A quick "rule" is to see how old the word/concept is. "plaintiff" would have existed almost as long as the English legal system came into being, or probably even older to the court of Assizes pre-12th century.
Whereas firefighter as a profession might have only become a word after the establishment of fire departments by insurance companies, which I think might have been a 19th century development.
the way i understand it hibernating an OS dumps ram to a file and powers off, so could it be possible to run two OSs "simultaneously" by alternating between hibernations?
This entire series by Cathode Ray Dude is a wonderful dive into the world of PC boot sequence, for the folks interested in a touch of embedded architecture. His delivery is also on-point, given the complexity and obscurity of the topics.
From this video alone (41:15):
The way this worked was: they installed Xen hypervisor on your PC, put Hyperspace in a VM and Windows in another. Now, you either know what a VM is -- and I don't need to explain why this is terrifying -- or you don't and I need to make you understand so you never independently invent this.
And (43:59):
This is just a bad idea, ok? Virtualization belongs in data centers. Putting some poor bastard's whole OS in a VM is a prank. It's some Truman Show shit. It's disassembling the coach's car and putting it back together inside the gym. It's not remotely worth the trouble and it probably didn't work.
Electric bikes have become popular in recent years. One manufacturer now hopes to sound in the next generation of electric mobility with a relatively new type of energy storage and energy generation.
Hydrogen for mass- or space-constrained mobility (eg bikes, automobile, aircraft) faces all the known problems with storing it inside inconvenient shapes and contending with the losses from liquification. Real Engineering has a video on this aspect (Nebula and YouTube) when compared to simply using battery-electric storage.
With that out of the way, I'm skeptical as to the benefits touted on the HydroRide website. Specifically, the one about storage:
Hydrogen storage offers extended longevity, surpassing 10 years, ensuring reliability and sustainability over time.
This might be true in static conditions, but hydrogen automobiles have to vent some of the hydrogen while parked, simply to deal with the buildup of hydrogen gas, since even with excellent insulation, the liquid hydrogen will eventually get warm and evaporate into gaseous hydrogen, building up pressure. The fact is that automobiles must withstand broad environmental factors, especially temperature. And we expect bicycles to do the same: how the hydrogen tank would behave in warm climates is unclear.
There's also not that much hydrogen in the tank. The website appears to indicate 20 grams. At 33.6 kWh/kg, the total energy in the tank would be 672 Wh, putting it at par with electric bikes of similar range and speed. Any hydrogen losses would be balanced against battery capacity loss over time.
Overall, as the article states, the target audience of rental operators might still be inclined to go with battery electric bikes rather than hydrogen. Requiring a supply of pure water in addition to electricity at charging locations -- compared to just electricity for battery charging -- is an extra logistical consideration. The "charge" time of 5 hours for 20 grams of hydrogen is also a potential issue.
To say this is a complex story is an understatement, and the article does a fairly reasonable job at unpacking the details. That said, I'm disappointed they did not include a PDF to the filed claim, since even a cursory analysis of the claims relies heavily on the details therein.
For reference, in California and other states, lawsuits against the state itself, or the counties, cities, agencies, special districts, or anything else that came into existence by the law, must have first filed a claim with the entity being sued. The California Tort Claims Act requires this procedure in order to relieve the state's inherent sovereign immunity and also permit the courts -- which are also an arm of the state -- to have jurisdiction.
Focusing on the relevant facts to the claim, the claimant (the former Pedal Ahead manager) states:
Pedal Ahead is a non-profit, distinct from Pedal Ahead Plus, a for-profit company
Pedal Ahead was contracted by San Diego Assoc of Govts (SANDAG) and CA Air Resources Board (CARB) to operate an ebike program
The claimant was hired in 2022 to work on this ebike program
The claimant did not receive paychecks after April 2023
Accordingly, the claimant brings back-pay claims against SANDAG (for $40k) and CARB (for $58k), based on the premise that he was working on behalf of those two state entities. Presumably, the claim argues that he was unlawfully terminated for whistleblowing, but the article doesn't specifically say this and we don't have the PDF of the claim itself.
This is... an uphill battle, IMO. Not the whistleblowing part, but the part where he wants money from those two entities. The state action doctrine distinguishes between things done by -- or instructed by -- state employees and representatives, versus things done by private entities and their employees. In a lot of ways, this mirrors the distinction between hiring W-2 employees versus 1099 contractors.
If he were directly on the CARB or SANDAG payroll, this would be a slam dunk. But he ostensibly only had employment with the non profit. This means the scope any state action claim will depend heavily on the text of the contracts with CARB/SANDAG. Generally, the narrower and more specific the contract, the less it would be the state's responsibility to pay up. That said, the contract can't be hiring the nonprofit to do something which CARB or SANDAG normally couldn't do on its own.
As with most things in civil law, it's a careful balance to apportion liability onto the entity which is best positioned to avoid the problem. Would making CARB/SANDAG pay $100k -- and thus letting Pedal Ahead off the hook for $100k -- address the problem of constructively firing someone who noticed malfeasance? That's left as an exercise to the reader.
What often happens in civil litigation is the "shotgun" approach: aim the lawsuit at as many people and entities as possible, especially ones with deep pocket, hoping some will settle. So it's possible the claimant will later file suit against all of Pedal Ahead, its owner personally, every individual mentioned personally, plus SANDAG and CARB.
