There was an A&E documentary on the World Trade Center the other night, discussing–as well as criticizing–the early planning phases and construction of the WTC.

It also focused somewhat on the shortcomings of the WTC, such as stairwells hugging the core of the building providing what they thought was extra stability, that led to so many civilian casualties during the 2001 attacks.

There was obvious concern over the methods used for high-rise building evacuation. In most cases stairways are used, provided that they are in working condition. The planes that struck the WTC buildings destroyed a large portion of the stairs which in turn contributed to the lack of proper evacuation.

As I watching this, I was thinking about better ways for efficient and safe evacuation during high-rise building emergencies. One solution (not necessary failsafe) that occurred to me was an enclosed slide that essentially loops around the building. The slide itself would be oiled so that when groups of individuals are preparing to evacuate, they descend in such a manner where clogging of the slide would be prevented.

Again, not a failsafe method of course, but I believe one that doesn’t rely on the shortcomings that occur with stairways. If you’ve ever used the stairs in a high-rise building you know that this isn’t an efficient means of getting people out of the building in a timely fashion, especially during an emergency when people typically lose the ability to think sensibly.

Yet, when I was thinking about this I realized that using a slide could also lead to oversights in the process of evacuation. It’s possible that like the stairs in the WTC building, a portion of the slide could also be destroyed. That said, it’s difficult to try and come up with various ways to efficiently transport people out of a building and at the same time making sure the means of doing so are safe and expedient.

There are other methods such as zip lines (think James Bond or the military), extendable slides and chute systems that could work but again, which of these would actually work when the real thing occurs, as opposed to just testing them in labs.

I personally don’t think we’ve found a perfect system yet, despite how much technology has improved in the past 20 years, and I don’t feel like we ever will.

What should be stressed however is that we need to have alternate ways of evacuating people from structures to prevent massive casualties when an emergency occurs.

For years I’ve held off opening up, or rather creating a MySpace account:”kartooner on Myspace(View my profile on MySpace)”:http://www.myspace.com/kartooner purely for reasons to prevent exploiting myself or others.

However, I came to the realization that when you look past the negative aspects and focus instead on the positive outcome of reconnecting with people that you might have lost touch with, well then it doesn’t seem so bad.

In fact, it’s safe to say that despite the countless amount of good and bad press, which any good journalist or sane person would tell you is just effortless advertising, there are a lot of interesting outcomes that occur when you set up your own space on the web.

To me, MySpace is a messy combination of personal journal and media, mixed together with self expression and sometimes self reflection. If one were to attempt to map Myspace it would probably be neither here nor there.

Frankly, it’s a phenomenon that would sound wonderful on paper or pitched to in front of a group of investors, but in it of itself it’s like a swap meet of individuals coming from various social, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds on display for the world to see, a messy one at that.

It’s also a potentially dangerous breeding ground for stalkers, but that light has already been shone many times by the media and it’s not worth revisiting that hazard since it steers the purpose of this article in another direction.

Back on topic, it’s worth noting that within 3 days of activating an account on MySpace — as well as making it pretty thanks to Mike Davidson’s Hacking a More Tasteful Myspace — I’ve reconnected with people that I lost touch with 4 to 5 years ago and that alone is remarkable considering I felt it’d be difficult to do so otherwise.

The thought of contacting and reconnecting with people from my past, the majority of them from high school, has always been in the back of my mind, but the conversation starter, for example; “How I’d approach the person or begin the conversation” always seemed a bit difficult. Also, there never really seems like a good moment to do so and the notion that it might be awkward as such can make what would otherwise seem appropriate and good willed turn into something contrived or put on.

Sad to say, but Myspace has allowed me to jump right in and test the waters. To show friends from my past that I really do care despite the lack of communication. For that, I can forgive the site for being a mess from a functionality standpoint and instead remained focused on sifting through the vast resource of individuals and egnited friendships from yesteryear.

Here are a few random thoughts that I’ve had throughout this week, that on their own could potentially be expanded, but for the time being will remain in crystallized form:

Elementary Schools and Teachers

Ever since I accepted a position working as a cleaner (janitor, custodian, slop mop guy) at an elementary school I’ve gained a new perspective and greater appreciation in regards to everything that occurs behind the scenes.

