paper of the day: From GRL, Property loss potentials for European midlatitude storms in a changing climate: “In this study, loss potentials derived from an ensemble of climate models using a simple storm damage model under climate change conditions are shown. For the United Kingdom and Germany ensemble-mean storm-related losses are found to increase by …
ACA sticker Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. With three large projects going simultaneously in addition to the day job, I’ve been a bit oversubscribed lately, so I’ve been getting a lot of my bike time indoors on a trainer. It allows me to multi-task, getting some reading done while I exercise. And I do enjoy it. …
Paseo del Nordeste bike trail, 1/7/2006 Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. One of the great things about Albuquerque is that I can ride all winter. It can get cold, but with the right clothing it’s rarely enough to keep me indoors. There’s never enough snow on the ground to keep me cooped up for more than …
Here’s a lazyweb word problem: John rides his bicycle to work, thus saving a half gallon (1.9 liters) of gasoline, consuming 700 calories in the process. If John replaces those calories by eating beef, what is the net reduction (increase?) in greenhouse gas emissions? If he gets the calories from soy protein? Etc? (Ideally, the …
Benny and his posse showed up in force today on the Journal letters page, defending the humble bicycle: Pete Vera feels as though cyclists should not be allowed on the roads because much of the money used to construct and maintain them come from car-related fees and taxes. He needs to be reminded that cars …
Bosque Trail I Originally uploaded by Miguel Navrot. My friend Miguel has posted some great snaps of my favorite bit of bike trail in the city, the shaded, secluded stretch of bosque trail south of the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
I heard a story once about John Coltrane that I’ve always loved. I don’t remember where it’s from, so take this with a grain of salt, but the story was that Coltrane spent his whole life looking for the right saxophone mouthpiece. He had this sound in his head, and he was always looking for …
Benny the Ice Pick has some great advice for staying warm on the bike come winter.
Mailing list dynamics are often fascinating: a complex self-disorganizing system, like a bunch of really dumb ants who are neither very good at finding food, nor at finding their way back to the nest. When they work their best, they’re a fabulous tool for decentralized group communication, thinking and decision-making. At their worst… Today’s case …
A comment worth highlighting in the thread on whether bike helmets are dangerous because cars pass more closely when a cyclist is helmetted: The solution is invisible helmets. Duh.