Journalism and cycling

triggermortis

Chiparus wrote: »

How much were the sausages? 6 bob, 3 shillings and 6d ?

you do know a bob is a shilling...

http://projectbritain.com/moneyold.htm

Tenzor07

This thread is about "100 Furlongs" off topic! ...:pac:...

rubadub

tomasrojo wrote: »

Yeah, it's slightly amusing how many things are sold in an ungainly numbers of grammes and millilitres.

well at least shops stopped charging €1.27 for items that were £1 before the euro change, and €6.35 for a fiver.

Though I would not be surprised if some small shop in Talbot street is still doing it, they were doing it years after the change.

Made sense for somethings not to change, like 1oz sausages or 1/4lber burgers, people were used to the size.

AndrewJRenko

tomasrojo wrote: »

Do they not use both units, even just written on screen? That is quite weird. It's pretty customary everywhere else to use both, even one is just a token use.

They do show kgs on screen, but as you say, it is tokenistic. All the talk is of stones and pounds. Time to move on.

JMcL

rubadub wrote: »

well at least shops stopped charging €1.27 for items that were £1 before the euro change, and €6.35 for a fiver.

My memory of January 2002 was more like prices going from £1 -> €1.40 €1.50 and £5 -> €6.50/€7 'cause we were all on the pigs back back then and nobody cared about gouging. France on the other hand had it in law that the price had to be exactly equivalent post changeover, so something costing 10 Francs would come in at €1.53 or thereabouts. Seemed to stay that way for a fair while as well if memory serves

cdaly_

As late as two years ago, french supermarkets were still displaying prices in francs alongside euros. Maybe they're just hedging their bets for a FRexit...

rubadub

JMcL wrote: »

My memory of January 2002 was more like prices going from £1 -> €1.40 €1.50 and £5 -> €6.50/€7 'cause we were all on the pigs back back then and nobody cared about gouging.

I remember loads of shops doing it, and people saying how stupid it was to have all these small coins rather than round up or down. I have always cared about gouging and have a good memory for prices, I know I was not fleeced on stuff I bought.

JMcL wrote: »

France on the other hand had it in law that the price had to be exactly equivalent post changeover

Seems there was talk of strikes in france (surprise, surprise!). If true I wonder how long shops were legally forced to keep prices static or not increased for. I would guess in some cases it had the unintentional consequence of people rasising prices sharply before the ban on increasing them. Shops would sensibly & legitimately cover themselves from the risk of an increase of cost of business.

Chiparus

triggermortis wrote: »

you do know a bob is a shilling...

http://projectbritain.com/moneyold.htm

no, but thanks.............I think.

Doctor Bob

tomasrojo wrote: »

But there's no particular reason not to continue to use the word "mileage" any more than there's a reason to stop using "inch forward" as a verb. You can give mileage in kilometres, I think. Apart from there being other uses of old words where we're not too concerned about the total logical consistency (I can't think of any right now, but I'll think of one at four in the morning -- apart from "luthiers", who no longer, by and large, make lutes), the ultimate root of "mile" is the Latin for "thousand" and there are 1000 metres in a kilometre.

I'm always struck by the archaic sound of 'chainage' on engineering drawings. Road schemes, for example, have linear measurements expressed as 'Chg 100', 'Chg 200', etc. In modern usage I think the figure refers to metres (Chg 100 = 100 metres from the origin point), although a chain was originally 66 ft (22 yards).

tomasrojo wrote: »

Well, the distance between links on a chain are best expressed in inches, since that is what they're obviously based on.

According to this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_(unit)), a link is also a unit of measurement. 1/100th of a chain.

Why do you say that chain link lengths are 'obviously based on [inches]'?

AndrewJRenko

Tenzor07 wrote: »

This thread is about "100 Furlongs" off topic! ...:pac:...

Fair point - let's get back to eVoting.

magicbastarder

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Why do you say that chain link lengths are 'obviously based on [inches]'?

Aren't the links exactly one inch apart?

tomasrojo

Yeah, I should have said "bicycle chains" (twelve links measure twelve inches; hence the wear test using a tape measure). It did go through my mind after posting that it might looks as if I was talking about the unit of distance!

