Okay, but your original point was "95% of bikers like loud pipes". You are right- the proportion of moron bikers is higher than the proportion of moron car drivers. But 19 out of 20 bikers aren't stupid. It only takes a few.
Terrible comparison. Basically, you are saying "a car with above average efficiency, in optimal conditions, gets better mileage than a motorcycle with below average efficiency in average conditions".
A better comparison would be a somewhat efficient, somewhat lightweight motorcycle- after all, your Corolla is a somewhat efficient, somewhat lightweight car. And then make a straight comparison- are you talking about city driving? Urban commuting? Long distance interstate driving?
i have yet to see someone who didnt ride their motorcycle around as some kind of penis extender.
That's because you notice the loud bikes, dangerous riders, etc.
Just like if someone says "the only thing on the road are these huge SUVs". That's because they are big and you are looking for them- a Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, etc is generic enough that you don't notice it. That doesn't mean they aren't there.
A Goldwing isn't a cruiser, and you probably haven't seen many people pulling wheelies on them. Others: nearly every bike by BMW, many dualsport and adventure bikes by other makers, the SV650 and clones. These bikes aren't cruisers or sportbikes- they are standards. Sure, there are stupid people on bikes, but there are stupid people on cars, too.
Many of us follow the MSF or Team Oregon philosophy, reducing our risk as much as possible. Don't judge an entire population based on a miniscule subset.
-ted, motorcycling geek who doesn't need to compensate
Most modern, efficient vehicles are very quiet. I doubt most SUV drivers hear a Honda Civic next to them on freeway- even if they aren't on the phone or listening to the radio.
Why is it any different with a motorcycle? Loud pipes annoy the rider and nearby pedestrians. The visibility issue with motorcycles is more a function of size than volume.
So it costs $600 right now. After 1/2 million units, they'll lower to price to some unspecified amount. After 1 million units, they'll lower the price to $100.
How would you like to pay $600 for the 499,999th unit? Or (unspecified amount) for the 999,999th unit? D'oh!
Okay, I'm going to save some time (and replies) on this thread and post a whole bunch of Seattle jokes. Perhaps that will cause the rest of this thread to avoid the obvious rain jokes and concentrate on more serious things, like hot grits and Natalie Portman.
----
A newcomer to Seattle arrives on a rainy day. She gets up the next day and it's raining. It also rains the day after that, and the day after that. She goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and, out of despair, asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How do I know? I'm only 6."
----
"I can't believe it," said the tourist. "I've been here an entire week and it's done nothing but rain. When do you have summer here?" "Well, that's hard to say," replied the local. "Last year, it was on a Wednesday."
----
A curious fellow died one day and found himself in limbo waiting in a long, long line for judgment. As he stood there, he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the gates of heaven. Others were led over to Satan, who threw them into a lake of fire. Every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss him or her to one side.
After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the better of him. He strolled over and tapped the devil on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, there, Your Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, and I couldn't help wondering why you are tossing some people aside instead of flinging them into the fires of hell with the others?"
"Ah," Satan said with a grin. "Those are from Seattle. They're too wet to burn."
----
A Californian, a Texan and a man from Seattle meet in a bar. They are good friends and are chatting away, when suddenly, the Californian grabs a bottle of fine chardonnay, throws it up in the air, and shoots it coming back down.
The Seattle guy and the Texan are naturally amazed! They say, "Now why the heck would you do a thing like that?" they ask. He replies, "Well, there's a lot of wine where I come from, so it's not really as important to me." The Texan says, "OK, whatever."
About 5 minutes later, the Texan grabs a bottle of fine tequilla, throws it up in the air, and shoots it coming back down. The Californian and the Seattle guy say, "Lemme guess. There's a lot of tequilla where you come from, so it does't mean that much to you." Tex says, "Correct."
About 3 minutes later, the Seattle guy finishes off his beer, throws the bottle up in the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the Californian, and finally catches the bottle coming back down. The Texan is totally stunned! "Now what in heck made you do that?!?!? You're probably going to be put in prison and executed!!!"
The Seattle guy says, "Well there's a lot of Californians where I come from, and I thought I would recycle the bottle."
I've got the lafree lite from ebikesnorthwest. Nice bike, actually. In another life, I used to do longer-distance riding (back to back centuries- one each day).
