Archives /// Brainstorming - Long Island Edition.

Published on 09/06/2013 - 6:00AM. 
By Kevin Wang.

Because of recent Long Island Transportation Woes, I have taken out my Dwight D. Eisenhower-like transportation brains and brainstormed how Long Island can be changed. If I were to design Long Island including Queens and Brooklyn from scratch, in ways I'll try to maintain current layout for possible realistic redesign plans. So without further due, this is how it'll be.  


Interstates and Parkways (Roads):

For roads, you might think I am crazy, but my dream highway is 16 Lanes wide, with Electronic Tolling and Maximum Ceiling Speed of 95MPH's. However, if I have to do the Long Island Expressway (I-495), we can all agree 95MPH is a long stretch for the NorthEast so dial it down to 65MPH speed-limit, with possible 70 in Suffolk, but 16-lane sustained from Riverhead all the way to Exit 17, ETR is a stretch but it'll be placed until all debt are paid off and needed revenue are gained. 

I-695 (replaces I-678) will be originating from the Whitestone Bridge and replace Route 27 in Nassau and Suffolk Co., layout will be explained in last sentence. I-87 (replaces I-278) will follow the current routing however act more like I-75/85 thru Atlanta. I-295 will extend and travel with the Grand Central Parkway from the current Clearview Junction to the Cross Island Junction down Cross Island Expressway (replacing Cross Island Parkway from GCP south) and travel with I-695 (refer above) to JFK Airport. All Interstate Routes in geographical Long Island will look like I-495 currently between Exit 18 and Exit 21 albeit somewhat trimmed down, ramps will be designed to sustain 45MPH sustained travel unless ramps leads to local streets. Parkway network will be overhauled for overall safety and twists and turns will be smoothed out to maintain safety. You might think these twists and turns will help reduce speed and increase safety, however, some are too dangerous and will actually cause more accidents and reduce safeties due to differences between individual drivers. 
    
Regional Commuter Rail (Rail):

For the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Long Island Railroad (LIRR) redesign, there will be 6 tracks on Riverhead which is Ronkonkoma renamed, 4 tracks on Port Washington, Port Jefferson (Huntington) and Montauk (Babylon), 3 Tracks on Oyster Bay, Hempstead Loop which is a Hempstead-West Hempstead Loop, Long Beach, Far Rockaway and Brooklyn. All the junctions would be redesigned to make sure sustained speed operation is possible. Select stations would be consolidated to make more parking spaces for the purpose of Park-and-Ride. Also, in addition of there being a double tracked Bethpage-Babylon emergency connector, there will also be a triple tracked constant use Merrick-Bethpage connector. Bethpage will be renamed Bethpage Junction. 

Western Long Island Metro (Subway):

Oh, and for the Subways, Queens Plaza. and Queensborough Plaza will become merged to form Queensborough Plaza. (E)(F)(M)(R) between Queensborough Plaza and Kew Gardens will be 6 tracked, (D)(N)(R) between Atlantic-Pacific will be 6 tracked, (D)(N)(Q)(7)(F)(G) current sections with 3 or less tracks will be 4 tracked, if current layout, it will be double decked for elevated section, if from scratch, it will be 4 track wide ground level or on a hill like the (B)(Q) Brighton Line. But unfortunately, at this stalemated state, I know this may NEVER happen in our lifetime, nor anytime before year 2112. 

In summary, this will combine European's Premium Public Transit to the USA's Premium Road Network and actually makes these networks virtually future proof.

News Media or Personal Contact? Email me @ northeastregional@gmail.com . 

Archives /// Smartphone Buying Guide / Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC e.t.c.

Published on 09/03/2013 - 11:00PM.
Device Reviewed between 06/15/2013-09/03/2013. 

By Kevin Wang.

The holiday season is around the corner, I am craving a larger screen and 4G LTE, is there a compelling device out there to satisfy my needs and wants? Is iOS still good or has it gone stale? Is Android the next hype? Or is Windows Phone going to slowly Triumph it all?  Find out below!

Apple iOS

Apple's iOS 6 has been a rocky release, the first release didn't impress with multiple errors within Apple Map Apps and a lot of security difficulties from iOS 6.0 all the way up to 6.1.3, these errors didn't seem to be fixed 100% even til' now, despite user feedback, there still seem to be issues, just take one thing for example, Wilkes-Barre, PA's dot should be by the Susquehanna River right at Public Square at the intersection of Market and Main, even at the Route 309/Interstate 81 Junction would be satisfyable, however the dot is east of Bear Creek, PA, not ever a tiny bit off and also Blakeslee, PA seem to be located in Effort, PA. These errors were reported to Apple over 3 times by me, they didn't seem to fix it yet. While we hope iOS 7 brings tons of improvements and updates, we are still unsure if it's going to scream, only after September 10th we can be certain. 

