i am indisposed

I don’t know much about the Amazon Kindle except that my mom is the only person I’ve heard raving about it, not Dave…

Then I read this from Seth Godin:

It’s for women and women are buying it. The bestseller list of Kindle titles is much less tech-heavy than Amazon’s list was in the early days of the web. An Oprah book is #1. And the colors and feel of the machine don’t feel like the current uber-geek tech dream device.

Funny. The kindle does actually interest me a lot more than the iphone, especially if it gets the interactivity that Mr. Godin suggests it should get. But it would need a slick, black, spifftacular design just for young professional male tech geeks…

-M

Filed under: continuing education | 1 Comment »

As some of you know I am a member of the Washoe Regional Transit Commission’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee. And you also know that I ride 3+ times a week in all weather, traffic and road conditions. And you know that I’ve put a lot of thought into matters of bicycle commuting, traffic safety and the Reno bike community. Here are some of my thoughts:

The north/south Reno bicycle route thing is good and half done already in a number of ways. Forest St. is great to Lakeside and Lakeside is great to Moana Ln. and Plumas is great to McCarran. I don’t think we should expect a clear route with no turns.

Moana is a best case, but only from Neil to Longley, then it’s a deathtrap. (quite literally) And I see 5+ other cyclists on it every day.

The routes are there. We just need to connect them. And Meadowood mall should be deemphasized as a transit hub. It’s already the bus hub making bus trips beyond it impractical. Not to mention the fact that Meadowood is dangerous to approach from the south on a bike.

Even where there are great bike lanes cars still cross over. We need rumble strips between traffic and bikes.

And we consistently get bewildered looks from motorists who can’t adapt to the presence of a cyclist and drive and dial the cellphone at the same time, leading one to believe that driver education and law enforcement are lacking.

And on and on. The map thing isn’t a waste. [RTC BPAC has been assigned to revise, update and ground-truth the Truckee Meadows Bike Map] At it’s best, as Carson City, Tahoe and Truckee show, it is a marketing effort that benefits residents as much as visitors by raising awareness. If we need to ground truth it we should do it. We should design and market the map as the foundation for our assertion that 1) Reno is a great place to be a cyclist, 2) a lot of Reno residents ride bikes a lot, and 3) more needs to be done to insure the safe access to streets for those residents.

I’m going to take photos of every spot on my section and document it on Flickr with descriptions and tags and then we can add those images to a google map.

In the end I think the issue is simple. The streets are designed for CARS because most people drive cars. We just need to show that enough bikes are using the streets that it warrants spending money to better optimize streets for cars + bikes. As more citizens begin to ride bikes then the city and RTC and fed will be failing a larger percentage of the population, and support will grow. We should figure out how best to use and mobilize those numbers. I think RTC understands that, and that’s why we are here; to help as Reno transitions into the best cycling city in the west!

-M

Filed under: challenge | 17 Comments »

Just saw the movie with the Reno Tahoe Chapter of the AIGA. Thanks to Jeff and Leilani for inviting me. I’m a writer. A content guy. It says as much on my business card. So design is an interesting diversion. Especially when designers talk about the power of type and the universality of Helvetica and how type can effect meaning, or tone, or at least first impressions. So naturally I thought of my favorite short story on Type and Typography: X-ing a Paragrab, By Edgar Allen Poe. I don’t want to say too much about it. I think this passage pretty much sums it all up quite succinctly:

Sx hx, Jxhn! hxw nxw? Txld yxu sx, yxu knxw. Dxn’t crxw, anxther time, befxre yxu’re xut xf the wxxds! Dxes yxur mxther knxw yxu’re xut? Xh, nx, nx!–sx gx hxme at xnce, nxw, Jxhn, tx yxur xdixus xld wxxds xf Cxncxrd! Gx hxme tx yxur wxxds, xld xwl,–gx! Yxu wxn’t? Xh, pxh, pxh, Jxhn, dxn’t dx sx! Yxu’ve gxt tx gx, yxu knxw, sx gx at xnce, and dxn’t gx slxw; fxr nxbxdy xwns yxu here, yxu knxw. Xh, Jxhn, Jxhn, Jxhn, if yxu dxn’t gx yxu’re nx hxmx–nx! Yxu’re xnly a fxwl, an xwl; a cxw, a sxw; a dxll, a pxll; a pxxr xld gxxd-fxr-nxthing-tx-nxbxdy, lxg, dxg, hxg, xr frxg, cxme xut xf a Cxncxrd bxg. Cxxl, nxw–cxxl! Dx be cxxl, yxu fxxl! Nxne xf yxur crxwing, xld cxck! Dxn’t frxwn sx–dxn’t! Dxn’t hxllx, nxr hxwl, nxr grxwl, nxr bxw-wxw-wxw! Gxxd Lxrd, Jxhn, hxw yxu dx lxxk! Txld yxu sx, yxu knxw,–but stxp rxlling yxur gxxse xf an xld pxll abxut sx, and gx and drxwn yxur sxrrxws in a bxwl!

