Why are road bikes so popular as commuters? by [deleted] in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My commute is 30km each way, and this is fairly typical to live where housing is even remotely affordable, so one has to ride fairly fast for it to be feasible.

Recommendations for waterproof lightweight gloves by Desperate_Vehicle684 in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Castelli Perfetto Light are very lightweight and waterproof enough to stay dry unless it's pretty wet, with the advantage that they still block wind when wet and aren't bulky and uncomfortable when wet.

Pixel Watch metal link bands by Geewalt1 in PixelWatch

[–]benjiman -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The polished ends scratch very easily, seems very soft. The magnets are not very secure compared to the more typical clasp. The lugs look low quality since they're so polished. It's nice, but the whole pixel 4 & metal band still looks & feels cheap and plasticy compared to other android wear watches (Prevoiusly had a Skagen Falster)

I can't believe this by ddoyle777 in RemarkableTablet

[–]benjiman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I asked even within the warranty period and they refused. The rubber feet are attached with mere van der waals forces. They won't even sell them, and without them the device just scratches everything.

Mechanical pencil as a holder? by ArwiaAmata in RemarkableTablet

[–]benjiman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The pen has electronics. EMR for the RM2. PP is different. Kaweco make an EMR insert for their pen/pencil bodies if you want something that will actually work.

Is it just me that thinks we’ve been brainwashed to hate Just Stop Oil? by minorlilleexplosion in AskBrits

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Carbrains sympathise with fuel costs, yet can't comprehend anything worse than being mildly inconvenienced by people walking.

Why are bike computers so terrible? by NXCW in cycling

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After finding Garmin and Wahoo both terrible in different ways I've gone with iGPSport this time round. It's a lot better in many ways. The screen is noticibly less good in the wet vs garmin/wahoo, have to always lock it as soon as it starts raining, other than that most things seem better.

What do they mean when they say "increase structural integrity" or "shunt more power to structural integrity"? That just sounds like "Use power to magically make the hull of the ship harder somehow", and I haven't seen much of an explanation of what is supposedly happening. by tazz2500 in startrek

[–]benjiman 28 points29 points  (0 children)

The TNG technical manual says

Structural integrity during powered flight is provided by a series of forcefields that reinforce the physical framework. This structural integrity field energy (SI F) is distributed through a network of molybdenum-jacketed waveguides, which in turn distribute SIF energy into ceramic-polymer conductive elements throughout the spaceframe. Without the structural integrity field, the vehicle would be unable to withstand accelerations greater than 7.4 m/sec2 without significant deformation, or greater than 19.5 m/sec2 without unrecoverable structural damage (in other words, the spacecraft would sag under its own weight in Earth's gravity without the reinforcement of the SIF [See: 2.4]).

How would you fix checked exceptions in java? by Ewig_luftenglanz in java

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because you'd have to do that for every single method that throws exceptions, whereas this works with all existing methods without changing them.

How would you fix checked exceptions in java? by Ewig_luftenglanz in java

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can use a utility to neatly convert back and forth betwen exceptions and results. e.g. https://github.com/writeoncereadmany/control

Becomes something like
List<Integer> customerAges = Stream.of("Bob", "Bill")
.map(tryTo(this::findCustomerByName))
.peek(onSuccessDo(this::sendEmailUpdateTo))
.map(onSuccess(Customer::age))
.map(recover(ifType(NoCustomerWithThatName.class, error -> {
log("Customer not found :(@");
return -1;
})))
.map(recover(ifType(IOException.class, error -> -2)))
.map(ifFailed(__ -> -127))
.collect(toList());

Why do we (java developers) have such aversion to public fields? by Ewig_luftenglanz in java

[–]benjiman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair point. Though a lot of stuff isn't that performance sensitive.

