Saturday, May 28
bicycle tire myths
Wider tires roll faster than narrower ones: Riders have argued for years that narrower tires – especially on the road – roll faster and are more efficient than wider ones when in fact, the opposite is true. According to Wheel Energy, the key to reducing rolling resistance is minimizing the energy lost to casing deformation, not minimizing how much tread is in contact with the ground. All other factors being equal, wider casings exhibit less 'bulge' as a percentage of their cross-section and also have a shorter section of deflected sidewall.
To test rolling resistance, tires are mounted on control wheels and applied to the rotating drum with hydraulically controlled pressure
How big a difference are we talking about here? For an equivalent make and model of tire, Wheel Energy claim the 25mm-wide size will have five percent lower rolling resistance on average – the supposed average limit of human detection – than the more common 23mm one. However, 23mm and narrower tires do still have the advantage when it comes to aerodynamics, and to a lesser extent weight. If you're selecting a tire for drag strip time trials, narrow is the way to go, but if you want a better handling tire for road racing and crits, go wider – particularly for rough road surfaces
To test rolling resistance, tires are mounted on control wheels and applied to the rotating drum with hydraulically controlled pressure
How big a difference are we talking about here? For an equivalent make and model of tire, Wheel Energy claim the 25mm-wide size will have five percent lower rolling resistance on average – the supposed average limit of human detection – than the more common 23mm one. However, 23mm and narrower tires do still have the advantage when it comes to aerodynamics, and to a lesser extent weight. If you're selecting a tire for drag strip time trials, narrow is the way to go, but if you want a better handling tire for road racing and crits, go wider – particularly for rough road surfaces
Why you are paying so much for gas
you think its supply and demand? Think again. This article discusses the impact speculators have had on gas prices
Behold Freesyle Canoe
Behold! Freestyle Canoe! Freestyle canoe apparently does not consist of throwing a canoe at the biggest white water rapids you can find, but to my disappointment merely consists of old men in canoes carefully maneuvering a canoe on smooth water.
design is not my thing
design just isnt my thing. Anytime I attempt to change something on my blog I just get bogged down with too many choices. All I really want is just something clean and minimal, nothing bold or loud.
I think I will just stick with what I have...
I think I will just stick with what I have...
blog ethics
blogs have become more legitimate sources of news and media corporations are taking note. as blogs have become more legitimate sources of news what example does it set for media corporations? blogs are unfiltered rambling thoughts of the writer and more often than not they are not fact checked. this in my mind leads to the media corporations adopting these same practices, thus the need for some sense of "blogging ethics" are needed. here Rebecca Blood outlines in her blog some ideas for ethically blogging news and information
Jaron Lanier: On one level, the Internet has become anti-intellectual because Web 2.0 collectivism has killed the individual voice. It is increasingly disheartening to write about any topic in depth these days, because people will only read what the first link from a search engine directs them to, and that will typically be the collective expression of the Wikipedia. Or, if the issue is contentious, people will congregate into partisan online bubbles in which their views are reinforced. I don’t think a collective voice can be effective for many topics, such as history--and neither can a partisan mob. Collectives have a power to distort history in a way that damages minority viewpoints and calcifies the art of interpretation. Only the quirkiness of considered individual expression can cut through the nonsense of mob--and that is the reason intellectual activity is important.
On another level, when someone does try to be expressive in a collective, Web 2.0 context, she must prioritize standing out from the crowd. To do anything else is to be invisible. Therefore, people become artificially caustic, flattering, or otherwise manipulative. (from interview on Amazon)
Friday, May 27
William Gibson on the web
recently I read William Gibsons "Neuromancer" and I thoroughly enjoyed his hyper connected dystopian universe that was startling prescient of today's technology. I found this interview on him on his thoughts on the internet to be an interesting insight into his ideas of the web way back in 1996. here are some quotes I liked.
Gibson on the nature of HTML coding
Gibson noting the democratic nature of the web
Gibson on the nature of HTML coding
he's got to spend however many hours in the HTML sweatshop to produce this stuff...and it turns out to be like knitting -- it's a bunch of guys manipulating little bits.his analogy of HTML coding reminds me of my experience of learning HTML, tedious, slow, and time consuming. Oh how the web has changed these days with blogs and facebook, now anybody can become a part of this shared experience.
You can just sit there forever. Looking. Looking. And maybe not finding anything. Seeing a lot of goofy stuff.funny how the web has changed so much since 1996 yet still remains an infinite time-suck.
Gibson noting the democratic nature of the web
this accidental global post-national post-geographical thing that we've created -- which is growing constantly and exponentially in an unplanned way -- is very scary for nation-states in the traditional sense. Because where's the border? It's a violation of what they do.this quote really speaks to me the power that the web holds to democratize information and knowledge. And this democratization has not only impacted the individual with powerful technologies such as email, social networking, wikipedia, youtube, and blogging, but also as Gibson notes nations themselves which can be most recently seen in the meteoric rise of wikileaks in national issues. Further more Gibson notes that this powerful democratization of the web has the ability (if we choose to use it) to direct us to become better, more informed citizens.
