Friday, August 19, 2005

Motorcycle Wardriving

http://news.com.com/2303-10915_3-5839927.html?part=rss&tag=5839927&subj=news
"Smith said that, like Foo Camp, Bar Camp requires everyone who shows up to present something. He expects to hear people talk about such topics as a motorcycle rigged for wardriving in such a way that when it discovers a Wi-Fi hotspot it posts anonymously to a Web site listing all the locations it finds. Smith himself may talk about his upbringing in the technology world. "

Great idea. Next I want a way to send pictures, naratives, and short video segments from a camera on my motorcycle helmet to a server. Then some image analysis software that will pull license numbers from the images and tag the files with them on the file server. Then I let you do the same. Then the insurance companies can monitor the license numbers and associated records of stupidity to see whose insurance needs to go up.

Next time somebody makes you mad doing something stupid and endangering your life, you don't have to get mad, you just press the shutter button and go on about your life knowing that "living well is the best revenge."

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Iron Butt Ready

...saw Eddie Phelps at Bob's BMW, tonight. He was looking very relaxed.

"I thought you were already on your way to the rally," I commented. I was referring to the Iron Butt Rally 2005 in Denver.

"Won't leave for two more days. I'm ready. Just have to pick up a few last things," he said.

We probably chatted for half an hour. A couple of times I suggested that he probably needed to get his stuff and get going, but Eddie could teach us all about patience and "laid back." We talked about the Motorcycle Consumer News story citing him as a possible dark-horse winner. (By the time I had gotten to the BMWBMW ride-to-eat in Emmitsburg, last night, he was rumored to be one of the top three favorites). Eddie just laughed.

He told me about the web site that will be letting us track the Iron Butt Ralley 2005 participants, Star-traxx.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Motorcycle Safety Program

Sunday, our class graduated from instructor training. Now, we are probationary trainers and have to do three classes under supervision. Phil Sause, Chief Instructor of Maryland MVA did the training. It wasn't easy and meant some long days and nights, but it sure has been rewarding... especially as we saw students improve. One of our students, in the class we did together under instruction, had never operated a two-wheeled vehicle before. The smile on his face was the best reward.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Motorcycle deaths rise sharply - Yahoo! News

Motorcycle deaths rise sharply - Yahoo! News

A friend sent this link to me. I'm glad to be part of the solution.