Anyone who knows me knows I like motorcycles.  I like to ride them, I like how they feel, I like the motion, I like the sense of flying, I like the way they sound.

Wait, the way they sound? Motorcycles can be damn annoying to hear.

I like the way some of them sound.  Like mine.  I don’t like it when they cause me pain, when they vibrate windows, when they manage to be loud enough to be heard over the sound system of the club I’m in at the time.  To me, the most annoying are those cruisers – you know the ones I’m talking about, and the mosquito on crack amplified through a megaphone sportbikes, but anything that gets too loud is going to annoy someone.

I’m not the only one who doesn’t like overly loud bikes.  I’m a rider, so I can’t help but be a bit tolerant, but there’s a lot of people who don’t have any reason to like bikes.

The natural outcome, at least in this country?

Bikes are getting limited or even banned in some areas.  Becomes some jerks can’t keep their pipes at a reasonable volume and not crack it open in residential areas, there are places I can’t ride that joe-low-rider-thumping-bass and ma-gas-guzzling-SUV are still welcome.  This bums me out.

I’m not the only one!  This is a great write up from the President and CEO of Harley Davidson encouraging people to keep their bikes quieter.

Did you know that Harleys used to be called “The Silent Gray Fellows” because they were so (relatively) quiet?

Anyway, if you know anybody that is in the “I’ll have my pipes be as loud as I like and fuck you for suggesting I shouldn’t” camp, please send them this link.  And then shun them till they stop being so damn loud.

This Friday, I fully intend to continue my long standing St. Patty’s tradition of going to First Avenue to see Boiled in Lead and the Minnesota Pipes and Drum Corps.  This year, Savage Aural Hotbed is opening for them.  Not sure why the Tim Malloys aren’t on the bill, but I’m definitely looking forward to the show.

Tickets are cheap. You should go.

If I hadn’t been running late, I would a have definitely dawdled on this morning’s commute.  The sun is shining and the snow is still fairly pristine.  Three points in particular caught my eye.

• Crossing the 8th street bridge heading west over the Mississippi:  The far side of the river is parkland, and the trees are perfectly coated in snow.  The river is more or less ice free and sun was glinting off the waves, and the snow and ice on a driftwood tree that’s been just south of the bridge forever made for a beautiful sight.
• Walking the bike path through the park:  There’s a small row of shaggy evergreens – cedars maybe? Anyway, they were nicely coated but not weighed down.  They looked … content?
• Crossing the large field from the park to the Star Trib building: Large area of windswept undisturbed snow on a hill.  Just looked neat.

There were a couple downsides.

• Even with my sunglasses, I was nearly blind when I got inside.  Everything looked purple for a bit of time.
• Crossing a nearly pristine field of snow gets a lot of snow on your pant legs, even if you try and step in the holes the last person left.
• What the hell is it with people not shoveling?  What makes it worse is I really don’t like shoveling, but I did my sidewalk which makes it even more annoying having to trudge through other people’s unshoveled walks.  Glad my boots have ankle support – after a number of people have beaten the path, things get really uneven.

Did the DJ just say Minneapolis has a women’s Roller Derby team?!?  You mean Roller Derby is a real sport?  Is it like that old movie where the guy from the Japanese team punches the guy from the American team in the back of the head?  What was the name of that movie?

Discover what cultural viruses you have:
http://totl.net/VirusScanner

Here are my results:

Human Virus Scanner

The virus that have infected you will be show here along with thier cures, if known.

Viruses you suffer from:

Linux

Install the latest version of Microsoft Windows. Learn to love it.

Junkfood

Eat some real food. Something which you can identify the source of every ingredient, not the point of manufacture.

Sci-fi

Stop wearing the stick-on ears.

Industrial

Everyone likes folk. No, really. Maybe you should listen to the Incredible String Band.

Religion

Read “God’s Debris” by Scott Adams (yes, the Dilbert guy)

Windows

Try MacOS X. It’s based on UNIX, it has a smoother UI than Windows and it doesn’t suck.
As an extra feature the boxes look nice.

Politics

Stop caring!

Hippyism

Free love is passe and potentially dangerous, and patchouli smells like cat piss.

Environmentalism

Consume more stuff! It’s easier to buy new stuff than to recycle.