"Chainage" is a great example of a term surviving the discontinuation in use of the unit it's named after (referring back to "mileage").

magicbastarder

Dysfunction in the department - seems to focus on tourism and sport matters though.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/minister-in-state-as-shane-ross-fails-to-delegate-functions-1.3005862

AndrewJRenko

magicbastarder wrote: »

Dysfunction in the department - seems to focus on tourism and sport matters though.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/minister-in-state-as-shane-ross-fails-to-delegate-functions-1.3005862

Fear of delegation is normally a sign of a weak manager - poor show from Ross.

Deedsie wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/cyclist-blessington-collision-3282225-Mar2017/



Hope he pulls through.

Still at the scene two hours later!

magicbastarder

some more positive cycling coverage from the IT; and by a chap who posts here occasionally.

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/six-of-the-best-cycling-routes-in-ireland-1.2996913

Chuchote

Deedsie wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/cyclist-blessington-collision-3282225-Mar2017/

Hope he pulls through.

Reports said he was still on the road at 10pm, the collision having happened at 8pm. I really hope he is saved.

Chuchote

A woman who killed a cyclist… odd kind of piece - she advises drivers, but first calls for lights on bikes…

http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/03/07/twenty-years-ago-accidentally-killed-a-cyclist-shane-snowdon

and from the comments a This American Life podcast on the same subject

https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thisamericanlife.org%2Fradio-archives%2Fepisode%2F359%2Flife-after-death%3Fact%3D1%23play%3AUyO_YbgKsIqZz8jUYoF4JICsTs8&cuid=626696

Chuchote

Not a word in the papers today about the cyclist tragically killed by a car at the exit from the Phoenix Park yesterday. It's as if it no longer warrants a news story.

Pinch Flat

Chuchote wrote: »

Not a word in the papers today about the cyclist tragically killed by a car at the exit from the Phoenix Park yesterday. It's as if it no longer warrants a news story.

Indo and times have it covered

http://www.independent.ie/search/?fromSection=ece_frontpage&search=Cycling

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-dies-after-crash-near-dublin-s-phoenix-park-1.3007504

Commmets had to be deleted on the journal - saw some of them. There's some sick people out there.

Annie get your Run

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Indo and times have it covered

http://www.independent.ie/search/?fromSection=ece_frontpage&search=Cycling

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-dies-after-crash-near-dublin-s-phoenix-park-1.3007504

Commmets had to be deleted on the journal - saw some of them. There's some sick people out there.

I actually contacted them about that yesterday - asked them to consider removing ability to comment on any news report about a death of cyclist or pedestrian as it only ends up in victim blaming. Glad to see they were removed and hopefully they'll be disabled permanently in future.

Pinch Flat

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I actually contacted them about that yesterday - asked them to consider removing ability to comment on any news report about a death of cyclist or pedestrian as it only ends up in victim blaming. Glad to see they were removed and hopefully they'll be disabled permanently in future.

The journal seems to attract a particular type of toxic poster - most of the more disgusting comments are from trolls who seem to target these stories.

Regardless of who's in the wrong, someone died - a husband, brother, father, someones best mate - who knows - who didn't walk through the doors to their loved ones on a lovely Sunday afternoon. And a driver is left traumatized. Both parties and their relatives will bear this for the rest of their lives.

Chuchote

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Indo and times have it covered

http://www.independent.ie/search/?fromSection=ece_frontpage&search=Cycling

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-dies-after-crash-near-dublin-s-phoenix-park-1.3007504

Commmets had to be deleted on the journal - saw some of them. There's some sick people out there.

I think those stories are both from yesterday; I'd have expected an update since the Gardaí are looking for witnesses.

