My guest blog for RAW Bamboo Bikes has just been published at http://www.bamboobike.co/2012/01/31/hand-built-bicycles-of-two-eras-richard-gibbens/
Reflections on artisanship and progressive materials in bicycle design.
Thank you Rachel Hammond of http://www.bamboobike.co/ for the invitation.
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Friday 27 January 2012
What's in a name?
As an afterthought to yesterday's post, it strikes me that it also touches on how the name we attach to something is more than just a label. Call a tax 'road tax', and the belief can become entrenched that the payer is funding the roads (and therefore enjoys proprietorial rights). Call it 'vehicle excise duty' and that direct linkage is broken, instead connecting (more accurately) with the personal transportation (vehicle) the payer chooses to own.
Does this matter? Yes, it does matter when someone high on proprietorial frustration, in charge of half a ton of metal, encounters someone slower and more vulnerable in 'their' road space. The behavioural and all too likely physical consequences of belief that drivers pay a 'road tax' are clearly apparent in that helmet camera video. Who says that 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me'?
Does this matter? Yes, it does matter when someone high on proprietorial frustration, in charge of half a ton of metal, encounters someone slower and more vulnerable in 'their' road space. The behavioural and all too likely physical consequences of belief that drivers pay a 'road tax' are clearly apparent in that helmet camera video. Who says that 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me'?
Thursday 26 January 2012
Getting things done with social media
There is a perception that Twitter and other social media drove the Egyptian Revolution of spring 2011. Indeed, not for nothing did the crowd at the Amnesty Egyptian Revolution rally in Trafalgar Square on 12th February 2011 give the victory salute with mobile phones in hand.
However, just how much the Arab Spring democracy movements owe to social media, in particular Twitter, is still debated. Undoubtedly all the smartphones in the world would have achieved nothing if individuals had not taken to the streets and shown supreme courage in the face of brutal regimes. Here, for example is one quite nicely balanced view by Matthew Schafer: Tweeting the Revolution: Twitter Didn’t Create the Revolution, But It Didn’t Hurt It .
I make no grandiose claims nor do I suggest any comparison in scale or courage in recalling a positive experience I had yesterday with Twitter over an incomparably smaller and less personally risky matter - though not a trivial one. It's important to me as my first direct experience of achieving a real-world change using one of the social media.
On the Radio 4 Today programme there was a news story about a proposal to charge European HGV operators for using UK roads. UK operators would also be charged, but would be reimbursed through credits against (and here's the point) 'road tax'. Now, road tax does not exist. It was abolished in 1937. So why should I, or any cyclist, get aerated about this reporter's howler?
Well, if you spend any time in the saddle, or read Letters to the Editor debates, or follow any other kind of forum where ill-informed people argue that cyclists are a nuisance on the roads, you'll know that a triumphal assertion of such motoring proponents is that cyclists 'don't pay road tax' so have limited, if any, rights on the roads. This ignorance is no mere technicality if it negatively influences driver behaviour, as proprietorial delusions on the roads are apt to do. Consider the complacent reactions to this responsible citizen's brush with serious injury or death.
When the reporter for the Wednesday Radio 4 Today Programme stated that HGV operators would be reimbursed via their 'road tax', I therefore tweeted @BBCr4today to protest, and asked @BBCNews to correct the same error in the written story on the BBC News web site. I might not have been the first - there was a small chorus of similarly concerned cycling Tweeps.
However, just how much the Arab Spring democracy movements owe to social media, in particular Twitter, is still debated. Undoubtedly all the smartphones in the world would have achieved nothing if individuals had not taken to the streets and shown supreme courage in the face of brutal regimes. Here, for example is one quite nicely balanced view by Matthew Schafer: Tweeting the Revolution: Twitter Didn’t Create the Revolution, But It Didn’t Hurt It .
I make no grandiose claims nor do I suggest any comparison in scale or courage in recalling a positive experience I had yesterday with Twitter over an incomparably smaller and less personally risky matter - though not a trivial one. It's important to me as my first direct experience of achieving a real-world change using one of the social media.
On the Radio 4 Today programme there was a news story about a proposal to charge European HGV operators for using UK roads. UK operators would also be charged, but would be reimbursed through credits against (and here's the point) 'road tax'. Now, road tax does not exist. It was abolished in 1937. So why should I, or any cyclist, get aerated about this reporter's howler?
