There is a hidden barrier to cyclists all over the country - where do you park the bike when you get to where you are going? Some communities provide bike racks, but most places provide no official place to lock up a bike and in many cases have banned securing bicycles to trees, cart return structures, etc. In general, a cyclist makes their best guess as to the most appropriate place, locks things in place, and prays that the bike is there when they emerge from the store.
Economics is messy business. You can never know where you are in the monetary cycle. You have to wait and look backward to see where you were. That being said, according to the BBC, the USA has emerged from the "Great Recession".
The US economy grew at an annual pace of 3.5% between July and September, its first expansion in more than a year.Here's hoping they are right. I have a lot of friends and family members who could use an improved economy. Then again, it may be a while between the first small improvements and an economy that produces jobs for most of us.
The growth was helped by a substantial government spending plan, including a scheme to boost car sales.
The official figures indicate recession has ended, but some economists think there could be further setbacks...
The return to growth of the world's largest economy also sent shares on Wall Street sharply higher. The main Dow Jones index closed up 200 points, or 2.1%, at 9,962.58.
I am not quite sure what to make of this one. Inspired by Johnny Appleseed, two design students have created an add-on to bikes designed to seed cityscapes with flowers. The idea is a mixture of bubble solution and tiny flower seeds are put in, then the natural motion of the bicycle generates a wind thru the device which blows bubble filled with the seeds. The bubble drift naturally thru the city streets and land in cracks and crevices where they sprout and produce impromptu gardens to delight the eyes.
A new study seems to indicate that bad driving can be influenced by your genes. Those in the study with a certain gene variant scored 30% lower than those without it. I guess this gives a new defense to those who get many tickets. Blame it on their parents for passing on the bad genes.
Google has announced their own FREE turn-by-turn with voice directions GPS app for all Google Android phones, starting to the Verizon/Motorola DROID. And yes, they have confirmed it is coming to the iPhone as well. This could be the beginning of the end for the old GPS manufacturers.
The Times of London has a great feature on their site that now lets you view archived editions of their newspaper. You can view some of the articles for free or subscribe to see all 7 Million articles. I enjoyed reading the accounts of events of the day that Germany invaded Poland at the start of World War II.
A leading British scientist is advocating that everyone become a vegetarian in order to fight global warming. The basic argument is that the production of meat sources for food takes up more natural resources than a vegetarian diet and that the cows and pigs that we eat produce a high percentage of the methane gas that contributes to global warming. The most interesting part of the article to me though talked about how much meat an average person in Britain eats in a day. I am guessing that they do not go to McDonalds much.
"On average, a British person eats 50g of protein derived from meat each day — the equivalent of a chicken breast or a lamb chop. This is a relatively low level for a wealthy country but between 25 per cent and 50 per cent higher than the amount recommended by the World Health Organisation."
For many, their first personal website had a GeoCities address. With simplicity at their core, they were one of the first companies to make it easy for someone to quickly get a site up and running. Well, today is the day the company officially goes out of business. The company was started in 1995, so they outlasted most of their competitors and did provide a valuable service to the growth of the internet. RIP GeoCities, you will be missed.
It is nice to be back under 210 lbs every day and inching toward 205 and below. (I hit my goal weight last week, but jumped back over after 1 carb-o-licous meal.) No real biking to report on, other than about 120 miles ridden on the stationary bike in the attic. Darkness, cold, and rain made doing anything outside nearly impossible. Hopefully, this next week will be better for riding.
On-Star had a first recently. For the first time, the "vehicle slow down" feature was used to apprehend a car jacker. The funniest part is that when the car stopped, the criminal jumped out of the car and ran, but very soon he tripped and fell into a pool. He was apprehended soaking wet.
Happy 5th anniversary Ward & Muse. May the next 5, 10, 25, 50...be even better.
When dealing with a subject as inherently "fuzzy" as economics, it is hard to draw hard conclusions based on "what if?" scenarios. Every push and prod is balanced and opposed by unforeseen events and forces. It remains as much an art as a science.
But that being said, it may be time to start drawing tentative conclusions about President Obama's Economic Stimulus Bill, as actual job totals by state now show that 49 out of 50 states have fewer jobs now than before the stimulus passes, and - more significantly - net job losses where the White House's projections predicted job gains. This means either (1) the economy was overall weaker than expected, so the stimulus effect was negligible, or (2) the stimulus was ineffective and may have caused more harm than good.
That being said, the American people clearly wanted a stimulus bill at the time, so we can't claim that we didn't get what we asked for. But one must wonder if the current rumblings about a "second stimulus bill" will help or hurt us in the end.
