Disqus - Latest Comments for t1mmyb

Re: Deploy Django + PostgreSQL on Fly.io

t1mmyb — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 09:31:26 -0000

It looks like Fly secrets aren't available at build time - you have to use build secrets in the Docker image to get around this issue: https://fly.io/docs/referen...

Re: Traders To Lose Out During Widcombe Roadworks

t1mmyb — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:56:59 -0000

Never mind that the works are to make Widcombe Parade a better place to visit & shop and spend more time & money: it will all come out in the wash.

Re: Victory for Bath’s Independent Shops

t1mmyb — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 08:26:52 -0000

Why are you so keen on market solutions in every sphere, except when it comes to parking (&, arguably, roads)? There is a resource-scarcity issue (parking space): deal with it with a market-based solution.

Free/cheaper parking has to be paid for by *someone*: usually the retailer in the form of higher rates, passed on to the customer in higher prices.

And why are you so keen to make parking easier & cheaper, which will inevitably result in more congestion on the roads leading to the parking?

Re: Police Tackling Unsafe Motorists And Cyclists in Bath

t1mmyb — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 10:21:50 -0000

No, they were tackling *law-breaking* motorists and cyclists.

Safety and abiding by the law don't always coincide.

Re: #053: You Aren’t Stuck in Traffic. You Are Traffic.

t1mmyb — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 06:11:47 -0000

Like x 1,000,000 :)

This image is apposite, too:
https://lh3.googleuserconte...

Re: Why women don't cycle...

t1mmyb — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:27:37 -0000

There are three types of safety:

* objective (how many collisions *actually* happen - what your stats talk about)
* subjective (how safe it *feels* - stats don't and can't address this)
* social (e.g. dark underpasses, bike diversions through dodgy areas are less socially safe, especially for women)

It's a tough line to walk for cycle campaigners: there *is* danger & risk, and while the stats might appear to say otherwise, people see the large volumes of fast-moving traffic and (understandably in my view) say "that's not for me", whatever their gender.

Re: Owen Jones: One tragedy doesn't make the case for compulsory cycle helmets

t1mmyb — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 03:42:20 -0000

"You also seek to lay most of the blame for accidents on other road users."

It's what the stats say. Deal with it.

"The same users that are heavily taxed before they can move onto the same roads that cyclists use for free."

Nope - we all pay for the roads through local and general taxation. There's no hypothecated "Road Fund", not since 1937.

"The same users that are wearing seat-belts because of legislation."

And there's a suggestion that all seatbelts did was transfer the risk from the occupants of the car to those outside the car. Pretty brutal, really.

"Seat belts do not stop all injuries any more than wearing a cycling helmet will but, they help."

Yes, and 50% of car occupant fatalities are caused by head injuries, so even with belts and bags, helmets for car occupants would save lives. Every little helps, right?

Actually, more people die from head injuries falling down the stairs. Mandatory stairs helmets?

Re: Breaking news 24 7 - UK news - Blottr

t1mmyb — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 04:37:28 -0000

"Company whose business model depends on people being addicted to cars in 'sky is falling when fewer people drive' shocker"

Re: Complying with the EU Cookie Directive

t1mmyb — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:03:24 -0000

[Removed - you've already got it!]

Re: Love thy enemy

t1mmyb — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:01:33 -0000

I helped a motorist reverse out onto LBR today. Drivers are people too :p

Re: Campaign Leads To Owner Attack

t1mmyb — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:29:10 -0000

Your headline could just as easily have read "Campaign leads to outpouring of support for local village pub", too.

Re: Campaign Leads To Owner Attack

t1mmyb — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:59:09 -0000

Well, an allegation of an attack is just that: an allegation. I'm not defending any personal attacks on the new owners, but basic journalistic integrity demands that you present these as allegations, not as fact or judgement.

Something about this is all very fishy and somewhat biased towards the new owner of the pub.

Re: Campaign Leads To Owner Attack

t1mmyb — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:42:45 -0000

In fact, the only online abuse seems to be people setting up anonymous accounts at Twitter and the Bath Chronicle to post pro-closure points of view. Astroturfing, you might say.

