4/25/2006 05:24:00 am|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|
via Bike Lane Diary|W|P|114593908708245866|W|P|Things to come?|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/26/2006 12:53:00 am|W|P| Ian McKenzie|W|P|What are your gasoline prices like? Ours have just gone to 1.08 per litre. Of course, we're sitting on some of the world's largest deposits of crude.4/26/2006 08:29:00 am|W|P| bignoseduglyguy|W|P|Ian
As a cycle commuter currently required to commute by car - and father of four who require rural school runs - I'm reeling from today's increases, especially as my tanks near empty.
Fuel prices in NZ jumped by up to five cents today (the fourth rise in less than a month).
Petrol prices rose three cents, to 171 cents per litre for standard and 175.9 cents for premium at BP, Caltex, Mobil and Shell. The price I'm paying for diesel prices is at it's highest at 127.9 cents.
Companies here are seriously talking of resurrecting plans to delevop coal-to-fuel technologies as we're at the mercy of overseas supply.
In the meantime, we'll continue to look for a house closer to the rail connection.4/24/2006 11:16:00 pm|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|Late last night, I made one of those 'why didn't I look for this months ago?' finds on the web. I have flip-flopped between del.icio.us and Furl for ages, liking both del.icio.us' simplicity and Furl's ability to cache a page. As a merge of these two tools is unlikely, I have found that Alan's Marklet Maker site submission multi tool provides me with the next best thing: one toolbar button for the creation of two parallel submissions - I just add tags and save. The tools offers the user the choice to combine up to 20 popular social bookmarking/tagging tools in one bookmarklet, though I'd imagine generating more than three or four entry forms would be a little unwieldly and self-defeating.|W|P|114591711553569136|W|P|Parallel bookmarking|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/13/2006 11:53:00 pm|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|
In days gone by, bicycle saddle bags rested neatly on the rear stays which were, by and large, less acutely angled than they are today and provided stable storage for waterproofs and lunch. Likewise, conventional handlebars provided an ideal location for a handlebar bag into which small loads can be stuffed and on which maps can be stashed for easy reference.
However, on unconventional bikes like my Brompton, the handle bars are of an unusual design and there are no rear stays as such. This means standard handlebar bag fixings don't fit and saddle bags either swing wildly from the strap loops on the saddle or need to be supported by an expensive saddle bag support mechanism. Although Bromptons have a range of panniers, the phrase 'Brompton pannier' is perhaps a little misleading in that they actually attach at right angles to a bracket on the head tube, rather than the rear rack (which not all models have). My large Brompton touring pannier is really too large and wind-resistant for simple day/club day rides and my Carradice saddle bag swings into my thighs when I'm riding.
Pondering on these annoyances last night, I hit upon the idea of removing the frame from the large touring pannier (designed to do so for cleaning etc), mounting it on the front of the B and attaching the saddlebag to it. In this way, I get the stable carrying capacity I want on day rides in an accessible position. A brief Good Friday test ride through the deserted local township early was enough to prove the hack was worthwhile and worked as hoped for. The only improvement/tweak I want to try is to fashion a lightweight interior frame from a discarded realtor's sign (the corrugated plastic type) to provided a tad more shape and rigidity to the bag.
|W|P|114497099463387419|W|P|Back to front Brompton bag|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/13/2006 09:38:00 am|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|Welcome to Google Calendar|W|P|114491762225841177|W|P|It was only a matter of time|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/07/2006 10:55:00 pm|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|
It is an oft quoted factoid that humankind has yet to devise a more efficient machine for turning human effort into motion than the bicycle. Saying this to non-cycling folk is all well and good but does little to place the information in context. This simple but enlightening set of images from World Bicycle Relief makes a similar point in a more accessible manner and neatly makes the case for how the simple technology of the bicycle can dramatically transform lives and livelihoods across the globe.
I only mention this because I'm off to ride my Brompton to the local bike shop and I want to appear virtuous and enlightened this bright and sunny Saturday morning [removes tongue from cheek]. I'm going to measure up the knackered forks on my Dawes Discovery (which was mangled by the movers when we emigrated) for replacement. Once I have sourced the forks from the UK, via Gary, friend and Tower Hamlets Wheeler and Bicycle Magic, former local bike shop, I should have the Dawes looking more like it did on a Docklands ride last year.
|W|P|114444914262519551|W|P|The wonder of wheels|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/07/2006 09:37:00 am|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|With the price of Broadband here in NZ, I don't watch a lot of animation online but I have just spent a minute watching the superb Shoo Fly, animated by the obviously talented John Su. Apparently, he created so many Flash frames for the main character, Nelly, the colour of his mouse button has changed through overuse!
Discovered via Dave Seah.|W|P|114439916067931966|W|P|Animation Interlude|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/06/2006 07:20:00 am|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|If you have never heard of David Allen, never argued over Hipster PDAs with folks at 43Folders, have no firm opinions on stationery and don't give a stuff about personal productivity and organisation, The GTD Prayer will mean absolutely nothing. Those who identify with the clauses above will get it.
via Alexia at the GTD Yahoo group.|W|P|114430451667756543|W|P|For productivity geeks only |W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com4/05/2006 08:02:00 am|W|P|bignoseduglyguy|W|P|Amongst the other smart productivity stuff bursting from David Seah's Better Living Through New Media I found a great year at a glance Excel calendar that'll suit the ever-evolving paper system inside my conference file/folder. Following the example of others, I have worked up a localised New Zealand version for myself and others in Aotearoa.
|W|P|114422139170229472|W|P|Excel calendar hack|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com
Ian McKenzie|W|P|What are your gasoline prices like? Ours have just gone to 1.08 per litre. Of course, we're sitting on some of the world's largest deposits of crude.
|W|P|114497099463387419|W|P|Back to front Brompton bag|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com
It is an oft quoted factoid that humankind has yet to devise a more efficient machine for turning human effort into motion than the bicycle. Saying this to non-cycling folk is all well and good but does little to place the information in context. This simple but enlightening set of images from World Bicycle Relief makes a similar point in a more accessible manner and neatly makes the case for how the simple technology of the bicycle can dramatically transform lives and livelihoods across the globe.
I only mention this because I'm off to ride my Brompton to the local bike shop and I want to appear virtuous and enlightened this bright and sunny Saturday morning [removes tongue from cheek]. I'm going to measure up the knackered forks on my Dawes Discovery (which was mangled by the movers when we emigrated) for replacement. Once I have sourced the forks from the UK, via Gary, friend and Tower Hamlets Wheeler and Bicycle Magic, former local bike shop, I should have the Dawes looking more like it did on a Docklands ride last year.
|W|P|114444914262519551|W|P|The wonder of wheels|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com