one.point.zero - Colin O'Brien's weblog

Yesterday afternoon, the sun having finally decided to show its face , I hopped on my bike and took a nice long ride. This was my first major ride since I fractured my foot and I hadn’t had the chance to fully test the GPS tracking functionality on my new phone yet (a Nokia N95), so this was a good opportunity to do just that.

I have to admit, I’m impressed. The little I’d played with it before hadn’t left me with a great impression: long lock-on times, no-so-accurate tracking, etc. But since the last update, improvements have been really spectacular. It locks on pretty much immediately (A-GPS doing its thing I imagine) and also keeps a much better hold on your current location (it still goes off track here and there, but nothing dramatic).

I covered just under 100km in total but only tracked the first leg of my journey, from the supermarket where I stocked up on liquids to the small village of Arquennes where I stopped for a family visit. The reason for this being the major weak point of this device: battery life. If I’d run it through the whole trip, I would have most probably lost the phone a long time before getting home and it’s always good to have a lifeline.

I used Nokia sportstracker to log the itinerary and export a KML file which you can see embedded below onto google maps. All in all, I have to say the geek in me is quite happy with this gizmo and I’m going to continue my exploration into the world of location-aware services.

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Pretty appropriate logo for the doping circus that the Tour de France has become.

Found at fontblog.

A few days ago, as I was cycling home, a kid ran out into the middle of the street from between two parked cars about 50cm from my front wheel. Obviously, at that distance, there wasn’t much I could do except slam into him.

To make a long story short, he got the fright of his life, and I broke my foot in two places.

I’m now stuck at home for at least four weeks and, Murphy being Murphy, I had a bunch of outings planned this month which will be difficult, if not impossible, to get to as my leg has to be kept propped up to avoid complications (and I’m self-injecting anti-blood clotting agents too, quite an experience).

One of these events is the Battles gig tonight at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. I have to admit I’m extremely disgruntled at having to miss one of the events I was most looking forward to this year but I have to be reasonable.

So, I have 2 tickets to sell, if anyone is interested in catching Battles live. You’ll get them at presale price instead of door price, and I’ll be jealous of you forever.

If you’re up for it, email me at colin @ this domain.

update: tickets are sold. thanks!

Is the Belgian government on drugs or something? They’ve just voted a law allowing motorbikes onto cycle paths. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to get people cycling in town.

Imagine the chaos on shared paths like the one in Brussels’ Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat which are bad enough as it is.

While many cities and countries attempt to make life for cyclists easier, Belgium faces the other way. And the FEBIAC, which is supposed to represent motorists and cyclists, only ever acts in the name of the former. It’s depressing…

Following up on the cycle path story I posted a few days ago, the decision to not make the changes has been upheld.

The mayor promises permanent cycle paths will be implemented after the elections (impressive talent: he seems to know the results already)

While major cities in Europe make giant steps towards sustainability, Brussels slowly sinks under the weight of backpatting, lobbies and its complex administration.

On Friday morning, work began on painting a cycle path on the central boulevards of Brussels between De Brouckère and Midi as well as reducing car lanes to 2 instead of 4. These modifications had been planned for a long time as part of a global traffic reduction plan for the city centre and were approved by the various instances in charge of these matters. This was also to be a real-life test and open to revocation after the test period if things didn't work out.

However, it never got that far. Within minutes of the work beginning, several business owners (who, it's said, have a reputation for these things) complained directly to the Mayor (Freddy Thielemans) who intervened personally and immediately cancelled all work. The next city council meeting on Thursday the 8th of June will confirm or infirm his decision.

For this reason, as many voices as possible are needed to question the mayor's unilateral decision and show him these changes do matter. Quality of life in the centre affects everyone who goes there, not only people who live in the area. If you can, please be present at the consultative commission taking place on the 7th of June and let your voice be heard. The mayor will be there and so will the business owners who complained. It's time our “leaders” looked further than their own nose.

The event takes place on June 7th at 20h15 at:
Athénée Léon Lepage
30 Rue des Riches Claire
1000 Brussels
(map)