Minnesota Highway Officials Puzzled by Pac-Man
Minnesota Highway Officials Puzzled by Pac-Man
December 22, 2006
Highway officials in Minnesota had a pre-holiday visit from Pac-Man recently.As reported by the Associated Press, someone added an unauthorized painting of the classic video game character to the state's Highway 55.
We haven't seen a photo so far, but here's how the AP describes Pac-Man's unofficial role in the traffic flow:
Pac-Man is back. Only this time, he's bigger — and he's gobbling up dots on Highway 55.
Large white dots painted on the highway to deter motorists from tailgating have been joined by a giant, yellow image of the video game icon.
The image of Pac-Man was placed on the road surface last month, and its creators have snuck back at least once to touch it up. Traffic engineer Tom Dumont was not pleased:
I'd hate to say positive things because I don't want to encourage people to try to paint something on a busy highway. But at least it's made the project a little more noteworthy.
Highway engineer Wayne Fingalson saw some humor in the situation:
It's kind of comical. Somebody really did a good job of meticulously putting that (Pac-Man) in the dots.
The 7-foot anti-tailgating dots are spaced 225 feet apart and signs along the highway advise motorists to maintain two dots between their car and the one in front. That's the distance needed to stop in three seconds at 55 MPH
UPDATE: GP reader Dave Mooney sent in a pic of the dot-gobbling Route 55 Pac-Man. Thanks, Dave!
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
Life in Minnesota is so uninspired especially in the dead of winter. Gives people a lot of time to think up stuff like this.
Pac-man painted on road = video game related state vandalism/civil disobedience. State politics involved, due to it being a state-run construction project. Therefore games & politics. ;)
In some counties, they now have a radar gun that can check the distance between cars, to let the officer know if someone's tailgating. Could be coordinated with photo-radar, and red-light cameras, to automatically ticket you if you drive like a retard. Nothing smartens people up but hitting them in their wallets...
God forbid GP ever puts up a story that might be remotely funny.
Games and culture. Things like this are examples of how games are affecting our culture and the depth at which they have penetrated. Don't take the name quite so literally.
No. You can't. I suggest you research it. 450 feet is just over 5 seconds at 55 MPH. Assuming around 2 seconds for reaction time, leaves only 274 feet to stop in 3seconds. So, yes, your car can stop in that amount of distance, but I don't care how 'spectacular' your brakes are, you're not going to come to a dead stop in 'much less than' 450 feet. The dots on the road are well designed and researched. It always shocks me just how little most people seem to know about the physics of driving a car.
The dots are designed to take into account alertness levels, reaction times, brake effectiveness, and mediocre road conditions. So, they give a 3 second cushion to the bare minimum of 185 stopping feet (all things being perfect).
but that dot stuff won't work in CA.
Anyway, those white dots sound like a good idea. Of course, retards who like to stay two inches behind the vehicle in front of them will still do it, regardless of anything the authorities put up to remind them not to.
But yeah, I gotta see this I live in minnesota too, this is fucking hilarious.
Still, if you're going to put a row of white dots somewhere, you should know that someone is going to connect it to Pac-Man, considering how iconic he is. Those highway engineers should have seen this coming a mile away.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/889553.html
But where are the ghosts??
We probably don't want to know. 0.0