Category: Funny: Muni LOLs

What if a cute bunny gave NextBus predicitions?

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That must be what Ciaran asked himself. He says, “I finally found a use for this French wifi connected rabbit I bought.”

Inaccurate predictions sound a little better from the robot rabbit, eh?

Update for the geek inside all (ok, some) of us:

Ciaran sent over more notes about how he programmed the robot rabbit called Karotz, which he details on his blog.

An excerpt: First you write javascript programs that interact with an API to control the various Karotz functions like the ears, text to speech etc. Find the developer’s forum on Google Groups (use Google’s automatic translation feature because it’s mostly in French).

Then spend a few evenings writing the Muni times app, using available bus arrival data through xml feeds. You’ll need to use tinyxmldom.js. Upload the code to the rabbit through the website — good luck trying to debug it, though. There is a Linux vm for developing but it’s only a javascript vm, not a simulator.

Wow. Or, you can always just watch the video above like we did.

Thanks, Ciaran!

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs

Wanted: Muni advice for an out-of-towner

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DOUBLE DECKER MUNI BUS
Photo by Lulu Vision*

British dude James sent us the most charming email the other day asking about standard procedures and etiquette on Muni. Oh, how we wish some of our fellow riders would be as considerate about etiquette as James. Here are some of James’s questions:

  • Do we pay when we get on? Or do we need to have pre-paid passes or something?
  • When we’re at a bus stop, do we need to put our hand out to catch it or does it always stop at every stop?
  • Is there a bell you ring to get off the bus?
  • What do I say to the driver when I get on? What’s the little phrase that people use? (for example, here in the UK, it’s usually “one to town, please” or something like that).
  • Do I get given a ticket? Do I need to keep hold of it?

A few things have changed since we did a “newbie orientation” last year. The SFMTA has a new customer guide, which addresses some of these questions in more detail but doesn’t really go into my favorite question from James: what you say to the driver when you get on?

We thought it more fitting to turn his inquiry over to you, the Muni-riding community. So whadaya say? Help a guy out.

* Pictured is one of the short-lived Muni double-decker buses, which, you know, is so … British.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags:

Unnecessary Rudeness: A PSA of Sorts

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IMG_0094
Photo by Tantek Çelik

A lady gets on a full-ish 47 on Van Ness on Thursday morning. She was sorta not unlike a brunette Anna Nicole Smith, both visually and vocally. She tried unsuccessfully, twice, to tag her Clipper card. Since these were unsuccessful attempts, the driver asked her to try again. She says this in response:

“Can’t you read? It said ‘already processed.’ Fucking idiot.”

So … some friendly reminders and tips for everyone at home:

  • “EH-EH” is the no-no sound. “EH,” singular, is the good sound. Both are really loud and obvious.
  • Those machines always tell you, aurally and on the screen, when your tag worked. Pretty sure it displays a red light if it didn’t.
  • It happens to the best of us. I usually board the bus, rolling my eyes after two tries, and tag at the back doors.
  • The drivers can be faulted for a great many things, but failure to tag a card on persnickety machines isn’t one of them.

She was sweet as pie to the passengers, perhaps realizing how snatchy the whole exchange was.

 

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags: ,

Kirk Read on Muni: Humanity and Criminality

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You probably have heard of Mr. Kirk Read, cohost the open mics Smack Dab and Kvetsh, and an amazing storyteller himself. Here Kirk tells a story that happened on the 14-Mission at Muni Diaries Live 5.

I missed my preferred mode of Muni transportation, which I think it’s the only dignified way to ride Muni: the underground. Riding above ground you’re just open to all manners of humanity and criminality and indecency, really. I missed that, so I was left with a double bus on Mission — the 14. Exactly. So I step into my carriage…I went to the back of the bus because that’s where the most interesting people are. So that’s where I sit, in solidarity with the interesting people.

On this night there was nobody in the back of the bus, so I sit down. Then I hear this rustling and I look down, and there is this little pile of fabric squirming on the floor. What is going on?! It took a minute and I realize it’s this little woman who was rubbing against everything, all up on the windows. It’s like when you’re on ecstasy and you really let yourself go. She’s not touching me because she has some manners. But she’s like touching the air, and I’m fascinated, and I’m just like, YES! I’m just gonna sit here and behold.

Watch the video to find out what happened in the rest of Kirk’s story.

Got a story of humanity, criminality, or indecency on the bus? You know where to send it.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, Muni Diaries Live Tags: , ,

Muni finds home on failblog

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Improved Muni on Rock Photo
Photo by Akit

Megan tells us:

While flipping through failblog today, I noticed something very familiar. A Muni fail was posted to the site June 10. The photo features a Muni training coach on Font Blvd. next to the SF State dorms caught on the roundabout.

Awesome. Thanks, Megan. We noticed when Akit posted about this last week, but making it to failblog is, well, epic.

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs
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