Pre-HOPE update
As soon as the clock strikes 5 PM tomorrow, I’m off with Cat to pick up our passes for HOPE, so we can beat the rush on the registration table that’s bound to happen on Friday morning. After that, the next thing you’ll probably see posted is the presentation post, with my slides, and probably the audio (after the presentation is over).
Speaking of the presentation, I really feel indebted to all the people at work who went out of their way to help me with this presentation. I can’t thank them enough for the time, effort and patience they displayed in helping a lowly intern be able to present on a topic as controversial as this. I’ve probably inconvenienced more than a few people in the process of preparing for Friday, and to them I apologize, and extent my heartfelt appreciation for their patience.
However, despite having help from the TLC, all the research, figures, and images in this presentation will be from public sources, such as the New York Times, the TLC website, and the Taxi 07: Roads Forward book published in December 2007. I’m going to try to link to as many of the sources I’ve used as possible in the post, but the bulk will already be referenced in the presentation. This presentation is designed to be an introduction to the NYC taxi system for out-of-towners, as well as a discussion on the privacy concerns in the “GPS” system implemented last year, and as such there will be no big surprises. Everything I’m presenting has already been said, I’m just gluing the pieces together.
One last thing to keep in mind is that I’m not an actual TLC employee. Technically, I’m a “consultant” working for ComSys, the company JP Morgan is using to place and pay all the former Bear Stearns interns. As such, I’m not a spokesman for the commission (although how you’d get the idea that I was, me wearing a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers, I don’t know), just an individual interested in the way the system works. Just like any other hacker presenting this weekend.
That said, I think I’ve put together an informative, entertaining, and interesting 30-45 minute presentation, with a lot of stuff the average person doesn’t think about, and I’m looking forward to standing up in the Turing room at 8 PM and seeing where the night takes me. But hopefully not too far from my notes!
73, and I’ll see you in NYC!
