We Saw a Chicken …

Author: scruss

  • Scotland hands Canada the smackdown

    Scotland cruise to ICC Cup glory. Yes, cricket still sucks, but at least Scotland sucks less at it than Canada.

  • Wild East is cool

    I just sold a bunch of CDs to Wild East on the Danforth. I got a pretty good deal on them. This is what I bought with part of the proceeds:

    • Anne LeBaron / Rana, Ritual & Revelations
    • Badly Drawn Boy / One Plus One Is One
    • Devendra Banhart / Nino Rojo
    • Elliott Smith / From A Basement On The Hill
    • Kate Rusby / Underneath The Stars
    • Sterling Roswell / The Psychedelic Ubik

  • call me Imelda … or Carrie

    I think I spent more on shoes today than I’ve ever done; a pair of Blundstones and a pair of DMs.

  • peut être ouvert d’office, peut être?

    mysterious eye symbol
    I saw this on an envelope the other day. What can it mean?

    To me, it clearly means “May be inspected only by two-dimensional officials with the Eye of Horus wearing a cap at 30° bearing insignia of an upturned army helmet with a lion rampant and a blancmange.”

    Oh, and this is my first post with SVG graphics. Yay!

  • John Milloy responds

    From: John Milloy MPP <jmilloy.mpp/ at /liberal.ola.org>
    Subject: RE: Bill 129, Highway Traffic Amendment Act, 2004

    November 19, 2004

    Dear Mr. Russell,

    Thank you for contacting my office about Bill 129, the Highway Traffic Amendment Act. I appreciate your comments and I have noted your concerns about this legislation.

    As you may know, on Thursday November 4, 2004 my Private Members Bill, Bill 129, unanimously passed second reading in the Legislature and was referred to the Social Policy Committee of the Legislature of further review. I was extremely pleased with the tri-party unanimous support for the Bill, and by the overwhelming support I have received from Ontarians throughout the province.

    The bill proposes to change the existing Highway Traffic Act by making it mandatory for all individuals to wear a certified helmet when cycling, in line skating, skateboarding, etc. on public roadways.

    The changes I have proposed in my Bill will have a significant impact on the number of brain injuries suffered by Ontarians as a result of road accidents involving cyclists in line skaters etc. For example, it has been calculated by the ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada, that if every adult bicyclist wore a helmet, 50 Ontarians would be saved from incurring a serious brain injury annually. Combined with the injuries prevented when in line skating, skateboarding or using other kinds of non-motorized wheeled vehicles on roadways and you have an enormous savings for our health care system – $4-$9 million over the course of a single victims lifetime – and a priceless emotional and physical gain for individuals and families throughout the province.

    Beyond what the legislation will legally change, my goal with Bill 129 is to create a culture of safety in Ontario. As much as we like to think we are invincible, we are not. Head injuries do not discriminate on the basis of age or the type of wheeled recreational vehicle an individual is operating. Further, head injuries can result in the tragic loss of life, the shattering of hopes, or amoung other things, countless hours of rehabilitation.

    Head injuries as a result of an in line skating, bike, skateboard or other wheeled recreational vehicle accident can be prevented by as much as 85% by wearing a simple helmet. Despite this, many individuals have not chosen to wear a certified helmet when operating these vehicles. I do not believe that the inconvenience of wearing a helmet outweighs the personal and financial cost of a potential injury and that is why I have sponsored this Legislation.

    I recognize that regardless of the aforementioned statistics and arguments that you may still have concerns about the Bill. Please be assured that I will be tracking Ontarians views on Bill 129 as it proceeds through the legislative process, and that I will take each and every thought and suggestion into consideration.

    Thank you again for taking the time to comment on The Highway Traffic Amendment Act. If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Sincerely,

    John

    John Milloy MPP
    Kitchener Centre
    1-416-314-7824

    Note: For your information I have consulted with the following organizations about Bill 129

    Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
    Ontario Medical Association
    Ontario Brain Injury Association
    ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada
    Association of Municipal Emergency Medical Services
    Region of Waterloo Emergency Medical Services
    Region of Waterloo Police Service
    Toronto Police Service
    Participation House – WR
    Ontario Cycling Association
    Various local cycling organizations
    SkateOntario
    District and Public Health Offices
    Many medical professionals
    Canada Safety Council
    Survivors

    I am still meeting, writing and talking with groups and individuals on this issue, and I will continue to do so while the Bill proceeds through the legislative process. Further, when the Bill reaches the committee stage there is possibility that there will be public hearings held.

  • MetaFilter open!

    Yay, MetaFilter opened its membership again!

  • points you see, points you don’t

    So I’m busy doing windfarm photomontages in hugin. Trouble is, the site I’m working on is in the prairies, so here’s some ASCII art of what I’m seeing:

    ___________________________________________________

    This, as you might guess, is just a little short of control points for stitching images. I find myself scrabbling for clods of earth, interesting blades of grass, and what looks worryingly like roadkill by the side of the range roads to use as common points of interest.

    So far, though, most of the panoramas have come out looking pretty good. But then, I am 1337 VV1NDF4R^^ D3516N0R …

  • can’t tell anyone!

