They’re only missing in North Dakota and Connecticut.
The first one in the US was built at I-44 and MO-13 in Springfield, MO in June of 2009, a radical departure from the cloverleaf and on-ramp overpasses for entering an interstate highway.
I’m talking about the diverging diamond pattern, where traffic near Internet entrance shifts to the “wrong” side of the road for easy merging to the left. Improved traffic flow.
The 2nd diverging diamond also opened in Springfield about a year later, near busy Cox Medical Center South on National avenue. Cox South is one of two major medical facilities here, so lots of traffic seeks it as a destination, including emergency vehicles.
Redesigning traditional intersections/interchanges required considerable time, expense, and materials. First it was experimental, then intentional and repeated.
Pundits predicted chaos. During construction, sure, but the road goes where the road goes. Traffic signals and sidewalks are incorporated into the design.
New patterns – disruptions – may require considerable stakeholder change. In short time, though, if the change is positive, adoption is smooth and fairly quick.
With this example, drivers had options and could:
🚧Use other roadways, avoiding the interchange (during and/or after construction).
🚧Learn the new pattern
🚧Kvetch privately (and exercise one or the other option)
🚧Complain to Missouri Department of Transportation, MODOT
These things happened. And then the changes were just part of how we did transportation.
Change can be painful for humans. We anticipate more mental effort (and sometimes more physical effort).
Energy spent on something without equivalent (perceived) value returned.
Cybersecurity human behavior requires intentional change. It’s ignorable – or seems that way – until it isn’t.
(We’re in the “it isn’t” time of history).
🕛A password manager to securely store your passwords. You secure the main password with a passphrase – a long, rememberable password.
🕛Multifactor authentication apps. MFA is necessary. Criminals can buy people’s login credentials, so MFA adds security. The MFA apps minimize time spent on that extra step of authentication. Look for FIDO-based MFA, too – you can research Yubikey if you’re not familiar.
🕛Automating your data backup. Cloud-based services are inexpensive and can be automated. You can write a script to back up to an external drive that isn’t going to be connected to your computer in typical (non-backup) use.
🕛Antivirus/antimalware. Pick a good one, set it up, and, whee!
🕛Automated updates to your computer’s operating system and devices. And, when you need to, you can manually update before the automation.
Habituating good cybersecurity human behavior. Drive safely and so also on the goobery named “Information Superhighway”
What else? (Vigiliance about fraud is a whole different post – don’t automate that.)