Corca Baiscinn

I was struck as well by no mention of the death of the cyclist on last night's RTE news or again this am as far as I remember. I realise that the helicopter crash was the more dramatic story but it's interesting, in that a helicopter crash while it does happen is exceedingly rare, while unfortunately driver/cyclist collisions are not. it's frightening is cyclist collisions are now seen as two a penny so not very newsworthy. The media should not of course comment on reasons/causes of a given collision before the facts are known but the sheer number of pedestrian/cyclist injuries and fatalities surely merits some type of investigative reporting of past events where court cases and inquests have been concluded. I had a lovely cycle on a Greenway yesterday but not all cycle journeys can take place on Greenways and I was gutted to hear of yet another cyclist death on the news on my way home. No recent death should be used as emotional ammunition but the sheer number of incidents brings home the need for the current #allocate4cycling campaign and for pressure for new urban routes to be segregated as in Clontarf to City, College Green Plaza, Liffey etc all of us who love cycling either as utility or leisure cyclists or both need to keep on the pressure on local councils and national government.

Chuchote

The helicopter crash also involved the brother of one of the six or so most famous journalists of his time, a man who was a colleague of many of the people writing and editing newspapers now, so there's a personal element.

But it's really a little weird the way this tragic and horrible accident has been ignored. Even the report that Kilmainham gardaí were asking witnesses to contact them hasn't been carried in today's papers, as far as I've seen.

Chips Lovell

Corca Baiscinn wrote: »

The media should not of course comment on reasons/causes of a given collision before the facts are known but the sheer number of pedestrian/cyclist injuries and fatalities surely merits some type of investigative reporting of past events where court cases and inquests have been concluded.

Ah here. You make it sound like the situation is getting worse. The fact of the matter is that cyclist numbers trending upwards (and exploding in Dublin) while fatalities were trending downwards. There were ten fatalities last year, nine the year before. In the context of a big increase in cycling numbers, if anything, cycling is getting safer, not more dangerous.

Given that the media already routinely reports on fatal and serious accidents and the already widespread misapprehension out there that cycling is more dangerous than it really is, I think even more coverage would only worsen the negative image cycling often has.

Chuchote

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

I think even more coverage would only worsen the negative image cycling often has.

More coverage might make the councillors loosen their disgraceful grip on the roads plans and make them get behind a proper network or cycleways.

I'll certainly be out canvassing in the areas of certain councillors who have endangered cyclists' lives at the next council elections.

Roadhawk

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

Ah here. You make it sound like the situation is getting worse. The fact of the matter is that cyclist numbers trending upwards (and exploding in Dublin) while fatalities were trending downwards. There were ten fatalities last year, nine the year before. In the context of a big increase in cycling numbers, if anything, cycling is getting safer, not more dangerous.

Given that the media already routinely reports on fatal and serious accidents and the already widespread misapprehension out there that cycling is more dangerous than it really is, I think even more coverage would only worsen the negative image cycling often has.

Even though the number of cyclist fatalities are low as a figure they are high enough to cause concern when compared as a ratio to the total number of cyclists. From what I can see, in 2015 there were 9 fatalities and roughly 65,000 cyclists...that means for every 7,222 cyclists 1 was killed.

Motorists in the same period was roughly 1 fatality in every 16,000 motorists when combining the figures for driver, passenger and motorcyclist deaths totaling 125 and basing the total number of vehicles as 2,000,000.

That said i would consider cycling to be considerably more dangerous than driving.

Chuchote

Roadhawk wrote: »

for every 7,222 cyclists 1 was killed.

roughly 1 fatality in every 16,000 motorists when combining the figures for driver, passenger and motorcyclist deaths totaling 125 and basing the total number of vehicles as 2,000,000.

That said i would consider cycling to be considerably more dangerous than driving.

We really need a good separated network.

tomasrojo

The usual ways to compare risk between transport modes is Killed/Seriously Injured (KSI) persons per hours or kilometres of travel.

KSIs/billion km metric makes cars look a good bit safer; however, also makes cycling look a good bit safer than walking
KSIs/billion hours makes them all look fairly similar, with car travel looking a bit safer

Cycling isn't all that dangerous, and your likelihood of premature death is lower in the global picture, as a sedentary lifestyle is more likely to get you than a road traffic collision.

tomasrojo

Incidentally, Roadhawk is probably doing his argument a disservice by incorporating motorcyclists into a "motorist" category. The KSIs for that transport mode are the worst of all the transport modes. Worse than cycling or walking.