California allows for joint and several liability of money claims, so if a court/jury finds that CARB or SANDAG were even 1% partially responsible, then 100% of the winnings can be extracted from their deep pockets. This is especially relevant if the entity with the most responsibility -- possibly Pedal Ahead -- is broke or is about to go bankrupt. Joint and several liability prioritizes claimants getting compensated, even though the most responsible party escapes via bankruptcy. Again, civil law is a balance.
What's truly staggering is the degree of corruption alleged, which is only ancillary to the tort claim, but it suggests that there are villains everywhere. No one comes out looking good here, whether its SANDAG and its other scandal, the owner of the nonprofit and his other ventures, the ebike program itself (why have a hard goal of 100 miles per week?), the former San Diego County Supervisor who helped award the contracts and then resigned after a sexual assault scandal, and the state entities for not properly auditing Pedal Ahead and still paying out the contracts.
All the meanwhile, $30 million of the $31 million dedicated for ebikes remains unused, likely to the disappointment of lots of San Diegans who are eager to take up ebikes or participate in a pilot program. That's the real travesty amongst all this.
This sort-of happened in the USA, in a small way, during the fallout of the 2016 Wells Fargo scandal. Public sentiment of the big-name, national retail banks was awful and credit unions capitalized on the moment with advertisements contrasting profit-centric national banks with local, cooperatively-owned credit unions.
I once came across a comment somewhere online that suggested -- sadly without hard evidence -- that the scandal may have been a win-win, since the sort of customers willing to uproot themselves from Wells Fargo tended to have smaller balances while still incurring the bookkeeping costs. And that credit unions were able to scale up to take in new customers while saving on advertising dollars.
It's a plausible idea, that a new equilibrium would be found in the banking market. Logically extending the idea further, though, would lay bare how much additional integration credit unions would have to do with each other to achieve a truly seamless customer experience. Of course, with more young people mostly sticking to online and mobile banking, this might come in the form of backroom operational improvements, rather than a revamped brick-and-mortar experience.
I am deeply skeptical at the 450 mile range figure, after searching for more detailed specs. This Cycleworld article says that the manufacturer officially described the battery as "700V, 50 Ah" yielding 35 kWh.
450 miles is 742 km. So the efficiency needed for that range would have to be 48 Wh/km (aka 702 MPGe). But that's problematic, because that sort of efficiency is in the (higher end; ie less-efficient) territory of ebikes, which are lighter and have lower top speeds. In an odd coincidence, my Bikonit MD750 Class 3 ebike achieves 48 Wh/km when cruising at 45 kph (28 mph) and weighs 44 kg, with dual batteries summing to 1.5 kWh.
So how will this electric motorbike equipped with a substantial-larger and heavier 35 kWh battery pack be able to achieve the same efficiency? Even accounting for the different testing regime -- US EPA cycle vs China CLTC -- there are significant questions here.
The Cycleworld article expresses similar doubts, suggesting a 333 mile range might be more reasonable. I agree, although even 65 Wh/km may be generous if this motorbike can't shave weight in other places beyond the battery pack.
I was just thinking if you are on your computer anyway would it just use some of the excess electricity that your computer would have wasted or would it be worse than charging your phone from a charger while using your laptop separately.
I've previously spoken with PSU engineers for enterprise power supplies -- specifically for 48-54v PoE equipment -- who described to me that today's switch mode power supplies (SMPS) tend to get more efficient with increasing load. The exception would be when the efficiency gains from higher loading start to become offset by the heating losses from higher input currents.
The other answers have touched upon the relative efficiencies between a phone charger and a desktop computer's PSU. But I want to also mention that the comparison may be apples-to-oranges if we're considering modern smartphones that are capable of USB Power Delivery (USB PD).
Without any version of USB PD -- or its competitors like Quick Charge -- the original USB specification only guaranteed 5 V and up to 500 mA. That's 2.5 W, which was enough for USB keyboards and mice, but is pretty awful to charge a phone with. But even an early 2000s motherboard would provide this amount, required by the spec.
The USB Battery Charging (USB BC) spec brought the limit up to 1500 mA, but that's still only 7.5 W. And even in 2024, there are still (exceedingly) cheap battery banks that don't even support USB BC rates. Motherboards are also a mixed bag, unless they specifically say what they support.
So if you're comparing, for example, the included phone charger with a Samsung S20 (last smartphone era that shipped a charger with the phone) is capable of 25 W charging, and so is the phone. Unless you bought the S20 Ultra, which has the same charger but the phone can support 45 W charging.
Charging the S20 Ultra on a 2004-era computer will definitely be slower than the stock charger. But charging with a 2024-era phone charger would be faster than the included charger. And then your latest-gen laptop might support 60 W charging, but because the phone maxes out at 45 W, it makes no difference.
You might think that faster and faster charging should always be less and less efficient, but it's more complex since all charging beyond ~15 Watts will use higher voltages on the USB cable. This is allowable because even the thinnest wire insulation in a USB cable can still tolerate 9 volts or even 20 volts just fine. Higher voltage reduces current, which reduces resistive losses.
The gist is: charging is a patchwork of compatibility, so blanket statements on efficiency are few and far between.
