subway

When I first discovered Subway Shuffle in the iTunes App Store, it wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would be a collection of various subway maps from around the world, which would have been fine. I've always appreciated the design aesthetics that go into making transit maps, and such an app would be very useful when you're traveling. Instead, Subway Shuffle is a challenging and very accessible puzzle game.

The point of Subway Shuffle is very simple, though getting to the point can be very difficult. On the first level, you're presented with a T-shaped "subway map" with red and blue lines. The white circles represent stations and the colored dots stand in for subway cars. You're charged with getting your subway car--it's the sole red car marked with a subway icon--through the map to the last station. Standing in your way, however, are other cars of a different color. Not only must you navigate past them, but also you can move cars only along lines with the same color. So red can move only on red, green can move only on green, and so on. … Read more

Here's an unusual way to upgrade a subway system: add a giant battery.

Viridity Energy said Monday that it has been awarded a $900,000 grant by the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to build a system that will capture the energy from Philadelphia subway cars as they brake to enter a station.

The regenerative braking system will collect energy in a large battery installed along the busy Market-Frankford Line. The stored energy will be used to power trains when they leave the station and to earn money from energy sold back to the grid.

"Essentially we're creating … Read more

NYC Subway 24-Hour KickMap is an around-the-clock interactive guide to the New York City subway system. It combines the clean, easy-to-read design of the popular KickMap (an alternative print map beloved by cartography and design nerds) with excellent Google Maps integration.

The app's primary interface is the attractive, five-borough KickMap that lists every line and stop, along with a one-touch toggle between night and day maps (since the lines can change significantly after hours). While navigating NYC, you'll mostly touch and drag to find your location or destination on the KickMap--which is available offline, even when you're … Read more

This past weekend, 52 year old racing veteran Mark Martin picked up a win at the LifeLock.com 400 that took place at Joliet's Chicagoland Speedway. However, Martin got his first victory of the season earlier this year at Phoenix International Raceway during the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

Back in April, Mark Martin scooped his first win in almost four years as he edged out Tony Stewart in the final laps of the Subway Fresh Fit 500. This win is also noteworthy is it was the first time a driver aged 50 or older won a Sprint Cup race … Read more

This week on the Digital City, topics include Google's new Chrome OS, and what it means for Netbooks and Microsoft; some not-too-bright cell phone thieves; how Scott semi-scammed a new iPhone 3GS; and some new apps for navigating the NYC Subway system.

Related Links: >>Scott's iPhone upgrade update >>Google's Chrome OS: Why Microsoft shouldn't worry...yet

>>Watch the Digital City live every Friday at 3pm EST on CNET Live! >>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes >>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page >>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! … Read more

I'm not a big fan of anything subterranean, but every time I'm in NYC, for practical reasons, I take the subway.

This time around, it was also because I wanted to find out if the City Transit NYC Subway Guide iPhone app was worth $2.99. I ended up catching something else which, by itself, totally made the one-hour ride from Manhattan to the Bronx worthwhile.

As express train No. 5 started to leave 59th Street and Lexington Ave., two dudes who looked just like regular New Yorker-on-holiday riders turned on their boombox. One called out: "Hi everybody, what you're about to see is the most amazing thing. If you don't like it, boo as much as you want. But if you do, clap and please show your support." Seeing some people taking out their cameras, he added, "You can take video all you want, as long as you pay us."

Without further ado, the two took turns performing the most amazing breakdance I've seen. It was just coincidental that I had my iPhone video on and managed to capture the whole thing. What I didn't capture was the fact that their dance inspired some regular riders to stand up and show off their own moves. I totally heart NYC for this. … Read more

Earlier this week, I explained that I had chosen to focus on NASCAR for this week's blog because they had been in the news quite a bit lately. It turns out that it was a somewhat prophetic statement, as just a few days ago NASCAR made headlines again for suspending driver Carl Long for the next 12 Sprint Cup races. Not only that, but his chief crew member Charles Swing was fined $200,000, a record-setting fine for NASCAR. In addition, Long was penalized 200 points, another new NASCAR high. Story has it that Long and Swing were put … Read more

Steve Guttenberg, the Audiophiliac, joins the show today to talk about the coming "singularity."

For those of you not from the future, the "singularity" is a concept from Raymond Kurzweil's book "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology." According to him, human beings will eventually live forever because of nano-machines that will repair our bodies and miracle drugs. That's about as deep as the show gets today. Again, you don't really want us to be discussing the ever-increasing amounts of entropy in the universe.

Steve is generally disappointed with the quality of the sound systems at the New York auto show. You'd expect that a $200,000 Bentley would have pretty great speakers, but you'd be wrong.

Also on today's show, we've got more Twitter stories: 1) Justin is attempting to bring back the $5-dollar Italian BMT from Subway with the world's first Twitition (that's Twitter + petition); 2) Post Secret meets Twitter with SecretTweet.com. Honestly, it's one of the most depressing Web sites ever. Kind of like a not-funny fmylife.com.

Finally, it's the weekend, so we know you have the time. Be sure to send in your call backs! We need them!

Location matters. Black Swan-author Nassim Nicholas Taleb finds "living in big cities invaluable because you increase the odds of serendipitous encounters – you gain exposure to the envelope of serendipity." That's particularly true for romance. People move to big cities not to advance their careers, party, escape, disappear, be a star, and so on. The chick-flick fan that I am, I remember very well that candid line from Sex and the City (the movie): "I came to New York City to fall in love." Exactly. "Anyone who's predicting the decline of big cities has … Read more