Daily updates – Page 95 – a sibilant intake of breath

Lunchtime update: slightly pavement-battered

Last night, a car heading east on Rideau Street decided that it was a good idea to make a right turn at speed without signaling or checking if there were any cyclists behind them and to the right. On the positive side, I learned that the brakes on my bike are very effective. On the negative side, the forward momentum of my bike, body, and panniers was more than enough to throw me over my handlebars: feet still set in the cages on my pedals. Naturally, the car didn’t even slow down.

I actually managed to land pretty well, taking the bulk of the force with my right arm. Still, I managed to bruise my arm and ribs, as well as give my elbow joint a painful knock. My wrist and jaw are also somewhat sore, as a result of their contributions to the nullification of my forward and downward momentum. A group of drunken men dressed as Smurfs gave me a round of applause when I stood up (it was 8pm on Halloween).

I was impressed to see how durable my MEC Aegis jacket really is: despite my entire weight and that of the bike and despite scraping along for a few feet, it is not visibly worn. Irksomely, my bike no longer shifts properly into higher gear. Making it do so requires much more force than before, and sometimes requires shifting twice, waiting for the first shift to actually happen, and then preventing the second shift.

I will take it to the bike store over the weekend to see if they can return it to normal functionality. The uber-smooth gear shifting was one of my favourite aspects of the new bike.

[Update: 3 November 2007] I had my ribs checked out and the obvious was confirmed: they are not broken but may be fractured. If they still hurt in a month, the latter possibility will be confirmed. They could hurt for as long as six months.

The shifting on my bike seems to have largely been fixed simply on the basis of riding around. It isn’t perfectly smooth, but it is adequately reliable. Nonetheless, I will take the bike in for a tune-up soon.

Problems with ethanol as a fuel

Biofuels are quite a hot topic at the moment. There is an ongoing debate about subsidies for corn ethanol in the United States, and a more general discussion about the overall merits and shortfalls of the biofuel approach. One compound that features prominently in the debate is ethanol: the two-carbon molecule familiar to martini drinkers everywhere.

Unfortunately, ethanol has a number of properties that make it unappealing as a fuel:

While oil and water are famously difficult to mix, water mixes easily with ethanol. This makes it more difficult and expensive to store and transport. Pipelines are especially afflicted by this issue. Ethanol that has been blended with gasoline can seperate when it comes into contact with water.
Moving through pipelines and sloshing around in storage tanks, ethanol is also prone to collect various sorts of crud and impurities. These must then be filtered out at a later stage.
Ethanol is corrosive to both metals and rubber compounds. As such, it can increase the level of maintenance required in all of the machinery that comes into contact with it, as well as diminishing the lifetime of that equipment.
Ethanol has a lower energy density than conventional liquid fossil fuels. That means less distance travelled for any particular volume, as well as a larger ratio of fuel weight to total weight for vehicles with a particular range.
The volatility of ethanol is also problematic. The fact that it turns to gas easily (and has high vapour pressure) can be problematic in hot environments.
Finally, ethanol is made in ways that have both direct and indirect negative consequences. The direct production of ethanol from corn raises food prices (affecting the poor, in particular). Corn agriculture also uses fertilizers (causing eutrophication of rivers) and pesticides. Large increases in land use for bioethanol production may also lead to deforestation, as crops that can be grown in areas presently forested (like soya in the Amazon) get displaced from existing agricultural lands.

None of this is to say that ethanol is without advantages – nor that it will have no role in the future energy mix. I am simply laying out some of the problems that need to be overcome, or that will otherwise limit the adoption of bioethanol as fuel.

A Presidential debate on science

Here is an interesting idea: holding a Presidential debate exclusively on science. Having some understanding of scientific issues is certainly essential to effective policy-making in many areas, especially medicine and the environment. A televised debate could allow voters to gain an appreciation for how strong each candidate’s understanding of science really is, when they do not have advisors to fall back upon.

That said, I doubt candidates would be keen to hold such a debate. For one thing, most of them would probably embarass themselves. For another, science has become such an acutely politicized field that such a debate may just reflect existing ideological stances.

This is being discussed on Slashdot.

Montreal Sous Bois Hostel: WiFi and bedbugs included

The Sous Bois hostel in Montreal is quite a lively place. In some ways, it is an unusually good establishment. The atmosphere is positive, there is free wireless internet, the location is good, and the facilities are fairly well maintained. One nice touch is providing a big bowl of earplugs (a necessity in almost any hostel).

The biggest problem with the Sous Bois, in my experience, is the bedding. The bunks consist of squeaky air mattresses and the sheets they provide are awfully scanty for Montreal in winter. It is a good thing I ended up sleeping in my shoes, trousers, and jacket, since I woke up with my hands and ankles covered in small, itchy insect bites. All told, I have about 100 of them, after two nights in the place. Lots of other ex-guests mention the bugs, which demonstrates the importance of researching low-cost accommodations, rather than choosing one that appears high on Google and has a nice webpage. The lack of secure storage facilities is also a problem.

This definitely wasn’t the worst hostel I have stayed in (the Hosteling International places across from St. Mark’s Square in Venice and on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City share that dishonour), but it isn’t one I would be quick to stay in again.

[Update: 29 October 2007] This afternoon I spoke with Fred Bouchard, a manager at the Sous Bois Hostel. He seemed suspiciously familiar with bedbugs: asking me whether the bites were clustered in lines (as bedbug bites are) and then telling me that the hostel policy was to refund the cost of your stay (within two weeks) and to pay for any bite-related medications prescribed by a doctor. He told me to see a doctor immediately and that I need to either immerse everything I had with me in boiling water or put it through the dryer on high for at least half an hour. Once it gets cold enough, I will freeze the suit-carrying luggage that is presently in garbage bag quarantine for at least three days.