A sturdy, used, road-oriented bicycle. $200 won't get anything too fancy, but cycling is a low-impact activity that -- given the right places to bike -- is meditative, improves cardio, facilitates independent exploration, and also happens to double as transportation.
I specifically say "road oriented" because I don't want to necessarily endorse all road bikes, like the ones with carbon fibre or "Tour de France" pedigree. Likewise, mountain bikes with full-suspension sap energy away from the steady cadence ideal for a good workout, in addition to generally costing more or delivering less-than-stellar performance at low price points.
Hydrogen for mass- or space-constrained mobility (eg bikes, automobile, aircraft) faces all the known problems with storing it inside inconvenient shapes and contending with the losses from liquification. Real Engineering has a video on this aspect (Nebula and YouTube) when compared to simply using battery-electric storage.
However, I think hydrogen could be very useful for train locomotives -- which historically had "tenders" that stored the fuel behind the prime mover -- since weight is less of a problem on traction railways. As well as any stationary applications, such as utility-scale hydrogen to time-shift electricity supply, where there may be scales-of-efficiencies to realize. Today's utility-scale battery farms are not exactly gaining any scales-of-efficiency to speak of, because they're just adding more battery cells to the grid.
A singular, massive hydrogen storage tank would be a sphere, benefitting from a favorable volume to surface area ratio, among other possibilities. And such a sphere would make better use of land by growing in height, whereas multi-storey battery farms would be fire hazards. But these are just cursory conjectures.
Would a folding ebike fit the bill? Something small enough that you could lug it indoors if need be, but also with large enough (20-inch?) tires to not bottom-out on potholes? You'd get the benefit of being seated during the ride, many have removable batteries, and if the bus's bike rack is full, you can fold it and carry on.
As a rule, I don't ride e-scooters, as they're fairly nerfed by California law, in addition to the troubled state of bike lanes near me. So I would steer you -- pun intended -- toward an ebike. Around me, I see a lot of people on Lectric ebikes, so I assume they're at least decently competent. Of course, British Columbia is a fair bit different than Northern California.
New research shows lifelong bikers have healthier knees, less pain and a longer lifespan, compared to people who've never biked. This adds to the evidence that cycling promotes healthy aging.
[2,600 men and women, with an average age of 64 years old] were surveyed about their physical activity over their lifetime. As part of the study, researchers took X-ray images to evaluate signs of arthritis in their knee joints.
The study can not prove cause and effect, given it was an observational study that assessed osteoarthritis at one point in time.
Credit where it's due, the editor has written a headline which actually comports with the merits of the study, not overstating the benefits of cycling on elderly knee arthritis. And the author takes care to do the same. The article also discusses the risks specific to elderly cyclists, and identifies the aspects of cycling which are low-impact.
I (20m) am 6'5" tall. One of my female friends who's 5'5" told me that my height makes my belly particularly vulnerable in case if I get attacked with a pocket knife, for example. Why is it so?
It looks like a tiny semi-truck and trailer, with the driver sitting in an enclosed cab and pulling a spacious cargo trailer behind, but instead of burning fossil fuels for power, the Cityshuttle ePack is pedaled like a bicycle. This zero emission light goods vehicle could be a key element ... [continued]
Semi-trailers (aka what everyone calls a trailer, but full trailers are rarer now) are GOAT for expanding payload capacity for the same prime mover, and to drop the trailer and pick up a new one, improving operational efficiency. We've known this for a century
The description says "cargo-specific brakes" but I hope that implies brakes on the trailer wheels. 350 kg unbraked would be uncontrollable or hazardous if things go south. Yes, this would require a hydraulic brake coupler from cab to trailer, similar to what big rigs use. But seeing as they have CCTV in the trailer, they're already running lines to the back.
This setup is 5 meters long. Are there no mirrors??
Interesting idea. Seems well-suited to urban distribution (eg restocking convenience stores), or as a suburban mobile distribution point, taking up a position to launch smaller bikes for last-mile delivery.
That's certainly plausible. The typical requirement to keep auxiliary/infotainment systems separate from safety systems in automobiles doesn't really make much sense here, so reusing the cameras might work. Still, though, it's not like the air resistance of some extra mirrors would be a huge problem.
Canadian startup No-Bo Power has unveiled a carbon-framed mid-drive explorer rolling chunky fat tires and full suspension that serves as a stylish head-turner around town or a capable off-roader when the weekend warrior takes over.
My default buying process is research + spreadsheet creation, this time thought I'd ask the community here if you have any experience / wisdom with garage door openers. Thanks for any help!...
Can you clarify what style of garage door this is? I'm aware of two main styles: 1) a one-piece door which tilts upward, kinda like a doggy door, and 2) a door with four horizontal panels that rolls straight up on tracks. The first type has giant springs on the left and right, whereas the latter has an axial spring situated just above the door.
In both garage door styles, it should be the case that once the opener is disconnected, the door can be manually lifted and opened, to get the car out during a power cut. If this is not possible, something is wrong and the door itself needs to be serviced first, to avoid cascading issues.
If you do replace the opener, consider models which have a small backup battery, to operate when there's a power cut. The door must still be in working order, but the battery will slowly open the door using the remote control, as normal. Some openers have WiFi connectivity -- which I think is mostly a gimmick, except if there's an app to indicate if I've closed the garage door or not.