Macintosh

Use a mouse with more than one button.

Viruses you might suffer from:

USA (70%)

Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves! [repeat]

Free BSD (85%)

The GPL isn’t that bad really. Adopt a penguin at the zoo.

Gaming (70%)

Life is not a game.Roll 3D6. On a 4 or more go out and do something with your life.

Discordia (90%)

Buy a suit. Invest your money. Eat hotdog buns on a friday.

Brand Names (95%)

Having a well-known name doesn’t make it good.

X11 (60%)

I hear Mac OS 10 Aqua is nice at this time of year.

Computer Games (60%)

Stop staring at the screen and get some fresh air. You should see a doctor about the RSI in your thumbs.

Conspiracy Theory (78%)

Face it, the elected government is in control. Actually that’s quite scary.

Prog Rock (60%)

Long hair looks dumb with a bald spot. Listen to CD’s they don’t crackle.

So there you have it. I’m such a trend whore.

To answer my question from a few days back, I went with Homesite 5.5.   UEStudio + UltraCompare had a lot to offer and in many ways is probably the better code editor, but Homesite is pretty good.  The decided factors ended up being that pretty much everything else I’m working with is Macromedia/Adobe, and Homesite will run on Mac and PC, so I won’t need to bother with multiple interfaces.

Oh, on the IRV thing, guess what – you can go to a caucus even if you’re not in the party.  Frankly, that seems wrong to me, but now I feel like a real idiot for not going to the local DFL caucus to support IRV.

I will be starting to pass around the petition, however.  If you live in Minneapolis and want to sign, drop me a line.

Anyway, life is crazy busy and pretty good, but I need more sleep.  More sleep.  More sleep.  I crashed at 10:00 last night and am still tired.

It would also be nice to find some time to get some World of Warcraft playing in…  (I’m on Twisted Nether and will not be switching servers again any time soon)

Oh, on a final note, if anyone knows of any good open source shopping cart code out there, point me at it.  I guess PHP would be preferred, but what do I know – Really, I just need something that’ll run at most ISPs.  Java/JSP would be fine too – I don’t really remember any programming languages, so I’ll have to relearn whatever anyway.  Pretty basic needs – I need to have a catalog, display products, have people select those products and place an order.  Account creation/registration should be optional, not required.

I don’t know why I’ve put off posting on this, but hopefully everyone who lives in Minneapolis will see it in time.

Instant Runoff Voting is a real possibility in Minneapolis.

This is a BIG deal.  To me, one of the biggest.  I can’t change hate, I can’t change anything about this country – its too big with too many people. I can’t change the fact that we’re at war or that our country uses 25% of the world’s resources.  I can’t change greed. I can’t change fear.

For the most part, the only thing I can do is influence a few people around me.  Make a small difference on a local scene and hope that a million other people out there care about the same shit and make the same differences on THEIR local scene.

Voting is one of the traditional ways of “making a difference”.  Of course, its hard to see how your vote matters when you’re not part of the party or parties in control.  Harder yet, if you’re not a member of any party.  You can “throw away your vote” or you can “vote the lesser of two evils”.  The second option makes me want to puke, and the first seems a bit futile after Nth time of doing it.

There are voting systems that make one’s vote actually matter.  I may be niave, but I think if people’s votes start having a potential of mattering, at least locally, more people will vote, and since those votes “matter”, things could start to change.

I believe the place to make this work is locally.  Get people used to it, let them see it work, then maybe we’ll start to see it in statewide or even the national election.

There is an effort going around to make a city charter ammendment to let Minneapolis use IRV (The last effort to put IRV in place was sunk because our charter commission said it was against the city charter).  THIS TUESDAY are the precinct caucuses in Minneapolis.  They start at 7pm, and they’re when the parties decide what their platform is about this year.

These caucuses are where individual precincts within the parties can decide that they want to support IRV.  The Greens, of course, are going to support it.  Where it really needs work is among the DFL.  So, if you’re a DEMOCRAT and you live in MINNEAPOLIS and you ever want me to consider voting for a DEMOCRAT, go to your party caucus on Tuesday.  Take a copy of the IRV resolution (which can be found here along with information about the caucuses) and get it passed.  If you’ve been considering being a Democrat, now’s the time to take the leap, at least for the time being.