This fine preview was created by Scott Patterson

-M

Filed under: continuing education | No Comments »

Because taxes and the hassles they bring, like highway repair and law enforcement, are just made up necessities from the liberals like Valentines Day and Civil Rights!

More reasons here…

-M

Filed under: continuing education | No Comments »

Tired of all the wacky web 2.0 startup ideas? Here’s your solution. Andy used to ride the elevator in Silicon Valley. That got old. Now he rides bikes in Reno. Andy is much happier now. See how Reno can improve your life @ www.mynvdreamjob.com/rsvp.

-M

read more | digg story

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Every time I’m in the RBP shop people come in and want to buy a frame and build it up themselves. But getting the knowledge and experience is something that takes a bit more attention and help than is easy to get during regular business hours at the shop. So it’s really cool that we’re finally getting the Build-A-Bike program up and running starting in two weeks. Spots are limited. And it WILL fill up…

-M

Hey all,

The long awaited Build-A-Bike maintenance course is finally here.

Build-a-Bike starts June 4, and is going to be taught by Ed Jenson, a veteran of the Washoe County School District and professional bike mechanic.

This program is going to be a comprehensive look at biycles and how to repair them. From flat tires to rebuilding wheels, Ed and the RBP volunteers
are going to teach you how to do a complete overhaul.

There are six three-hour courses, starting Wednesday, June 4th. And continuing for the five following Wednesdays.

Participants can either bring their own bicycle or purchase a bike from RBP.

Cost of the class is $50 and includes most everything except a bicycle.

Space is limited to 8 spots so sign up fast.

for questions or to sign up email us at
renobikeproject@gmail.com
or call the shop
775.323.4488

see you soon,

Noah
–
www.renobikeproject.com
in the alley between ralston and bell
S.E. corner
250 bell st,
Reno, NV 89503
775.323.4488

Filed under: having fun | No Comments »

Let’s make this a Nevada tradition, like eating giant hamburgers and parking cars on top of Kentucky blue grass. Saturday, May 10th 2008 is the first annual, Sue Ryan Jerz Day. Winner will receive a live rant from a drunken Ryan Jerz @ the imperial Bar on the evening of your choice.

Please submit your Ryan Jerz Law Suit Here by Friday May 9th for acceptance. Entries will be judged on “sounding legal,” knowledge of the real Jerz, and making the judges shoot milk out their noses. Judges will be myself and the Scripper. We reserve all rights even though we don’t know what that means. No purchase is necessary and this is not part of a complete breakfast.

Don’t let Skitzo ex UNR coaches have all the fun; Sue Ryan Jerz Today.

Thank you,

-M

Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

The camera for the girl who has everything and cares more about random shit on the internet that her own life. Yay. Is that altruism or a personality to feeble and boring it isn’t worth rendering?

-M

Filed under: clever people, depression, stupid people | 1 Comment »

I used to watch a bunch of Satruday Night Live. Then I got old and boring and now I watch it on the web. Here’s a little skit that pokes fun at internet sexual predators, but also shows some of the problems that spam can cause with online social communities. MySpace for instance is a completely useless tool. All I ever get from that black hole is spam. But enough about me, here’s the video:

How do you police the web? You write good programs that have an avenue for marketing and make it hard enough to spam that it isn’t worth the effort. Facebook is a good one, ning.com is another. Twitter is one that has a few holes… Problems arise when social networks outlive social networking platforms.

Time will come when twitterspam and MySpace spam will reach a harmonic convergence (not a critical mass…) and someone will write a Facebook App or ning.com, or Jaiku, or Pownce or whatever plugin that will port your network from one platform to another and allow to to interact between the two on a more secure product. Maybe I want to use Jaiku because Twitter is getting too spammy. Well, my network is on Twitter, so I’m stuck. Mrjerz likes Pownce, but no one else does [cause of the limited upload size, try drop.io] so I don’t think he uses it much.

Mark my works people. Networks will be portable. How do I know? [i just make most of this shit up on the fly]

-M

Filed under: Where it goes wrong | No Comments »

Some things can get you hurt, some things can get you killed and some things can get you a shit ton of hits to your twitter profile. Being the first with a clever, accurate or even mundane response to an earthquake in Reno, Nevada Is one of those things that can make or brake your social media aura and propel you to the top of everyone’s mind for a few minutes, or relegate yourself to minor obscurity. Here are some educational videos we produced:

In video # 1 Andy may have saved his life with his quick and decisive “duck and cover” maneuver, but no one will know how he fared the traumatic event until he sits back up @ his desk.

In Video #2 Seth manages to fire off the first Twitter update associated with that particular siesmic event. That will likely garner him a free Guinness @ the pub tonight and increase his attractivness with local females. Good Job Seth! Also note that he is on his way out to check on others in the office and make sure they see his twitter message…

I hope we’ve all learned something.

-M

Filed under: Uncategorized, how clever am i | 3 Comments »