It seems pretty clear that this hostel is well aware of their infestation. That probably explains the minimal sheets and the air mattresses, as well as the ease with which the staff recall their bedbug policies. Once I find the right phone number within the City of Montreal bureaucracy, I will file a report with the public health authorities. In some cases, bedbugs can carry hepatitis; also, infestations that people bring home could easily cost thousands of dollars to clear up. As such, it seems reasonable that the city authorities would be concerned that this place is still operating in such a dodgy manner.

[Update: 31 October 2007] The hostel refunded me for my stay. One person contacted me through one of the hosteling webpages to tell me that they gave her a refund too, after she found their non-paying guests snacking on her.

Francophone drizzle

So far, Montreal is proving disappointingly soggy – so much so that I fear for my laptop whenever I venture out of cafes. All of today has been marked with persistent drizzle and punctuated by proper downpours at regular intervals. Last night involved some good fireworks, scores of people tramping around the Old Town in Halloween costumes, extensive conversation with people in the hostel, and a very late night introduction to the actual game of dominoes (rather than the practice of knocking them down sequentially).

For now, I am off to seek something both non-inundative and interesting to do for the evening. Quite possibly, I will make my way over to the Plateau, near Mont Royal itself.

Post-conference

I have made my Montreal transition from ‘official business’ to ‘touristic exploration.’ Having traded a suit and tie for cargo pants and a microfibre shirt – and a hotel bed for a hostel air mattress – I am off to explore the city a bit.

My earlier request for information about any good plays, art shows, concerts, or other entertainments is re-affirmed with added urgency.

Three city tour

During the next three weeks, I am doing a bit of a tour of eastern Canadian cities. From tonight until Sunday, I will be in Montreal. I will be busy with work until Friday, but should have the weekend to appreciate the city. Montreal is definitely one of the most interesting places in Canada. It always seems more culturally vibrant than Toronto or Vancouver, particularly in the summer. If anybody knows of interesting events happening in Montreal during the upcoming weekend (concerts, art shows, plays, etc), I would really appreciate knowing about it.

From the evening of November 9th until the evening of the 12th, I am going to be in Toronto. While that is mostly for purposes of visiting family, I would also be keen to meet up with friends who will be around then. Six weeks after that, I will be in Vancouver.

Getting a bit of such travel in before this whole region becomes an ice cube seems like a good idea. That said, it has apparently been an unusually warm fall (bad news for the pine trees). Right now, it is 20°C outside, and it has been uncomfortably warm to bicycle uphill in a jacket recently, even in the middle of the night. I haven’t found it problematic to be walking to and from work in a dress shirt and no jacket, except where sudden downpours or puddle-splashing trucks have left me sopping. My historical chart suggests that temperatures at this time of year should be about 9°C. The fourteen day trend suggests that they will be getting closer to that vicinity pretty soon.

A kiwi by any other name

Some people will be surprised to learn that the kiwi fruit (produced by a hybrid of Actinidia deliciosa and other species of that genus) was named after the somewhat similar looking bird of that name (Apterygidae Apteryx) in 1959 as a marketing ploy. Apparently, the fruit had previously been called a ‘Chinese gooseberry’ but that name was seen as overly political during the Cold War. The alternative name ‘melonette’ was problematic because melons faced high import tariffs. The solution dreamt up by the produce company Turners and Growers was thus to brand the fruit with the name of the bird it supposedly resembles. The general association between the bird, the word ‘kiwi,’ and people from New Zealand extends back before 1899. The kiwi bird has been part of the regimental signs of New Zealand Regimentas since the Second Boer War.

The whole thing is reminiscent of the re-branding of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) as ‘Chilean Sea Bass.’ The intention to alter consumer perceptions of products by changing their names isn’t reserved for agricultural or fishery organizations trying to optimize their sales; some environmentalists are trying to re-brand ‘biodiesel’ with the moniker ‘industrial agrodiesel‘ in order to alter perceptions that this is a green or sustainable fuel.

Best Ottawa bike shop

When I moved to Ottawa, I didn’t know where to go to buy a bike. With the benefit of experience, I can tell other newcomers that their best bet is to go to G.M. Bertrand Cycles in Gatineau. They are at 167 Wellington Street. I recommend them because they have the most knowledgeable and helpful staff of any of the ten places or so I visited. Many of their staff members are bilingual and the rest have been happy to put up with my broken French. They have good products at reasonable prices and they stand behind them. When the front light they sold me failed after three weeks, they replaced it with a better one with no questions asked.

The Bike Dump seems to be the Ottawa bike shop that gets the best press. While I may not have had a representative experience, I saw no reason for which that praise is justified. Their bikes were overpriced and not in terribly good condition. They have bad hours, only accept cash, and have an indifferent staff. G.M. Bertrand is a much better choice.

Mac security tips

During the past twelve months, 23.47% of visits to this blog have been from Mac users. Since there are so many of them out there, I though I would share a few tips on Mac security. Out of the box, OS X does beat Windows XP on security – partly for design reasons and partly because it isn’t as worthwhile to come up with malware that attacks an operating system with a minority of users. Even so, taking some basic precautions is worthwhile. The number one tip is behavioural, rather than technical. Be cautious in the websites and emails you view, the files you download, and the software you install.

Here are more detailed guides from a company called Corsair (which I know nothing about) and from the American National Security Agency (who knew they used Macs?). The first link is specific to Tiger (10.4), while the latter is about the older Panther (10.3). I expect they will both remain largely valid for the upcoming Leopard (10.5).

Some more general advice I wrote earlier: Protecting your computer.

PS. I am curious about the one person in the last orbit who accessed this site using OS/2 Warp, back on February 17th. I hope it was one of the nuns from the ads.