Archive for the ‘random schtuff’ Category
always buy version two »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
There’s a general rule of thumb among the iFolk. Only fanboys buy the first version; wait until version two.
The less bleeding edge among them laugh. A friend recently noted: “They do it on purpose, you can bet that 2nd generation is already designed by the time the 1st one is released.”
I’m not here to defend those who preorder, wait in line, or order the newest release on the day of release (co—DC—ugh) but they exist for a reason. Fanboys’ consumptive irrationality maintains Apple’s follow-up sales and ridiculous margins.
The slower iFolk should thank them. (more…)
complete bedlam »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Minneapolis: are you kidding?
It’s the best recreational bicycle city but it’s mediocre for commuters. The mass transit needs vast improvement and outside of the dense center (downtown, uptown), biking with drivers is dangerous.
The light rail should be an icon of a shift to shared transit and green commutes. It’s a symbol of shared mobility and clean travel. (more…)
anyone up for a bike ride? »
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
There are a few things we’ll need. Enough food for two meals and a few snacks (nothing crazy but enough to counter roughly seven thousand calories burned). Some pedal shoes, lights and an iPhone or Android with bike maps are helpful. (With 120-some turns, I don’t want you getting us lost.)
We’ll want to get racks and panniers for the supplies. No one wants to be hauling weight over our shoulders for almost ninety miles. Well, maybe you do, but I’m not an idiot. Where are we going, you ask?
The Small City, that’s where. If you’re a huge wuss, maybe we’ll stop at a friend’s place (that’s only eighty miles, weakling) for a break, some water and to slap the crying girl out of you. (His young son would be happy to oblige.) (more…)
moving on up / to the east… »
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
You may or may not know of the move in our very near future. The T.C. staff is off to the northern end of the Windy City. It’s a big change. (Mainly because CHI is considered a city even outside of the regional area.)
The relocation is only part of it.
Girlfriend and I are reducing our television consumption to three hours per week for the summer. What better time to start than after a one-way trip with a sixteen-foot truck?
I’ve gotten into bicycling-as-transportation. (Stifle your applause, hippies; I still shower often.) CHI has more on-street lanes and paths. We’ll also have nearly all of our staples (including ice cream) within two miles.
We’re moving to a residential neighborhood. There won’t be any drunks yelling after midnight. There won’t be the seventeen roaring past every fifteen minutes (or planes every hour, for that matter). I won’t sleep well for a bit.
Tired of all the gradients on this site? Want a splash of one other color? (Do you even read it here?) You’re in luck, because T.C. is getting an overhaul in the near future. (S’bout time, right? ‘Get in your car’ was the 800th post!)
Most importantly, Girlfriend and I will live in a place people actually want to visit. My sunny disposition is adequate but that’s with friends only threatening visits every two years or so.
It’s been awhile since there has been so much flux. I’m excited.
Photo courtesy Mikeyexists on Flickr
the thing about metered ramps »
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
The idea is sound: when there are too many cars on the road, setting ramp entrances to set intervals maintains the flow of traffic. It decomposes in practice (read: “free” market).
Why? (People are stupid, impatient dolts?)
Most are on their way to Very Important Things in their Very Cool Cars texting in their Very Smart Smart Phone. Someone inevitably prematurely accelerates.
Some Guy smarter than most of your family spent weeks away from his, in front of a humming set of circuits. He calculated when the light should stop blinking yellow and how long between each flash of green.
Then boom! some dim hits the wrong pedal or can’t be bothered to wait. The next person (like Pavlov’s mutt) can’t help but jolt forward when faced with the splash of green.
Too many of these renders the meters useless and proves to Some Guy his life is worthless. Which is a shame, because he seems nice.
Similar happens when a lane closes on a freeway. Some Very Important Douche has to wait until the last fifty feet to merge. More do the same and traffic slows to intermittent stops.
Of course, these law-abiding observations come from someone who recently got another speeding ticket and would rather bus an hour than drive twenty minutes. Take them with a grain of salt.