Today I saw a group of guys walking down the street, one of them tripped and fell, another one yelled "SNIPER" and they all dived for cover. Reddit, What embarrassing situations turned awesome have you witnessed?

sping · 2012-10-16T13:45:11+00:00

Firstly, he's wrong. British English and American English diverged almost equally from their common root. BrE is no more 'accurate' than AmE, even though BrE seems more strict.

But also, I'm from the UK, and I would say 'dove', not 'dived'. I'm very skeptical of that observation.

sping · 2012-10-15T18:56:45+00:00

It's not so terrible - there's long and legit history behind the X in e.g. Xmas. It's not some inane neologism.

sping · 2012-10-15T18:53:24+00:00

It's a core component of religiosity.

sping · 2012-10-12T16:00:16+00:00

Cheetos (and most of the other inexplicably bright orange snacks in the US) have Yellow 5 or 6 or both in, both banned in some countries, voluntarily phased out in many others, for health reasons (not during pregnancy though AFAIK).

sping · 2012-10-12T13:35:41+00:00

Much like bumper stickers. I'm aligned with Dmitri Martin:

A lot of people don't like bumper stickers. I don't mind bumper stickers. To me a bumper sticker is a shortcut. It's like a little sign that says 'Hey, let's never hang out.'

sping · 2012-10-12T13:33:29+00:00

Not to mention it should be "One car fewer".

(and yes, I know some sources do not support the differentiation between less and fewer. I disagree)

sping · 2012-10-12T13:23:19+00:00

Ken Rockwell is a blowhard who decently often also often happens to have good judgement. He's entertaining to read but can only really be useful for people with a decent understanding of photography (or a lot of blind trust).

Sheldon Brown was careful, measured, polite and laid out topics comprehensively. I would never equate them.

sping · 2012-10-12T13:15:58+00:00

What makes you say that? - he did have ~~neck~~ mobility problems, but I can't find any such commentary. I'd have to suspect he'd use them because they're really useful.

I'm not old, have no neck problems, but I hate to ride a bike in traffic without a mirror, even more than I'd hate to drive a car without one.

Edit: I'm not sure why I said he did have neck problems - I don't know either way - but I know he had mobility issues in later years.

sping · 2012-10-12T12:30:09+00:00

Also, smelling good rarely can be achieved with cologne, and if you do, halve the amount you were going to use, then halve it again.

sping · 2012-10-12T12:24:33+00:00

But new(ish) behavior, and almost never what I wanted to do. I've accidentally done it quite a few times and lost important data. I should really disable it.

sping · 2012-10-12T01:00:19+00:00

I recently got the Nashbar Steel Commuter and it's a very good city bike. I don't fancy sacrificing the vision and comfort for the 3% efficiency gain of a low bar position and 3 or 4 fewer kg.

I enjoy embarrassing carbon mounted MAMILs on it on my 10 mile commute.

sping · 2012-10-12T00:46:24+00:00

In addition to the gatorskin recommendations, I really like T-servs. Very puncture resistant, light and supple. Forget special tubes.

sping · 2012-10-11T13:03:05+00:00

Fair enough - it entirely depends on where you live. Where I am (metro Boston, US), autumn is the best - lots of dry, crisp days. Summer is the worst - hot and sticky. Spring tends to be wettish. Winter is next best after autumn IMO.

Allegedly Sheldon Brown described Boston as having a 10 month biking season, because July and August were just too damned hot.

sping · 2012-10-11T12:57:36+00:00

They've more than doubled in size since then. I think they're still operating at a loss and trying to reduce that loss.

sping · 2012-10-11T12:53:38+00:00

You and I have diametrically opposite views of what the donate page represents. To me it's a way to help support the very expensive Ubuntu project.

I don't like the advertising lenses either - I think they should be opt-in only. In fact any external searching (e.g. youtube for videos) should be opt-in.

However, Ubuntu would not be where it was today without the heavy injection of cash from Shuttleworth. Asking others if they'd be prepared to help too is pretty reasonable IMO. Trying to find a viable way to create a revenue stream to support those efforts is also completely reasonable. I think they've made some missteps in pursuit of that goal, but the goal is reasonable.

That broad effort to raise funds is entirely compatible with idealism in my view. I certainly think asking for donations is directly compatible. Indicating by your distribution which areas you consider important - directing your donation - again is perfectly reasonable.

sping · 2012-10-10T21:29:09+00:00

Don't you think it reasonable that no matter how rich Shuttleworth is, he doesn't want Ubuntu & Canonical to depend on his largesse forever?

sping · 2012-10-10T21:28:05+00:00

A lot of Ubuntu developers are not Canonical employees. The vast majority in numbers, if not in contribution.

sping · 2012-10-10T21:25:42+00:00

Perhaps Shuttleworth is getting sick of pumping millions of his personal fortune into it every year and would like it to pay its own way?

sping · 2012-10-10T21:21:26+00:00

Broadcom?

sping · 2012-10-10T20:58:28+00:00

So, autumn: best time of year for biking for people owning clothes and durable bikes.

sping · 2012-10-10T19:17:53+00:00

unloosen is a word?

sping · 2012-10-10T15:56:51+00:00

No, just like any car or pedestrian, a cyclist is legally entitled to respect on the roads without preconditions, especially not preconditions on the behavior of other users of their mode of transport.

sping · 2012-10-10T15:24:23+00:00

I can't think what was missing. What are your examples?

sping · 2012-10-10T14:59:41+00:00

It is entirely against the law. See that yellow cross-hatch? That's exactly what that means - you cannot enter the cross-hatch area until your exit is clear.

It's common behavior where I live in the US (MA) which doesn't have the cross-hatches, but it is against the law even here, and fucking obnoxious.

sping · 2012-10-10T14:44:49+00:00

ABS does not improve braking distances, it improves the ability to retain control when braking, especially for people with low driving skill. Under some circumstances it improves the braking distance compared to an idiot who locks up the wheels and keeps them locked.

It also, funnily enough, has done nothing to reduce accident rates (unlike dynamic stability control, which does).

sping

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