Friday, June 26, 2020

Taliesin: The Landscape

















Frank Lloyd Wright named it Taliesin in honor of the Welsh bard whose name means “Shining Brow”, that is built on and into the brow of a hill or ridge.

Listen to a recent podcast with Taliesin Preservation's Aron Meudt-Thering. Aron discusses the opportunities to visit, the recently announced summer camps and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Big Screen Summer fun: Highway 18 Outdoor Theatre

The joys of drive-in theatres are evident in 2020. A clearing storm created gorgeous golden hour colors on a recent Saturday evening.

Worth a visit, and a few taps in amuz (aerial scenes, too).

Highway 18 Outdoor is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Website.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Aviation in the Age of COVID-19

"I go to the airport every day and I never go anywhere, but that’s how I like it!"





The global pandemic dramatically reduced the amount of air travel over the past quarter. What can the public expect when they arrive at the airport? Listen to Jim’s conversation with Doug Yakel, Public Information Officer at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Doug is an industry veteran having spent his career at ten airports including LAX.





Doug discusses SFO's work to keep passengers and staff safe. Touchless transactions and an emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene are key strategies the airport is deploying. SFO has had to revise almost every aspect of the public’s interaction with the airport facility from arrival to the security footprint and gate configurations.





On a lighter note, Jim and Doug discuss the SFO museum program. Every terminal has it’s own gallery. The museum works with international lenders and organizations to “inform, educate, surprise and delight travelers.” Let us hope we all can safely embrace air travel again in the near future. - Nancy

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Monday, June 8, 2020

The Unexpected: 2020 US Travel, Part 1

Traveling east recently on I-70, near Avon, CO, a curious notification appeared on my iPhone (I was a passenger at the time):

Curious, since:

  • I don’t live in Grand County.
  • I’ve not been since 2015, for a wedding.
  • Our drive through Colorado included I-70 and a few quick stops in Denver, before proceeding east on I-76. We did not visit Grand County.

I emailed Brene Belew, Grand County's Public Health Director:

Hi Brene:

I hope that you, your family and colleagues are well.

While driving (moving a daughter) last Saturday, 23 May 2020 on I-70, west of Beaver Creek, I received an iPhone notification (attached).

I write to see how this occurred, as:

A. I don’t live in Grand County - though that would be quite pleasant.

B. I’ve not been since 2015 (I think, for a wedding), and,

C. Our drive through Colorado included I-70 and a few quick stops in Denver, before proceeding east on I-76.

I did not receive an alert for Eagle County, CO (or others), for example, despite driving through and stopping for gasoline.

Do you know what rules AT&T, or Apple applied to the alert // recipients?

Best wishes,


Jim

I received an email response from Brett Schroetlin, the Grand County Sheriff:

Mr Zellmer-

Brene forwarded your email to me since the Grand County Communications Center and our alert warning systems fall under my Divisions at the Sheriff’s Office.

Previously, Grand County has been using CodeRed for our emergency notification. Recently a federal program through FEMA was released called IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert & Warning System) . IPAWS utilizes newer technology, which includes pulling data from cellular towers for Message distribution.

When we deployed the IPAWS message on Memorial weekend, we had several people let us know that they were outside the confines of our county and still received an alert.

We have looked in to this and determined that the phones receiving these messages were receiving cell service from our local towers during the window of time our message as active. So, it would appear that your phone just attached to our tower as you drove though and hadn’t transitioned to another tower before the message was sent.

My apologies for any inconvenience this caused. As with any deployment like this, there are lessons learned and we are working to minimize this in the future.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Brett Schroetlin
Grand County Sheriff

Thursday, June 4, 2020

An App for Explorers: Road Trip Edition

Driving into Taliesen's Visitor Center Monday (their first open day in 2020), we immediately saw a slick Jeep + Airstream road trip rig.





The family (architect parents) is in the beginning of a cross country summer long road trip. We discussed Taliesin, the SC Johnson Corporate Headquarters and their route.

I handed them an amuz card, equipped with QR codes to quickly install the app on their iPhone.





Taliesin, the SC Johnson Corporate Headquarters and much more are a tap away in amuz.











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