Popular among teenagers, the large electric bikes have triggered ‘numerous complaints’ to councils as fears grow for the safety of riders and pedestrians
But they have also garnered a cult status among young people, who are using them to get around with friends, take their surfboard to the beach and commute to school.
Hmm, it's almost like young people aren't being given other viable transportation options, so they flock to the mode which affords them freedom and flexibility. Should we be surprised then, that the artificial barrier for youths was breached one day, and that day is now?
IMO, the story starts far earlier, with poor government policy failing to provide transport for all. I'm no expert on Australia transport priorities, but whatever they've been doing for the last so-and-so years clearly isn't working for the youth. So it's no surprise that these councils are being caught off-guard, when their negligence finally comes to bear.
Low-speed, electrified, increasingly autonomous vehicles are going to be the norm, not the outlier. Standardized roro boxes and cargo trikes are part of it.
Credit where it's due, as the article has a caption declaring that the image is a DALL-E rendering and not actually related to the article. Disclosure is good. Avoiding gratuitous AI renderings would be even better.
The author makes some interesting observations that people not living in dense cities may have noticed. I think the prediction of autonomous low-speed cargo bikes is a bit far fetched and will be chronically "ten years away", but it does highlight the complexity of logistics, for which global companies like FedEx and UPS have to adapt to in the changing urban environment.
As for standard cargo sizes, the author is very careful with his words, predicting that RORO boxes will be standardized, not that all cargo bikes will adopt this shape and form. That's an important distinction, since national and international shipping rely on fitting things together, like Lego bricks. But consumers? They vote with their feet.
Indeed, you can get cargo bikes and trikes in all shapes and forms, and none so far have won out as the dominant form. Whereas standards that the world has basically adopted through sheer use include: the TEU shipping container; the approximate 4-5 ft wheel gauge for automobile, wagons, and chariots going back to the Roman era; standard gauge rail (1435 mm); the SI units (which the US foot is based on, post 1959); bicycle and motorbike chains on the starboard side.
If international shipping settles upon a pallet or RORO box size for their use, then that'll be entirely separate from what consumers will be riding. Not less your hobby involves buying pallet-sized quantities of goods and hauling them back yourself from the shipping terminal.
I'm racking my brain for any examples where consumer standards followed directly from a container dimensional limitation, and I've come up empty. Obviously, manufacturers and shippers take those considerations seriously so as to maximize volumetric efficiency, but I would think if a consumer good can fit multiple units onto a standard pallet, the shipping system can accommodate it.
Non-standard pallets exist, but I've yet to come across one which was over 2.4 meters (8 ft) on one side, and that was because a leg press is necessarily an odd size.
I'd posit to say that consumer standardization is more focused on components, like Shimano HG-compatible sprockets or USB C. That still leaves room for creating value by combining standardized components into appealing products of different sizes and shapes. But you're right that vendors -- particularly older industries using tech as a differentiator (eg automakers) -- are increasingly diverging from standards to trap people into their ecosystems.
As an aside, I vaguely recall many years ago, a major TV manufacturer announced a flat panel TV -- maybe plasma? -- so large that it had to be shipped by airplane. And only one such TV could fit, because when placed horizontally it would only fit at the widest part of the cabin.
This is, of course, an incredible waste of aircraft hauling capacity, but I suspect it was more of a tour-de-force than meant for sale. And since that stunt many years ago, LCD manufacturing yields have improved remarkably and TVs have never been cheaper and larger. Once these TVs exceed the height of a TEU, then I think that would be an example of a container limitation affecting the consumer, whichever oddball consumer needs an 2.5 meter high TV lol
Agreed. It would have to be something really decadent to warrant larger TVs, like outfitting rooms without windows so that they can still have a floor-to-ceiling "sea view" despite being on the interior of an apartment tower.
And such a thing would be closer to home furnishings rather than what we'd normally consider as consumer goods.
The headline is wonky -- as usual. The TLDR is a collab to produce "street and urban-focused aesthetic", rather than riding gear which is somehow specific to electric motorbikes.
<rant>
Why do editors insist on such faulty headlines? Street-inspired gear is already a gaping hole in the market which would already draw clicks and eyeballs for an existing motorbike-oriented audience. I can understand that perhaps electric motorbike riders are more likely to be in/around cities, but it's a disservice to urban non-electric riders who might be looking for a look that's not entirely utilitarian. Don't gild the lily!
I've always liked the concept of the gyro monorail, as it avoids the requirement to use elevated track that standard monorails have.
That said, I'm skeptical whenever rail is used for really short railcar configurations (ie a single car). Trains are not just wagons on low-friction tracks, but act as a streamlined unit, only incurring the burden of air resistance once.
This pod design is more-or-less just using the tracks as a traction surface and a guideway. But robotics students everywhere will know that we can build land vehicles which follow markers on the ground, avoiding LIDAR, RADAR, or any other such complexities that self-driving automobiles seem to keep butting up against.
They may have a point, if the goal is to reuse abandoned rail lines as-is, but the focus on reuse seems to miss the alternative solution: 4-wheel pods that steer along a rail-to-trail path. Compared to this self-balancing rail pod, I have to imagine developing or adapting an existing, narrow 4 wheel vehicle is going to be easier and cheaper to maintain. Any concerns about the vehicle steering itself off the path would be similar to concerns about a gyro pod failing to negotiate a curve: both scenarios would go off path. But at least 4 wheel pods would remain upright, while a balancing pod would topple or roll-over.
