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heroic tales of survival
Posts Tagged “
Elevators
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heroic tales of survival
nightmares
Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video
In 1999, BusinessWeek production manager Nicholas White went outside to smoke a cigarette and, upon returning, got stuck in an elevator. For 41 hours. The story of his ordeal is woven through Nick Paumgarten's new New Yorker feature about elevators, and is, predictably, the most interesting part. It's amazing how much 41 hours in a small metal box altered White's life forever, for the worse. And—oh yes—there is (sped-up) security camera footage of him the entire time. It's mesmerizing, because you can imagine him slowly going insane, which is exactly what's happening. Below, the video, and the article's summary of White's life since he was rescued. Let this be a cautionary tale to all of you who may find yourself similarly ensared in this most primal of New York office drone nightmares! More »
safety first
Bike Racks For All At 'NYTimes' Building—But Are The Stairs Up To Code?
Now that New York Times staffers are all settled in their fancy new building with the indoor arboretum and the finicky windowpanes, we wondered what the company might be doing to impress upon employees that their comforts and convenience remain priorities. As it turns out, the Times HR department wants everyone to know they're still listening. "We recently implemented some changes to better suit the needs of our employees," reads today's in-houseTimes newsletter [PDF link]. For instance! Bike racks are promised! Name plate holders for the copy desk too! Also, in the interest of convenience, staircases are now numbered "on the inside railing on each staircase—now when walking between floors you can easily know your location." Pardon us for saying so, but aren't well-marked means of egress, you know, prerequisites to passing city building and fire codes? We decided to poke around in the code to find out, and hey, how about that! They totally are. More »
point/counterpoint
'Times' Elevator Story Takes Us Nowhere Fast
So that giant hippie freak Choire was deeply moved and whatever by today's Times story on the sad state of the Bronx Family Court elevators. Pinko commie softie. Elevators are a privilege, not a right! If they've got a reason to be in family court, then they probably don't deserve modern mechanical conveniences anyway. More »
atoosa rubenstein
If You See Atoosa Rubenstein On An Elevator, Press The Button
There's an article behind the pay wall in today's Wall Street Journal about "destination elevators," buttonless cars programmed to arrive at specific floors. They're initially difficult to adjust to, causing confusion among the elderly (Rupert Murdoch) and the young alike. But,Most people catch on pretty quickly. Just a month after the Hearst Tower opened, some Hearst executives said they were forgetting to push buttons in old-fashioned elevators. "My problem has become that I keep forgetting to press buttons in the elevator in my apartment building, so as I tap tap tap on my BlackBerry, I realize minutes later that the elevator hasn't moved," says Atoosa Rubenstein, the departing editor in chief of Hearst's Seventeen magazine.There's a metaphor in there somewhere. More »