The good news: There appear to be fewer cases of H1N1/Swine Flu than originally reported. A large number in the original CDC reports appear to have been false positives.
The bad news: People have been told if they had H1N1/Swine Flu that they do not need the vaccine, because they are already immune. But many who were told they had it, did not and may be avoiding life-saving or epidemic-controlling treatments.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml
Expect there to be a lot of talk about this news, as it appears the CDC's efforts to keep people informed really made them increasingly misinformed.
I love my Kindle as the best way to bring a library of books with me whenever I leave the house. I love even more that I always have my Kindle app on my iPhone, so I can read the same books anywhere I go even if I forget the Kindle. So, I am thrilled to see Barnes and Noble is about to release their own "Kindle killer" called the "Nook" which promises to bring healthy competition to the eBook sphere (Sony has been a competitor in this space, but the lack of a wireless bookstore has made it irrelevant in my calculations).
The Nook has one gee-whiz technology in a small multi-touch screen instead of the Kindle's keyboard. But what may be really revolutionary (and easy for Kindle to copy) is the ability to "borrow" a book from a friend with a Nook. This would eliminate one of the main remaining reasons to stay away from eBooks - the forced re-buying of titles for every reader.
The title might seem somewhat redundant to most of our readers, but alas, it's true. I like Maher in many ways, even if I only agree with him about 15% of the time. But lately, that seems about as much as I agree with any of the talking heads. Yet, it's truly staggering how far off the charts he has become in his anti-vacination crusade. This past week, his panel mostly sat there as he ranted, apparently afraid to even comment on his insanity for fear of being lumped in with him. Thankfully, Bill Frist was on the show last week and challenged him on some of his assertions. I'm appreciative that Frist made it very clear that when it comes to public health, partisanship and political hackery have no place, by simply avoiding the politics that Maher was so bent on altogether.
When I was first exposed to the calorie counts in New York restaurants, it certainly changed *MY* eating habits. I simply could not bring myself to order *ANYTHING* at the local McDonald's and simply went hungry until I got home. But a recent study of fast food restaurants showed that for the average shopped, the calorie counts did not lead to better choices.
It found that about half the customers noticed the calorie counts, which were prominently posted on menu boards. About 28 percent of those who noticed them said the information had influenced their ordering, and 9 out of 10 of those said they had made healthier choices as a result.This speaks poorly for human nature, and even worse for well-meaning policies. It may go to show that you can not mandate better behavior, without doing away with liberty. And I'd rather have liberty and obesity, than have neither.
But when the researchers checked receipts afterward, they found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect, in July 2008.
I have always loved foosball, so this gaming apparatus which combines a gumball dispenser with a table soccer game would have been a dream come true! The only way to make it better would have been if they were played with malted milk duds. The war against children's teeth just got a whole lot harder for parents and dentists!
If you watched any sports over the weekend, you saw the commercial below played ad nauseum. This is a teaser cooked by Verizon to build buzz over their intended iPhone-killer, called DROID.
It appears that this phone is real, not just another Verizon vaporware phone, and is running Google Android 2.0. Allegedly, the Droid was co-designed by Google, Verizon, and Motorola and is intended to replace the Blackberry Storm as Verizon's flagship smartphone for the 2009 holiday season. And Boy Genius Report has pictures.
The real question is whether Apple has any reason to be worried. The phrase "iPhone Killer" has been thrown about so much - and to so little effect - that it is nearly meaningless at this point. The Palm Pre is the only phone to come close in terms of original thought and usability, and its relationship with Sprint the anemic Palm have held it back from really taking off. And Verizon has a long history of hyping phones, and then killing them off with horrible execution and upgrade policies. Still, a thriving competition in the smartphone space would keep Apple honest, and be good for consumers overall. I hope Droid is better than history would predict.
Mod-Blog friend, Bowhunter, has told us a number of stories about run-ins with animal rights extremists during his hunts. So, it came as no surprise to see that in Redding, there was another clash between bowhunters and landowners over the fate of a dead deer.
For those unfamiliar with the law in CT, Bowhunters - unlike firearms hunters - are allowed to hunt near residential properties. An arrow flies such a short distance (and standard bowhunting technique is to shoot DOWN at a deer, further shortening the distance the arrow can fly) that there are few worries about friendly fire. The hunter, after making a hit, is expected to follow the wounded deer until they can painlessly euthanize it. If the path takes them across private property, they are required to secure the permission of the landowner before following the trail across that property.