There's also the whole issue of head-of-line blocking, since without a passing track, every pod behind must wait for passengers to board the pod ahead. Unless they build out the rural "stations" with sidings. But again, at that point, just convert to a trail. No stations or sidings needed.
Two-way pod traffic could still leave enough room for a separated, single-lane of recreational pedestrian or bicycle traffic, which might make sense in rural areas. I'm weary of suggesting that pods and bicycles should share the same lanes though, because then we're back to whole anti-collision issue vis-a-vis self-driving automobile. Two lanes for pods and one lane for bikes/pedestrians is still an improvement over zero lanes and abandoned trackage.
I like where the conversation is going, reclaiming old rights-of-way to better accommodate public needs. But I have to imagine German rail corridors are sufficiently wide for more than a narrow, self-balancing "pod way" and should incorporate other linear transportation ideas while pursuing novel ideas.
You also have good points. As it happens, near my metro area is a park which does indeed have a children's railroad that both crosses and then parallels a major bike trail. And it's absolutely adorable.
The point re: rubber rolling resistance and pollution is well taken. But I don't think the air resistance is negligible here. I realized now that the linked article doesn't describe the speed of this monorail, so I had assumed it was something like a sauntering 30 kph (18 mph), which if available 24/7/365 from rural areas into the urban core and had consistent on-time performance, that'd be excellent.
But this other article lists the speed for these pods as 60 kph (37 mph). That's kinda terrifying for a pod, where just the gyro components weigh 650 kg (1433 lbs), and definitely implicates air resistance. At that speed, the gyro had better be robust enough to counter sudden winds that would threaten to tilt one pod into the path of an oncoming pod.
Now that I think of it some more, on a horizontal curve, roads will widen the lanes so that vehicles won't side-swipe each other. And tracks are set farther apart than on straightaways, for the same reason. But the pair of rails? They're always 1435 mm (4 ft 8.5 in) apart, so will the pods be designed for a maximum curve speed and angle, or will passing be disallowed on curves?
Finally, I will concede that requiring two way pod lanes would definitely be a success story. But seeing as they're planning to use abandoned trackage, even a single-track railroad will already provide two "lanes" for their pods for free. If they had right-of-way that doesn't have existing track, it's not clear if their plan is to install a single rail.
The reason I think you could lay new track is that kiddie train track is really cheap and used railroad rail is pretty valuable.
Railroad track is certainly valuable, although its removal and rehabilitating the rail bed can add up. Here in the USA, a number of disused railroads are simply left in place, usually only removing the points which connect to the mainline. I'm informed that part of the reason is due to regulations that make it hard to re-establish a rail segment if the rails are fully dismantled. I also have to imagine that if the rails are too valuable, unscrupulous scrap dealers would have made off with them already.
I certainly agree that any track used in service of a self-balancing pod has better of good or excellent quality, since we absolutely do not want pods coming off due to a rail issue.
I do like that all these ideas are essentially recreating the lazy river experience, but with no inflatable donuts lol
P.S. I added the right link to my last post; I forgot to paste it earlier
It's a plausible idea, although admittedly it only solves one of the automobile-specific drawbacks and leaves the other issues unaddressed. Road trains show that coupling separate vehicles together yields efficiencies for the few, large prime movers, when compared to several small engines. Moving vehicles by rail is the most straightforward way to reduce friction to enable higher speeds.
But designing a road/rail pod that operates in two speed regimes would be difficult if neigh impossible. Consider crash-worthiness: a road-going pod doing 30 kph (18 mph) does not require substantial crumple zones (or at all) but the same pod on rails doing 120 kph (75 mph) will have to be at least tested to similar standards as passenger railcars. It's a strange beast to optimize for two very different conditions, like how airplanes are designed to be either sub-sonic or super-sonic, exclusively. Instead, something like the Amtrak Auto-Train which carries the pods at higher speeds would have all the benefits and nearly none of the downsides.
But going back to the benefits of this idea: platoons solve the issue of poor lane utilization due to spacing between vehicles fore and aft. Coupling is platooning with zero space in between, which also nearly solves the car-to-car communication issue, since they're now all physically connected. The same applies identically to rail, so the efficiency gains from lots of small pods to large platoons would be realized.
The problem that remain, though, are that these pods still need to traverse their destination: there must be pod roads, pod parking spaces and pod parking structures. Then pods will compete with active transportation and their lobby will seek to monopolize public spaces to the detriment of everyone that's not in a pod. Finally, zoning laws will enshrine the pod into ordinances requiring an obscene and arbitrary number of pod parking spaces by business type, inducing demand for pods when walking, bikes, buses, and trains would have also fit the bill.
All that has changed is that the pods can more efficiently flood the urban core and take up space. The 1960s American freeway building spree did exactly this with automobiles, and most cities have yet to recover.
It reduces the need for freeways without hurting mobility at the origin/ destination.
You are 100% correct, with the caveat that mobility is not hurt compared to automobiles. If the standard for public transport is to achieve automobile levels of mobility, we have already lost the game.
I would advise reading that page in order, and in full. It lays a lot of foundation as it goes. There is indeed a call-to-action at the end.
