the cta has ai now and a guy is running every block

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the cta is expanding its ai gun detection technology to more stations. the system uses existing cameras to spot firearms and alert police in real-time. it is nice to know that while you are waiting 20 minutes for a train that says it is "6 minutes away," a robot is at least making sure nobody is armed.

a graduate student is about to finish running every single block in chicago. he has been at it for over a year. the prize for running through every neighborhood in the city is presumably just a very high step count and a deep knowledge of where the best street tacos are.

chicago is expanding a pilot program that lets residents report parking scofflaws via 311. becoming a neighborhood snitch has never been more efficient.

shedd aquarium held an anti-valentine’s day event in the la grange park woods this weekend. it included a rage room for singles to de-stress in nature. apparently, nothing says "i am over my ex" like yelling near a tree.

the matrix club in naperville closed abruptly this weekend due to an eviction, leaving brides and schools scrambling to find new venues. legal drama is rarely convenient.

amazon is launching drone delivery in markham and matteson this summer. residents can pay to have a robot drop stuff (they’ll wind up returning) on their lawn in as little as two hours. progress is loud.

vacuum your dryer vent today. it takes five minutes and prevents your house from becoming a statistic while actually making your clothes dry in one cycle.

eat: schneider deli in lincoln park. jake schneider expanded the spot so you can sit down with a pastrami sandwich and a coffee while looking at people who are more stressed than you.

do: check out the chicago artisan market in ravenswood. it is full of local goods and valentine's themed cocktails for people who didn't get enough sugar yesterday.

avoid: parking your car even slightly away from the curb unless you want your neighbor to test out the new 311 snitch pilot on you.

and hey — if you’d like to put your business in front of the readers of this very email, reply with a little about what you do. small, weird, or local: we like all three.

short shakespeare hamlet is at the chicago shakespeare theater. it is 75 minutes long so your kids can learn about tragedy before they have to deal with the cta.

john carruthers has a recipe for authentic chicago tavern-style pizza that uses a slow fermentation process to get that cracker-thin crust. it takes three days but your kitchen will finally smell like a place worth living in.

anthropic doesn't actually know what claude is or why it does what it does. this is a long look at the fact that the people building our ai future are also just guessing.

after a weekend of auto show camping, anti-valentine rage rooms, and 83-pound delivery robots, we’re all just doing our best.

nobody is being serious now.

tips, sightings, 311 snitches?

reply with your neighborhood and one thing that made you pause, squint, or text someone “???”

talk thursday.

-sam