tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post6091550632962100770..comments2024-03-14T23:52:09.893-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: The Neurocritic Does New YorkThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-53678968141531858272007-05-05T05:11:00.000-07:002007-05-05T05:11:00.000-07:00The Neurocritic writes:If you look at the elevator...The Neurocritic writes:<BR/><I><BR/>If you look at the elevators in the newly renovated lobby of the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square, you’ll notice something unusual. Instead of a button to call the elevator, there’s a keypad. Punch in the number of the floor you want, and the computer will direct you to a particular elevator. <BR/></I><BR/>Ooh! I just read about the big problem with those <A HREF="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/04/30.html" REL="nofollow">is a significant usability issue</A><BR/>Most people assume that they can (and should) just hop into the first elevator going "their way". But the new elevators are just robotically programmed to go to the floor the "intended" rider punched into the keypad. So you get into an elevator going up, and find yourself on the 23rd floor, and there aren't any buttons in the elevator to choose something else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-45760134516695475632007-05-04T22:27:00.000-07:002007-05-04T22:27:00.000-07:00The Sheraton is 6 blocks up from the Marriott Marq...The Sheraton is 6 blocks up from the <A HREF="http://marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycmq-new-york-marriott-marquis-times-square/" REL="nofollow">Marriott Marquis</A>, where CNS was held 2 years ago. Everyone who stayed there complained bitterly about how slow the elevators were (i.e., like 30 min to reach the lobby). So it was ironic when the NY Times Magazine ran a short piece on the "<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10section3b.t-1.html" REL="nofollow">Smart Elevators</A>" in that hotel:<BR/><BR/><I>If you look at the elevators in the newly renovated lobby of the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square, you’ll notice something unusual. Instead of a button to call the elevator, there’s a keypad. Punch in the number of the floor you want, and the computer will direct you to a particular elevator. There, you will find a group of people headed to your floor and those close to it. When the elevator arrives, it whisks you and the group directly to your floors.<BR/><BR/>You've just taken a ride on the Schindler Elevator Corporation’s Miconic 10, one of a new generation of "smart elevators."</I><BR/><BR/>Maybe that renovation happened <B>after</B> the 2005 CNS meeting.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and btw, the elevators at the Sheraton are <B>very</B> fast.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-445509231852871402007-05-04T19:00:00.000-07:002007-05-04T19:00:00.000-07:00The neurocritic writes:I think they should have th...The neurocritic writes:<BR/><I><BR/>I think they should have the meeting in Las Vegas!<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>There seems to be a tacit agreement among all of your better academic conferences <B>not</B> to hold meetings in Vegas, I am guessing because all of that reimbursement using state and federal tax dollars would look bad.<BR/><BR/>As for grad students six to a room...yes, that's the basic way to keep the costs down. Or you can share a room with at least some of your grad students. The last time I went to CSN in New York, my grad student and I ended up at the kind of hotel where they slide you a key from behind a bullet-proof window and tell you to keep nothing in your room. That said, the room was decent enough.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, I stand corrected about it being in Times Square; it's up on 53rd, but still in Midtown. Of course, my hotel is down in the 40s, but the weather is supposed to be super nice, so I will be happy enough to walk back and forth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-23873574811656944652007-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:002007-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:00Yeah, how are grad students supposed to afford the...Yeah, how are grad students supposed to afford the $250 conference hotel? Oh wait, 6 to a room...<BR/><BR/>I think they should have the meeting in Las Vegas!The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-37574363925653662222007-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:002007-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:00Times Square is the world's sTuPiDeSt place for th...Times Square is the world's sTuPiDeSt place for this conference, by the way. Honestly, I never noticed much suffering or complaining when it was always in San Fransisco, except from people who wanted it in San Diego instead. To get even a prayer of halfway decent weather on the east coast, they have ended up having to move the whole meeting to May. Bah.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-77873708224930753482007-05-03T11:04:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:04:00.000-07:00Crazy, indeed. I've only been to Cog Sci once. Usu...Crazy, indeed. I've only been to Cog Sci once. Usually do go to Cog Neurosci.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-28167391564533713392007-05-02T19:09:00.000-07:002007-05-02T19:09:00.000-07:00Man, those crazy cognitive neuroscientists. Do you...Man, those crazy cognitive neuroscientists. Do you go to Cog Sci?Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417970139690159046noreply@blogger.com