This is a Charlottesville-based cover band – Love Canon – at the last Clarendon Day. Â Loved ’em – 80s glam bluegrassed covers. Â They were stuck with a mid-afternoon segment, so the crowd was thin, but I bet they could get Iota bouncing on a Saturday night.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Prz5wwTuQ[/youtube]
xkcd delivers, once again:
So it turns out that I’m going to Taiwan next week, courtesy of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB). Â I’ll be checking out the cycling along the east coast of Taiwan (primarily in Taitung and Hualien) and in Taipei. Â The agenda is packed, but I hope to push out regular updates while I’m there, and then produce some more thoughtful pieces after I return. Â Free time will be at a premium, but if you’ve been (or are thinking about going) and have any suggestions for must-sees in the areas I’ll be in, please let me know. Â One universal response I’ve already gotten is Taroko Gorge, which I’m pleased to say I’ll be visiting.
I’m particularly excited to be coming at this trip from a cycling-specific perspective. Â While my personal travel has come to more frequently involve cycling (riding the Koppenberg in Belgium, mountain biking in Australia, or hitting the road in Nova Scotia), I’ve never made an overseas trip for the primary purpose of riding. Â It’s something that I’ve been thinking about (one day, to the Giro!), so I’m really quite excited to be doing this, and hope that – afterwards – I can help others figure out what’s involved in doing this themselves.
As you might already know, I quite enjoy writing about travel and all of its bits and pieces.  From the need to move, the means of getting there, and the destinations themselves.  Sometimes you can do it with just a photo.  Other times, many words are required.  And then there’s always music.  If I do this right, I’m sure Taiwan will give me all three.
Finally, I want to note that this only happening because of Richard Masoner, who was kind enough to connect me with the folks at the TTB.  He will be hosting much of the content that results from this trip at Cyclelicio.us.  If you’re into cycling, you’re already reading Cyclelicio.us.  And if you’re not, give it a try.  My larger travel pieces will be here (along with everything else . . . eventually), but the cycling-related stuff will show up at Cyclelicio.us first.  I’ll soon be posting more about the trip itself, but I thought this would be a good way to kick things off.
Photo by Alex Lin.
Ellen talks about our duty to make this world a safer place for teens like Tyler Clementi:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br7nbQSIyhg[/youtube]
(If it doesn’t play, click through)
It wouldn’t really take much to change things. Â A little understanding goes a long way.
Remember the coverage about Dubai’s threatening to shut down Blackberry service unless it could gain access to user communications? Â And how the US would never do that? Â Well:
Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer†messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.
Specifically:
[O]fficials are coalescing around several of the proposal’s likely requirements:
– Communications services that encrypt messages must have a way to unscramble them.
– Foreign-based providers that do business inside the United States must install a domestic office capable of performing intercepts.
– Developers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication must redesign their service to allow interception.
What could possibly go wrong, eh?
Steven M. Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor, pointed to anepisode in Greece: In 2005, it was discovered that hackers had taken advantage of a legally mandated wiretap function to spy on top officials’ phones, including the prime minister’s.
“I think it’s a disaster waiting to happen,†he said. “If they start building in all these back doors, they will be exploited.â€
And yet this will happen. Â With little to no notice or objection from the public.
This weekend’s houseguest is as into musical back-and-forth as I am, and these are some of the day’s tracks:
Kristin Eriksson – Regnrock:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPn9c1Iq__A[/youtube]
Something tells me that Anna Lesko’s Swedishness isn’t the reason this made it into the conversation:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jqF2WIB_os[/youtube]
But this is quite Swedish, it turns out (Teddybears Stockholm’s Hey Boy):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stuOp04dmUs[/youtube]
As you might have heard, Capital Bikeshare launched today. Â As part of the launch, staff and volunteers rode the bikes from the Navy Yard/Department of Transportation to stations around the city. Â It wasn’t all of the bikes (it’ll take another week or so to get all the stations in place, I understand), but it was quite a few:
I was tapped to lead a group to the station at the corner of 21st and I St (NW).
It turned out to be a very DC ride with a very DC group of people (policy analyst, political staffer, university staffer and lawyer (me) made up my group). Â We start by heading up New Jersey Ave SE (that is not my thumb. Â Because I would never do that. Â Obviously.):
New Jersey Ave is closed to most vehicular traffic near the Capitol, but bit of bollard threading brought us out to Independence, where we made a left:
And from there, we wrapped around the front of the Capitol on First St., and then down Pennsylvania, where we hoped to take advantage of the new bike lanes. Â Except:
Ah, another MPD officer who confuses bike lanes for parking spots. Â Always one or two around.
Except, wait, why so many? Â And what’s up with that really angry one who decided that the best way to communicate with citizens is to adopt an overly aggressive and hostile tone while forcing us onto the sidewalk? Â Oh, this is why:
Obamacade! Â With that out of the way, we retake the street (because the MPD’s just gonna hang out in the lanes a little longer, thankyouverymuch):
We make a right on 15th to get up to I St., except . . . street closed again. Â Back onto the sidewalk (walking, of course, because you can’t bike on the sidewalk in the Central Business District in DC). Â Why closed? Â Oh, sit in:
These folks were probably about 15 minutes away from getting arrested, I’m thinking.
Next, from 15th we turn and head westward on I St. Â Hey, look, another unfair labor practices picket line (it was noted that the people in this line are probably not the usuals that get hired to do it):
And we arrive and dock the bikes at 21st and I, just at the edge of the George Washington University campus. Â Success!
It was a great ride, and I got to start my week with my friends Tim & Chris from BikeArlington, Chantal/Greg & the rest of the staff from WABA, Chris from Cycleboredom, Joel of Gwadzilla, Angela/Jakob of Revolution Cycles, Jay/Walter/Chris of Arlington County, Fionualla of FABB, and a bunch of other bike (and otherwise) friendly faces I’m sure I’m forgetting right now.  All in all, an excellent way to kick off the week.
And Capital Bikeshare? Â It’s going to work. Â More info here (and if you’ve already got a bike, here’s a great case for you signing up, too.).
How did another week pass so quickly?
Phoenix’s If I Ever Feel Better:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJp3kVelU3c[/youtube]
The Magnetic Fields’ Smoke and Mirrors:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGNKhVJbDM8[/youtube]
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