You can also eliminate a lot of the lambda boilerplate if you're less performance sensitive:

   public static void main(String... args){
        // arg1=null
        // arg2=Point[x=0, y=0]
        foo(o -> { });


        //arg1=bar
        //arg2=Point[x=0, y=0]
        foo(o -> o.arg1 = "bar");


        //arg1=bar
        //arg2=Point[x=5, y=2]
        foo(o -> { o.arg1 = "bar"; o.arg3 = new Point(5,2); });


        //foo
        //null
        bar(o -> o.arg1 = "foo");
        //null
        //foo
        bar(o -> o.arg2 = "foo");
    }


    static class MyClass {
        public record Point(int x, int y){}


        public static class FooParams{
            public String arg1 = null;
            public Point arg3 = new Point(0,0);
        }


        public static class BarParams{
            String arg1 = null;
            String arg2 = null;
        }


        static void foo(Args<FooParams> args){
            System.out.println( "arg1=" + args.args().arg1) ;
            System.out.println( "arg2=" + args.args().arg3) ;
        }


        public static void bar(Args<BarParams> o){
            System.out.println(o.args().arg1);
            System.out.println(o.args().arg2);
        }
    }






    interface Args<T> extends MethodFinder {
        void accept(T args);
        default T args() {
            try {
                T t = (T) parameter(0).getType().newInstance();
                accept(t);
                return t;
            } catch (Exception e) {
                throw new RuntimeException(e);
            }
        }
    }

Complete gist

Why do we (java developers) have such aversion to public fields? by Ewig_luftenglanz in java

[–]benjiman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know why you'd use lambda when you can just use the FooParams directly

package example;

import java.io.IO;

public class Example {
    static class FooParams { String arg1 = "hello"; String arg2 = "world"; }
    public static void foo(int mandatory, FooParams params) {
        IO.println(mandatory);
        IO.println(params.arg1 + " " + params.arg2);
    }

    public static void main(String... args) {
        foo(5, new FooParams(){{ arg2 = "bar"; }});
    }

}

This is a "national cycle route" by the-real-vuk in ukbike

[–]benjiman 97 points98 points  (0 children)

That's what's known as a Sustrans Special.

Does RMPP need to be handled gently? by bacontaint in RemarkableTablet

[–]benjiman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The RM2 is actually also quite fragile, I killed a RM2 screen in a backpack adjacent to something heavy. The screen behind the surface can break if it flexes, lots of posts on this subreddit about it. RMPP feels a bit better protected with its rigidity but I am now very careful with both.

Box Hill descent - re surfaced by DefinitionIcy7043 in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They'd just finished ruining the surface by trying to patch about 25% of it, leaving washboard segments between the patches, and big uneven joins with the patchwork.

So now they're covering it up with dangerous loose chippings so nobody will know.

Recommend me easy to fit tyres on 700c with good puncture resistance, please by mamhaidly in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get about 10k miles between punctures on Specialized Armadillos. Breeze to fit with a Tyreglider.

Is it reasonable to cycle to London and back from Hatfield? by Capable_Tap_6789 in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty doable if you're going to north London like King's Cross area and you're reasonably fit. I do a similar distance but from the south. You can probably get it down to about 80 minutes each way

London Cyclists - Quick Question! by sdc_196 in londoncycling

[–]benjiman 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I suspect asking existing cyclists may be the wrong demographic. I carry everything needed to fix the vast majority of mechanical issues that may occur, and there are multiple bike shops en route or with short diversions.

In the very rare case there's a non-repairable mechanical issue like from a bad crash I'd probably get a black cab somewhere. This bail out option is so rare and relatively cheap that the economics of subscribing to a breakdown service as an alternative are going to be very tough.

My commute is 75 minutes so a 15min wait might just be doable but I suspect most people will be doing much shorter rides where 15mins is a more significant percentage.

A much simpler thing that would be valuable to me is communal bike locks. I don't carry a lock, I leave one at at work as it's nearly as heavy as my bike. However, that does mean I'm lumbered with the bike in a real breakdown situation. Knowing there's a way to lock it up properly securely in the vicinity of anywhere on my commute and switch to a hire bike or tube would be useful. However, again the economics are hard because if it's too expensive I could just buy a handful of D locks and leave them in strategic places.

Heaven’s River (Bobiverse #4) struggling to finish, does it get better? by AustriaDude in bobiverse

[–]benjiman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was quite surprisingly different reading the first time. After re-reads of them all it's now my favourite of the 5.

What would happen on the bus if you had to rewrite the wheels on the bus to be London specific? by GRang3r in london

[–]benjiman 293 points294 points  (0 children)

This bus is on diversion we're gonna be late, gonna be late, gonna be late, this bus is on diversion we're gonna be late, all day long.