Maybe it boils down to deciding if they should be regulated like motorcycles or like bicycles? All the laws and requirements are already in place for each, but no-one has decided where they fit yet; instead they are categorizing them as toys.

Terry Pratchett. It was at a book signing. He stayed very late, until every last person got their book signed. Generous and warm with everyone in line.

First everyone bitches about how EVs don’t pay gas taxes to help cover road costs (which are mostly covered by other taxes anyway). Then they bitch when a more equitable tax option is suggested.

Just can’t win, eh?

Time to pull up my big boy undies and start riding my bike. That sucker ain’t controlled by anyone but me. <middle finger to the car companies, wobbles down the road on a two-wheeler>

This is my favorite “how to fold” video.

This is a really nifty school project, but… there are two crank arms, so the curve showing inefficiency is missing the second crank that would be present in the real world. And human legs aren’t pistons or simple weights.

The leg itself produces more or less oomph depending on the position of joints and what muscles are active at different positions, when muscles are stretched, slack, preloaded, etc. (Ever wonder why runners crouch just before the starting gun goes off? Or why even little kids flex forward at the hips when racing on bikes?)

The human leg “likes” to stride, pedals take advantage of the way the human leg works. Pistoning like a pogo stick works for mechanisms, but a human doing that is gonna end up as a patient in physical therapy with -at the very least- vicious knee pain from maximally loading the leg with the knee forward of the ball of the foot. (Remember your coach yelling at you to correct your squat form? Compare the “squat” at max load to the leg on a properly fitted crank bike vs on a piston mimic bike.)

And burp loudly. Good times.

It’s a familiar process for those who lived through the early days of the internet.

Jansport “Right Pack.” Just the right size for my packing list. No extra straps or belts. No internal organization. Rain flaps over the zippers. Clean and simple and unremarkable.

I’ve eaten a few things made with powdered crickets. They were ok. I think treating it as a protein powder and adding it to baked goods makes the idea of eating “bugs” more palatable for most people.

“Hey, George! I’m at the Starbucks on your corner. Y’know what would be funny? You drive your van over here and park right in front. I’ll video you the whole way. It will look totally spontaneous and it will be an awesome Tik Tok. Wait, wait, let me stand in the window so I get a good shot. Ok, I’m focused on you, start the van!”

I hate autocorrect for constantly changing my “its” to “it’s”.

(I just had to fight it to get the above “its”)

It’s kind of fun!

Most of Ursula le Guin’s work, she’s pretty much the grandmother of solar punk sci-fi.

The short story “A Fisherman of the Inland Sea” (in the collection of the same name) is a good place to start if you haven’t read her stuff before and want a quick sample.

That is an excellent analogy! Do you mind if I use it?

Click the “instances” button (bottom) when you visit potential homes to see if they are federated with the gaming community you want.

Better yet, join the instance that hosts the gaming community you want.

For every instance you can click the “communities” button (top) to see a list of all the communities on that instance.

It’s in all water https://extension.psu.edu/microplastics-in-our-waters-an-unquestionable-concern

The Handmaid’s Tale. I started reading it recently, but it’s too much like current events. I had to stop reading. (Haven’t seen the show, either.)

That’s funny, I was going to mention my compass but didn’t want to sound paranoid! I have a poor sense of direction, so I keep a little hunter’s compass handy. There are decent ones to hang on zippers and some that pin, avoid the tiny novelty ones. (I also have an orienteering compass for hiking.). The Apple Watch Ultra has a GPS “compass” in the face, but for that price I can just keep buying a new hunter’s compass every time I lose one and still come out ahead.

I also have a tiny toiletries kit, about the size of a slice of bread. Usually a food-bar and water. Bandana, of course.

30 liter backpack. Wearing one outfit and carrying two outfits in the pack. A little hand laundry every day or two.

Less stuff, fewer worries. This is as pared down as I want to go, and I can travel indefinitely with it.

Everyone needs to work out the best system for them, and they are all going to be different.