Sometimes those kids at the college radio play some of that new fangled "music" and I have to turn it off. That goofy bass drop drives me nuts.

#GetOffMyLawn #WhipperSnappers

Blobbing out PCBs with a dalo pen and etching in ferric is new again. #retro #getoffmylawn #electronics

https://www.tomshardware.com/maker-stem/electronics-buff-hand-draws-and-etches-custom-pcbs-at-home-functional-home-etched-pcb-runs-a-3d-printed-fume-extractor-fan

On my Saturday ride I saw a huge number of boys on electric dirt bikes. My ride took me through a rich suburb (Westlake), which is where I saw most of these boys. Note that, as far as I could see, they were 100% boys. No girls. This is a little surprising, maybe. And my impression is that 100% of them were too young to drive.

All of them were riding electric dirt bikes—there may have been one or two gas-powered dirt bikes, judging from the noises I heard. These are illegal for road use (no light, no horns, etc), didn't have tags, and of course the riders were too young to get drivers licenses. So, illegal in multiple ways. These were not e-bikes. There are some electric dirt bikes that do have decorative pedals as regulatory camouflage, but as far as I could see, none of these bikes had even that fig leaf to hide behind.

The boys were riding them with all the prudence and good judgment you'd expect of pubescent boys. Riding against traffic, riding wheelies, etc. These are privileged kids to whom bad things just don't happen, until they do.

I've seen them before when I ride through this neighborhood, but there were a lot more on this day, and one thing that was really different: at one point, I was riding east on a high-speed four-lane road (Bee Cave Rd); on the westbound side, I saw a pack of about 40 of these boys, taking over a lane, dodging around cars, and riding with that same level of prudence and good judgment generally. This is something new and weird. I have to imagine that being in a pack on these motorcycles exacerbates their bad behavior. About five seconds later, I saw a lit-up cop car, presumably chasing them. I'm sure the cop would give them all a serious talking-to that would cause them to straighten up and fly right. A bit later in the ride, on a different road, I saw another pack of about 30. Possibly the same boys. And I saw a lot of other boys, solo or in twos or threes, in addition to these. I saw exactly 3 kids on human-powered bikes.

I have thoughts.

I'm a cyclist, so it makes me sad to see kids bypassing bikes for motorcycles.

The kids are living in a suburb that was designed on the assumption that everyone gets around by motor vehicles. Their parents no doubt settled there because it's the place for rich people, because the schools are supposedly better, because they want more space than they can get in town. This makes has made the children growing up in the suburbs more dependent on their parents. I was riding public transportation at the age of seven in Chicago. There is no public transportation for these kids to take (not that their parents would allow it). For that matter, I could get places that I wanted to go on foot, because of the low density and single-use zoning, there just isn't that much a kid could walk to in Westlake. And of course there are no sidewalks. So with all that being the case, it's no surprise that these kids are attracted to these motorcycles, and for that matter, that the parents would be happy to indulge them--less driving for them.

I've always thought that one of the defining aspects of being a teenager is the struggle to achieve autonomy. These motorcycles give the boys riding them a big chunk of autonomy, so again, it's no surprise that they're popular.

I do hold the parents responsible for setting their kids up in a suburban lifestyle that makes these motorcycles seem like reasonable solutions, for failing to recognize the inherent hazard they represent, for failing to be aware of the hazardous ways they're being used, and for taking advantage of a legal system that won't punish their obviously illegal use.

#cycling #urbanism #getoffmylawn

I was in a meeting today and someone said, "you're not old unless you saw Return of the Jedi in the theater."

My good man, I not only saw Return of the Jedi in the theater, I saw Empire Strikes Back in the theater. There is also a photo of me around the age of two and a half in Piccadilly Circus with my parents in front of a GIGANTIC Star Wars billboard.

I am so old, I remember when movies would COME BACK TO THEATERS (especially on military bases), so I saw Star Wars in the theater AT LEAST twice when it came back around BEFORE the stupid "George Lucas Midlife Crisis" version before the prequels came out.

#GetOffMyLawn #old #greyAndLovingIt #grayAndLovingIt?

Richard Dawkins was seduced by a glorified autocomplete engine

The evolutionary biologist who warned against falling for comforting stories has been taken in by AI flattery from a chatbot.

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/richard-dawkins-was-seduced-by-a

#news #tech #technology #AI #aislop #religion #dawkins #getoffmylawn

People posting video from their car irritates the fuck out of me. It's a compositional choice. We live in our cars and it's standard now.

#Cranky
#GetOffMyLawn

It’s hard to convey how much I adore having to download a new app every time I park my car and then setup a new account just to be able to pay to park AND have the pleasure of paying a Convenience Fee.

How is *any* of this an improvement over parking meters?

#CrankyOldMan #GetOffMyLawn