@wesley@theatl.social avatar

wesley

@wesley@theatl.social

Software Engineer in Atlanta

Safe and sustainable transportation options: #bikes, #transit, #walking #SafeStreets

Cities built for people not cars.

Manchester United & Atlanta United fan

Gamer and Coffee nerd

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wesley, to cycling
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

Something ran over two solid steel bollards on the Trolley Line Trail.

Hard to be sure what did this. Can't rule out the possibility it was a scofflaw cyclist.

DrTCombs, to random
@DrTCombs@transportation.social avatar

There is a school bus driver here with a history of somewhat antagonistic behavior toward people on bikes (at least, toward my kid and me).

We encounter her everyday on our ride to school, and she never fails to honk after we pass each other. Why, IDK.

Today, she added "sticking her tongue out at us" to her routine, and it was all I could do to not fall off my bike laughing.

You win this round, angry bus driver lady.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@DrTCombs Is this only when you are "in the way of the bus" from her perspective or just anytime you pass by her?

Really awful behavior either way but I'm curious.

You'd think school bus drivers would be held to a higher standard but I am usually very uncomfortable around them, much more than regular transit bus drivers. I had one come close to hitting me while I was in a crosswalk literally yesterday because they were trying to catch a yellow light.

wesley, to coffee
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

James Hoffman has a video on a pretty cheap hand grinder that seems to deliver very good results for the price (£35).

I feel like this could be a really good gateway into the world of specialty coffee for a lot of people.

https://youtu.be/EPbVUR6Y83k

@coffee

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

I forgot about how annoying automatic coffee drippers are.

My dudes, just make a pour-over using one of those Melitta or Chemex filters. Not only is it easier, it makes better coffee.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@atomicpoet Hario V60 is my brewer of choice

wesley, to Atlanta
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

I've seen two other dads on cargo bikes this week with @TheWarOnCars stickers. Somehow we need to organize a get together

christianselig, to random
@christianselig@mastodon.social avatar

omg I thought I was the only one. Siri why are you like this

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@christianselig I feel like we've gone the wrong direction with these voice assistant things. I don't want it to be like talking to a person. I want something more like the star trek computers where you just issue it short commands and then it does it.

"Tea, earl grey, hot"

"Computer, lights."

"Computer, locate Dr. Crusher"

Short and direct commands like we're talking to a computer, which we are. I'm not saying please and thank you to a talking hockey puck

mlawton, to random
@mlawton@mstdn.social avatar

“We only have sweet tea, honey-baby!”

And thus, I was unmasked as a yankee in the south.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@mlawton I've been in the opposite situation of accidentally trying to order sweet tea somewhere outside the south and then trying to explain to the well-meaning server why putting packets of sugar into already cold tea isn't quite the same thing lol

wesley, to fuckcars
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

Excellent episode from @TheWarOnCars about how auto insurance doesn't really cover all the harms from car crashes and how those costs are offloaded to others, especially the victims.

I was really surprised to learn that victims of car crashes often don't receive any compensation from drivers even when they have liability insurance because of how the law advantages health insurance companies over victims

https://thewaroncars.org/2024/03/19/122-car-insurance-is-too-cheap/
https://thewaroncars.org/2024/03/19/122-car-insurance-is-too-cheap/

#bancars #fuckcars #thewaroncars

skinnylatte, to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

My parents just moved to a smaller apartment right next to a train station in Singapore. They think they’re getting older and won’t be wanting to drive anymore. (In any case they didn’t drive until they were 50 because cars cost 100K in Singapore. And only my mum knows how to drive.)

Thinking of how they have choices, as I read the news of a almost 80 year old Chinese American person in SF who, over this weekend, killed 3 people and left a 2 month old baby boy orphaned.

https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/18/woman-78-accused-of-manslaughter-wrong-way-driving-in-fatal-west-portal-crash/

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@skinnylatte I remember when my grandmother was that age and couldn't drive herself anymore and she lived out in a suburb where you have to drive everywhere. So to do literally anything she had to have my uncle or a neighbor drive her places or pick her up things.

The suburbs are a depressing place to retire when people age and lose all their mobility because they can't drive. Or they keep driving well past the point of competence and risk their own and other people's lives

mlawton, to random
@mlawton@mstdn.social avatar

Ten Hag subbing like he wants to be fired.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@mlawton Ten Hag subbing like he wants to win my dude

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@mlawton Fair enough! Hojlund is just coming back from injury though so probably couldn't go the full match would be my guess.

Antony had a rare good performance which probably does make it look better in hindsight, but I think all of his subs came on and made an impact just about

lrvick, to random
@lrvick@mastodon.social avatar

It's official. After 3 months of back and forth, a major medical provider has elected to drop me as a patient for not having a Google or Apple device.

It is unclear if this is legal, but it is very clearly discriminatory and unethical.

Any tech journalists or lawyers interested interested in this?

I would like to do anything I can to ensure this never happens to anyone else.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@skotchygut Reminds me of a recent post I saw on Lemmy of someone asking for help removing pay walls from his wheel chair so he could access all the features.

HIS FUCKING WHEELCHAIR HAS A PAYWALL

wesley, to random
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

Was enjoying this video until the end where he says actually the real solution to self driving cars is to build a whole new roadway network just for autonomous vehicles.

"Sorry. Your car will never drive you around"
https://youtu.be/2DOd4RLNeT4

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@wesley He didn't seem to realize at the end that the problem with the car is not the human driver. The car itself is the problem.

It doesn't matter how many billions of dollars we pour into self driving technology and a new road network optimized for self driving vehicles, there's no giving the inherent inefficiencies and negative externalities of automobiles.

