Metro maps

I'm a big fan of the stylised maps often used by metro and railway companies, where geography is made secondary to conveying information, and as a result, the world is just a little bit more typographically pleasing. So obviously different levels of my geekery got together in rejoicing over this map:



Not a true metro or train map, although the buses go through plenty of tunnels, and the 300, 400, and 410 services even go under the sea for a bit. Another bit of the geek in me is happy that there seems to be some underlying systematicity in numbering the bus and ferry connections, although it could have been done a little bit more elegantly.

Robot musicians don't like me

Last weekend, me and CS went to the last day of the Cybraphon exposition, a strange robot contraption that can make music on lots of different instruments inside a 1920s-style cupboard. It was designed by two people from the department, Simon and Ziggy-who-is-really-Barry. In the middle of the top shelf of the cupboard is a sort of barometer that indicates the Cybraphon's mood. Supposedly the music it plays depends on its mood, but of course if you only go and see it once, you can't tell...

The mood-o-meter goes from "desolate" to "delirious". When we came in, the Cybraphon was moderately happy. I can't remember exactly what the mood-o-meter said, but if it's really 1920s British it would have been something along the lines of "chirpy" or "jolly". However, the minute we positioned ourselves in front of the Cybraphon, its mood went down to "indifferent".

Thanks.

But also, likewise. Simon and Ziggy's previous contraption was a whole range of chimes and xylophones and things hidden in the bushes in one of the big greenhouses at the Botanic Gardens. They were connected to motion sensors, so certain things would play if you were standing near a certain plant. You could move around the greenhouse and make things happen. The Cybraphon doesn't have this interactiveness – at least, no direct interaction between the thing and the spectators. Apparently it takes its mood from how many people write about it positively on the internet. So sorry Cybraphon, I'm going to go ruin your day now: you weren't as good as the Botanics set-up.