I, personally,  have already resolved that I will vote for no candidate who does not support IRV.  If the Democrats in Minneapolis do not support IRV, I will not support them. Period.  I hate litmus issues, but this one, I believe, actually has a chance of allowing me to have a government that represents me, so there we have it.  I can see both sides almost any issue, but in the case of vote reform, the two sides are: It happens or The government doesn’t represent me.  I can have no loyalty or respect for an institution with no place for me within it.

ALSO, in addition or alternatively to going to your precinct caucuses, please sign the petition listed on the site.  They need 10,000 signatures by May 8th to get it on the ballot.  If you’re a Minneapolis resident and you believe that experiment of the Representative Democracy has not yet failed, Please sign it.

Quick update.

The band (not DaisyCutter, the new project) finally got together and practiced after missing almost a month.  I was pretty rough at first, but after a couple fingers of Irish Whiskey, it went surprisingly well.

For those who didn’t know yet, as of this week, I’m working again.  Its been almost three years since I had a normal job, and this whole concept of getting up and outside every day (and correspondingly, having to wear clothing every day) is still a bit alien.  Web stuff again, of course.  Frankly, I’m just not qualified to do anything else that pays over minimum wage.

On a related note, I’m trying to figure out what text editor I want to use as a default.  For years, on my home system, I’ve used Textpad since I had a license for it, but I may as well take the opportunity to get something a bit fancier.  So far I’ve looked at:
    Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 ($199)
        Leaning against this one as its a bit expensive and what you get for that expense is mainly WYSIWYG features that I don’t really use.
    Macromedia Homesite 5.5 ($99)
        Currently leaning towards this one as I’ll be working with a number of other Macromedia technologies and there may be some benefits to using more integrated software.
    UltraEdit + UltraCompare ($59.95)
        Two standalone programs that integrate somewhat. UltraCompare looks like a pretty nice diff tool. UltraEdit is a pretty baseline code editor that doesn’t look too bad.
    UEStudio + UltraCompare ($119.95)
        Currently leaning towards this one as it has a lot of nice features (This and homesite have code collapsing. This also has CVS integration, better integration for UltraCompare, and a few other fairly nice features.)
    EditPlus ($30)
        *meh* Doesn’t really look any better than Textpad and I could buy UltraEdit for the same price.

Anyone have any thoughts or feelings on this?  I’d imagine most of the work will be HTML, CSS, javascript, actionscript, and cold fusion.

Finally,  Tika4 has recently posted a bit about the search for a cure for Juvenile Diabetes and a foundation (involving Lee Iaccoca, whose wife died of diabetes in 1984).  They  apparently have some pretty promising leads and are trying to get into testing without involvement of the major pharmaceuticals.  If you’re looking for someone to donate to, this may be a good choice.

If for no other reason then to help a auto mogul redeem himself, eh?

Something to remember about Juvenile Diabetes.

People who get lung cancer or emphysema from smoking often are denied sympathy because they made choices that lead to their illness.  Similarly, people who get type 2 diabetes are often denied sympathy because their lifestyle may have led to or exacerbated their disease (sadly, this may include my cat, but it really isn’t his fault).  

People who have Juvenile (type 1) diabetes could not have avoided it.  There’s nothing they did to “deserve” the illness.  However, since many people are aware of the lifestyle factors which can lead to type 2 diabetes and are unaware of the distinction between the types, the people with type 1 diabetes are unfairly denied sympathy.

It isn’t hard to imagine that this might lead to less funding looking for a cure.  It isn’t hard to see that this isn’t really fair.  So, consider Joining Lee Now.

href="http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/001561.html" target="_new">http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/001561.html

A bit of good advice from my Motorcycle list. Names removed to protect … um, names removed.

> What I’m trying to say is that i feel a
> bit bad for trying them on the shop and
> then buying them on the internet. Does
> anyone know the feeling?

Response 1:
I weigh each of those decisions carefully, because I want my local shop to stay in business so I can try stuff on there. If it’s a few bucks more, I buy it at the local shop, the price of having a local shop and not having to pay for shipping, and for immediate delivery.
If the Internet place has a MUCH better price, I give the local guy the opportunity to match it or get closer to the price. If he gives me attitude, I leave and hope he goes outta business.

