After two months cycling in Paris I still think it is a very dangerous city and commuting by bike here is not as easy and enjoyable as in other places. I'm always late, so I try to hurry up... and sometimes (very often) I end up being reckless. Ok, I often take "controlled" risks, but I am definetely not a risk-seeking person. However, I just came across with a video of some who put their life at stake for a cycling race in the city... I don't really care if they wanna take more risks (as long as we don't have to pay for their damages), but you will see that they put in danger many others and this is unacceptable.
In a following post another one says he will think about stopping at traffic lights because he got a 90€ fine. It made me think about the law&economics beyond. Why is this fine ridicously small? It has no deterrence effect at all on the traffic lights objective, it has no impact on discouraging the participation in these races!
dijous, 12 de novembre del 2009
divendres, 6 de novembre del 2009
Take the stairs (and ruin Otis)
I just read the freakonomics column in the NY Times about calories counters. In Lisbon they have written in each stair the equivalent calories burnt.
The Public Health Agency of Canada encourages you to take the stairs by counting how many calories you will burn! I live in a 6th floor without lift, so I have no choice. Apparently, I do 23% of my daily recommended physical activity each time I go out. Yep, I take the positive side of it. Hey, and it is greener. I guess that right now it would be cooler to post the kilowatts saved or directly the contribution to global warming. What worries me is that I could never invite wheelchair friends (but that deserves another post).
So, who to praise? Elisha Graves Otis (a worth reading bio) invented the lift in 1852. "He" is still in business as a major global player. The World market for lifts is estimated in $50 billions and has nice forecasts.
Oh, his descendants are not 'good guys'. The DG Comp fined them in 2007 for price-fixing. The funny story is that even the EC building was affected so the EC switched from a regulatory role to a plaintiff one. You can claim damages too, as the Dutch Collective Injustice Foundation does for 465€+20% of the damages.
The Public Health Agency of Canada encourages you to take the stairs by counting how many calories you will burn! I live in a 6th floor without lift, so I have no choice. Apparently, I do 23% of my daily recommended physical activity each time I go out. Yep, I take the positive side of it. Hey, and it is greener. I guess that right now it would be cooler to post the kilowatts saved or directly the contribution to global warming. What worries me is that I could never invite wheelchair friends (but that deserves another post).
So, who to praise? Elisha Graves Otis (a worth reading bio) invented the lift in 1852. "He" is still in business as a major global player. The World market for lifts is estimated in $50 billions and has nice forecasts.
Oh, his descendants are not 'good guys'. The DG Comp fined them in 2007 for price-fixing. The funny story is that even the EC building was affected so the EC switched from a regulatory role to a plaintiff one. You can claim damages too, as the Dutch Collective Injustice Foundation does for 465€+20% of the damages.
Bike chain
Wanna start a business but have no ideas? Consider producing bike chains for winter time, no one has done it yet and demand is out there trying to build home made ones.
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