Don't get me wrong, iOS hasn't gone stale, there are errors that needs to be removed, tons of it, but this doesn't mean Android and Windows Phone are good either. However on a hardware standpoint, Apple has gone stale, iPhone needs more variety, despite the old thinkings, Android and Windows Phone has different devices for different people, Apple needs to go beyond the iPhone 5, and the upcoming iPhone "5S" and "5C", Apple needs to seek additional sizes, perhaps two more models, both to bridge the gap between the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. A 4.7" and a 5.7", both should be iPhones because the ever expanding need of larger screens are a compelling reason for Apple to expand. Additionally, they also need to return to innovation after that, yes, it may sound like they are catching up, but they are also leading in other fields, still Apple needs to churn out some stuff, they should release a device with old specs like the iPad Mini, and aggressively improve on the next one. 

iOS overall still is my choice, and everything is still decent, the iTunes and App Store experience is still great, especially with the retail partners like Starbucks giving out free apps, but the lag on some firmware and hardware innovations makes the overall experience good but not great. Will I recommend the iPhone? Yes, I will recommend the iPhone, but I suggest waiting for iOS 7 to be out, then check back with me (and others if you prefer). 

Android (And Blackberry OS)

Android Version 4 throughout the Jelly Bean era has been a milestone for Android, despite a still big gap in terms of fragmentation between phones and OEM's, it has been a good improvement for Android, most of the buggy experiences has been kicked out and replaced with user-friendly, finger-cooperating experience. There were also a lot of menu and formatting improvements throughout that makes everything more responsive and efficient. Web Experience used to be as sucky as using the web on a Feature Phone, but now, it feels like you are using the web on a smartphone. These experience improvements are noticable throughout, regardless of OEM. Still everything is good but still not great when I look at graphics. Let's get to the hardwares. 

Samsung has been a big part of the move forward with their amazing line of devices, from the Galaxy S4 to the Galaxy Note II to the Galaxy Mega, the OEM's Android version is overall smooth and there are noticable lag, but it's not different to Apple iOS's and Windows Phone's lag. The overall Samsung Android seems to be the cleanest experience out there. Well, what's more dirtyer in my opinion? Well, I get gripes with LG's and HTC's experience because it's not as clean and somewhat it feels junked up with the unnecessary menu and screen switch flow graphics, it's just not quick and simple as Samsung. I wish both were as quick and simple because both has great hardwares, but it just don't make me want to consider them when I want to upgrade. Stock Android has their flaws too, I am not a fan of the home, back and such buttons on the physical screen, I'd much prefer it being dedicated on the hardware, off the LCD, regardless if it's a touch or a click button. This is also a key issue in Blackberry 10 (Kinda Android) devices as well, the QWERTY keys making the screen smaller isn't helping either. Despite everything being smooth, I have to put my money on Samsung, simply because the overall experience is great, just good to stale on the others, fortunately and unfortunately.

Windows Phone

Windows Phone 8 has been a great grand welcoming to the Smartphone globe, however there are problems too, despite Nokia's great innovations to Windows Phone and their great toolset of innovated apps and hardware, the OS just seem to be forgotten by most developers, the apps that's available seem to be more expensive than iOS and Android, with tons of paid apps on Windows, it's not something a person who don't have disposable income would want. Sometimes, paid Apps are great because they remove Ads, but in Windows Phone, these paid Apps can have Ads in them, while the same App on iOS and Android are either free or paid but ad-free. Don't get me wrong here, the OS experience despite the lack of a lot of free apps is great, the feel is smooth and responsive, sometimes even more responsive than Android and sometimes even more functioning than iOS. But the App Store almost throws it out of consideration.

But Wait! Nokia catches the throw before it can hit the ground! Nokia has a great toolset and innovative software and hardware library. The Lumia 920 and 1020 are outstanding devices, they work the way you need them to work, they have amazing Camera Optics, amazing Touch Response, amazing Hardware, amazing Maps and best of all the 1020 really makes the Photo amazing. If you were to present it to me, I would almost rule out it being from a Smartphone, Point & Shoot, it could compare to Mirrorless Cameras, like the Nikon J1, or even Mirrored like the Canon EOS Rebel T3. Low Light images are also outstanding, with a great flash that fires without making the end result suffer, and shooting Macro has noticable noise under good lighting but it doesn't make the image unusable when shared on Facebook and Instagram, even a Corporate Facebook Page could make use of these Macro images. I'll dive into the Lumia 1020 on a future post. As for HTC, their devices seem to be more like the Lumia 820, I wish they were as premium as the 920 and 1020, but the sad thing is, the experience seem to be not screaming performance, it seems to scream "Regular". Yes, HTC has some amazing device colors, but it just doesn't capture me, it just doesn't. So I am putting my money onto Nokia if I were to buy a Windows Phone. 

OVERALL

Overall, I am more more seriously considering Samsung Galaxy S4, and Nokia Lumia 1020, I know I may have to leave Apple's ecosystem temporarily, but my top 3 preferences are a larger screen and LTE, and better battery life, which Apple doesn't over 2 of the 3, Samsung offers all 3, and all 3 well. Same for Nokia, which despite carrying a lesser MaH battery, it still outperforms what I expect from a 2000 MaH battery. 

Note: Some of these informations are pulled from multiple sources, not personal tests however, I type it up from scratch, I never copy + paste unless it's in quote brackets.   

Image Source: Google Images.