We know SwissKnife, now we have SwissBike.

Finally, full-size bikes, with full-size performance bike that can be folded is here! I first read about it at Drive and Cycle: An innovative concept for commuting.

SMRT and LTA, please ... increase the allowable size to encourage more people to use these bikes! Anyway, users can always put it into the bag and carry it on to the trains :)

Good news! I saw Singapore flag in the International Dealers page and it links to digiNEXX.

PS: This is NOT a sponsored post.

EmailCashPro seems to work for her

This is the second advertisement through EmailCashPro by Nancy Ho on Love Thyself. The first one was on alpha brain waves.

Interesting career she has. Probably most people won't come across such trainings. I wouldn't if not through EmailCashPro.

Thus, I think advertising in EmailCashPro could be working for her.

Foldable bicycles aren't that special

In the General Guidlines for the Fold it and ride it, a six month trial to bring foldable bicycles on trains and buses, I find some of the guidelines are too general to be place under this trial. Let me list them here ... :

c) Foldable bicycles should not exceed 114 cm by 64 cm by 36 cm when folded.

Why is this size limitation only apply to foldable bicycles but not other bulky items that have already been brought on to the train and buses, such as lugguage?

d) The wheels of the foldable bicycles should be wrapped up if they are dirty or wet.

What about dirty or wet wheels of other devices such as prams?

e) Protruding parts likely to cause injury or dirty/damage property to be covered up.

Shouldn't this under general safety guidelines?

g) Foldable bicycles should be carried in an upright position.

Isn't this quite common sense? However, I believe sometime it might also be sensible to lay a bulky item horizontally, e.g. under the seat.

h) Only two foldable bicycles are allowed on each bus at any one time.

Strange, is there a limit as to how many pieces of lugguages allowed on each bus? Thus, a family going outing with 3 foldable bicycles will need to travel on different buses?

f) Foldable bicycles should not block the aisles and doors or impede commuter movement at any time.
i) When travelling by train, cyclist should use the first or last car, which is less crowded.
j) Cyclists should use the lifts and wide fare gates at MRT / LRT stations where these are available.
k) Foldable bicycles are not allowed on the upper deck of a bus or placed on the staircase leading to the upper deck.

These should also apply to anyone carrying bulky items, that may cause blockage, slow down walking speed, or require wider gates/path.

m) For the trial on trains, off-peak hours during the six month trial period, 24
May to 24 November, are defined as:
- Mon – Fri: 9.30am – 4.30pm, 7.30 pm to end of revenue service
- All day on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays

This point is quite redundant given the power of staffs make situational decisions as stated below:

SMRT / SBS Transit station staff and bus drivers may disallow foldable bicycles if the actual situation within an MRT/LRT station, bus interchange/terminal or on board a train/bus does not permit foldable bicycles to be admitted safely and without inconveniencing other commuters.

PS:

l) From 24 May to 24 August 2008, foldable bicycles are allowed on buses all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. They are not allowed on Mondays to Fridays. This will be reviewed after three months.

It is good for LTA to act promptly, but isn't this a bit too promptly? A news release on 21 May for a trial starting 24 May. There could be many who want to give it a try, but may take them a week or longer before they get a foldable bicycle. Thus, the trial will have a mixture of results due to a mixture of people and usage, from mainly existing foldable bicycle users in the beginning, mixture of more novice users in the middle stage, and unclear proportions at the latter stage.

What's the point?

Waiting away from the door before the train arrives serve no purpose if the acts of boarding the train starts once the door opens or before the last alighting person steps out!

Is painting those yellow markings just to show that something is done about the problem, or an act in a process to resolve the problem? I doubt the latter as there seems to be no evaluation and assessment of the problem status and implementation of further improvements.

A simple suggestion. Don't paint the same pattern at every door. When the escalator/stairs/exit is on one side, discourage passengers to stand at that side to block the alighting passengers.

You will fall down.

I find it weird that parents like to "curse" their kids. I trust the natural instinct or learnt balancing skills in us. Sometimes kids may be in a higher risk of falling, but higher risk is not definite.

Neural networks

I just read an article about the up bringing of children. There is a discussion about the two extremes, caning and reasoning, and also some mixtures of the two. I might have mentioned before, another article I read some months back stating that it might not be so much dependent on the method, but the consistency of the rule or standard that underlines the method. For example, when on different occasions, a child acts in a particular desirable or undesirable way and he/she receive different reactions or responses from the parents, the child will be confused, find contradictions and inconsistencies.

Actually, many computer scientists and engineers should be very familiar with this phenomenon. For a number of decades, artificial neural networks (ANN) were implemented using mathematical models. On class of these ANN needs to be trained in order to perform in an acceptable way. The training effectiveness depends on the training data. If there were substantial portion of the training data has error, the ANN will probably not able to fulfill in role.

Now, we have to know that ANN is an artificial version of the neural network that scientists found in brains. I agree that brain is not the whole of a human being and therefore let alone the neural network in our brain. However, if the neural network in a child brain is fed with wrong training data by giving them different or even contradictory reactions and responses to the same behavior, then the that neural network will not be trained properly. This would result in the child behaving in a way that we label as undesirable.

So, may be some engineers and some psychiatrists should start working together for a better parental guideline in the up bringing of children.