Weeknotes 2024 W39: Funky Fahrradampel

Quick bits:

• Happy autumn/fall!

• I have started to feel the effects of the isotretinoin treatment, which I wrote about last week. My skin is drying out, and my eyes and lips are dry. Gotta stock up on eyedrops and chapstick, especially with winter practically around the corner.

• In response to my “air potatoes” suggestion, T recommended “tree potatoes” instead. Someone tell T that the four elements are not earth, water, fire and… trees.

• I’m pretty much entirely stuck with the one-person play I’m writing. I think I need to give it a break, and continue with other stories.

• In Berlin traffic news: A car drove all the way along the sidewalk and I later got shouted at by someone going against traffic on my bike lane. This city often makes me want to stay indoors, because the traffic is chaos.¹¹¹ I’ve got a souvenir, even: the 10 cm scar I obtained a few months ago is fading only very slowly. 

Let’s talk about Berlin cycling infrastructure, a topic I have had considerable first-hand experience with.

As of late, this particular setup has been vexing me:

Assume that you’re cycling, coming from the direction of the magenta arrow. If the Fahrradampel²²² bicycle traffic light  were red, would you stop? If so, where would you stop?

To my understanding, a bicycle-specific traffic light like that does not apply to the bicycle path on its right. But I cannot find a good source to confirm or deny that. Note also the absence of a white line on the bicycle path, too, which would indicate where to stop.

Worth noting, too, is that there is no reason for bicycles to stop on the bike path at all: there is nothing that crosses the bicycle path (no pedestrian crossing, no intersection, no garages) for another 100 meters.

The most plausible explanation I’ve heard is that the bike path is in such bad condition that it is expected for cyclists to go onto the road. That would explain why there are two bike lanes, but I am still confused as to why the traffic light is there in the first place, and why it’s often green for bikes while simultaneously red for cars (like in the photo).

Berlin’s cycling infrastructure — or perhaps Berlin’s traffic infrastructure in general — is distinctly subpar.

Entertainment:

• I replayed Quantum Break,³³³ Quantum Break (Remedy Entertainment, 2016), published by Microsoft Studios.  and was simultaneously pleasantly surprised and disappointed.

  There is a lot to like about the game. Despite it being a 2016 game, it still looks remarkable. The motion capture and full-motion videos tie in nicely.

  However, it aims very high and doesn’t quite succeed at everything. The combat is clunky and repetitive. The writing, with its cliché dialogue, is far below what Remedy is capable of. The full-motion video feels too much like a cheap science fiction TV show, though I can’t put my finger on why.⁴⁴⁴ It likely is a combination of cliché characters, lack of direction, often cringey or outright bad dialogue, and action scenes that have far too many cuts that fail to make up for the lack of choreography. 

  But it’s still a good game. If you haven’t played it yet, do so — especially if you like Remedy’s other games.

• Satisfactory⁵⁵⁵ Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios, 2024), published by Coffee Stain Publishing.  continues to be fun.

Tweets and toots:

• @Sophie@dice.camp’s insight in computer mouse buttons… are they buttons?

• Stephen Farrugia on Ecosia’s new AI: Yikes.

Links:

• From the whatisthisthing community on Reddit: What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. “I called the non emergency fire brigade number this morning and less than 2 minutes later 6 fire engines, 3 ambulances, 3 police cars and a bomb disposal unit arrive.” Wow!

• Thermoelectric cooling: it’s not great (Technology Connections): I wasn’t surprised that thermoelectric cooling is inefficient (I had a hunch), but I am surprised by how efficient regular refridgerators are.

• What if a glass of water were LITERALLY half empty? (xkcd’s What If): Asking the important questions!

• How To Steal An Election (Climate Town): Wild! (Also: this happened in my time but I have no memory of it.)

• The Inventor of Those ‘Troubled Teen’ Wilderness Camps Where They Kill Kids (Behind The Bastards): I had no idea these things existed. Horrifying! Content warning for child abuse and death. (There is also a part two.)

• Will Ferrell: ‘I don’t know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me’ (Adam White for The Independent): One of the shows to watch once I reactivate my Netflix subscription. Quote: “If the trans community is a threat to you, I think it stems from not being confident or safe with yourself”

• Alan Wake 2 Critique - Beyond the Lake (Monty Zander): I’ve not finished watching this critique — it’s nearly five and a half hours long — but I like what I’ve seen so far!

Tech links:

• Ethically sourced Lena picture (Morten Rieger Hannemose): I’ve never needed to use a picture like Lena, but I suppose it’s good to have an ethically sourced alternative!

• OpenAI asked US to approve energy-guzzling 5GW data centers, report says (Ashley Belanger for Ars Technica): “AI” is an unacceptably wasteful technology.