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Build Your Own LCD Bus Schedule

Posted by michael on from the mass-transit dept.

MikeLRoy writes "An engineering student in Winnipeg, tired of missing his bus to school (and waiting in the cold) created an LCD bus stop. It displays the next bus times for several stops and routes, all from the heated comfort of his kitchen. And yes, there are pics and code on the site."

19 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. what?? by xao+gypsie · · Score: 5, Funny

    why, back in my day, we didnt have all these new fangled computer bus scheduler thingies. we had to work out the algorithm in our heads in the snow uphill going both ways....kids these days......

    xao

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    xao
    http://TheHillforum.hopto.org
    1. Re:what?? by JanusFury · · Score: 4, Funny

      And the buses didn't have these newfangled 'stops', either! You had to chase them down on foot, jump onto the back, and climb in through the emergency escape hatch on top!

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      using namespace slashdot;
      troll::post();
    2. Re:what?? by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 5, Funny

      Emergency hatches? Why you lucky bastards! Where I grew up, the busses were sealed. If we wanted a ride, we'd have to chase after them, and grab on to a bit of barbed wire tied to the rear bumper, and hold on for dear life as we got dragged to our destination.

      Emergency hatches? Feh! No wonder the youth of today are so soft. Why, you probably had all your own limbs all the way up to adulthood! Emergency hatches...

      --
      Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
      www.fogbound.net
    3. Re:what?? by damien_kane · · Score: 5, Funny

      we had to work out the algorithm in our heads in the snow uphill going both ways...

      I remember the times my dad used to tell me this story all the time...
      Now I just say 'Shut up, Dad; or I'm putting you in a home'...

    4. Re:what?? by Aquitaine · · Score: 4, Funny

      Rear bumber? Why, sonny, you don't know how good you had it! Where I grew up, they certainly didn't have those bumber gadgets. You lept in front of that oncoming bus and prayed to high heaven that it was going fast enough to take you where you wanted to go before you slid off the grill.

      You probably had all your own ribs all the way up to adulthood! Rear bumbers...

  2. Great idea... by Cutriss · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope he doesn't have class tonight, or else his clock is going to be running a bit slow, thanks to the Slashdotting... :)

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    "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
  3. Hrm. by d3kk · · Score: 5, Funny

    What I'd like to know is why an engineering student is still worried about missing a bus to school..

  4. Eeek. Look at the klenex box. by rainer_d · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sure he needs more time to look at pr0n, so that's why he actually built the LCD.

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    Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
  5. This idiot didn't realize there is a bus schedule? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What happened to either 1) looking the routes online, or 2) grabbing the routes from the library? Was this guy just going out to bus stops at random, hoping he got there at the right time? What was so hard about viewing the paper schedule?

    And how is he gonna use this thing he made when he's AWAY from home? Come home?

  6. I wish I had thought of that... by ajuda · · Score: 3, Funny

    And to think I would have just written down the schedule on a piece of paper (total cost < 1 cent)

    1. Re:I wish I had thought of that... by mrseigen · · Score: 5, Funny

      Considering that here in Alberta we don't have that, I don't think it's very likely that any non-Ontario provinces will have it either. I get my bus schedules from taking out my cell phone and calling the number on the bus stop sign, which then tells me that there are x minutes remaining until a bitter public servant crashes his bus into the shelter I'm cowering behind.

      Neat idea though.

  7. Sing a happy tune.... by Ab0rtRetryFail · · Score: 4, Funny

    [Singing loudly]
    EVERY MORNING I WOULD SEE HER WAITING AT THE STOP!

    Sometimes she'd shop and she would show me what she bought!
    [/Singing loudly]

    AHEM. Sorry... got carried away there. :)

  8. definetily an engineer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "my perl coding abalilities are far from perfect, so..."

    Just yur purl coeding abalilities?

  9. Re:Buses? by IanBevan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sorry but i'd rather stay on my own software testing track and have enough $ to buy my own car.
    Sure i work for MSFT but at least i can afford to drive a car, take girls out to eat, and go to the casinoes.
    Don't mean to be discrimenatorie but it's just how i feel. I'd rather spend time working towards a nice professional job that my kid will look up to than being a grad student (TA) my hole life.

    Uh-huh. I can see it now...
    "Geeez dad, please don't wear that Microsoft shirt when you pick me up from school. And I think I'll find somebody literate to help with my spelling...."

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    Never, ever lose a file again. Ever.
  10. If you think that's cool... by dotgod · · Score: 3, Funny

    A lot of bus companies nowadays have their schedule avaliable in this newfangled fomat called a paper brochure. Not only does it work anywhere, but you don't even need electricity. Additionally, these marvelous contraptions have a more verbose version of the scedule then the LCD bus schedule display.

  11. Re:usefulness? by mark-t · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe things are different in the USA. I've lived in three Canadian cities so far, and I find that busses are usually very good at being almost exactly on schedule at the route's "timed" points. If the stop you are interested in is between two timed points, then you always make sure to be there by the earlier timed stop's time, but don't expect to leave any sooner than the next timed stop's time. Timed stops aren't too far apart, so you almost never end up waiting too long unless there was some sort of abnormal condition. I've never seen a bus leave a timed stop early, and the sure fire way to get a late bus to come is to light up a cigarette.

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    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  12. Re:Amazingly by FrostedWheat · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was traveling south a few months ago, and in Luton I saw this.

    Had to take a picture :)

    Image quality is rubbish, cheap camera.

  13. Wouldn't It Have Been Cheaper... by reallocate · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to tape the bus schedule to the refrigerator door?

    I'd be more impressed if he built a robot that poked him with a sharp stick 5 minutes before the bus got there.

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    -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
  14. From the release notes by nakaduct · · Score: 4, Funny

    To-Do:
    [next release] show when the next bus leaves for "way the fuck out of Winnipeg"