Oh clipper

_posts/2014-05-14-clipper-ru-4-real.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Go home Clipper, you're drunk
+tags:
+- miscellaneous
+- opinion
+- clipper
+---
+
+
+The Bay Area transit system is what could be compassionately referred to as a
+"clusterfuck." SFMTA, AC Transit, Samtrans, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit,
+BART, to name a few of the agencies that *immediately* come to mind. That's not
+counting the agencies that run busses and light-rail further down towards Palot
+Alto, etc.
+
+Navigating this mess was once incredibly painful, until the Clipper-messiah
+came and saved us, sort of. If you're familar with London's [Oyster
+Card](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card), or Tokyo's
+[Suica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica) card, Clipper is conceptually
+similar but what either of those systems would be like if implemented by the
+lowest intoxicated bidder.
+
+
+I have issues at least once a week, usually with busted card readers, but today
+when attempting to add money to my card via a credit card, I saw this:
+
+
+<center><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/agentdero/13998881000" title="Clipper, r
+u 4 real? by R. Tyler Croy, on Flickr"><img
+src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/13998881000_fe0c80cbc9.jpg"
+width="375" height="500" alt="Clipper, r u 4 real?"></a></center>
+
+
+You might think to yourself "dialing a host? wat!" And you would be right in
+your confusion, but this is genuinely what Clipper add-value kiosks show you
+when you attempt to use a credit card.
+
+That however was not today's issue! Today, both kiosks were stuck on "dialing a
+host.." for about 3-4 minutes, and then the kiosk simply rebooted. A PC BIOS
+screen showed up, and some OS started to boot.
+
+I gave up and left.
+
+
+It's amazing how slow and tedious the future is.