I use my hybrid bike for commuting. I live in hillly Seattle. I can get to work in 30 minutes on a bike, lock it up, and walk up and get going. I don't have to shower and change- usually I'll change my shirt, but I'm not dripping in sweat like the people who are apparently training for the Tour de France while commuting to work.
The lafree lite has some good circuitry in it- when I'm cruising along level roads, it doesn't help unless I am slowing down. The biggest boost is on hills- if I stay at a level, steady cadence, the bike will double my power. That makes hills seem (physically) like very little more than a straight section (except for the overall speed).
I'd get a lafree lite if I was in the market. If you're a diehard MTB or Road rider, it's not for you. But it gets guys like me some exercise and fresh air.
Some comparisons: motorcycling to work: 20 mins driving to work: 28 mins bicycling to work: 30 mins bus to work: 75 mins
Worked at MP3.com from the IPO until the beginning of 2003- nearly four years. Others were there longer and knew more, but some of my observations:
* Too much crap. Free uploading means that anyone who thought they were an artist could upload music. No business model can support this. MP3 really needed to charge artists a few dollars a month. That wouldn't limit a real artist, but it might limit the guys that churned out crap.
* No way to find good music. There were "top 100" charts, but that's about it. How about Amazon-style relevance? Michael Robertson hated anything that forced a listener to listen to something- why wouldn't people want to choose each and every track? Well, some people don't care, or don't want to take the time. Give me a stream and leave me alone.
* No business model. Can't make money giving free uploads and free downloads. Subscriptions were ineffective, artist subscriptions pissed off the artists, and giving away hundreds of thousands per month was just silly.
* CEOs that didn't care. Michael Robertson had some vision and enthusiasm, but couldn't save it.
On the other hand, there were some great people and ideas at MP3.com. Trusonic is one of those- I'm sure they will continue to be successful.
I was trying to figure out what the lead was used for (traces, solder, and capacitors was my best bet). The following link from Intel is a press release, but contains a good overview of lead use: http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20 040407tech.htm
Most of the fancy furniture and stuff was in the tech building. The business, HR, legal, and music types were in the building next door, and it wasn't dressed up quite as much. It still had some pretty cool things in it, though.
The techs were in 1-, 2- and 3-person offices. This was very nice, compared to cubes. I miss it. Some of the higher-ups had argued and managed to get those for us. I miss the care of employees that the whole tech organization had- it certainly helped motivate employees, or at least keep them from being demotivated (read Good to Great).. a lot of time was put into making sure the techies were kept happy, even through low-buck things.
I wasn't really into playing the arcade games and such. But some people were. Like most workplaces, there was a big spread: the majority of the employees would just play the arcade games occasionally. But there were one or two that seemed to do nothing else but play the games. Ditto with the rest of the games, pingpong, etc.
Laundry- that was locked in a closet, and was used for washing the towels from the exercise area. They'd planned on putting in a gym for a long time, and when they finally did, we couldn't justify the cost. So we shared it with another local company.
Working at MP3.com was pretty cool. Young, driven individuals (mostly male and single, no surprise there). I maintain that MP3.com died because it lacked a cohesive business plan- but the software engineering was top-notch.
MP3 had a lot of the dot-com things (nerf guns, aeron chairs, free soda), but there were some pretty legitimate things going on too.
Slashdot Mirror
I was amused to see a story about me in a slashdot entry. Certainly I have some opinions on the Amazon blogging issue :-)
Here's my homepage (including my notes about the Seattle P-I article) and here's my blog entry about this. I'll continue revising it.
-ted (I left Amazon earlier this year)
Here are some google sightseeing sites- mine first, of course!
p s/
perljam.net/notes/interesting-google-satellite-ma
http://www.paulrademacher.com/housing/
www.shreddies.org/gmaps/
cryptome.org/usndc-eyeball.htm
del.icio.us/knodi/google_maps
www.returnofdesign.com/feature.php?article=12
gmaps.nicj.net/
-ted
http://perljam.net/notes/interesting-google-satell ite-maps/
-ted
comparison:
picotux: 19x19x36mm (12.996 cc), 18 grams
gumstix: 20x6.3x80mm (10.080 cc), 12 grams?
packaged gumstix: 36x15x83mm (44.820 cc), ?? grams
Okay, so the gumstix is smaller. But the picotux has built-in eth.
Okay, but your original point was "95% of bikers like loud pipes". You are right- the proportion of moron bikers is higher than the proportion of moron car drivers. But 19 out of 20 bikers aren't stupid. It only takes a few.
