Articles
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BUUD Alert #4
April 4, 2010
This is Bicycle-Unfriendly Urban Design (BUUD) alert #4!
Location: Portola Road (Westbound) at Farm Rd., Portola Valley CA
Issue: Bike lane squeezes from usable width (4 ft?) to zero width, entering left-hand corner at bottom of hill, on a route popular with groups of cyclists and known for the local population being intolerant of cyclists using the lane… this recent re-striping (not visible in Google Maps as of this writing) seems designed to provoke bicycle-car conflict. Given the amount of bike traffic this route (“The Loop”) gets, and the consistently wide shoulder everywhere else, this re-striping is ill conceived.
It appears that the re-striping was performed to accommodate the addition of a left-turn lane.
Solution: Put it back the way it was, let the cars wait a moment to get around those who must turn left.
I’ll post some photos next time I’m out that way.
View Bicycle-Unfriendly Urban Design in a larger map
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Vincible Tires
March 18, 2010
Read moreI recently purchased some rather expensive, supposedly invincible tires for my commute / touring bike. The Schwalbe Marathon Supremes are acclaimed as about the most indestructible tire out there, short of a couple truly massive things that really aren’t much fun to ride on.
Now, if you ever found yourself asking, as I have, “Self, just what would it take to puncture one of these tough tires?” I can now provide an answer.
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Dismal DSL
March 1, 2010
Our DSL continues (for the past 2 months) to be dismally slow. If AT&T has run fiber to our neighborhood, I’m just gonna have to give up on ‘ol Speakeasy.net and move on over…
Current results, courtesy of [DSL Reports](http://speedtest.dslreports.com/) 
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Tokyo/Glow
March 1, 2010
This is quite possibly the coolest art video I have seen in the past year… a glowing “walk signal” character takes a stroll through night-time Tokyo, via stop-motion video. It’s easier to watch it than to try to explain it!
Tip ‘o the hat to Laughingsquid for finding it (at Pink Tentacle)!
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I love you
February 1, 2010
Dear friends and family: I love you all. I really, really do! It’s simple enough to say, and I don’t say it enough. So I want you each to know how much I value having you as part of my life. Whether we’re riding bikes, going camping, drinking beer, doing chores, reminiscing about fun (and challenging) times we’ve had, or thinking about what the future holds: I love you.
So you might reasonably ask, what spurs me to write such sentimentality on a Monday morning? Well, Heidi Swift does. She reminds us that the tragedy in Haiti is not finished, and that the Haitians still need our help. Heidi has offered to donate $0.10 to relief efforts for every one of her readers who tells someone they are loved… and while that’s reason enough, her appeal also made me think about how infrequently I tell those I care about, just how much I care about them.
So, for the people you love: let ‘em know! And don’t forget about Haiti.