Things to Do in New York, 2

Living in an area where the transportation system is erratic at best, I am eager to try out the NY Subway System. I have always been fascinated by trains: they seem to be the most efficient and fastest way to get from one place to the other and they do not involve any exertion on my part. No traffic, no traffic lights, controlled stops, and well-lit rooms that allow uninterrupted reading.

It’s the little touches like these that make me want to take public transportation.

It also makes me wonder if I would make an excellent transit authority. Looking at the job openings over at TransportationCrossing makes me think that it can be a very interesting job. I tried searching for available transportation jobs in New York using their easily navigable search engine and it turned up an opening for a Director of Logistics! In addition to five more pages of opportunities, all dedicated to transportation. Meanwhile, one interesting widget on the lower right hand corner of the TransportationCrossing website was the interactive US map which shows how many jobs are available when you drag your cursor over to the proper state. At least you can anticipate how far you have to move. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania have the most number of job openings, no doubt because of their size, but the market is quite promising in tiny Massachusetts as well.

Fare:

• Unlimited ride cards:
  • 1-Day Fun Pass: $7.50.
  • 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard: $25.
  • 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard: $81.

Mixed Tapes

Today, I discovered Muxtape and Mixwit, two sites where you can create and share your mixed tapes. Mixwit has a more nostalgic feel to its design: creators can dress up their own cassette tape whose rollers turn realistically as the music plays. Aside from the play and pause and jump forward and back buttons, there is also a tracking button for easy refrain replays. Muxtape only features a list of the songs contained in the mixed tape in aggressively 60 font and a countdown. The Muxtape homepage is also off-putting, what with its discordant radio buttons in clashing colors.

Both websites suffer from a failure to give listeners an idea of the theme of the mixed tape. It would be nice to have an idea of what I’m listening to but it’s impossible. Other than the user names and vague and extremely personal mixed tape titles, it’s almost like Russian roulette. And there is nothing more disappointing than a mixed tape that does not have a sense of narrative.