In this case, the deer died on private property. The hunters then came to the home-owner to request permission, and were denied it. The carcass is there, rotting, to this day. The homeowners view it as "a crime scene" and are hoping a natural predator comes along to eat it.
I can't help wondering whether it is logical to prefer a large predator like a wolf, coyote, or mountain lion in one's yard, over a human hunter who has to answer to legal authorities.
If you needed proof that eating fatty food means weight gain, and exercise means weight loss, just look at this week's portion of the graph. Early in the week - after weeks of no progress despite eating perfectly - I declared a "free day" and had a "lasagna pizza" from Planet PIzza. I immediately spiked up 3 lbs to a recent high of 214. The next day, I got right back on plan and got back to my regular schedule of riding an hour on the exercise bike each night. By Friday, I was down to a new low of 205.4 lbs. That is a variation of almost 9 lbs in a single week!
No real biking this week due to horrible weather (rain and snow, believe it or not). Hoping to ride in the attic every night, and hopefully actually get back out on the roads, too.
There is an old story about the Communist Party mayor of Bridgeport, CT, Jasper McLevy. He once famously refused to pay anyone to plow snow off the roads, quipping, "God put it there, God can take it away."
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov is taking it one step further by proposing using the Russian Air Force to stop any snow from falling onto the capital city. The idea is that the air force can seed clouds outside the city to force snowfall there instead.
“What if we force this snow to fall beyond Moscow? The Moscow region will have more water, bigger harvests, while we will have less snow,” he said at an award ceremony for Moscow’s best-kept yard.The idea has a certain panache. But one can't help wondering what unintended consequences this may lead to. Specifically, I wonder what the villagers in the suburbs of Moscow thing of being purposely covered by artificial blizzards.
He said that using the Air Force to prevent massive snowfall would be three times cheaper than using the regular system of trucks and snow-melting stations.
The city approved the proposal in record time.
A spokesman at the public utilities department could not explain how a “big and serious snowfall” would be identified or be deemed worthy of deploying the Air Force.
“The mayor has said it will only be a couple of times per winter,” he said, without further explanation. The department declined to provide information on how much the city budget allocates to cleaning and processing snow.
Many people ask me what I have against Microsoft. After all, they gave the world MS DOS, Windows 95, Excel, and Word, right? Yes, but for every great success they have a parallel case of taking something great, and tearing it down for no apparent reason. Newest example: The T-Mobile Sidekick.
For those who may not remember, if you were a happy SmartPhone user in the days before the iPhone - and were not a Crackberry addict - odds are you used a T-Mobile Sidekick (a.k.a. Danger HipTop). This device was a beautifully-designed (albeit somewhat chunky) phone built from the ground up for e-mail, web browsing, and instant messaging. At a time when people were debating how many characters should be displayed on a black-and-white text-only "mobile website", the Sidekick was rendering CNN in full-color with graphics. And all data synced effortlessly with online servers from which users could view all the info as easily as MobileMe is today, or could download data to Outlook. I owned a Sidekick II and III, and loved them both as they kept me connected places that broadband and even dial-up could not reach. I only left the line when the iPhone came out.
This past year, Microsoft - in an attempt to salvage its failing Windows Mobile/Windows Phone/Windows CE line of phones - bought out Danger and took ownership of the whole system which they transformed into "Project Pink". This past week, Microsoft attempted to do a basic upgrade of their storage system for the online data services which failed catastrophically. And apparently, they had failed to do regular backups, so there was no fallback position. Critical customer data was lost, and T-Mobile was forced to advise Sidekick owners "not to turn off your phones" lest the data be lost forever. This one event has likely doomed the Sidekick and Project Pink forever, and cast a shadow over "Cloud Computing" for the future.
Now, T-Mobile is being sued for the data loss in to separate class-action lawsuits. Look for this to quickly be followed up by lawsuits by T-Mobile against Mocrosoft, and perhaps by Microsoft against the people who sold them Danger. This is going to be a messy blame game for all involved.
Rest in Peace, Sidekick. You'll be sorely missed.
UPDATE 2:45 PM: Microsoft now claims all data has been recovered. Here's hoping they are right.
Some days, I truly do not understand my fellow man. Consider this story. A woman - either crazy or criminal - drives up to a Burlington Coat Factory in a (fraudulently) rented limousine and announces she has won the lottery and will pay for the purchases of anyone in the store up to $500. People go wild, buying everything in sight. After several thousands of dollars worth of merchandise has been rung up, the people figure out the woman has been lying. She has no money. So what do they do?