What if instead we took all that money it would take to make self driving cars a thing and instead invested in public transit which we already know can move a large number of people quickly, safely, and efficiently?

wesley, to fuckcars
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

Out of all the car companies, Dodge (subsidiary of Stellantis) has to be up there as one of the worst. I can't think of any other car company that is so overt in their design and marketing to encourage their customers to be both reckless and annoying

https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/112044178302159860

marcprecipice, to cycling
@marcprecipice@xoxo.zone avatar

That’s not a cargo bike. This is a cargo bike.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@marcprecipice What kind of trailer is that? Looks very useful!

ShmosKnows, to Atlanta
@ShmosKnows@theatl.social avatar

Imagine all you felt as a thriving city was that your state hated you and wanted to undermine everything that helps you

https://saportareport.com/bill-to-abolish-grta-and-the-atl-gaining-steam/

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@ShmosKnows I do think we need to start getting the state more interested in fixing transit in the region, but its hard when so many in state government seems to have it out for the city of Atlanta or transit or both.

We need to start asking more questions of the state about why transit is so poor. Like why MARTA is the largest transit authority in the country without state funding. Everyone wants to complain about MARTA service, but we need to realize that MARTA was handicapped from the very beginning by the state legislature.

fsinn, to random
@fsinn@mas.to avatar

The number of people who believe - and unabashedly say, publicly, - “the murder of these people is okay because those other people were murdered first” is unbelievably astounding, and scary as hell.

PS - If you’re thinking of coming into my replies to justify the collective punishment and mass starvation of an entire population forcibly displaced and corralled into inhumane conditions by a state military offensive, one million humans of which are children, ONE MILLION CHILDREN, don’t.

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@fsinn Then they come out and say "But they're using innocent civilians as human shields!" And like yeah that's bad, but you want to know what's worse?

Actually killing innocent people

There are no excuses

wesley, to fuckcars
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

Fill in the blank with your wildest dreams:

“I am announcing unprecedented actions to ensure that cars on U.S. roads _________.” - President Biden in a statement

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@wesley Original story that got my hopes up until I saw it was just about China and not actually protecting people from cars

https://journa.host/@w7voa/112014525045813418

sanae, to random
@sanae@carfree.city avatar

It's fascinating how most people perceive "make it possible for people to choose to ride a bike, take public transit, or even walk places" as "".

People are so threatened by anyone having the opportunity to opt out of driving that they see it as an existential threat to driving altogether, maybe as something that should be banned?

Equally threatening is the idea that other forms of transportation should get anywhere near the same subsidies as driving

wesley,
@wesley@theatl.social avatar

@dx @sanae This is why I like it as a slogan. It's about being provocative and making people question "Why shouldn't we ban cars?".

It's important for people to understand that not only are building transit and bike lanes good, but cars are actually bad. Just simply advocating for bike lanes and transit isn't enough, we need to advocate against cars in our daily lives.

RM_Transit, to random
@RM_Transit@mstdn.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    wesley,
    @wesley@theatl.social avatar

    @RM_Transit I actually subbed to your Patreon to show appreciation for setting up a PeerTube presence!

    ct_bergstrom, to random
    @ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org avatar

    Who knew that a fledgling griffon vulture would be not only exquisitely camouflaged but also utterly adorable?

    wesley,
    @wesley@theatl.social avatar

    @ct_bergstrom Griffin vulture sounds like one of those hybrid animals from Avatar the Last Airbender. They have badger moles, platypus bears, turtle ducks...this guy would fit right in that universe

    CelloMomOnCars, (edited ) to coffee
    @CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

    Carmakers say that the American public can't afford electric SUVs.
    But won't sell smaller affordable EVs.

    Still .

    "Under the revised final regulation expected to be made public as soon as next month, the EPA will slow the pace of its proposed yearly requirements through 2030. The new pace is expected to result in accounting for less than 60% of total vehicles produced by 2030, the sources said."


    https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/biden-administration-relax-ev-rule-tailpipe-emissions-ny-times-2024-02-18/

    [Edit to add "American"]

    wesley,
    @wesley@theatl.social avatar

    @CelloMomOnCars To some extent I wonder how much their insistence on pushing unaffordable vehicles on average people could push more people towards demanding better alternatives to driving entirely.

    How long before people decide they're better off without owning a car and start demanding an end to car dependency?

    sysop408, (edited ) to Ergonomics
    @sysop408@sfba.social avatar

    A common question I hear is if someone should get a standing desk.

    With few exceptions, I'd say they’re great, but not for the reasons you think.

    Most furniture is designed around the concept of the "average person" which was defined ages ago as male, around 80kg, 175cm tall, and right handed.

    Adjustable height desks are just better because you can change the height to your own dimensions, but also adapt it to what you're doing at the moment. Even if your desk is the perfect height for typing, you're probably also doing other things at your desk.

    If you're reading a book or writing with pen and paper, you'll want the table surface higher so you're not hunched over. If you're doing crafts or delicate repair work, you'll want that surface even higher so your elbows are fully supported and you can move more easily and see better.

    Ergonomics is about adapting your environment for the task at hand. It's not a set form factor. What's ergo in one situation isn't in another.

    wesley,
    @wesley@theatl.social avatar

    @sysop408 I rarely use my standing desk actually standing up but it's one of the only desks I can sit properly comfortable at. I'm above average height, but my torso is also a lot longer than my legs. I would usually have to set my chair all the way down and be hunched over just to be able to see my computer screens at any other desk.

    I only wish I could get countertops adjustable in the same way 😩

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