Despite the fact that P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) looks a bit like Steve Urkel’s BMW Isetta I got to say that I really love the concept. I completely understand the rain of negative comments that appeared all over the net after General Motors and Segway announced that they teamed up for PUMA Project. Without any doubt the safety of the vehicle is definitely an issue to consider. Mainly if you realize that its speed is 3 times higher than that of original segway and that it is expected to run alongside more traditional (bigger) vehicles.
I do understand all that moaning and reasoning! But still! P.U.M.A is a great alternative to traditional vehicles for two reasons:
1.It protects the driver from exposure to weather conditions (Well not yet, but I believe soon we will get a machine looking more like the original concept and less like a dune buggy), unlike other car alternatives like Bicycle and small motorbikes.
2.Segway works! And you can moan and argue as much as you like to, but I just can’t see all that flashy urban mobility vehicles around our towns and cities as much as I do see segways.
To go around the question of security of this type of vehicles forever is frankly getting trapped in chicken and egg situation. We cannot have lighter, more practical and more ecological vehicles, becouse there is no infrasturcture and safe roads to drive them. And there is not enough infrastracture, becouse there is not enough lighweight vehicles. So what’s next?
PUMA is a nice concept adding to ever increasing spectrum of similar personal mobility solutions and unlike many others it is not just a CAD animation, but a working machine.
And talking about the security; “Do you prefere to be hit by a traditional car or by this little thingy?”
Internet portal UniverseToday.com reported yesterday on article published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal. The article is a study of what might have happened if chlorofluorocarbons (the chemical compounds responsible for so-called ozone hole effect) were not banned.
It is now clear, that with the Montreal Protocol (The first ever international protocol on regulation of chemical pollutants) we did save our children and grand-children from very unpleasant future.
But the real message of Montreal Protocol is simply that: “It Can Be Done!” We can join our forces and agree on common action, when facing really disastrous outcomes. As stated in the original article Montreal Protocol is a “remarkable international agreement that should be studied by those involved with global warming and the attempts to reach international agreement on that topic.”
I remember the times when the media was full of environmental activists calling for action on regulating the mentioned chemicals and it was looking equally hopeless as today’s fight(s) to regulate plastic pollutants, global warming or even increasing poverty levels and political destabilization. I think Montreal Protocol should be consider a “seed of hope “ and a template for many other following, positive, common actions.
You can check the original article on Universe Today: Here
Today I joined a facebook group about human rights campaigning. Even-thou the group has been set up to promote gay,lesbian and transsexual rights now it looks like it’s scope is a bit more general, after more than 33. 000 people joined the group.
I found some horrible photos of the Gaza conflict at the site, that make me feel so little enthusiastic, about what I’m trying to achieve with my blog. Even after the horrors I saw in TV during the last two weeks, I believe this pictures must lift everybody from his computer-chair. Are we still living in the era of barbarian rulers, who are free to kill at their will, without ever seeing the consequences of their actions,or are there going to be consequences for Israel? We have to realize that Israel is not some fragile African dictatorship or a jungle guerrilla Warlord ruled pseudo-state. The state responsible for this atrocities is widely recognized by most developed world countries. Why is Venezuela (with its controversial leader) the only country that expelled the Israeli diplomats by now? The UN and International community just failed to solve this kind of problems so many times . I just don’t understand how can be basic human rights still violated in such terrifying way by a recognized state, without the Security Council taking any decisive action.
I was not about to go “live” with my blog yet, as there is still a lot of work to be done, but I just can’t resist the idea of doing something. If not to elevate the suffering of the Palestinian population, than at least make it hell for Israeli diplomacy all over the world. Giving a message to other governments elsewhere, that “THEY CANNOT solve their problems in such truly barbaric way”. By now it looks like THEY CAN!
Today I will create my own facebook group. And Yes; I will bother all my friends with those nasty images, because next time it can be them. If you have a facebook account yourself, please join my protest on:
Is there a way for average mortal to find out whats going on? The TV stations and Newspapers are feeding us again and again with the same stories, even-thou they do have access to much wider sources of information. What about skipping the mediators and going directly to the source? This is a website of The Thomson Reuters Foundation. Yes the same Reuters, that is selling the news to your local TV channel! Alternet is a “Humanitarian news network” and its philosophy can be easily summarised by its tag line “Alerting Humanitarians To Emergencies”.
Internet portal UniverseToday.com reported yesterday on article published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal. The article is a study of what might have happened if chlorofluorocarbons (the chemical compounds responsible for so-called ozone hole effect) were not banned.
