1–6 of 177 entries categorized:

The outdoors

Bixi bikes in Ottawa

June 11, 2009

in Canada, Ottawa, The outdoors

The Ottawa area now has four bicycle rental kiosks – two in Gatineau, and two on the Ottawa side. The company that provides them is called Bixi and they are priced to encourage brief usage: free for 30 minutes, $1.50 for the next thirty, $3.00 for the next thirty, and then $6.00 for each half [...]

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Slowing the demise of Germany’s last glacier

June 9, 2009

in The environment, The outdoors

Apparently, the last glacier in Germany is going to be covered up during the summertime to reduce melting. Located in Bavaria, at an altitude of 2,962m, the Zugspitze glacier will have an area the size of a soccer field covered with 30 metre long tarps, in order to protect its 40 remaining metres of thickness. [...]

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The value of private cars in cities

May 31, 2009

in Rants, The environment, The outdoors

In the midst of the discussion about the ethics of traveling to Vancouver, the issue of how cars have benefited and harmed people living in urban areas came up. It is undeniable that they have been a major transformative force, when it comes to the shape and character of cities.
To me, it seems that private [...]

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How to be safe around cyclists

May 25, 2009

in The outdoors

In my own experience, the situations that endanger cyclists and the operators of other vehicles near them usually arise because of a lack of awareness about making movements perpendicular to the flow of traffic. In front of a cyclist, imagine a cylinder projected forward, with a length corresponding to the distance it would take that [...]

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Bicycle physics

May 24, 2009

in Geek stuff, Science, The outdoors

For those with an interest in both cycling and physics, the Wikipedia article “Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics” is well worth reading. It is interesting to note that lateral movements of bicycles (basically, those involving turning) are so mathematically complex that they require “two coupled, second-order differential equations… to capture the principle motions” and that these [...]

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Photos of Ontario and Quebec birds

May 23, 2009

in Geek stuff, Photography, Science, The outdoors

Here is a list of the birds I have photographed so far as part of my open-ended project. The links go back to the posts in which the photos originally appeared. Eventually, I might sub-divide this list according to type or location.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) – Adult, beside the Ottawa River. Goslings, beside the Ottawa [...]

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