Our system resembles an obstacle course. One consequence of the hard work of people like Thurgood Marshall is taking power away from law enforcement and subjecting law enforcement (including prosecutors) to stringent rules. Federal Criminal Procedure is a full-semester law school course. It is mindbogglingly complex, but keep this in mind: The complexity is to create fairness.
Dear people who want the process to move more quickly: Be careful what you wish for. Giving more power to law enforcement (and prosecutors are part of law enforcement) might bring about the short-term results you want, but is not a good idea in the long run.
Suzuki showed off a few electric last-mile mobility solutions at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, and now we have a glimpse inside one with a new patent filing.
As an aside, metric conversions of US customary speed and distances are convenient in that they almost perfectly align to powers of two for typical land speeds.
5 mph ~ 8 kph
10 mph ~ 16 kph
20 mph ~ 32 kph
40 mph ~ 64 kph
80 mph ~ 128 kph
The other common speed limits in the USA are thus bitwise compositions, which Computer Science folks might appreciate:
15 mph ~ 24 kph (16+8)
25 mph ~ 40 kph (32+8)
35 mph ~ 56 kph (32+16+8)
45 mph ~ 72 kph (64+8)
50 mph ~ 80 kph (64+16)
55 mph ~ 88 kph (64+16+8)
65 mph ~ 104 kph (64+32+8)
Had the 1980s US metrication effort succeeded, we could have seen those same limits rounded off to: 25, 40, 55, 70, 80, 90, and 100 or 110 kph.
For reference, common speeds around the world are 15, 20, 30, 50, 80, 90, and 100 kph
IMO, this seems like something that would show up as military surplus equipment in the USA and thus end up with municipal police forces without a care about the civil liberty implications, whether or not actually deployed. I'm surprised the UK is beating us at our own game.
That said, even on this side of the pond, police departments have -- or should have -- policies to intercept motorbikes, which are likely the most applicable to stopping ebikes. It's hard for me to believe that only a technological solution is truly the most sensible option here than, say, designing roads so getaway vehicles simply can't develop sufficient speed in urban areas to be dangerous or effective at evading authorities.
My go-to example of such passive safety features are those outside of major sports stadiums in the USA here: decorative concrete planters, giant letters that spell the city's name, and plazas to congregate pre-game are all subtle, modern forms of bollards and defensible space. I cannot simultaneously believe we can build stadiums with passive safety to protect thousands of patrons, yet cannot build roads to stymie reckless, high speed getaways.
As an aside, this sounds somewhat like the TV license vans in the UK, the purported mobile detector for TVs in homes that haven't paid the UK's TV license fee. Although they sound plausible, no such vans have ever been truly demonstrated publicly, simply being a myth to convince people to pay the fee.
My thoughts for soon-to-be new ebike riders is to go to an ebike shop and just have a look around. There are so many styles of ebike and not all of them have a comparable analog to conventional bicycles; you might find a style which you've never even heard of that suits you well.
During your research phase, any ebike shop will be fine, since the goal is not to decide on a brand yet, but to hone your interests. You can also get advice from the staff, taken with a grain of salt, of course.
For new riders, I strongly encourage buying local, simply because maintenance and parts availability is what will soon distinguish serious ebike machines from cheap toys. And you can test ride it. But you may also want to consider various makes that sell online-only, as this can save decent sums of money.
As a reminder, in both print and online publications, the content of an article is written by a journalist, but the headline is usually written by the editor. Journalists have an obligation to the readers to accurately convey context and factual information. Editors have an obligation to the owners/shareholders to sell as many newspapers or clicks as possible.
Journalists cannot write if nothing gets printed, and editors cannot publish if no articles are written. It's a symbiotic relationship, but clickbait headlines are definitely one of the cons of that relationship. What's unfortunate is that a lot of people just aren't aware of this internal tension, so lots of good journalism is unread because of overzealous editors.
To be clear, typically an author must be consulted if the article's body will be modified. But not for the headline or title or the high-level summary preceding the body.
I don't have specific movie examples, but the narrow depth of field of a zoom lens would certainly require careful cinematographic considerations. It would be hard to compose a shot that has a typical foreground and background, without accepting that the background might be massively blurred. But I can sort-of see the appeal of having things chronically out-of-focus, as a way of hiding "obvious" details from the audience, until the focus changes and makes the big reveal.
Maybe such a film would be trying to artistically emulate human "tunnel vision", where depth perception is severely reduced.
Paywalled. But if you use Reader View on Firefox, the article will show up anyway. From it, the answer to the headline question is an emphatic yes, with positive effects on cardiovascular activity, mental health, and commuting, and drawbacks regarding cost, theft, and lacking infra in North America.
So not too surprising for regular readers of this community.
Rep. Donni Steele, R-Orion Township, similarly argued any spare money in the transportation budget should go to filling potholes and improving roads. “Regular people don’t care about electric bikes,” Steele said in a statement.
A while ago on Mastodon, I came across a post which posited that the present state of commercial AI safety is fundamentally flawed, because it tries to build safety as an after-thought atop a platform that wasn't originally designed with safety in mind. The point of that post was to show that achieving perfect constraints for such complex systems is a fool's errand for humans to aim for, and we should instead look to AI developments in academia for "safety-first" AI systems, ones that don't start as general-purpose that require later conditioning.