Well, if you spend any time in the saddle, or read Letters to the Editor debates, or follow any other kind of forum where ill-informed people argue that cyclists are a nuisance on the roads, you'll know that a triumphal assertion of such motoring proponents is that cyclists 'don't pay road tax' so have limited, if any, rights on the roads. This ignorance is no mere technicality if it negatively influences driver behaviour, as proprietorial delusions on the roads are apt to do. Consider the complacent reactions to this responsible citizen's brush with serious injury or death.
When the reporter for the Wednesday Radio 4 Today Programme stated that HGV operators would be reimbursed via their 'road tax', I therefore tweeted @BBCr4today to protest, and asked @BBCNews to correct the same error in the written story on the BBC News web site. I might not have been the first - there was a small chorus of similarly concerned cycling Tweeps.
Towards midday, the term 'road tax' in the BBC News web site story was corrected to 'Vehicle Excise Duty, commonly referred to as road tax'. Not satisfied with this (as it fails to acknowledge that 'road tax' is an actively misleading term) the cyclist Twitter users requested the incorrect expression 'road tax' be removed altogether. The BBC obliged by about 4pm, resulting in this, now more accurate, article, correctly stating that operators would be able to 'reclaim the fee against their vehicle excise duty costs'. In fairness, following an outraged reaction by @iPayRoadTax , ipayroadtax.com and the cycling community, the BBC had similarly corrected the contentious TV report linked to above.
The point of this story is only secondarily a contribution to the campaign against ignorance of how roads are actually funded. It is primarily to show that real-world change in matters large or small can be achieved using Twitter. How quickly, twenty or even ten years ago, could a small group have persuaded the BBC to correct inaccurate and potentially dangerous reporting?
It's an encouragement also to my new business, Proud to Ride Classic, to carry on promoting itself through social media, and to rejoice in the very tangible opportunities and personal encounters they have already afforded.
The point of this story is only secondarily a contribution to the campaign against ignorance of how roads are actually funded. It is primarily to show that real-world change in matters large or small can be achieved using Twitter. How quickly, twenty or even ten years ago, could a small group have persuaded the BBC to correct inaccurate and potentially dangerous reporting?
It's an encouragement also to my new business, Proud to Ride Classic, to carry on promoting itself through social media, and to rejoice in the very tangible opportunities and personal encounters they have already afforded.
Saturday 7 January 2012
Less hand-holding, more support in 2012
In my last post I discussed some of the influences on my decisions regarding the use of a tripod. I acknowledged that my camera support choices, whilst perhaps understandable, were challengeable. In this spirit I've entered the New Year determined to change my photography working habits in such a way as to facilitate my use of a tripod. A starting point will be procuring a more ergonomic tripod to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of using one in difficult conditions. I'll fund this by selling some equipment so heavy it never leaves base. Better to optimise my outdoor photography than the infrequent indoor work I do.
In the spirit of my resolve, I'm establishing a virtuous habit by carrying for the time being a 1980s lightweight Culman tripod. Its legs are of similar gauge to those of a full-height tripod, yet are long enough to support the camera at no more than 70cm, thus achieving reasonable stability with light weight, albeit at cost to operating comfort. The small but quite nicely engineered ball head was supplied with the tripod and similarly does the job without ergonomic refinement.
As expected, I enjoyed the first mini-session of a new photographic era for me when a tripod will move to the core of my outdoor kit. Here is the result of 30 minutes in Williamson Park, Lancaster - the same image, in two versions. Thank you for looking.
In the spirit of my resolve, I'm establishing a virtuous habit by carrying for the time being a 1980s lightweight Culman tripod. Its legs are of similar gauge to those of a full-height tripod, yet are long enough to support the camera at no more than 70cm, thus achieving reasonable stability with light weight, albeit at cost to operating comfort. The small but quite nicely engineered ball head was supplied with the tripod and similarly does the job without ergonomic refinement.
As expected, I enjoyed the first mini-session of a new photographic era for me when a tripod will move to the core of my outdoor kit. Here is the result of 30 minutes in Williamson Park, Lancaster - the same image, in two versions. Thank you for looking.
Artfully created waterfall in Williamson Park, Lancaster, UK. The cliff is a disused quarry face, and the water is circulated by pump. I enjoy the effect, though, which adds to the mountain atmosphere of the park.
Canon EOS 5D MkII, Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX DG Macro, 1.6sec, f16, mirror lock, tripod.
Monochrome conversion in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP)
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