    Ever had some really good news that you can’t tell anyone immediately? That’s me at the moment. I can spill the beans next Wednesday. Woohoo!

  • We saw some cows

    Cow Lick, at the Winter Fair
    We were at the Royal Winter Fair today. There were many cows.

  • CF Card Undelete for Linux

    I hope you never need this. But this worked for me.

    I accidentally deleted a bunch of files from the CF card that was in my card reader. I recovered them all perfectly.

    First, before you do anything else, unmount the card’s file system. This will stop any additional changes being made to the card.

    You’ll need to know:

    1. the device name of the card’s file system. It could be something as simple as /dev/sda1, or it could be something complex, like /dev/scsi/host1/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 (as it is with me).
    2. the names of the files you accidentally deleted. For example, if you deleted dsc_1017.jpg and dsc_1018.jpg in the dcim/100ncd70 directory, you’ll specify these as /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1017.jpg and /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1018.jpg.

    First, check that the files can be undeleted:

    # fsck.vfat -u /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1017.jpg -u /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1018.jpg /dev/scsi/host1/bus0/target0/lun0/part1

    If you get the message Warning: did not undelete file ..., that’s a file that has been overwritten, perhaps in your camera. It’s gone; only the name remains. You won’t get it back.

    Then, you can actually restore the files:

    # fsck.vfat -r -u /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1017.jpg -u /dcim/100ncd70/dsc_1018.jpg /dev/scsi/host1/bus0/target0/lun0/part1

    If all goes well, your files will be back. Makes backups, and don’t do it again.

  • Ol’ Pointy-Nose Is Back …

    Ben Hammersley’s Daily Doonesbury Feed, refactored:

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use integer;
use XML::RSS;

my ( $sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year, $wday, $yday, $isdst ) =
  localtime(time);

my $this_year   = 1900 + $year;
my $todays_date = sprintf( "%02d%02d%02d", $this_year % 100, 1 + $mon, $mday );
my $db_url      =
    'http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/'
  . $this_year . '/db'
  . $todays_date . '.gif';

my $rss = XML::RSS->new();
$rss->channel( title => "Doonesbury" );
$rss->add_item(
    title => 'Doonesbury for '
      . sprintf( "%05d/%02d/%02d", $this_year, 1 + $mon, $mday ),
    link        => $db_url,
    description => '<img src="' . $db_url . '" />'
);

print "Content-type: application/xml+rss\n\n", $rss->as_string;
exit;

  • An RSS generator for CBC Channels

    This isn’t perfect (seems to fail on some feeds), but mostly works for me:


    #!/usr/bin/perl -w
    # cdf2rss - converts CBC KlipFarm CDF to crude RSS
    # created by scruss on 02004/11/12
    # RCS/CVS: $Id: cdf2rss,v 1.3 2004/11/13 03:59:21 scruss Exp $
    # takes one argument, a stream name. Currently known streams are:
    #
    # Arts Business Calgary Canada
    # Edmonton Montreal Ottawa
    # Science Sports Toronto
    # Vancouver Winnipeg World
    #
    # returns a crude RSS 1.0 stream fashioned from the CBC CDF output.
    use strict;
    use integer;
    use XML::Simple;
    use XML::RSS;
    use LWP::Simple;
    use constant CDFURL => 'http://www.cbc.ca/cdf/servlet/getCDF';
    my $cdf = get( join( '?lineup=', CDFURL, $ENV{'QUERY_STRING'} ) );
    my $xs = new XML::Simple;
    my $ref = $xs->XMLin($cdf);
    my $rss = new XML::RSS( version => '1.0' );
    $rss->channel(
    title => join( ' ', 'CBC', $ref->{category} ),
    description => join( ' ', 'CBC', $ref->{category} ),
    link => $ref->{href}
    );
    foreach my $cdf_item ( @{ $ref->{item} } ) {
    my $tmp_abstract = $cdf_item->{abstract};
    $tmp_abstract =~ s/\s+/ /g;
    $tmp_abstract =~ s/^ //;
    $tmp_abstract =~ s/ $//;
    $rss->add_item(
    title => $cdf_item->{title},
    link => $cdf_item->{href},
    description => $tmp_abstract
    );
    }
    print "Content-type: application/xml+rss\n\n", $rss->as_string;
    exit;

  • the tubes group

    tower sections
    These are nested sections from two 60m NRG Systems TallTower masts. Paul and I unloaded two of these. They were heavy.

  • Snoozing gently

    torpid dormice
    The blurb says: This image of three dormice, torpid, has won the coveted BBC TV Countryfile photographic competition.

    The winning image was taken by Steven Robinson as part of Kew’s monitoring programme of this endangered species in conjunction with English Nature.

    © 2003 Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
    Image: Steven Robinson, RBG Kew at Wakehurst Place

  • bad and wrong things about Firefox and Thunderbird

    I just installed Firefox and Thunderbird. They have some major suckage points:

    • there’s no site navigation bar
    • typeahead find doesn’t work in “View Source”
    • e-mail file attachments have been moved to the bottom of the message view, eating screen real estate
    • clicking a link in Thunderbird opens a new Firefox window; it should use an existing one

    Mind you, what do you expect when they name their products after a crap movie and cheap wine?

    thunderbird icon
    A logo that looks like a levitating disembodied blue haircut?