I think a similar comparison can be made here, where motor vehicles are inherently dangerous and thus we need to accept that these "solutions" will only ever be games of whack a mole. Instead, we may need to look beyond the automobile for achieving personal mobility, if we want to have an intellectually honest approach to addressing roadway collisions.
Pivoting now to more abstract ideals, I find it problematic that to solve a problem chiefly caused by heavy, large motor vehicles -- that is, cyclists being maimed, run over, or outright killed by motor vehicle collision -- that the burden, as usual, is thrust upon cyclists, be it mandatory helmet laws or using so-called "beg buttons" because the ground loops won't detect bicycles. That is, the need for the bicycle to be outfitted with technological solutions rather than cheap-but-politically-uncomfortable policy solutions, is just wrong to me. As it stands, building high-quality Complete Streets is unpalatable, yet praying for tech that's ten years away is somehow tolerable. Sigh.
In more concrete terms, I can envision some obvious problems with this technology. The first is a DoS style attack where an operator can halt traffic by broadcasting the appearance of hundreds of bicycles stopped upon a road, preventing all the C-V2X cars from using a residential street as a bypass. Such exploits already exist in other ways.
And finally, I think the premise is bad: if a car is traveling so fast that it needs to "see" beyond line-of-sight, that's an inherent incompatibility with human endeavors. The only land-based activity which solved this problem is the train, despite having stopping distances exceeding sight distances. And trains only achieve that safety using dedicated facilities (ie closed tracks, protected crossings) and strict enforcement of operating procedures. Cars have neither of these.
I'm no expert on statistics, but I know enough that repeated experiments should not yield wildly different results unless: 1) the phenomenon under observation is extremely subtle so results are getting lost in noise, 2) the experiments were performed incorrectly, or 3) the results aren't wildly divergent after all.
As with most things in life, it depends. Two people at different stages of life and career might evaluate the same investment drastically differently, against the criteria of their own priorities.
The juncture of: time, income, financial timelines, and financial priorities
How doing almost nothing (index funds) can and does outperform active mutual funds; KISS
Success criteria, aka not running out of money in retirement
Needless to say, most everyone would prefer a higher rate of return. But the caveat is how much it will cost. Some higher rates of return are almost without cost, such as switching from a brick-and-mortar savings account (0.01% APY) to an online savings account (~4.30% APY). This is almost a no-brainer.
Other investments have fantastic returns but have opportunity costs: buying into large infrastructure can pay huge dividends but take decades to become profitable, tying up the money and sometimes nearly bankrupting the Earl of Grantham. Even still, this could be advisable when viewed in the long-term.
Likewise, some investments have a paltry rate, but carry (almost) no risk of missed payments. Someone looking for a income later in life might be fairly pleased to have a steady stream of inflation-adjusted money.
Even corporations and governments evaluate investments differently than people, since corporeal legal entities aren't mortal and death is optional. Indeed, investment priorities are a lot different for sovereign entities, which cannot declare bankruptcy precisely because of their power to raise taxes.
I hope these examples show that the qualities of an investment -- independent of quantitative measures like return rate or revenue per share -- can be "good" in different ways.
I'm reluctant to upvote this, since it's leaving out a lot of rather important caveats about the dataset. This depiction is presented as "the number of aviation incidents between the two giants since 2014 in the U.S. and international waters". Here, "international waters" means the regions of the North Pacific Ocean, north Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico, whose airspace services are delegated by ICAO to the United States, administered by the FAA. It's not US airspace, but it's administered as if it was, meaning accident reports get filed with FAA and NTSB, the source of this data.
The other caveat is that the total size of the Boeing fleet flying through FAA-administered airspace versus the total Airbus fleet is closer to 2-to-1, with nearly twice as many Boeing aircraft as Airbus aircraft, using 2018 estimates. This is including all the aircraft which US airliners currently operate, not just the newest ones they've bought in recent years.
Finally, in the reporting parlance, an aircraft "incident" means a non-serious injury event that happened. If major injuries or death occurred, that would be an "aircraft accident". So an incident could include anything like:
Returning to the airport because of an unruly passenger
Another aircraft getting too close but not requiring evasive manoeuvres (aka minimum separation violation)
Overspeeding of the aircraft, such as exceeding 250 knots while still below 10,000 ft
An engine failure
A door plug falling off, causing minor injuries to three people but no deaths
A passenger getting their arm stuck in the toilet while reaching for their dropped phone
What reasons could Boeing aircraft have more incidents? Sure, they might be shoddily assembled. But it could also be a matter of fleet distribution: if Boeing makes more wide-body aircraft than Airbus, and thus carry more passengers, then passenger-related incidents would be higher represented for Boeing aircraft. Suffice it to say, this single graphic isn't giving enough depth to a complicated situation.
Why English language is sometimes "lazy", sometimes not
(non-native speaker)...
Would it be possible to run two OSs simultaneously by hibernating one of the OSs?
the way i understand it hibernating an OS dumps ram to a file and powers off, so could it be possible to run two OSs "simultaneously" by alternating between hibernations?
HydroRide: These e-bikes do not require a battery and are just as efficient ( www.notebookcheck.net )
Electric bikes have become popular in recent years. One manufacturer now hopes to sound in the next generation of electric mobility with a relatively new type of energy storage and energy generation.
E-bike nonprofit CEO accused of faking program data, mixing public and private business ( www.sandiegouniontribune.com )
A former Pedal Ahead manager makes the allegations in claims filed this week with SANDAG and the state air resources board.