Prior to working at an elementary school, I had a very one-dimensional view of how schools actually ran, seeing as though my last encounter with a peewee educational fortress was many years ago.

Yet, when you pull back the curtain and realize that teachers have flaws, library shelves do in fact get dusty and there’s a bittersweet human element to it all that’s hard to describe, only then do you realize why schools continuosly run themselves.

All of this boils down to the teachers themselves, who in turn are modivated by their student’s achievements, which fuels their inner passion to educate, looking past the spitballs and dirty looks, knowing full well at the other end there will be a result.

On that note, since we live in the era of Google, I was thinking how much smarter a teacher can seem if he or she has access to a computer in their room. With Wikipedia and Google at their fingertips, said teacher can instantaneously look up unlimited subject matter, print or project, and contribute endless amounts of information to the education process.

It’s really fascinating, considering when I was younger all we had is an Apple II and maybe, depending on if you were good or not, Oregon Trail with buffalo shooting action all at a grueling pace.

Wii!

For weeks on end I’ve been thinking about Nintendo’s recently unvieled and renamed console, Wii. I’ll admit that at first I was a bit taken back by the name (shocked even), seeing as though the console and it’s premise sounds kind of silly.

However, after thinking about it some I’ve grown to actually love “Wii” and all it has to offer. Especially after seeing the slew of E3 demos that have popped up on sites like YouTube and Gamespot.

There’s just no denying the fact that you’re no longer just playing, but participating in a game using their Wii-mote, which looks like your average TV remote but recognizes 3D space and movement. How cool is that? Way cool!

Spore

With sites like Total Spore appearing out of thin air, there’s something intriguing and undeniably mouth watering about Will Wright’s newest sim creation, Spore, that has the media and blogosphere and maybe your neighbors in a gaming frenzy.

Spore isn’t just going to change the way people look at simulation games, it’s going to turn the gaming realm upside down. From the previews to demo footage and demonstrations given by Wright himself, it appears to be a mish mash of evolution, creation, old school gaming, clay modeling, strategy and sci-fi (amongst other things) all rolled into one.

I haven’t been this excited about a video game in years, not since I first laid eyes on Simcity and Populous.

Admittedly, I’m a bit behind as far as my planned “psuedo-real-time” updates for SXSW 2006. The reason for this is twofold. One, because I’m still jetlagged from last Thursday and haven’t gotten a lot of sleep and two, there’s been so much going on that it’s been difficult — at least for me — to pinpoint what to write about exactly.

That said, it makes sense to tell you that while I’ve been having a blast here in Austin, TX with newly made friends, I also miss my family. My daughter is only two years of age and has been asking about my whereabouts since I left. I’m not sure how to handle that, but I’ll say that she, along with my wife and new son, have been on my mind alot.

Apart from that, it’s been extremely rewarding to participate in these panels and for once in my life to pay attention to what’s being said without drifting off into a trance. A wealth of information is being shared by industry-leading people, many of whom I admire.

That in itself is particularly cool especially considering that up until a few days ago I only associated myself with various attendees and presenters solely by digital means (ie IM’ing, email, Skype, etc.) instead of having face-to-face conversations.

I’m not sure that I’ll go into extreme detail about the panels I’ve attended because it would only be a rehash of what’s been discussed on sites already. Rather, I’ll just say that what I’ve gotten from these panels is not only knowledge of design, code and business practices and techniques, but also a newfound appreciation for those who are at the forefront of all this, expressing their opinions and knowledge with a great deal of passion and understanding.

As far as the people I’ve met and had the opportunity to chat with, they’ve all shared the same characteristics that I noted above, but most notably passion, which drives most of us towards our intended (or unintended) goals.

Sure, there’s the notion that a good majority of the attendees of SXSW are here for networking purposes and that fits within the context of the event, but there’s another element here that’s difficult to isolate. The fact that most people want to put a face to whatever online persona they’ve become familiar with due to blogs, communities and forums.

It makes people more comfortable to actually share a conversation in person instead of just recognizing an avatar or nickname and then shooting an email off, hoping for a meaningful reply.

I’ve gotten more from the human aspect of this conference than what would otherwise be attending a few panels and exchanging business cards. This is a life changing event and I know the true effect and end result will grow exponentially over time.