-ted
Terrible comparison. Basically, you are saying "a car with above average efficiency, in optimal conditions, gets better mileage than a motorcycle with below average efficiency in average conditions".
A better comparison would be a somewhat efficient, somewhat lightweight motorcycle- after all, your Corolla is a somewhat efficient, somewhat lightweight car. And then make a straight comparison- are you talking about city driving? Urban commuting? Long distance interstate driving?
-ted
i have yet to see someone who didnt ride their
motorcycle around as some kind of penis extender.
That's because you notice the loud bikes, dangerous riders, etc.
Just like if someone says "the only thing on the road are these huge SUVs". That's because they are big and you are looking for them- a Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, etc is generic enough that you don't notice it. That doesn't mean they aren't there.
A Goldwing isn't a cruiser, and you probably haven't seen many people pulling wheelies on them. Others: nearly every bike by BMW, many dualsport and adventure bikes by other makers, the SV650 and clones. These bikes aren't cruisers or sportbikes- they are standards. Sure, there are stupid people on bikes, but there are stupid people on cars, too.
Many of us follow the MSF or Team Oregon philosophy, reducing our risk as much as possible. Don't judge an entire population based on a miniscule subset.
-ted, motorcycling geek who doesn't need to compensate
Most modern, efficient vehicles are very quiet. I doubt most SUV drivers hear a Honda Civic next to them on freeway- even if they aren't on the phone or listening to the radio.
Why is it any different with a motorcycle? Loud pipes annoy the rider and nearby pedestrians. The visibility issue with motorcycles is more a function of size than volume.
-ted, motorcycling geek
Myths:
- Not all motorcycles are made by Harley.
- Not all motorcycles are cruisers or sportbikes.
- Not all motorcyclists like loud pipes.
-ted, motorcycling geekThat is about 380 gallons of gas, if you calculate avgas at 6.84 lbs/gallon.
-ted
For front ends, there is switchvox, which wraps Asterisk.
Miss Congeniality? Was he arrested for poor/distasteful use of bandwidth?
Paint not safe for painting on head.
Can you put an RFID tag on a product such as this? What if someone painted over the RFID/antitheft tags with this paint?
-ted
Michael Robertson is a dork. This isn't a troll, I worked under one of his no-business-model companies for years.
Just saying.
So it costs $600 right now. After 1/2 million units, they'll lower to price to some unspecified amount. After 1 million units, they'll lower the price to $100.
How would you like to pay $600 for the 499,999th unit? Or (unspecified amount) for the 999,999th unit? D'oh!
So basically, nothing has changed since Tron?
Or since the kit-based "line follower" robots, for that matter.
(Yes, I know that most other bots are smarter than that, I used to live across the street from Pyxis. Get over it, I did RTFM.)
I think we (Seattle) get the rap for rain because of the number of cloudy days. Want to research that, too? :-)
That's okay, I'm not complaining about the rain here. I love it, and it keeps the Californians away.
----
A newcomer to Seattle arrives on a rainy day. She gets up the next day and it's raining. It also rains the day after that, and the day after that. She goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and, out of despair, asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How do I know? I'm only 6."
----
"I can't believe it," said the tourist. "I've been here an entire week and it's done nothing but rain. When do you have summer here?" "Well, that's hard to say," replied the local. "Last year, it was on a Wednesday." ----
A curious fellow died one day and found himself in limbo waiting in a long, long line for judgment. As he stood there, he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the gates of heaven. Others were led over to Satan, who threw them into a lake of fire. Every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss him or her to one side.
After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the better of him. He strolled over and tapped the devil on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, there, Your Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, and I couldn't help wondering why you are tossing some people aside instead of flinging them into the fires of hell with the others?"
"Ah," Satan said with a grin. "Those are from Seattle. They're too wet to burn."
----
A Californian, a Texan and a man from Seattle meet in a bar. They are good friends and are chatting away, when suddenly, the Californian grabs a bottle of fine chardonnay, throws it up in the air, and shoots it coming back down.
The Seattle guy and the Texan are naturally amazed! They say, "Now why the heck would you do a thing like that?" they ask. He replies, "Well, there's a lot of wine where I come from, so it's not really as important to me." The Texan says, "OK, whatever."
About 5 minutes later, the Texan grabs a bottle of fine tequilla, throws it up in the air, and shoots it coming back down. The Californian and the Seattle guy say, "Lemme guess. There's a lot of tequilla where you come from, so it does't mean that much to you." Tex says, "Correct."
