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How many QMS advertising panels in Sydney are near a Telstra public telephone?
- holografix 4y agoFascinating and reminiscent of the comedic absurdity portrayed in the “Utopia” tv show!
- vermilingua 4y agoAs someone with many family members and friends in the public sector in Australia, I've learned not to bring up Utopia as it's too painfully close to reality.
- GianFabien 4y agoHaving worked for several state government departments, I describe "Utopia" as a documentary.
- matheusmoreira 4y ago> And is the City of Sydney engaging in a municipal tit for tat? No doubt. I remember a story here on HN about politicians making traffic worse on purpose by extending red light times just to force people to look at more ads while they wait. I don't think these people have any limits or scruples. Always assume they are corrupt.
- meowface 4y ago>I remember a story here on HN about politicians making traffic worse on purpose by extending red light times just to force people to look at more ads while they wait. I don't think these people have any limits or scruples. Always assume they are corrupt. I'd be very interested in seeing this. Does anyone have a source?
- matheusmoreira 4y agoYes, I managed to find the source in my comments history. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29901055 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29901055 > In a past career I was a civil engineer > I learned about how traffic light green times (how many seconds a signal stays green for one direction vs. the cross street) usually have a "right answer" from an engineering standpoint > has to do with maximizing traffic throughput and/or minimizing delays to each individual vehicle > And then the mayor of the town shows up out of the blue and says no, this direction is going to have a longer wait > I'm going to delay people intentionally > so that when they're stuck in traffic, sitting there, they'll have more of a chance to see signs/placards of, and contemplate patronizing, nearby businesses, whose owners are my political backers
- lupire 4y agoCitation desperately needed. What does happen is yellow light times are shortened, to cause more red-light violations to generate revenue from tickets and profit for colluding businesses. https://www.salon.com/2017/04/05/this-may-have-happened-to-you-revenue-hungry-cities-mess-with-traffic-lights-to-write-more-tickets_partner https://www.salon.com/2017/04/05/this-may-have-happened-to-y...
- matheusmoreira 4y agoFound the comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29901055 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29901055 > In a past career I was a civil engineer > I learned about how traffic light green times (how many seconds a signal stays green for one direction vs. the cross street) usually have a "right answer" from an engineering standpoint > has to do with maximizing traffic throughput and/or minimizing delays to each individual vehicle > And then the mayor of the town shows up out of the blue and says no, this direction is going to have a longer wait > I'm going to delay people intentionally > so that when they're stuck in traffic, sitting there, they'll have more of a chance to see signs/placards of, and contemplate patronizing, nearby businesses, whose owners are my political backers
- lotsofpulp 4y agoThis is a good example for why all work communication should be via auditable email. I suspect that trying to do things like this is a major reason leaders want people in office.
- acomjean 4y agoI haven’t seen them recently but “billboard truck” were a thing. A truck who’s only purpose is to literally have advertisements on them. ( they have no storage)
- matheusmoreira 4y agoThey are a thing in my city. They even leave the billboard parked in some strategic place and drive away.
- jakecopp 4y agoThis is an example of why I love OpenStreetMap so much - you never know what amazing things people will use the data for once you’ve mapped it!
- martyvis 4y agoAnd many of these new panels and wide phone booths provide extras accessibility issues. https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/zk9ooj/city_of_sydney_strikes_again_new_advertisement/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/zk9ooj/city_of_sydn... https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/zb3k8k/have_your_say_adbooths_proposal_to_install_38/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/zb3k8k/have_your_sa...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bigbluedots 4y agoCould be for data connectivity? These phone booths usually provide wifi
- caf 4y agoI think there is a good chance this is the case. There would likely be unused pairs available at that location that could provide a wired data service to the billboard.
- pxeger1 4y agoAnd then I think the fact that they're always unobstructed by the phone booth is meaningless too. If you're going to put a billboard next to a phone booth, obviously you're not going to want to deliberately obstruct the billboard.
- dostick 4y agoOnly way to find out! Does openstreetmap has wifi mapped, is there correlation?
- mastazi 4y agoAFAIK Telstra phone boots include a wifi hotspot. Or at least they usually do (I'm not sure if all of them do but I would imagine that this is usually the case in urban areas).
- rblatz 4y agoI find it fascinating that not only are there still public telephones in Sydney, they are actively being deployed.
- guidedlight 4y agoCalls from public telephones are now free, they now also provide free wifi. It does seem that the legal benefit of free space and electricity, and the commercial benefit of high foot traffic locations is too great for Telstra to simply give up these installations.
- caf 4y agoThe electricity is not free (it would be paid under a low consumption unmetered arrangement, similar to things like public BBQs or traffic lights). Telstra is contracted to provide payphone service under the Telstra USO Performance Agreement with the Federal Government, at a cost of $44 million.
- mcosta 4y agoToday I learned there are public BBQs in Australia.
- rv3392 4y ago
- entropy47 4y agoWe know each other! He's a friend from work.