodle on its home page to celebrate this milestone that brought together movie watching & transportation together for the first time. Of course, some people are upset that Google decided to put aside the other historic milestone on this nation’s calendar – D Day, which also happened on the very same day! But hey, I’m quite okay with this this one!
A few days back we saw a nice video from RidetoWorkUK , promoting motorcycles as a commuting option. And today I saw this new video posted by a British biker showing how wonderfully he bypassed a longggg traffic queue by hopping on the dedicated bus lane. And with that today I learned, motorcycles are allowed to use bus lanes in some parts of UK..
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Why are we not doing that in this part of the world (i.e., US)? Or do you know of any cities where such a practice is in place?
(Source: via Reddit)
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Seriously, this video tells you how far America has deteriorated into the abuse of law. The attorney clearly knows what is wrong here (over speeding: speed at impact ~110mph; at times nearing 140mph-160mph as shown in the helmet cam recording) but he still presents the case without any qualms and goes on to showcase this as a milestone achievement for his firm. It is clearly the motorcyclists fault and I’m curious to know how this attorney claims to have gotten compensation from multiple insurance companies! (Either he is lying through his teeth or have some stupid layers representing the insurance companies?). As the Redditor pointed out this is a mountain of stupid. Of course, the operator of the motorcycle is dead, which leaves me wondering if the police have pressed charges against the rest of this reckless crew of bandits who put everyone else (and their own lives) at risk in this high-speed thrill ride. Stupid. A Mountain of Stupid!
Source: RidetoworkdayUK
Apart from the fun element, I learned from this video that bike riders (in UK??) save an average of 306 hours annually off their commutes.. So, what will you do with so much free time? :lol: Oh, and the Ride To Work Day in UK is June 18th.. Are you ready to don the leather & latex?
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(Source: Newsilike)
This neat infograph showcases the progress and milestones achieved in Motorcycle safety in Britain over the years.. and today I learned that Motorcycles are excluded from London’s congestion charging..
The Evolution of Motorcycle Safety via Bennetts- image courtesy: NewsiLike.com
Brilliant stuff.. FIAT is getting super creative lately with their messaging.. (Correction: The title wrongly noted the origin as Portugal but actually it is from Brazil, where they speak Portuguese).
Image Courtesy: via Reddit
(Source: Collegeathome via LifeHacker)
This data-laden infograph shows some scary stat.. Good news is that shortening your commute by 20 minutes might lower your risk of neck and back pain by 14%, obesity by 20%, and heart attack by 300% . Now if you will excuse me, I’ve to go find a job near my home or find a home near my job.
Image Courtesy: Collegeathome via LifeHacker
(via Gizmodo)
Is it actually dangerous to use cell phones or other portable electronics on board an aircraft? NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.
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