Computer is working in fits and spurts, and the Feed

The meaning behind the headline today is quite simple: I have so many links on the Feed window that my computer is running out of resources to deal with them all (damn Flash ads). I have run into this problem before but not with a computer this new (less than a year) or this resource intensive (2 GB memory and 320 GB storage with more than 250 GB of the storage empty). It’s annoying that I can’t have as many open tabs on this computer as I used to have on a P III with only 1 GB of memory and 10 GB of storage with most of that used. I mean, doesn’t anyone at Google know how to implement virtual memory any more? Because I checked and there’s not even a spot in the resources allocation chart for virtual memory. I know it’s slower than actual RAM, but it beats the Hell out of a system that crashes when you try to open too many tabs and is physically maxed out for RAM. Of course if news sites would quit putting ads with flash video and a flash banner ad on the same pages as the news is loading in a flash video that would help a whole bunch, too. (Can you tell I don’t particularly like Flash?)

Up first I’m going with a whole group of idiot cyclists in UT. Bicyclist Seriously Injured after Eight Attempt to Illegally Bicycle Through Zion Tunnel and Cyclist hurt in dark Zion National Park tunnel The stupid part was not that they were cycling illegally in the tunnel, I’m of the opinion that since you can’t get from one side of the park to the other without traversing the tunnel it can’t be illegal. No what was stupid is they rode into the pitch black tunnel on mountain bikes that did not have any headlights or taillights to light their way so they didn’t run into the sides of the tunnel and so that drivers could see them before they ran up on them. Also, since the tunnel has curves that block the view of drivers the speed limit really should be reduced to maybe 15 MPH to keep people from getting run over should they break down in the tunnel. Not hitting cyclists would just be a bonus.

A good story from PA. Cyclist thought to be hurt on Ohio River Boulevard turns out to be OK The cyclist appears to have slid on bad pavement conditions just as the truck passed him and was unaware of the furor he started by falling. Still it was a good thing that LEO took the incident seriously because there are documented cases of this happening and people getting killed.

And a bad story from MI. GRPD: Cyclist injured in hit-and-run crash Apparently an intersection wreck, so I suppose intersection protocols might have been useful, but getting the infrastructure right would prevent the wreck.

Update on a CO hit-and-run that we have been covering since a day after it happened. Woman charged in fatal hit-and-run to appear in court March 28

Still in CO someone takes a less nuanced method of killing a cyclist. Police Investigating Shooting That Injured Cyclist If Leno was still on this would make the “Stupid Criminals” feature. They were in the perfect weapon to kill the cyclist without any repercussions and then they stuck a shotgun out the window…

An OH family is much more forgiving than I would be. Family of cyclist killed in traffic collision seeks lesser charge for driver The cyclist was killed in a left cross wreck because the driver “failed to see” the cyclist before turning left. Unless substantial penalties are held against this driver I don’t see how people are ever going to “learn to see” cyclists.

But in the same state as the very forgiving family, another family has to deal with a death by motor vehicle. Person killed in Union Township hit-and-run crash Hit from behind and the driver abandoned the weapon vehicle a few miles from the crime scene. Either the driver had a confederate in the crime or lives somewhere near where the vehicle was abandoned, if the first there is a possibility (albeit a very remote one) that this was a deliberate killing. I mean who plans on switching vehicles after a wreck when they don’t plan on having the wreck in the first place? The driver’s U-turn after the wreck is also suspicious. Anyway, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another hit-and-run in NY. Police: Bicyclist seriously injured in hit-and-run on South Salina Street in Syracuse Intersection wreck with may have been an oblivious or otherwise distracted driver from the narrative so the protocols are mooted, but getting the infrastructure right is almost guaranteed to prevent a similar wreck by segregating the cyclist from motor vehicles in both time and space.

A GA cyclist is killed by a blind driver and the cyclist gets blamed for it. Teen cyclist hit and killed by car in Athens More LEO who seem unaware of the Basic Speed Law. Lights and/or reflectors might have helped, but if the driver was paying that little attention to the road it is entirely likely that the cyclist could have been lit up like a Christmas tree and the driver still would have hit him. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A CA teen may have been riding a bike when he was hit, but LEO are no longer saying that. Teenager hit by car, badly injured As of this posting LEO are only saying the driver was in a car going south, the victim’s mode of transit has been purged from the report. Gigi saw it before I did and it was edited after she read it.

Still in CA they still haven’t finished investigating a dead cyclist’s wreck. Investigation continues in crash that killed Aptos cyclist I think the LEO heading this case does not believe the SWSS explanation. I think there also may be some information from sources outside the weapon vehicle that contradict the driver’s statement.

Also from CA is this from BikingInLA. The Times winds down their look at biking in the City of Angels, and the day’s best bike links I really like the comments to the LA Times link, so much angst from the poor, put-upon drivers who might have to change lanes to pass a cyclist, or slow down for a few seconds.

LEO in far West Canuckistan are looking for a hit-and-run driver. Victoria police looking for car after cyclist injured in hit-and-run The cyclist appears to have been hit from behind, so protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And good LEO to enforce the safety of that infrastructure from entitled drivers who can’t stand to share an inch of pavement with a cyclist.

And last link is Infrastructure! news from Jolly Olde. Croydon council urged to make borough safer for cyclists Again, trying to pry scant inches from the drivers to give space to cyclists and pedestrians.

Those are all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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