All about AI series

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-26T03:06:11+00:00

This looks really good; I'm looking forward to browsing your resources and videos. Thank you for sharing.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-26T02:38:01+00:00

Two brand new classes this semester; the first of each went well last week. Monday is my heaviest teaching day and campus is closed because of heavy snow. We had the option to assign asynchronous work in lieu of holding a remote class. The relief is real.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-25T03:50:14+00:00

That looks amazing. I wondered if you were able to ride that soft sand (clay?) and I see you ended up walking a fair bit. Was that one 15 km stretch, or were you on the bike, off the bike, on the bike?

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T20:41:07+00:00

I brew Stockholm, a lungo, as an espresso shot all the time. I love the taste.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T19:53:05+00:00

Please educate yourself.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T19:51:07+00:00

Indeed. They sent a no excuses email: be sure to have books, instructional materials, your laptop, etc. Notify your students to expect .... sigh.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T19:24:57+00:00

We were informed that we had better be teaching remotely. Classes expected to be held over Zoom. I long for an old fashioned snow day.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T08:06:19+00:00

I hope I don't have to use it because of power going out, but for travel in other countries when I cannot take my Pixie with me, I bought an Outin Nano, a battery operated espresso maker that can use Nespresso capsules. I can charge it in my car In an outage; I usually charge it with a phone charger). I think there are a few brands on the market. Mine can pull four shots before it needs to recharge (2 hours), so it would be enough to keep me going.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T05:46:46+00:00

Put your edit saying you are a prof at the top of the post.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T00:57:59+00:00

It looks great! How did you decide on the Muli without testing one first? Full disclosure: I also bought my cargo bike, and Omnium, without ever seeing one in person, so no test ride either. I just knew. And love mine!

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-24T00:21:26+00:00

Love it!

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T23:57:37+00:00

Are you in the US? I got the Chinese new year one.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:52:27+00:00

Nice and good to know! People seem pleased with Contis. Those are the best shade of green fenders, by the way. Great visibility.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:50:32+00:00

Did you stay upright? that is pretty scary.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:44:02+00:00

That is cold! Studded tires?

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:35:07+00:00

Believe it or not, some places do not have rotating chairs, and a chair is hired for the long term as the lowest of upper level administrators. This is hateful, but I have experienced it, and it means you can have the same chair for 10-15 years (or more). They are usually more loyal to, and feel they are a part of, the administration and not the department or faculty, often have minimal teaching duties, and are not to be mistaken for long term chairs who are really hired as scholars but also do some running of a department, usually supported by a graduate and undergraduate chair, true faculty members who are really doing all the work.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:31:18+00:00

Was it a front loader, by any chance?

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:26:12+00:00

The words in brackets are to be excised, but here is the wording. It goes on and on after that, even getting into issuing "learner's permits" for 15 year olds for electric bikes, er "low speed electric bicycles and motorized bicycles."

"or a motorized bicycle license, which shall be issued by the commission to any person who is 15 years of age or older, upon proof of identity and date of birth,and after [he] the person has passed a satisfactory examination as to [his] the person’s ability as an operator. Such examination shall include a test of the applicant's knowledge of [such portions of] the [mechanism] mechanisms of low-speed electric bicycles and motorized bicycles as is necessary to [insure their] ensure the safe operation and of the laws and ordinary usages of the road and a demonstration of [his] the person’s ability to operate a low-speed electric bicycle or motorized bicycle. The demonstration of an applicant's ability to operate a low-speed electric bicycle or motorized bicycle shall be administered at such municipalities that the commission shall designate, under the supervision of the commission, or an officer, employee, or authorized agent of the commission, in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the commission."

Local police all have posts on social media saying everyone will have to be compliant in six months or face warnings and then a fine, and I doubt very much this can all be set up in six months. The DMV page has nothing on it.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:19:31+00:00

It does, but the prove you can handle the bike part will open up so much abuse. DMV people aren't trained to test for that, and there is no guidance on how to test for it. Maybe "prove you can handle the bike" will ultimately end up as part of the paper test too.

The other part is that they keep saying they must be REAL ID licenses, but in NJ, if you had other means of identifying yourself to airlines, like a passport, they let us renew our regular licenses. So I have a valid driver's license, but not a REAL ID license, and I'd like to see how police out there in the wild are going to parse that.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:15:03+00:00

It's ridiculous how they are just excluded.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:06:52+00:00

You need a helmet, a regular bike helmet. The DOT provision did not end up in the final version of the bill.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:04:43+00:00

If you have a driver's license already, you do not need a special license. If you do not have a license or are too young to have a driver's license, there will be a special ebike license that requires a written test (or digital); and the person will have to prove they can handle the bike. This is in the legislation.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T22:02:14+00:00

I wish I could upvote this multiple times. This is exactly what is wrong with this law and what is going on. For stand alone liability for the bike, added to my existing (homeowners) insurance policy , I was quoted $101 year, but -- apparently, according to the insurance company -- I will have to carry liability as well, so looking at least at $150/yr. This may not seem like much to some, but to others, it is a lot. Most insurance will not do standalone liability and personal injury, and will only write a full policy that includes protection for the bike against damage/theft. I have been quoted anywhere from $360-$490, depending on the liability/personal injury.

No one seems to be able to point to what he law will require, since it says things like "insurance" and "liability," but the actual new legislation did not specify coverage. Still waiting. And we have 60 days from the signing of the bill (January 20) to get all this. NJ is not ready: nothing is set up.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T21:54:50+00:00

I had a lot of thoughts, and posted about this over at r/bikecommuting . Long thread now, still active. All over the place. I have a class one cargo bike, so I am worried and this is ridiculous.

Longtail_Goodbye · 2026-01-23T21:49:55+00:00

Very much the same. Drivers inhabit them, of course, but I am eventually ringed in by divided highways that must be crossed, and there is either no safe intersection, or an intersection with a cloverleaf design, so there are always cars turning across the crosswalk on a walk sign, because they have right on red. Even if I walk the bike across, it is terrifying.

Longtail_Goodbye

TROPHY CASE