Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
When I call, and say, "I would like to set up internet service," I am not calling to say, "Please take all my identification data." I am not requesting the ID theft special. I want to establish internet service, and that's it.
No, I will not give you my social security number. As you should well know, it's against Federal law to use a SSN as an identifying number, except for tax purposes. Are you proposing to collect taxes on my behalf?
No, I will not give you my driver's license number and my date of birth. These are also identifying data sufficient to lose me a considerable sum of money and cause more real-world headache than I ever want to deal with. Yes, I do shop online, and hey, lookit that, my credit card number goes across the wires! But you know what? There are consumer laws in place to protect from that type of theft. My liability is actually quite limited there.
There are no established laws about what happens when some sloppy corporation goes and loses a laptop full of ID numbers for their customers. But when that happens, it usually goes down poorly for the customers, as fraudulent credit purchases are made in their name. That hand-out on "Protect yourself from identify theft!" is a poor substitute for not having the problem in the first place.
Because of your self-interest, I've already signed up for my old standby, the 144k iDSL through Speakeasy. Yes, I'm willing to pay more than your rate for 1/20th the throughput. Why? Speakeasy doesn't act like an evil corporation hellbent on all-out fiscal domination. Crazy, I know. You could maybe learn a thing or two.
Posted at 13:23 permanent link category: /misc
I went to a track day yesterday, and had a good time. I'll be writing more about it, but I wanted to get a quick summary out.
I was at the track by about 6:45 in the morning, having left Seattle in my friend Jesse's truck around 5:50. Tech inspection and registration was at 7. We did a ride-around of the track (via pickup truck) at 7:40, stopping at each corner so one of the instructors could get out and talk about it: lines through it, what to avoid, what to strive for, etc.
The day was broken up into 1/3 hours: first 20 minutes, the 300-level (expert) riders went on the track, and the people who'd paid for class time got instruction. The second 20 minutes, the 200s went on the track, and 100s in the class (I was in level 100, and took the class) were supposed to do Q&A with the teachers, but actually ended up working individually on the "lean machine" (a motorcycle on a tilting frame, to simulate going around a corner). The last 20 minutes of each hour, the 100s would have their time on the track.
For the most part, this worked. Unfortunately, late in the morning, people started getting too aggressive, and we had our first serious crash -- the father of one of the instructors did something that ended with three concussions, and being carted off in an ambulance. Unfortunately, that effectively cancelled the 100 session for that hour (noon, I think). There was another crash at the end of the day, cancelling the final 100 session.
Generally speaking, I found the classroom sessions to be review, and too fast to really get any points across in any case. I already knew everything they were teaching, because I've read so much about riding technique. That was a bit disappointing. However, the other valuable thing these training sessions offer is that skilled track instructors will ride with you, and let you know what you need to fix.
Unfortunately again, my experience with the instructors was essentially non-existent. I did, eventually, ride with several instructors in a confusing little pack. One of them gave me a thumbs-up after a particularly atrocious lap on my part, and I wasn't able to find any of them before it was time to go. So that was a bust, too.
Others I've talked to who've done track days and schools like this have always mentioned how much progress they make in the course of one day. I didn't really find that to be true. I started riding easy, but the other riders were all itching to go fast, so I ended up going fast pretty soon, and never really made progress beyond that point. I know I wasn't riding up to the bike's potential, but I didn't know how much further I could push it, and naturally when you push too far, you crash. Being rather keen not to crash (which would cause $500+ worth of damage to the bike for even the lightest crash, and probably ruin my $800 "one crash and it's done" riding suit), I didn't push any further.
However, even that level of riding had me keeping up with anyone I cared to pace through corners, and usually through the back stretch of the track. They'd always outdistance or pass me in the long front straight, because the Ninja 250 is not what you would call a powerful bike.
As the day drew to a close, two people in the class, also 100 level riders, commented that they had no idea the Ninja 250 could go that fast. Both were former 250 owners, and I think they both viewed the Ninja 250 as a little putt-putt beginner's bike, not worthy of their time. Both had quickly upgraded to larger motorcycles. I passed at least one of them on at least one occasion (it's hard to keep track of whose back is whose, when most people are dressed nearly identically, and most of what you see is their rear tire).
The biggest problem I had on the track was that I was fractionally faster through the corners (because of being on a light bike, mostly) than other riders. I had to slow down to their pace through the corners, but then they'd pull away from me as the corner ended, with their more-powerful motors. So I was left in this situation of perpetually having to slow down (bad) for other riders, without being able to pass them (which would have been good).
On the whole, it was a good day, but the disorganization, crashes cancelling my sessions, and lack of noticeable progress served to dull it somewhat. It certainly wasn't a waste, and I'll be back, but I definitely won't be taking the class again. I'll have a more comprehensive write-up (for you masochists) in a few days.
Posted at 11:42 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater