Oyster Card Watches Craze post in b3ta

The one and only time my blog gets mentioned in b3ta and I've only just noticed. Over the years I've tried getting a mention in b3ta and nowt, nada, nothing. Now, when I'm too busy either clubbing most of the night (License 2 Live Launch Party) & going to Brighton, to read newsletters or check my stats - this happens:


B3ta report on my "Oyster Card Watches Can get you fined" post in their weekly "What happened next?" feature, where they follow up on previous b3ta stories.

Here's what they said in this week's issue 341 -

* DISSOLVING OYSTER CARDS and sticking them in watches or magic wands, as recommended a few issues back, could land you with a fine. Apparently it's now "the latest craze", which must make the ticket barriers fun at rush hour.
http://snipurl.com/oysterpoo [london-underground_blogspot_com]

Thank you so much b3ta that's made my year! In case anyone's wondering how I noticed, I've just looked at my stats and traffic trebled on Friday, and it's still at twice its normal rate.

Tube Strike Notice for 20th August 2008

From Friday you might have seen notices like the one below about the upcoming Tube Strike. In case you didn't know from noon on the 20th August till noon on Saturday 23rd August, around a thousand London Underground maintenance workers who work for Tube Lines will be staging a 72 hour strike over pay.


Now even though this is maintenance workers and not drivers or other London Underground staff, it is going to seriously affect the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly Lines as a number of safety procedures won't be in place or have been checked and, quite rightly, the staff might not be able to run trains on those lines.

It'll also mean that other lines will be very overcrowded as we all try to find alternative routes to travel. The notice above is as neutral as it can be - saying "may" and "might", but personally I can't see the pay dispute being resolved in the next 24 hours.

But who knows, maybe RMT leader Bob Crow will have a brain wave and decide that a 4.95% payrise isn't that bad after all. Specially when it's over the rate of inflation (4.4%) and the average pay rise in the UK is only 3.7% and emergency workers like nurses are only looking at a pay increase of 2.5%

It was quite funny that my friend Ms.Jen from the US left the following comment on my Flickr picture when the strike was first announced:

"They schedule strikes? Shouldn't it be rather spontaneous to really mess up the works?

T'would seem that a scheduled strike is a fancy name for a holiday holding a sign... ;-) "

That's what quite a few people in the UK think as well. Thankfully though legally the RMT and other unions operating "essential" services have to give notice and can't carry out the sudden "wildcat" walkouts of the past.


Watch this blog, TfL's website and the news for details of whether this week's strike goes ahead and get prepared for the next one which is planned for noon on Wednesday September 3rd till noon on Saturday September 6th.


Update - Jon Justice spotted an interesting piece in the Evening Standard from Tube Lines' Chief Exec who believes the strike is purely political and not about pay.

UPDATE - I was wrong about them reaching an agreement - they have!!! Which means the Tube Strike is off!

London by the Sea or Brighton Rocks

When public transport works, it can work really well. I went to Brighton at the weekend to go to the first Brighton Social Media Club or Tuttle Club (Brighton's version of what's been happening in London) and to see some old friends and family. It's really easy to see why so many people commute from Brighton to London. My train left Brighton station on Sunday evening at 16.50 and I was back home in Kew at just gone 18.00. That's an hour and ten minutes. On a Sunday. My normal commute by London Underground to the City takes longer.


Regular commuters might find, that like the Tube, things don't always run as smoothly. In fact the postcard above with headlines from The Argus, Brighton's Daily Newspaper, show that rain, or rather drizzle can cause delays to the trains there.

It was quite nice being a tourist in a place like Brighton because it feels really familiar to me, and it's not known as "London by the Sea" for nothing. It's very cosmopolitan, busy, trendy, cool, fashionable etc etc, yet it's got a beach! Which rocks!


Instead of pigeons (nodded to on the signs above), you have seagulls. It's always been a seaside tourist attraction for Londoners and is now fast becoming a magnet for Hen and Stag parties. Many of the seaside shops really cater for that, but even the cute crafty "Covent Garden-like" shops in the famous Brighton Lanes, can't resist providing gifts for Girls and Guys who wanna have fun.


I spotted some fab Carry On mugs and plastic camping or picnic plates, beakers & dishes. I had to buy the Carry on at Your Convenience one as it's a brill Carry on film about strikes. With this Wednesday's Tube Strike on the way, I might find some comfort in thinking about the choruses of "Everybody Out" and "Right down tools" spoofed in the film where "strikes were called at the drop of a hat".


I didn't buy any Brighton Rock this time around (I love Rock), but I'm sure to go down to Brighton Tuttle again and will nab some then.


I must thank Nom Nom Nom'er James Whatley, Ben Smith and Dan Lane for driving me down and for being great travelling companions. Along with Ewan MacLeod they were filming a video on Brighton Beach and at Brighton Tuttle for Mobile Industry Review (formerly smstextnews).


The video & podcast are on Mobile Industry Review Show now and also I'm sure there will be many more pictures from others at Tuttle too. Thanks to Josh Russell for hosting Brighton Tuttle and for having a huge roast dinner with me on Sunday. If you want to see the rest of my Brighton photos they're on Flickr.

MOO Business Cards have arrived

Remember I said I was going to put my Wordle.net word clouds about the Tube and London Underground on my first set of MOO Business Cards. Well I finally got around to ordering them & here they are:




I love them! Thanks to the MOO blog for giving me the idea in the first place.

There's a couple more photos of my MOO Business Cards here.

Subway system in Beijing - Olympics

Annie is in Beijing. Not me, it's another Annie who is over for the Olympics and saw my post about whether the London Underground will be ready to cope with Olympics in 2012 when they come here. She's written a great piece about the subway over in Beijing with some fab photos. So over to Annie:

"I'm Annie as well (clearly). I'm in Beijing for the Olympics and as a long-time reader (okay, a year), I felt compelled to take some photos of the Beijing system.


I hope this isn't too rambly, but thought you'd be interested given your recent post about London's preparation (or lack thereof).

They've recently had an overhaul, which is visible in the Chinese/English signage and new tube trains. Given the heat, they've brought in air-conditioned carriages. Bliss!

The running is going very well given the number of people here for the Olympics. Changes are easy to make and everything is clearly signed, including which stairs take you to an exit and which take you to another tube line.

I couldn't get a photo of security, but they're scanning all bags with an x-ray and it's all going very quickly. And I have to say, they have thought well ahead by making gates (not all, but a number at each station) that are wide enough for wheelchairs and luggage to go through where you can still use your card to enter on your own. No passing your bag through a hole or waiting for someone to open the locked door for you. Brilliant.

With an Olympic ticket, you can get free travel on any public transport the same day as your event. You show your ticket at the station and they give you a single journey ticket to get to your destination. Then when you want to go somewhere else, they just hand you another.


Everything is 2008 branded and although they've also updated their signs about not leaning on the doors, I did see a great older one of a bleeding finger (we're talking big drops of blood) on the door. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera out before we got off.


There are queuing marks on the floors, which everyone follows, but as soon as the doors open, you're pretty much pushed on (before the rest have gotten off!).

And I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the new stop markings in the newer carriages (many of which look like 8-car trains but are actually 4 cars that are twice as long, joined like a bendy bus in the middle).


This is Line 2 and not only does it tell you the stop and interchanges, it also tells you which side the doors will open on and which direction you're going (clockwise or anti-clockwise)."

Annie's husband thinks she's crazy for doing this and taking the photos, but I think she's great. She said that she may have more pictures of the public transport there, so it's worth keeping an eye on her Flickr stream. Thanks Annie - you rock!