News Cut: April 20, 2009 Archive

Your Monday morning motivator

Posted at 10:32 AM on April 20, 2009 by Than Tibbetts

Watch this incredible audio slideshow, and ask yourself, "Can I say this?"

It stops your motivation for a little... (but) we continue to do what we need to do, 'cause this is our job. We love doing what we do.

That soldier had just lost one of his comrades to an improvised explosive device.

My TPS reports feel a little lighter this morning.

All aboard

Posted at 11:36 AM on April 20, 2009 by Than Tibbetts (9 Comments)

The Obama administration's announcement of $8 billion for high-speed rail development around the country certainly made a splash, but it's not going to put many new trains on new tracks in the near-term. It's hard enough to build a baseball stadium for less than a billion dollars these days.

Here, we're talking about spreading $8 billion around to 10 rail corridors across the country, plus an additional $1 billion a year for 5 years.

While we can admire the rail-centric Europeans or the sleek bullet trains of Japan, is it worth trying to shift the primary mode of transportation for a significant number of Americans?

Amtrak's Empire Builder runs between the Twin Cities and Chicago. It'll cost you $56-74 and take you 8 hours to get there.

If you're a frequent traveler to Chicago, what's the threshold at which you'll consider switching from plane to train? A 6-hour trip? 4 hours?

Update: In the comments, Tyler notes that the point of this all is that it's high-speed rail.

However, the U.S. actually has different standards for what qualifies as high-speed rail than the European Union, for example. The EU says it's a top speed of 125 mph or more, while 90 mph will earn you the status of "Emerging High-Speed Rail" in the U.S. — or, for the politically expedient, "high-speed rail".

For the interested, the Federal Railroad Administration's high-speed rail strategic plan (pdf) is worth a read.

(9 Comments)

Facing fears, the Internet way

Posted at 5:36 PM on April 20, 2009 by Julia Schrenkler (6 Comments)

Can exposure to our fears, via the Internet, help us conquer them?

This video was passed to me with the note, "I will give you five bucks if you can watch this without your palms sweating." Sorry folks, that offer was only good for me, and needless to say the sendee won't have to pay up. It wasn't quite fear, though, something more like straight-up adrenaline that caused my reaction. See for yourself:

While this is an amazing feat, the revealing story is in the reactions. The comments on the video range from admiration to astonishment with some good old, "That is so terrifying!!!" remarks thrown in for balance. This got me thinking about how we address our own fears, and wondering if people attempt to do this online.

According to an article from Backpacker Magazine, we can acquire skills to face our fears in the virtual world, "'The gold standard for treatment is in vivo exposure therapy,' Anderson says, but virtual exposure through computer simulations can be a good alternative when real-life contact is too difficult or expensive, such as in a fear of flying."

But can - and do - we actually undertake this? Do you challenge yourself to overcome fears by watching videos?

h/t for the video, Michael Wells

(6 Comments)