It's become quite common for cyclists in the UK to video their cycling in order to catch evidence of motorists misdemeanors. This video from Cambridge shows how a cyclist is hit by a car while cycling, and the remarkably unsympathetic response of the average BBC Look East (local news TV programme in Cambridge) viewer...
I used to commute along roads very near here myself when I lived in Cambridge, and just like Paul in this video, I'd occasionally have more than a close call and actually be hit by a car.
The comparison with cycling in the Netherlands is remarkable. While I cycle much more now than I ever did in the UK, not once have I had the least bit of hassle here due to a driver.
While Britain continues to ignore the need for decent cycling infrastructure, the situation will remain the same. The cycling rate will continue to flatline and cyclists will continue to be treated as outlaws with no legitimate place either on the road or on the pavement.
Copying Dutch infrastructure which gives cyclists direct journeys in safety is the only way of turning this around. Real action is needed. Not yet more empty promises.
I know of many Dutch people who make cycling videos, but not one of them records their cycle rides to catch "evidence". Rather, Dutch cyclists' videos are made to record pleasant experiences of cycling. There are many of them on youtube.
Isn't it better that cycling should be something enjoyable and full of good memories ? Something not only for commuting adults but that you're also happy for your children to do ?
I came across the Cambridge video on the I Pay Road Tax blog, thanks to a tip from Biking Brits. Geplaatst door David Hembrow op 00:01 9 reacties Labels: britain, cambridge, cars, comparisons
BP's next move Sun, May 30: The anger is growing along the Gulf Coast after BP's best hope to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico failed. It's now being called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. History. Crystal Goomansingh reports.
The Corporation is today's dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.
In my opinion Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG, is one of the best architects when it comes to give shape to the interests of an “unspoken” client on public buildings,either representing the values of a country or a culture. All with exceptional syntax and presentation skills.
And BIG’s latest project (in collaboration with Arup and 2+1), the Danish Pavilion for the Shanghai 2010 Expo, does it again, by taking the best of living in Copenhagen and placing it on China for visitors to experience.
In his guided tour, we see all five "rooms" that will house the exhibition. As you will have noticed, the pavilion is not ready yet :-), but construction is proceeding rapidly, without major hiccups. Currently, air conditioning and sprinkler systems are being installed. Soon, when the walls are complete, the outside panelling will start being put into place. The installation of the exhibition will begin just after Chinese new year, in February. And on May 1, you'll be able to walk through these rooms just like Sven did.
Dr. Hans Blix hates bombs but likes nuclear power. "Today the world is spending 1,400 billion dollars on the military expenditure. Could we do not better with that, in trying to save the planet?"
Bengt Frithiofsson tastes the red wine. By Tobias Andersson Åkerblom
Video: Visit from the Swedish King to the Swedish national pavilion day
May 23 we celebrated the National Pavilion Day for Sweden, and we were honored to welcome His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Ms Maud Olofsson as our distinguished guest on this very special day.
The folks at NASA have assembled a series of time-lapse photos, over a 35-day period, of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Using images from its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, tethered to its Aqua and Terra satellites that orbit the globe, the series shows the view from space of how the spill — which began on April 20, 2010 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig — has progressively gotten worse through May 24, 2010.
NASA says the oil slick appears grayish-beige in the images, and changes with the weather, ocean currents and use of oil dispersing chemicals.
Here’s a look:
The images only show oil at the surface — there’s plenty more beneath it.
Rod Beckstrom is the co-author of The Starfish and the Spider: the Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. The book analyzes in an entertaining way how a new form of organizations and a new style of management, based on starfish networks, is taking the business, social and geopolitical worlds by storm. Rod has advised government officials around the world. He has also given speeches on organizational structure, technology and leadership at the State of the World Forum, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Microsoft, Starbucks, Napster, Harvard University, Stanford University, and YPO Universities.
Billionaire Bill Gates's quest to eradicate polio Nigeria is ground zero for the reemergence of polio. Now the country is making surprising headway against the crippling disease, in part thanks to an unlikely meeting of two leaders: Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and the Sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria's 70 million Muslims. WSJ's Rob Guth reports.
Adobe and Apple CEOs square off Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen sits down with Alan Murray and fires back at Apple's Steve Jobs in latest round of Flash fight.
Personal Finance Minute: Tips for Job Seekers Whether the labor market gains or loses jobs in coming months, the loss of more than 8 million jobs in the recession means those seeking work don't have an easy road ahead of them. Here's one career consultant's job-search strategy. MarketWatch's Andrea Coombes reports.
Videogame Sales Get Shot Down The weak videogame industry showed no signs recovering as April sales fell 26%, the market's sharpest decline since last July. Dan Gallagher helps explain the decline and looks ahead to developments that could invigorate the industry's bottom line.
Google TV debuts Jessica Vascellaro has details on Google TV, which was just unveiled by the internet giant at its developers conference in San Francisco. Plus, social networking for kids and retailers use their stores to speed up shipping for online orders.
digits: iPad makes global debut Apple's iPad debuted overseas on Friday, drawing long lines of eager consumers who were hoping to get their hands on the hot-selling tablet-style computer that is still in short supply in the U.S. Bruce Orwall has details from London.
President Barack Obama used the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to renew his pitch for alternative energy Wednesday, arguing that the unfolding environmental disaster “gives you a sense of where we’re going” without comprehensive reform.
The federal government is “going to bring every resource necessary to put a stop” to the spill, the president said during a visit to a solar panel manufacturing facility in Fremont, California. “We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired, and the cleanup is complete.”
But, he added, “a lot of damage has been done already. The spill in the Gulf, which is just heartbreaking, only underscores the necessity” of seeking alternative fuel sources. A failure to enact comprehensive energy reform, he argued, would pose a threat to national security and the economy, as well as the environment.
And this:
The Obama administration, under pressure to act over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, is expected to announce Thursday that it will suspend consideration of any applications for exploratory drilling for oil in the Arctic until 2011.
The decision is a major blow to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which had planned an ambitious oil-drilling program in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska this summer. Shell has been arguing to regulators that its operations in Alaska would face a lower risk of the kind of problems faced by BP PLC in its ill-fated Gulf of Mexico operation.
Is this enough? Not enough? Too much? Do you agree BP should be running the cleanup instead of the government? Given BP is the most knowledgeable on such things, despite never having tested some of their methods, is there a choice? What do you think about suspending drilling? Are you in the conspiracy camp that says the explosion was on purpose to further alternative energy? What other steps would you take?
The song "Anne's Theme" from the miniseries "Anne of Green Gables". I transcribed this piece about 20 years ago when I first watched the movie. I recently found this sheet music which was better than my original transcription so I thought I'd learn it. Hope it turned out okay.
Cameron has been writing stories with a penchant for the paranormal for years now (and she's only ten). She tells Amy, Meredith, and Amy about how she comes up with ideas, beats writer’s block and even co-writes an original story with the Smart Girls crew!