About 3 minutes later, the Seattle guy finishes off his beer, throws the bottle up in the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the Californian, and finally catches the bottle coming back down. The Texan is totally stunned! "Now what in heck made you do that?!?!? You're probably going to be put in prison and executed!!!"
The Seattle guy says, "Well there's a lot of Californians where I come from, and I thought I would recycle the bottle."
I've got the lafree lite from ebikesnorthwest. Nice bike, actually. In another life, I used to do longer-distance riding (back to back centuries- one each day).
I use my hybrid bike for commuting. I live in hillly Seattle. I can get to work in 30 minutes on a bike, lock it up, and walk up and get going. I don't have to shower and change- usually I'll change my shirt, but I'm not dripping in sweat like the people who are apparently training for the Tour de France while commuting to work.
The lafree lite has some good circuitry in it- when I'm cruising along level roads, it doesn't help unless I am slowing down. The biggest boost is on hills- if I stay at a level, steady cadence, the bike will double my power. That makes hills seem (physically) like very little more than a straight section (except for the overall speed).
I'd get a lafree lite if I was in the market. If you're a diehard MTB or Road rider, it's not for you. But it gets guys like me some exercise and fresh air.
Some comparisons:
motorcycling to work: 20 mins
driving to work: 28 mins
bicycling to work: 30 mins
bus to work: 75 mins
Worked at MP3.com from the IPO until the beginning of 2003- nearly four years. Others were there longer and knew more, but some of my observations:
* Too much crap. Free uploading means that anyone who thought they were an artist could upload music. No business model can support this. MP3 really needed to charge artists a few dollars a month. That wouldn't limit a real artist, but it might limit the guys that churned out crap.
* No way to find good music. There were "top 100" charts, but that's about it. How about Amazon-style relevance? Michael Robertson hated anything that forced a listener to listen to something- why wouldn't people want to choose each and every track? Well, some people don't care, or don't want to take the time. Give me a stream and leave me alone.
* No business model. Can't make money giving free uploads and free downloads. Subscriptions were ineffective, artist subscriptions pissed off the artists, and giving away hundreds of thousands per month was just silly.
* CEOs that didn't care. Michael Robertson had some vision and enthusiasm, but couldn't save it.
On the other hand, there were some great people and ideas at MP3.com. Trusonic is one of those- I'm sure they will continue to be successful.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/2
And more from Intel:m
http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/leadfree.ht
And more information from AMD:u rces/0,,30_182_4040,00.html
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalReso
Disclosure: I don't work for, or own stock in AMD or Intel. I haven't purchased an Intel chip since the Pentium came out.
-ted
Is that a subtle way of saying "I live at home with my parents, so it's easy to afford music"?
100k songs? You're off by a factor of ten, at least.
:-)
MP3.com passed the million-song mark long before they went belly-up. I think they may have had around 2M, but I've forgotten.
And grabbing the data from CDDB would be illegal, unless we paid them for it
You're forgetting a customer database, log tracking, login servers, download servers (streaming downloads eat up Apache), etc.
Oh, things I forgot:
Most of the fancy furniture and stuff was in the tech building. The business, HR, legal, and music types were in the building next door, and it wasn't dressed up quite as much. It still had some pretty cool things in it, though.
The techs were in 1-, 2- and 3-person offices. This was very nice, compared to cubes. I miss it. Some of the higher-ups had argued and managed to get those for us. I miss the care of employees that the whole tech organization had- it certainly helped motivate employees, or at least keep them from being demotivated (read Good to Great).. a lot of time was put into making sure the techies were kept happy, even through low-buck things.
I wasn't really into playing the arcade games and such. But some people were. Like most workplaces, there was a big spread: the majority of the employees would just play the arcade games occasionally. But there were one or two that seemed to do nothing else but play the games. Ditto with the rest of the games, pingpong, etc.
Laundry- that was locked in a closet, and was used for washing the towels from the exercise area. They'd planned on putting in a gym for a long time, and when they finally did, we couldn't justify the cost. So we shared it with another local company.
Working at MP3.com was pretty cool. Young, driven individuals (mostly male and single, no surprise there). I maintain that MP3.com died because it lacked a cohesive business plan- but the software engineering was top-notch.
MP3 had a lot of the dot-com things (nerf guns, aeron chairs, free soda), but there were some pretty legitimate things going on too.