It is also a rougher ride than the Jamus. See photo. The front forks are more vertical, pointing almost straight down, the shorter wheelbase contributes to the bumpy effect. Yes, I’ve already modified it with a basket and a headlight (the small red flashlight on the handlebars). It is a step-through model, no crossbar. That Jamus was difficult to mount up. Tomorrow I invest in a super Kryptonite lock for this pricey puppy.I double-checked the numbers for the bike to confirm I need to get 5,000 miles out of it. As I look at the construction and compare it to my seven speed, it will take some luck to reach that. My average scooter trip is up to 19 miles, but only 11 miles per day because of missed days. The electric battery is guaranteed for one year regardless of number of charges.
JimmyR reports another instance of a stranger rescuing a baby from a burning building and then disappearing. There is a perfectly logical explanation for this behavior. The person does not want to be investigated by the police, who would certainly use the rescue as an excuse to check identification. How you stand on this depends on how much you respect the Constitution. The police are forbidden to check ID unless they have positive reason to suspect a specific crime. It is illegal for police to arrest anyone without prior cause, yet the police break this law every day. And that is why people walk away—and also why many crimes never get reported.
Having an extra hour today, I peeked at iPhone application programming. The first programming I ever did was on an Apple ][e. First of all, I see the development environment (the special word processor for creating and checking your code) is $99 and you have to register. As I’ve said, Apple is getting more Sony-like every passing year. Then I looked at Android, the non-Apple version of the same thing. The saddest part is these processes use the C++ language format, the worst programming language ever invented. It has five times as much confusing punctuation that what it replaced.
A new look in trucking. A California company has invented a device that fits on the back of semi-trailers to streamline the airflow. Saves 5% on gas, so expect to see a lot of them around soon. No photo but it looks like somebody left the back doors of the trailer open. They appear to work by creating a pocket of still air rather than a draft behind the square back of the trailer.
On a callout to Professor Howard’s, we looked at the translation module in Google. If, like me, you don’t have much use for such things, take a look at it anyway. I was astounded by the advances and best, there is a button to listen to the sentences. The accent of the speaker is perfect. The software still has limitations as in one short sentence at a time. This is a far cry from the “water sheep” days. (For any youngsters, that is a reference to an early attempt at computer translation to Russian when applied to “hydraulic ram”.)
I don't normally comment on comments, but I received a single disturbing item today. An anonymous post declared that Axis Annie (see Nov. 28, 2009) was a US citizen, and therefore automatically guilty of treason for her radio broadcasts. The email contained no references by what authority or reason Axis Annie ever became an American. But even if she did, that would have afforded her more legal protection than she got. Some people do not understand that Freedom of Speech means tolerating opposing political views. One may not like the tack, but a political view is never the same as dropping a bomb on the other guy, as was suggested by the poster.