Re: Campaign Leads To Owner Attack

t1mmyb — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:08:33 -0000

"It has been claimed that ‘gossip’ on Twitter had greatly distorted the facts and was done before a statement from the buyers could be released. At that point, it had gone viral and was becoming abusive towards the new owners."

*Who* has claimed this? Don't hide behind the passive voice! The online campaign that I've seen has never once been abusive towards anyone.

Re: Verso

t1mmyb — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:30:59 -0000

Yep - you're talking about the Sunk Cost, or the Psychology of Previous Investment.

I bet someone's already done a calculator for this, based on car's value, efficiency, miles per year travelled etc.

Re: Verso

t1mmyb — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:08:25 -0000

As you say, you just have to see it as a privilege, and not give into the temptation to use it for short journeys around town that could be made by other means.

We went cold turkey, I guess, when we went car-free. When it's sitting there, you just make journeys because you've got it. With no car, that choice is taken away, and I like not having the choice. We have, though, had to do less since going car-free.

Cars should have a "this journey is costing you: £n.nn" display, based on fuel price, insurance and VED costs, depreciation and maintenance. It might help people think twice before jumping in the car *quite* so much, and so often.

Re: The Biggest Lie Ever Sold: ‘You are Non-Creative’

t1mmyb — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:08:14 -0000

Your comment on multi-/single-functional devices (razors) is reminiscent of one of the principles of Permaculture: "Every design element should have multiple functions, multiple uses." Good stuff, as always. Your take on things is so positive, so encouraging. Keep it up :)

Re: This is Not a Statement of Character, Confidence, or Taste

t1mmyb — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:41:53 -0000

"A car is a statement..." of how unimaginative people are when it comes to transport choices. He thinks a car is a statement. Try "no car" (as we have!). *That's* a statement ;)

Re: Help Save Bath’s Remaining Gasometer

t1mmyb — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:37:25 -0000

Is Cllr Chalker still smarting from his attempts to save Churchill House? Ugly heritage gasometers are still ugly. Take it down.

Re: The best way to reduce the number of cyclist deaths is to get more people cycling

t1mmyb — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:00:03 -0000

What an absurdly upside -down way to look at things! Should drivers receive no roads investment until every one of them is flawlessly law-abiding? Of course not!

In Montreal, previously "cowboy" cyclists stopped being such when proper provision was put in place. You're trying to put the cart before the horse when in fact, if cyclists are properly provided for, the behaviour would improve.

Current apparent lack of behaviour that's "rational, safe and legal" is due to the environment in which cycling is forced to take place in.

Re: For God's sake, let's get rid of the infuriating pop music on Radio Four

t1mmyb — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:14:55 -0000

1895 called; it wants its columnist back.

Re: Rick Hurst's weblog est.2002 :: Left the circus, going to work in the Potato field

t1mmyb — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:07:56 -0000

Nice one Rick. Sometimes you just need to shut the office door at 5 and go home :)

Re: Why to Say That I Remember is Not Enough

t1mmyb — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:46:51 -0000

Really powerful stuff, Andy. This generation has known nothing but peace, without even fear of nuclear annihilation; would its obsession with war games or dressing up as zombies have occurred if they'd been exposed to (say) what my Dad went through in WW2? He was, thankfully for me, evacuated for the worst of the London bombing, but still tells of doodlebugs and listening for when the motor stops and praying that it wouldn't hit your house, and the time that one was diverted away from them because it hit a tree as it flew past.

Re: The controversy of helmet use - #saveacyclist

t1mmyb — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:29:57 -0000

But what if dressing up in armour has the opposite effect? Surely you want to portray cycling as something easy to do (as easy as riding a bike, you might say) so that more drivers think "I could do that"? All you need is a bike...

Re: The controversy of helmet use - #saveacyclist

t1mmyb — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:52:08 -0000

Yeah, but he gets to be a "brand ambassador" for Alpine. Cha-ching. Follow the money...