Response 2:

I normally come clean and tell the shop that I’ve found it on the net at x pounds cheaper. Though they can’t normally match the price ( they have shop overheads that internet companies don’t) they will often offer some discount as a result and then I buy from the shop.

This has a number of benefits:
a.. I get to see the exact product I’ve ordered before I actually buy them.
b.. I get a discount of some sort.
c.. I support my local shop – otherwise they may not be there tomorrow.
d.. I can return them easily if they’re faulty, leak after 6 months, etc, etc. – Try doing that with an internet company – it can be done but what a lot of hard work packaging it, posting it – and paying to post it – getting a refund or a different product . . . . .

This relates to a concern and consideration I’ve had for some time. There’s a lot to consider about this question and how you answer it makes a difference.

I like these general responses. It supports your local businesses and workers without being taken advantage of. It also gives you more flexibility in how and why you “vote with your dollars”.

In a culture which defines us as “consumers”, all questions relating to how and what we choose to consume becomes a very important decision.

I was way behind reading the emails from my motorcycle list. In catching up, I’ve gotten to read about lots of stuff. Today, they’re talking weight control and someone contributed this:

—– The True Creation Story

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green, yellow, and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God’s great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Satan said, “You want chocolate with that?” And Man said, “Yes!” and Woman said, “and as long as you’re at it, add some sprinkles.” And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14. So God said, “Try my fresh green salad.” And Satan presented Thousand- Island dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, “I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them.” And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and
chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it “Angel Food Cake,” and said, “It is good.” And Satan then created chocolate cake and named it “Devil’s Food.”

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin, sliced the starchy center into chips, and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald’s and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, “You want fries with that?” And Man replied, “Yes! And super size them!” And Satan said, “It is good.” And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery. Then Satan created HMOs.

Anyway, lots of details that one could take issue with, but I thought it was funny. Btw, I’ve heard that potatos in the early 1900s had significantly more nutritional value than modern potatos because of soil nutrient leeching due to heavy fertilizer use and such.

This one’s for keith.

From my motorcycle list:

I raced a Harley today – from the BritIron list

I raced a Harley today and after some really hard riding I managed to PASS the guy. I was riding on one of those really, really twisting sections of canyon road with no straight sections to speak of and where most of the curves have warning signs that say “15 MPH”.

I knew if I was going to pass one of those monsters with those big-cubic-inch motors, it would have to be a place like this where handling and rider skill are more important than horsepower alone.

I saw the guy up ahead as I exited one of the turns and knew I could catch him, but it wouldn’t be easy. I concentrated on my braking and cornering. three corners later, I was on his fender. Catching him was one thing; passing him would prove to be another.

Two corners later, I pulled up next to him as we sailed down the mountain. I think he was shocked to see me next to him, as I nearly got by him before he could recover. Next corner, same thing. I’d manage to pull up next to him as we started to enter the corners but when we came out he’d get on the throttle and outpower me. His horsepower was almost too much to overcome, but this only made me more determined than ever.

My only hope was to outbrake him. I held off squeezing the lever until the last instant. I kept my nerve while he lost his. In an instant I was by him. Corner after corner, I could hear the roar of his engine as he struggled to keep up. Three more miles to go before the road straightens out and he would pass me for good.

But now I was in the lead and he would no longer hold me back. I stretched out my lead and by the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, he was more than a full corner behind. I could no longer see him in my rear-view mirror.

Once the road did straighten out, it seemed like it took miles before he passed me, but it was probably just a few hundred yards. I was no match for that kind of horsepower, but it was done. In the tightest section of road, where bravery and skill count for more than horsepower and deep pockets, I had passed him. though it was not easy, I had won the race to the bottom of the canyon and I had preserved the proud tradition of one of the best bits of britiron.

I will always remember that moment. I don’t think I’ve ever pedaled so hard in my life. And some of the credit must go to Raleigh cycles, as well. They really make a great bicycle…

*snicker*

Today, I present a link grabbed from mezamashii‘s web log.

Please take the time to read Al Gore’s speech “US Constitution in Grave Danger”.

It is not a 30 second television commercial.

That is part of the point.

It is long.

It has substance.

It should be read.

Read it.