What would happen if everyone moved there money from traditional private banks to credit unions/ coop banks
Can credit union and coop banks replace traditional banks completely?...
Ride1Up slashes Prodigy price to cheapest Brose e-bike in history amid overstock ( electrek.co )
In what could likely be a sign of continued overstocking issues in the North American electric bike industry, Ride1Up has...
Automaker introduces world's largest electric motorcycle with impressive range — and it could revolutionize the industry ( www.thecooldown.com )
Is it more energy efficient to charge a phone/tablet using a desktop/laptop while your computer is being used vs using the charger? ( kbin.run )
I was just thinking if you are on your computer anyway would it just use some of the excess electricity that your computer would have wasted or would it be worse than charging your phone from a charger while using your laptop separately.
If you had $200 to spend on fitness, what would you spend it on?
It's a one-time payment. You can spend it on anything fitness or health related....
I tested a hydrogen-powered bicycle. Is this the future? ( electrek.co )
This past week, I attended the Micromobility Europe event in Amsterdam, where I saw many familiar company faces and several...
$1000 Honda Suitcase - Motocompacto Review [electric folding scooter] ( youtu.be )
As is their custom, FortNine delivers a two-wheeler review in the most cinematic way possible, along with a dose of British sitcom humor....
Final Question. E-Bike or Electric scooter?
I am going to make my purchase this Wednesday. And a late addition to the fold is an electric scooter....
Like to bike? Your knees will thank you and you may live longer, too ( www.npr.org )
New research shows lifelong bikers have healthier knees, less pain and a longer lifespan, compared to people who've never biked. This adds to the evidence that cycling promotes healthy aging.
Why does being tall make your belly more vulnerable in case of an attack?
I (20m) am 6'5" tall. One of my female friends who's 5'5" told me that my height makes my belly particularly vulnerable in case if I get attacked with a pocket knife, for example. Why is it so?
Cityshuttle's 6-Wheeled E-Cargo Bike System Is Like A Pedal-Powered Semi Truck - CleanTechnica ( cleantechnica.com )
It looks like a tiny semi-truck and trailer, with the driver sitting in an enclosed cab and pulling a spacious cargo trailer behind, but instead of burning fossil fuels for power, the Cityshuttle ePack is pedaled like a bicycle. This zero emission light goods vehicle could be a key element ... [continued]
130-Nm full-squish carbon fatbike motors through town and trail ( newatlas.com )
Canadian startup No-Bo Power has unveiled a carbon-framed mid-drive explorer rolling chunky fat tires and full suspension that serves as a stylish head-turner around town or a capable off-roader when the weekend warrior takes over.
What should I know about buying / replacing a garage door opener?
My default buying process is research + spreadsheet creation, this time thought I'd ask the community here if you have any experience / wisdom with garage door openers. Thanks for any help!...
They’re fast. Pedestrians are furious: ‘fat’ ebikes divide Australian beach suburbs ( www.theguardian.com )
Popular among teenagers, the large electric bikes have triggered ‘numerous complaints’ to councils as fears grow for the safety of riders and pedestrians
Last Mile Delivery Is Standardizing With Two Cubic Meter Roro Boxes For E-Cargo Trikes - CleanTechnica ( cleantechnica.com )
Low-speed, electrified, increasingly autonomous vehicles are going to be the norm, not the outlier. Standardized roro boxes and cargo trikes are part of it.
REV'IT! and Zero Join Forces For “Electric Motorcycle Riding Gear” ( www.rideapart.com )
Self-balancing commuter pods ride old railway lines on demand ( newatlas.com )
Looks like they could totally fit a bike rack on these things too!
How can we improve the judicial system that monitors our politicians deals (spotting for fraud, corruption) when it is not in the interest of anybody involved?
Could This Suzuki Electric Scooter Patent Show Us The Future? ( www.rideapart.com )
Suzuki showed off a few electric last-mile mobility solutions at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, and now we have a glimpse inside one with a new patent filing.
I tried to ride Trek’s new ebike up the steepest hill in Seattle — and it didn’t go as planned ( www.tomsguide.com )
UK police could get Ghostbusters-style backpack devices to halt ebike getaways ( www.theguardian.com )
Device in development fires electromagnetic pulse that tricks ebikes and scooters into shutting off
I know nothing about e-bikes. Which should I get?
I’d like to start looking for an e-bike. The primary goal is something off-road capable. I’m thinking simple trails and sand....
China's sweeping new e-bike battery rules could have a major impact in US ( electrek.co )
Is there a movie with a significant portion of it shot through a telescope?
Or a very very high zoom to get a similar effect....
E-bikes are good for the environment—but what about your health? ( www.nationalgeographic.com )
E-bikes are good for the environment—but what about your health?...
Michigan Dems OK $3M for e-bike discounts. GOP says plan is off the rails | Bridge Michigan ( www.bridgemi.com )
Bike brands start to adopt C-V2X to warn cyclists about cars ( arstechnica.com )
Twenty-nine research teams analyzed the same data, and they all reached different results. ( fivethirtyeight.com )
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/science-isnt-broken/...
When investing your money, what is considered a good rate of return?
Airline Incidents: How Do Boeing and Airbus Compare? ( www.visualcapitalist.com )