Notices by Quixoticgeek (quixoticgeek@social.v.st)

I feel sick.

@foone not 256 problems stored as an 8 bit int ?

Walking back from Voting earlier I noticed this interesting contraption on the pavement.

The first thing I saw was the solar panel, so I initially wondered if it was an ebike charging station. I crossed the road to have a closer look.

It's not a charging station. I couldn't see any power outlets. So what is it?

It's another attempt by some designer to "innovate" in the bike parking space.

The intention is kinda sound. Dense bike storage in min space. What's not to like? Thread time

1/n

This photo from the other side shows things much better. First off we can see a bike actually attached. But what speaks the most is the comparison between the high tech, super innovative modern, revolutionary bike rack, and the simple sheffield stands (Nietje in Dutch, lit "staple") in the background. One of these is storing lots of bikes, one storing one bike.

Why? Simple. No really. It's about simplicty. Nietje stands are almost idiot proof. You don't havce to lift anything.

2/n

There's no moving parts. There's no lifting needed. Just wheel your bike upto the stand, wrap your lock around it. And you're done.

Compared to the cyclecity circle thing at the start of this thread which requires pulling the stand down, hooking the wheel up, making sure it's all aligned, and letting it lift your bike up into space. It looks like you don't need to actually lift the bike yourself. But it's still a lot of faff. Esp compared to a sheffield stand.

3/n

Cyclists see this a lot, various attempts to make a better bike rack. None of which has come close to the simple usability of the sheffield bike stand. None. Some are denser, the Cyclecity circle is definitely a dencer way to store bikes. But if you look around here, there's not a shortage of space. It's just not needed.

What's with the solar panel? It's to power lighting. Or rather, to part power lighting. It's not big enough to provide enough lighting in winter.

4/n

@th manufacturer claims 20 bikes in 14m²...

@foone i remember a comment at srecon a couple of years ago. "We've taken a job that can be done from anywhere with an internet connection. And concentrated it ten square miles. In an earthquake zone "

I don't think this is getting the coverage it needs. Scottish government to require passivhaus standard for all new build homes. This is big. Really big. Growing out of lessons from the 70's oil crisis. Passivhaus buildings use very little energy to heat, or to cool. We've known how to do this for decades. It's gross negligence from all western governments that the same is not true of all new builds in the developed world.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/23197204.government-announces-passivhaus-standards-adopted-scotland/