Tom Karlo - Karlo.Org

No Parking

In December 2008, I built isalternatesideparkingineffect.com over the course of a weekend, on a whim. It was a nice little Rails project with a cleanly defined use case. Initially just a one-page web site, it soon added a daily email blast and a twitter feed so folks could get their parking information.

Since then, we've delivered over 15 million emails to an average of 10,000 subscribers, and the site's been featured in The New York Times. Not bad for a weekend project.

But it's time to move on. Back when I started the site, the New York City Department of Transportation was still communicating parking status the old-fashioned way, mostly by notifying local mass media. Today, you can sign up for email updates, check the 311 web site, or follow the official Twitter feed. (Ironically, the logo for the official NYC Parking twitter account seems to have come from my feed.)

Given the city's online progress, there just isn't as much of a place for a one-man service to add value. As of June 1, 2013, I plan to shut down my service, archive the server, and turn it off for good. Thanks to everyone who subscribed all these years, and best of luck finding your next parking spot!

IsAlternateSideParkingInEffect.com Featured in the NYT

My single-serving web site, IsAlternateSideParkingInEffect.com was featured in the New York Times Blog this morning.

Alternate side of the street parking, which was introduced by the city in 1952 to facilitate street cleaning, is one of the more burdensome rituals of New York City life...

So how to keep track of the state of the parking regulations, especially since so many of the holidays are set by a lunar calendar, and thus vary each year?

Rails Wiki Credit

I worked on the Rails Wiki earlier this year, but I didn't realize until now that I'd been credited as part of the Rails Wiki team. I have to say it's a nice surprise to find out it's there.