Posts by Christopher Dempsey
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Just a wee aside to thank whoever suggested Mendeley... it's great. I've spent a bit of the afternoon figuring out Endnote first, then Mendeley, and well, Mendely looks promising. Thankyou.
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Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Tom Beard,
I’ll probably go with a sign saying “You know, I’m dressed as a slut, too” and wear what I always wear.
Heh. That's a good idea. Perhaps I could wear my grandmother's clip on earings just to confuse the hell out of the media?
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Thanks all for comments on Endnote and tips on other programs. Endnote is proving far more hassle than it is worth... will *try* export the bib to a word document - perhaps put it in excel format then export to word and remove lines... Sorry for the threadjack.
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I would be there in person supporting it for the fact that I have a PhD to hand in at the end of the month... and who knows anything about Endnote??
But this issue sails close to 'well he looked like a poof / acted like one so we beat him up.' WTF? So you have my full support.
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I'd suggest staying on Ponsonby Rd to Franklin Rd. That's all downhill, even if it's a little further. And both roads are pretty safe - Ponsonby is 40km/h zone so you can pretty much just take a lane and hold it. Coming down Franklin you'll hit 50km/h easy so you'd do the same.
I agree. Walk your bike uphill on Newton Rd (bugger riding up it), then go down Ponsonby to Franklin. The speed limit on Ponsonby is 40kph so don't bother hugging the left - its pretty dangerous to do so - take the whole lane. I usually take the whole lane as well turning out of Franklin onto Victoria St heading towards the city, until I'm opposite Vic Park Markets, where the road becomes wide enough again.
In my Uni days (many years ago now) I used to wear long, flowing, brightly-coloured satin and velvet garments while riding my bike. This was partly because I liked wearing them anyway, and partly because I figured motorists were more likely to notice me and therefore less likely to hit me.
I use the same tactic from time to time when riding around. I let the yellow high viz vest flap around in the wind, and if I'm wearing a jacket I let it flap around - I like to think that the movement of the jacket will catch driver's eyes and I'll be more safer. Perhaps I could make a long flowing brightly coloured satin 'jacket' to improve my chances?
For example, it’s a good idea to ride at least a metre out from parked cars not just to avoid being doored, but to increase your visibility to other cars further up that might be about to pull out.
I'm pretty aggressive in this respect. I ride at least 1.5m away from parked cars. I've no desire to be tangled up in a car door. And I'm not worried about the cars behind me - it's my life I'm worried about, not the 1.5 seconds they might loose on their commute. I really despair when I see novice riders hugging for dear life the left-hand side of the lane - right next to a footpath and virtually in the gutter, or more dangerously, right next to a car door. I just want to shake them and tell them to take the whole lane... I'm pretty sure Jane Bishop died because she was careful about keeping really left, to the point where it cost her her life. If she had simply taken the whole lane at that corner, she might have been still alive.
I just shout “Peasant!”.
The confused look at such an insult (“I say, are you jolly well insulting, my man???”) is priceless, and the time to process means (so far) a safe getaway.
Oh that's a good one. Rumpelstiltskin could be another word to shout.
In Auckland, I think drivers’ awareness of cyclists has actually improved since last year’s cycling deaths made safety an issue. It’s a grim reason for it to happen, but I do feel like drivers see me better now.
Agreed. That and a combination of road diets caused by bus lanes, and general increase in traffic.
“Let buses go first” is another good one. Once you get it into your mind that a bus carries as many people as 60-100 cars, you feel a whole lot less bitter at “some motorist trying to take cheap advantage, bullying you with a huge vehicle”.
When I first moved to Vancouver I was mystified by a sign on the back of buses saying "Thanks for the brake!". A friend explained that the transportation authority were encouraging people to brake for buses and let them, and so put the signs up thanking people for braking.
I've been known to hold up traffic when riding so that a bus can pull out... I think a campaign to 'brake for buses' wouldn't go amiss here.
