HTC One

Full Metal Body

Front Facing Speakers

Technology is advancing so fast that new phones come our nearly every month. Still, there was one that caught my eye and I had to get my hands on it. As soon as my contract allowed me to, I set my self up with an HTC One.

I have always been a fan of HTC phones due to their high quality standards and beautiful designs. This time they went beyond anything I expected. This time, with the HTC One, they chose to go with a rounded full metal back and glass front. The real beauty of it, though, was the amount of gaps or lack-thereof  gaps. When you hold the phone in your hands, it feels natural and sturdy.

HTC didnt stop their with their amazing prowess for design. With the One, they went against convention and put the two speakers on the phone. Not only that, they put them on the front. I had been waiting a long time for a phone company to do this. Often, I would find myself holding my other phones in odd ways just so I could hear my media. This was the simple solution. It makes more sense to have the speakers in the front in the first place. Now with these powerful dual speakers, I never have any issues listening to my music and movies.

Bike/Pedestrian Lanes On CPP Campus

The pictures above show the recently painted lanes meant to separate cyclists from pedestrian at Cal Poly Pomona. I have been using the path in these pictures for about five years and I can definitely tell that there is a big difference in pedestrian traffic now that these lanes are in place. When I say traffic, I don’t mean that the area has become congested. I mean that the flow of students and staff has become more organized.

At Cal Poly Pomona, there are a lot of people riding skateboards, longboards and bikes. Often, they are not traveling very cautiously. I’ve seen a couple of accidents myself and the damage done can be quite bad. These lanes are a simple solution to separate ordinary pedestrians from those on wheels. Not everyone on campus follows the simple directions of the lanes, but the vast majority seems to understand what they are meant for.

I can only wish that people payed more attention to the bright red signs also posted around campus where wheeled traveling is forbidden.

Pedestrian Sidewalk Safety

While I am an avid skater and bus rider, I often find myself walking to my destinations. And even though I take proper measures when traveling about, I have been hit by a car on more that one occasion. This is why I take pedestrian safety quite seriously. Lately, I have been noticing these weird bumpy mats on sidewalks are popping up on more and more pathways. They are usually grey or yellow in color, but have appeared in red in some areas. At first I didn’t know what they were for. I thought them to be a nuisance since they made it more difficult to skate to my destinations. Then, a friend of mine informed me of their true purpose.

These bumpy mats are known as “detectable warning surfaces.” They can will normally be found on the ramps that connect the roads with the sidewalk crossing areas. Their purpose is simply to inform cyclists and other pedestrians of the merging between pavement and sidewalk. This prevents loss of control when transitioning between them.

After hearing this, I became more appreciative of them. They are easy to spot and help prevent accidents. The trouble they give me is nothing compared to the safety they provide and I’m quite glad somebody thought of something so simple and intuitive.