I'm also inclined to think, in the very long view, that a lot of what nation-states do, and have done traditionally, is responsible for a lot of the problems in the world. So if we're going to get to something a little better, this is maybe the only thing in the world that's pointing in that direction. This is taking us somewhere.
Thursday, May 26
Isaac Asimov on Bill Moyers World of Ideas
part one:
wow if only I had the same knowledge and optimism of Asimov! Asimov shows just how far ones passion for learning can take you if you apply yourself. It is really interesting to note that Asimov was trained as a biochemist yet is known as a writer. I admire that he not only had spread his wings to learn as much as he could, but also produced a prodigious amount of written work with nearly 500 written or edited books in his name! I would like to follow Asimov and start writing more of my ideas down, yet how can I develop the same kind of pleasure and enjoyment that Asimov had for writing and learning? How can I learn to appreciate my own creativity?
part two: (if you can only watch one section, this would be the one to watch)
if only Asimov could see the world today with the internet and near ubiquitous computer access for all! Yet we still have a "digital divide" which will be so important in creating more educated society. but I also might have to disagree with Asimov in that having computer access is not equal to having the same quality of experience as being in a classroom due to all the distractions such as facebook and lol cats online. What comes to mind is that the web is what we make it to be, if each of us had the "technological literacy" to create more meaningful content we could be in a much better situation.
do computers and technology "dehumanize" learning? yes and no in my opinion. I think that technology such as the internet has such potential to really connect people with ideas but I think it is also important for students to be able to interact with one another and "bounce ideas off of each other" to explore new possibilities and avenues.
education as we know have it seen as a passage to a coming of age. This is a terrible way to conceptualize learning! One should never claim to be "done with school"or done with learning. May I always have the desire to continually improve and develop my intellect, one can always be interested and find enjoyment in learning (but I realize my naivete in this matter)
part three:
Asimov makes an interesting note when he observes that the leading scientists on the Manhattan project were predominately European immigrants. Our continued success in my opinion relies upon America being a place of continued improvement in science and technology. Why is it that if an immigrant comes here to learn in our upper education institutions they are not invited to stay and granted citizenship?
Wednesday, May 25
Chinese villagers 'descended from Roman soldiers'
Genetic testing of villagers in a remote part of China has shown that nearly two thirds of their DNA is of Caucasian origin, lending support to the theory that they may be descended from a 'lost legion' of Roman soldiers.
Blogger or worpress?
I have been thinking about moving to a wordpress blog, but I think I will stick with blogger because I really don't need to get bogged down with anymore features that wordpress may have. Blogger has all the things I need
to blog (or not to blog?)
at the moment I feel the need to try and justify why I am blogging (I realize it is stupid to do so but please indulge me for a moment). really I dont know exactly why I am doing it or what I am going to post here so things will be kind of different till I get the hang of things.
so why blog?
one of the things that appeal to me about having a blog would be to have a place to just spew out whatever is on my mind. I like the idea of just having a "web log" to just record and place some things or ideas that I think are cool whether that means some link that catches my eye, the latest musings, or travel experiences I have had.
web links: I tend to spend a lot of time (too much) time on the internet so invariably I come across cool or interesting links that I would like to save. So if I am going to go through the trouble of saving links why dont I just get two birds with one stone and share the things that catch my eye with my friends?
thoughts and travel experiences: I think it is important to create and share experiences with those around me and having a blog will help me share and develop.
Furthermore I would like to try and develop my writing skills. Having a blog will allow me to hopefully practice and develop writing skills that I think will be important to me. Writing has been a difficult thing for me to do, and I wish to make the attempt to improve my skills. While I expect most of my posts to be pretty informal, I would still like to try improve my skills.
so why blog?
one of the things that appeal to me about having a blog would be to have a place to just spew out whatever is on my mind. I like the idea of just having a "web log" to just record and place some things or ideas that I think are cool whether that means some link that catches my eye, the latest musings, or travel experiences I have had.
web links: I tend to spend a lot of time (too much) time on the internet so invariably I come across cool or interesting links that I would like to save. So if I am going to go through the trouble of saving links why dont I just get two birds with one stone and share the things that catch my eye with my friends?
thoughts and travel experiences: I think it is important to create and share experiences with those around me and having a blog will help me share and develop.
Furthermore I would like to try and develop my writing skills. Having a blog will allow me to hopefully practice and develop writing skills that I think will be important to me. Writing has been a difficult thing for me to do, and I wish to make the attempt to improve my skills. While I expect most of my posts to be pretty informal, I would still like to try improve my skills.
Monday, May 23
Sunday, May 22
The Real Reason Why Bicycles are the Key to Better Cities | Sustainable Cities Collective
after reading this article I really identified with what it said. I can think of a million reason why I should ride my bike. I can ride my bike to reduce my footprint, I can ride my bike to save money, I can ride my bike for the convenience of avoiding parking hassles, or I can ride my bike for fitness, or just about a million other reasons. And these are all valid reasons for why someone would ride a bike and they vary between the rider but in the end the simple experience of being outside and really connecting with the world around me, really knowing the changes of the season or weather, really seeing my neighborhood, and really feeling my body move is really what cycling needs to be about when promoting bicycle use.