By the time employees realized Brown didn't have any cash to pay, police said, she already had taken off in the limo.So, person A wrong me, and I feel this gives me the right to take vengeance upon person B. Is it any mystery why this world is so messed up?!
That's when angry customers, realizing they weren't getting free coats, began throwing merchandise on the floor and grabbing clothes without paying for them, Nace said.
"Everybody was like, 'I still want my free stuff,' and that started the riot," he said. "It looks like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store."
Police said they have no way of tracking down the customers who stole items and fled, but they're reviewing surveillance video.
Senator Olympia Snowe (R - Maine) was the only Republican to vote for one of the Health Care Reform Bills to come out of the Congressional committees. She sat down for an interview with ABCNews and gave a very weak defense for her vote. But there was one nugget of gold in the interview.
I think for so long the art of legislating has been lost here in Congress and it’s all about just moving it along on the fast track, and I think that unfortunately the big issues have been set aside.I think this hits the nail on the head about a major problem with the current Congress. Rather than taking on an issue, having a full public hearing and debate, and then a vote, everything in the "Democratic One Party Congress" is rushed through. This has lead to cases where Congresspeople of both sides are required to vote on multi-thousand-page legislation without any time to read it. And has allowed no opportunities for bipartisanship.
In the midst of a debate over a deadly car-vs-bicycling accident (in which the car driver allegedly ran a cyclist into a post office box), Toronto is considering mandatory licensing for all cyclists and registration of all bicycles. This seems like a bad idea on multiple levels. First, it is sure to discourage bicycling at a time when both obesity and oil prices are on the rise. Second, it is a law that is likely to be unenforceable, leading to a large number of scofflaws. Third, studies seem to show that bicyclists are highly aware of laws, and generally as likely to follow them as your average automobile driver.
At my work, the arrival of autumn meant one thing - the simultaneous arrival of many, many sick people. And of that mob of sickos, many are quite afraid that they may have H1N1, because of the many news reports. Paranoia and hypochondria truly know no bounds.
However, there is help! If you are afraid that you may have H1N1 (swine) flu, then Emory University offers this online self-assessment. It is admittedly not a replacement for seeing your doctor. But it may help to preserve your sanity the next time you have the sniffles..
Bicycle couriers are nothing new, but Portland has its own "bike-based soup restaurant" in SoupCycle. This business is all about sustainability with all soups being made from locally-grown ingredients and delivered by bicycle-riding delivery people. Soups are available on an on-demand basis, or based on a weekly "soupscription." Of course, based on the method of delivery, their area of operation is fairly limited. Still the locals seem to have a special place in their hearts for this little concern, and I have to admit if I had one near me that I'd likely be a customer myself. If only to see this guy rolling up on the sidewalk, and catch the reactions of my coworkeers or neighbors.
My back is recovering, so I should be able to get back onto the bike this weekend. Hopefully, that will allow me to restore my weight to stability. I am still in a reasonable range, but there is definitely the potential for significant gain if I don't keep my discipline up.
I am happy that the President has won a Nobel Prize. It is a major honor for any American to win, and I hope that people see it that way. At the same time, I admit to being confused. He has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize yet has accomplished no major diplomatic achievement that I can see. There is no Mideast Peace Agreement, we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no sense that he has decreased global terrorism - or that it has simply decreased during his tenure, and it does not appear that the "Great Recession" has been alleviated which one could argue would decrease international tensions. The only explanation in the articles I am reading is really a vague allusion.
The committee said it attached special importance to Obama's vision of, and work for, a world without nuclear weapons.This seems awfully nebulous to me. Aren't Nobel Prizes supposed to recognize great achievements done by great men? President Obama may be judged as a "great man" someday, but it seems too early in his tenure to be sure now. It seems more like either (1) they had no other contenders, or (2) the Committee has decided the prize is simply a political tool to further their own agenda without regard to its intended use.
"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play," the committee said.
Greek pro basketball team Olympiakos is scheduled to play the Cavs in an exhibition game soon. But the team may not get their opportunity to play against Lebron and crew. Olympiakos has 2 civil judgments against them by American players who used to play for them. Olympiakos never paid the money that was awarded in the judgments so they still owe the former players. This could lead to the government seizing the team's property when the enter the country. This could include team uniforms and even the private plane itself.
This is one of those studies which may turn out to be an excellent example of "correlation does not equal causation." But researchers from Cardiff University are claiming that daily candy intake leads to a significantly increased risk of being convicted of a violent crime by 34. The researchers are careful to avoid blaming the sugary snacks themselves.
