Bicycles: Traffic Lights, Drive-Thrus, etc.

I found this article on INSTRUCTIBLES http://www.instructables.com/id/Trigger-GREEN-Traffic-Lights/ - using small but powerful Neodymium magnets, you can complete the electrical circuit to trigger a green light for traffic stops, use a drive-thru window at banks, etc. while on your bike.

This explains how the circuits work, where to get the magnets, and everything else you need to know so that your bike is no longer a second-class vehicle on streets !

Project Rwanda: Coffee and Bicycles

Project Rwanda (http://www.projectrwanda.org)
is an excellent way to get some good coffee bean, help family coffee farmers in Rwanda, and help the general economy of Rwanda.

The "bicycle part" of the project:
Coffee grown on small family farms in Rwanda is taken to market on wooden "bicycles". They're actually more push scooters made completely from wood - even the wheels are wood. One of the bicycle projects is to replace these with low-cost specially-made bicycles that can replace the wooden bicycles.

The "coffee" - you can order it from a U.S. partner in Project Rwanda (located in California). It ships as vacuum-packed whole beans and is quite good - it has a very 'earthy' taste.

XO (aka "OLPC") - getting started

I haven't had as much time as I expected to explore the wonders of the XO, but I'm starting to work on it. The first challenge is to ignore everything that you learned in order to function with MS Windows, Apple, and commercial Unix systems. Also - it helps to pretend that you're 9 years old. "What would a 9-year old do in this situation ?" is a very helpful mantra.

Internet Connectivity
The first thing I noticed is that the XO, as shipped, does not handle WPA network encryption. Since we all have (at least) WPA encryption, this is a pain in the neck. According to the FAQ at the official OLPC web site, WPA encryption will be supported by the end of December 2007. You will probably have to load the patch to another PC, and make the transfer via a USB-access device (flash memory, etc.).

In the meantime, the Support FAQ page http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Support_FAQ#Connectivity_and_the_Internet

lists several work-arounds:

• Using your (initially) free T-Mobile hot spot account (requires that you hike over to a T-Mobile hot spot location, but that should we easy with this ulta-portable XO). Support for this approach starts on this page: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/pin.php



• Getting right into the Linux roots of the XO and manually setting up WPA access. Support for this approach starts here: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/WPA_Manual_Setting



• Avoid wireless entirely: get a USB-to-Ethernet cable. Although, I'm not sure how that will help you connect to your DSL or cable modem.

Since I want to make the XO connect to my home network, I'm going for the WPA Manual Setting. The directions were simple: the hard part was guessing which WPA version I have - the directions indicate "guess 1; if that doesn't work, try 2".

Results: I did everything, and it all looked fine. As promised, my home network showed in the XO "neighborhood" without a lock symbol (indicating that a password wasn't needed). However, I had to go through the process twice: one with WPA version 1 and once with WPA version 2. Both times, it still asked for the network password.....It's still not working - it asks for a password for the AP..... According to some responses on the wiki, I may need to update the firmware on the DSL modem. Not a pleasant task, but I'll try that next....

OLPC has arrived

The green computer baby arrived this morning. Here it is on my desk between two 'normal' sized laptops. I haven't done much with it yet except navigate and look for other mesh networks.... here it is - between its big brothers.

The keyboard is really small, which I expected. but it's so light I might use this for traveling, if all of the functions are there.

OLPC (One Laptop per Child) - BUY NOW !

Starting today, you can buy a laptop from the One Laptop Per Child program and give a laptop to a child in one of the program countries. The program ends on Nov. 27).

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

The cost is $399, plus shipping (for your laptop only).

Wish List - Christmas 2007

Gifts for me ? Donations to Doctors Without Borders

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/home.cfm

I'm also eagerly waiting for Nov. 11 so i can "buy one get one" of the 1 Laptop Per Child........

http://laptop.org/

That's all for this year........

Why Halloween is the BEST Holiday !

What could be better ? Everyone gets to play "dress up"... you wander around your neighborhood after dark, in a season when it's cool and windy with a full moon..... and you can eat JUNK FOOD !!!!
the only improvement would be if you could go trick-or-treating on your bike ! I envision adults standing on street corners, and dropping the candy in your bag as you ride by. kind of a Halloween candy pick-up parade !!!

Buy & Give 1 Laptop Per Child (OLPC) - Nov. 2007

For one week, starting Nov. 12, 2007, people will be able to buy 2 of the laptops in the 1 Laptop Per Child project - you keep one and donate the other. (See my blog for March 26, 2007 about the project).

You can sign up now: http://www.xogiving.org/ for a reminder. The price will be about $200 for each, which is $100 per laptop more than the original price.

Bicycles at Drive-thru Windows

Yesterday, a Chick-Fil-A store (on Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia) refused to serve me because I was on a bicycle at the drive-thru window (no bike rack anywhere). Their bogus and insane logic was: if you're hit by a car, you'll sue us. Each Chick-Fil-A store is a franchise, but I've written to their corporate office, and hope to get some sort of an answer. I don't even LIKE their food, but I'm now boycotting their stores on principle.

I'm also conducting a small survey of places that have drive-thru windows to see how many refuse service to people on bicycles. I'll post the results here.

Also - McDonalds does serve people on bicycles - you just have to bypass the intercom - the bikes don't weigh enough to trigger the mechanism, so they don't hear you. However, McDonald's policy is to accomodate people with hearing problems by using the pay window to order and that works for bikes too. I hate McDonald's food too, but at least I know I can get served after riding around for 4 hours in the hot sun.

XTZ is GONE. In an earlier blog I wrote about the wonders of caffeinated candy. It's still wonderful, but it appears that the XTZ company is no longer in business. They took my $54 order, and no longer answer e-mails or their phone. My conclusion: they're out of business or the biggest scam going.