geekosystem

New York City is a weird enough place, justifying daily the phrase "only in New York!" As the Geekosystem office is situated in the Big Apple -- which no one who lives here calls it, by the way -- we're happy whenever something positive livens up our town. In a prelude to April Fool's Day, more than 2,000 people moved backwards in Times Square for 5 minutes, confusing locals and tourists alike.

If you've never ridden on the New York City subway, you're missing out. We recommend it -- assuming you're a big fan of long waits, overcrowding, hate your personal space, enjoy grasping germ-ridden handlebars, and like the heady aroma made possible by the proximity of large numbers of people. All kidding aside, yeah, it's gross, but the trains do get you from A to B, usually by way of C and D and only when X doesn't have signal problems or Y doesn't have track work. Now they're going to do something that makes New Yorkers simultaneously excited and horrified. They're going to install 90 touchscreen kiosks, creating a "beta" network across the subway system that can chart the best routes between stations and list train arrivals and departures. You did get that people -- strangers, millions of them -- will be touching them, right?

Of all the detritus remaining from the pre-cellular age, payphones are among the most visible. However, a new plan launched in New York City might give these once useful call kiosks a new lease on life by converting them into free Wi-Fi hotspots.

Considering that cellphone ownership in the U.S. has pretty much become the rule instead of the exception, you might expect that pay phones would die out entirely. It looks like they may, but not in the way you might expect. As part of a pilot program in New York City, 250 pay phones are going to be removed, but something will be put in their place: 32" ad-supported touch screens, complete with Internet access for email, Wi-Fi hotspots for device use, and cameras for Skyping and what-have-you. Sounds a little better than holding a filthy piece of plastic up to your mouth, doesn't it?

In an apparent quest not to potentially hurt the feelings of students, the New York City Department of Education is trying to get around 50 words and phrases banned from use in tests issued by the city. Extremely offensive words and phrases, like "dinosaur," "celebrities," and "computers in the home."

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Mortal Kombat is flash dancing, right? Well, that's at least what comes to this group's hive mind, because they dress up as characters from the venerable fighting series, carry around a boombox, and dance dance dance their hearts away across New York City. I couldn't think of a better way to have my day ruined.

When filmmaker and bicyclist Casey Neistat received a $50 fine for riding outside of a bike lane in New York City despite his protestations that the bike lane is often unsafe, he made this video in which he attempts to reduce the law to absurdity. So Neistat religiously sticks within the boundaries of the bike lane, even if they're blocked by trash, taxi, or trucks -- and if there's no way around them, he simply crashes spectacularly into them. It's not entirely clear that the ticketing Neistat describes is legal in the first place; what the law actually says is that "Bicycle riders must use bike path/lane, if provided, except for access, safety, turns, etc." [emphasis added], but NYC police have been aggressively ticketing cyclists this year, sometimes without regard for that caveat. New York City regulations also ban "parking, standing or stopping vehicles within or otherwise obstructing bike lanes." Neistat's point: Police can't fairly enforce the law with respect to cyclists without applying it to everyone else and making the lanes safe for use. (Consumerist via Boing Boing)

Yesterday, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg and NYC chief digital officer Rachel Sterne unveiled an ambitious set of proposals for becoming the #1 digital city in America. Following a 90-day review of the city's current place and progress in digital initiatives, here's the ambitious set of objectives they've come up with:

An art installation found in New York City, this hipster trap contains the stereotypical staples of hipster life: American Spirit cigarettes, a can of PBR, silly plastic glasses, and a brightly-colored bike chain. We tried not to find it funny. We really did.

(via BuzzFeed)

Whether its organizing flashmobs, freezing time, or throwing birthday parties for unsuspecting strangers, Improv Everywhere makes people laugh with no shortage of flair. And this time they've outdone themselves in the geek department. Things started out at a weirdness level that could just spontaneously happen in New York: Princess Leah boards a subway train reading Galactic Rebellion for Dummies. But she cannot hide there for long, as the dark side is always hunting those with goodness in their hearts and Jedi in their family tree.

Watch below to see Leah's New York subway ordeal.

Last night there was a bomb scare in Times Square, New York, that was less a scare than an actual, you know, bomb. The "amateurish" car bomb was an SUV carrying three canisters of propane, ten gallons of gasoline, and some fireworks. While it's a bit beyond our purview to cover the event itself (we'll leave it to Mediaite), we did notice something funky on CNN. Weekend CNN Newsroom anchor Don Lemon was alarmed that he was unable to get a clear picture of the Times Square area on Google Earth. After using blurred footage from Google Earth as an illustration of the tight security around the area, he asked his guest, Tom Fuentes, former FBI Assistant Director of International Relations, what this might mean. His guest's answer was not exactly... well. Informed.