So, does this mean parents should ban sweets entirely?I am sure that we'll see a contradictory study soon sponsored by the Nestle corporation conducted in the vicinity of Hershey, PA.
Not necessarily, Moore said. A possible explanation for the candy-violence association is that giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may prevent them from learning to delay gratification. That, in turn, may encourage impulsivity, which is linked to delinquency.
"We think that it is more to do with the way that sweets are given to children rather than the sweets themselves," Moore said. "Using sweets to quiet noisy children might just reinforce problems for later in life."
I love the snow. I am in no rush to see the end of Autumn, as it is a GREAT time to ride my bicycle, but I simply love to see snow. So it was with some joy to see that Idaho students are already having snow days!
http://www.ktvb.com/news/nearyou/woodriver/ktvbn-oct0509-wood_river_power.1e96b181a.html
Of course, I am just as happy that CT is still clear of snow when I wake up in the morning and have to face my work commute.
Today is Bike to School Day. It is an event pushed by parent's groups and fitness professionals to promote fitness among school children. This is a great excuse to get out on two wheels today, and lead by example.
One of the rising new categories of bicycle is the "Electric Bike". This kind of bike has an electric motor attached which boosts the power of the rider. It can be very useful for the elderly or those who are still getting into shape. It makes it much easier to get up hills and get up to speed without undue stress. In order to bring the convenience of the electric bike to those without much storage space, or to office commuters who need to store their bikes in their cubicle, Bike Friday is now working on a folding electric bike!
At the moment, I am listening thru an audiobook of David Halberstam's "The Longest Winter". It is a history of the Korean War - a time in history known to most more thru the TV show M.A.S.H than from any of their history courses in school. One key aspect of the war discussed in the book was the difficult relationship between General Douglas McArthur (American commander of the Far East) and President Truman. At a key point in the War, there is a scene where Truman decides to fire McArthur - despite his long, distinguished record and his many friends in the opposition party - because the General began giving a series of speeches that directly challenged the president's policies in the war. This, the president believed, was unacceptable as a direct assault on the American principle of civilian control of the military.
I couldn't help think of this when reading this article on tensions between Afghanistan's commander and President Obama.
I want to warn my fellow Conservatives to be careful about taking too much joy in seeing the president struggle with one of his generals. While we want honest, frank men in such positions of authority, it is key that we also have men who understand the chain of command and that ultimately their commander in chief is the president. Even when they disagree with him, they must both obey orders *AND* make it clear to the men underneath them that it is never acceptable to undercut your commander.
Generals who do not understand this principle tend to be the ones who utlimately invoke that horrible word, "Coup", when they do not get their way.
A smart cyclist on the road always has their cell phone nearby. You never know when a crash may occur, you may get lost, or you may see something amazing that begs to be shared with friends. But the problem is most hands-free headsets are simply NOT made for the bike - when you hit your first major bump, they pop out of the ear and go flying. But it turns out, there are choices for the avid cyclist who doesn't want to miss a call. ActiveBlu makes a helmet-mounted bluetooth headset which keeps the device where you need it all times, regardless of your speed or the bumps along your path. Amazon has this device for $59.99 with free shipping.
Neal Bortz has up an interesting post in defense of the use of full body scanners to screen people at airports. He recently was put through one in Atlanta after the metal from his knee replacement surgery set off the traditional metal detector. He says usually when this happens it takes quite a while to have someone check him manually, where as with the scanner it was very quick.
We've all heard of folding bikes - especially if you read THIS blog - but this is the first I have heard of a folding helmet for bikes. Great idea... if it actually works.
This week started out very poorly for weight loss, despite a return to the bike on Saturday. I was up and actually got above 210 lbs for a few days, something I have not done outside of holidays and vacations (i.e. free days when I eat what I want). I ate nothing out of the ordinary. I think it was the inability to get much exercise due to back pain. Sigh. But by the end of the week, I was back to normal levels.
And it surely did feel good to get back onto my bike for a change. It appears that tomorrow will be rained out, but I am hoping to ride again on Sunday once the storm is past. And if my back will return to "normal", I'll be able to get back on the stationary bike as well.
As a certifiable Star Wars freak, I could not let this pass without comment. If you prefer the iTunes store, it is available there, too.
Supposedly this is the work of a Chinese artist who paints himself and his subjects to match the background. It is not photoshopped, and honestly the images are amazing. Truly a master of disguise.
The bad news? We'd have to redesign all of our roads to match.