  • objectivity

    You’ve got to love bicycle helmet advocates:

    This bill is absolutely right. I, quite frankly, am not going to bear any arguments. I’m not going to hear them, I don’t want to hear them, about whether we have enough police to enforce it. We need it to be enforced. We need to do it for rollerbladers, in-line skaters, anybody, any contraption. It needs to happen.

     — Michael Prue, Ontario Legislature House Debate, 4 Nov 2004

    So, Michael, I don’t see you wearing a helmet in that picture on your website when you’re out on the street. Don’t you know the number of pedestrian head injuries?

  • too much information

    Too much information, Toronto Union Station

    I’m only an amateur at information design, but I know bad information when it nearly causes me to miss my train.

    The above image (which links to a larger version) is one of GO Transit‘s new information screens at Union Station. It shows all outgoing bus and train traffic from Union Station for the next two hours or so.

    What the used to have was a slightly mouldy old teletext system, where the screen was split roughly into three colour-coded segments: two segments about the next departing train on two different train lines, and the bottom third a big digital clock. You could read the time from across the GO concourse, so you could tell instantly if you had to run for the train.

    This new display, you pretty much have to be underneath it to see the time. Also, if you’re a train commuter, you don’t want to know what happens in the next two hours. All you want to know is if you’ve missed your train. This is not an airport.

    I know the old system left out bus passengers, but buses don’t exactly leave from the same concourse as the trains. They should have their own information board.

  • Don’t make me wear that eggbox …

    Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 12:06:02 -0500
    To: Lorenzo Berardinetti MPP <lberardinetti.mpp.co/ at /liberal.ola.org>,
    John Milloy MPP <jmilloy.mpp.co/ at /liberal.ola.org>,
    Harinder Takhar MPP <htakhar.mpp.co/ at /liberal.ola.org>
    Subject: Bill 129, Highway Traffic Amendment Act, 2004

    I am an experienced cyclist. I am strongly opposed to compulsory bicycle helmet legislation. Its discussion is a waste of legislature time, and its implementation would be a waste of police time.

    Bicycle helmets do little to reduce injuries. Better preventative measures include cyclist awareness training for drivers, and proper assertive cycling skills for bicycle riders.

    It is unfair to single out the users of “muscular powered vehicles”. Pedestrians and motorists also suffer head injuries in collisions, and so should be compelled to wear helmets too.

    Toronto has a culture of utility cycling. We do not ride bikes for sport or recreation, but as an integrated part of urban mobility.

    It is no coincidence that the countries with the highest levels of cycling are also those with the lowest levels of helmet use. Please do not harm the health of Ontario by providing barriers to cycling.

    I urge you strongly to drop support for this bill. It does nothing for the cyclists in Ontario.

    Please acknowledge receipt of this e-mail.

    Yours sincerely,
    Stewart C. Russell

  • Why does John Milloy hate cyclists?

    It looks like the Ontario Legislature is squeezing in compulsory bicycle (and rollerblade, scooter and skateboard helmets) through a private member’s bill. The sponsor is John Milloy, Liberal MPP for Kitchener Central.

    The bill’s proper name is Bill 129, Highway Traffic Amendment Act, 2004, and is described as:

    The Bill amends the Highway Traffic Act to make it an offence for any person to use a skateboard, a scooter, in-line skates or roller skates on a highway without wearing a helmet. …

    Wearing a helmet doesn’t save as many lives as having more people on bikes would (source: Helmet Effect Undetectable in Fatality Trends, compiled from Transport Canada data) . It interferes with utility cycling, where the bicycle is an integrated part of urban mobility, and doesn’t need special clothing or restrictions.

    John Milloy’s apparent motivation for this bill was the death of a friend in a rollerblading accident on the Rideau Canal. While I’m genuinely sorry that this happened, I don’t see any bicycle or highway involved here. I wonder if Mr Milloy is indeed a cyclist at all?

    It looks like this bill will be discussed at a panel next Monday, so there’s very little time to act. What you can do:

    Is it coincidence that the countries with more and safer cycling are where fewest cyclists wear helmets?

    It doesn’t help their cause that advocates of the bill support assaulting cyclists. Michael Prue, MPP for Beaches/East York, was quoted in The Star as saying:

    There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t see someone on the streets of Toronto, an adult, with no helmet on their head, and I want to get out of my car or off the sidewalk and I want to grab them and I want to shake them.

    Why don’t you get out your car, Michael, and do something sane, like ride a bike?

    This bill does nothing to support cycling skill, and will waste police and legislature time. If they really want to do something for cycling in Ontario, how about:

    1. automatic fault on the motor vehicle driver until proven otherwise, as in some European countries.
    2. wide right lanes (not bike lanes) required on all new urban roads.

  • let it …

    flurries
    It snowed today, for the first time. To think that it was 14°C on Saturday!