Up to a point, totally. But please: hand signals, indicate indicate indicate. Sometimes we can see you, sometimes we are happy to share the road- but almost never can we read your minds :)
Happy to do so when I can but sometimes I can't - when I'm coming up to a corner at speed - so please! have a look a which way my front wheel is pointing. That's a good clue right there.
And if you think you've been annoyed by stupid cyclists, I encourage you to commute by bike for a week in a city, following the road code to the letter, and see how happy or even alive that would leave you. The amount of times you'd experience something scary, dangerous or life threatening is in a completely different order of magnitude than the times a cyclist annoys you.
I agree. Mostly I follow the road code (perhaps 85%), but when I sense increased risk from traffic, or find myself in a risky situation, that goes right out the window. Again, it's my life I'm worried about, not the finer points of law. Although it just mystifies me when I'm waiting at a red light on my bike along with car traffic and a biker just cruises past me into the intersection and across. I don't get it. Bonus though for me is that the car drivers have seen what just happened and will give me lots of room...
So one thing NZ could do cheaply to promote cycling is some relatively minor changes to the Rode Code that more strongly shift the burden of collision avoidance on to motorists.
I think something like this would do much to improve our driving habits, and improve safety. Changing the system so that drivers are automatically at fault if they hit a cyclist (and studies have shown that it is the vast majority of drivers who are at fault in a collision with a cyclist - see commets about "I didn't see you" above) or a pedestrian and are prosecuted would rapidly see improvement in behaviour. Expect painful whining from wingnuts in the interim though.
Apologies for coming late to this rather fascinating discussion...
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Wearing my woolly ER hat...
For what it is worth, I have put a notice of motion up at the forthcoming Waitemata LB meeting dealing with this issue. I'm not happy at all about this issue, particularly when $300m has to be found from somewhere - it's not an insignificant amount of money. This amount is likely to impact budgets for some time to come and I don't think it fair that the ratepayer should bear the cost without questioning it first.
Doffing said ER hat...
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Speaking as an elected rep... I knew this was on the horizon, not because I had any inside knowledge, but because of knowledge in general about IT systems, and the difficulties of mashing them together. INCIS anyone?
I was predicting $400m or so (double the rumoured $200m), and I wasn't far off. The figures for IT integration bandied about last year were laughable by any sane and reasonable person. I'm slightly bemused by the sense of outrage - a situation like this wasn't in the offing??
The only thing I can realistically offer is a) you can bet your bottom dollar that staff will be doing everything possible to reduce such cost and I also expect a fair bit of no. 8 wiring activity to be undertaken and b) ratepayers will have a very good system at the end of the day. For example, apparently the old Papakura DC were operating on old Windows 98 or whatever that version was.
Doffing said hat...
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Hard News: And we may never meet again ..., in reply to Luke Williamson,
I also lost my hearing at Mainstreet for Midnight Oil. They started playing and I couldn't actually hear what they were playing for about 20 seconds because my ears were just squealing. That, and all that other abusive listening, is why I have the permanent high pitched friend (tinnitus) now.
Being deaf let me indulge you; Losing your hearing is not a pretty thing. And tinnitus is not much better.
The solution to your problem at concerts is pretty simple, but makes you look slightly naff. Earpulgs. Trust me. Wear them once to a concert and you'll swear the sound is miles miles better and clearer. It is. Because earplugs tend to block out reverberating loudness, and absorb sound levels coming into your ear, so you actually get better and clearer sound. Forgive me for preaching but I know whereof I speak.
A hint for tinnitus: I gave this on another similar thread a few years ago - I think Ms Clark chimed in with her hint. Mine is to imagine a radio emitting the tinnitus sound, and that radio has a big volume control dial, like those old fashioned radios. Mentally slowly turn the volume down. Tends to work for me thankfully but (and this is the first time I've used this) YMMV.
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Hard News: And we may never meet again ..., in reply to Russell Brown,
A bit heavy to move around, but gee they sound fine outdoors.
I'm glad that you're in Albert-Eden Ward and not Waitemata. :)
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oh! it did it automatically! Wunderbar!