Dave Briccetti first demonstrates and then runs through the open source code of his TalkingPuffin Web app that provides Twitter behavior analysis

In 1994 the San Francisco Bike Coalition started a campaign for safe riding after a cyclist was killed by “dooring” — a car door opened suddenly.

“Unfortunately, the usual safety message given to cyclists is to ride to the right, near the parked cars, and watch out for opening doors. That’s the wrong message,” says the group’s Executive Director David Snyder. “What do you do if a door pops open? Swerve into traffic or hit the door? The correct safety message is stay out of the door zone.”

That was the message then. It has changed as most states have passed laws that make it illegal to open a door in the path of anyone. Despite safety warnings and laws, the Door Prize tragic list of car door victims continues to grow.

I noticed that some have trouble applying the “dooring” law. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance gives a good example of why. He came up with the absurd interpretation that killing a cyclist with a car door is only illegal for the driver of the car, not any operator of the door. Note the San Francisco letter of the law, which should make it clear why Vance is dead wrong:

CVC 22517: “No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open upon the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.”

No person. If we can’t get that part right, we really will get stuck enforcing the more hidden problem (pun not intended) with “dooring” laws.

The interpretation of “side available to moving traffic” is unclear for cyclists, motobikes and pedestrians. They often pass on the right as well as the left of cars. Yet the right side has been treated as different from the left under CVC 21754, due to an automobile-dominated view of what constitutes moving traffic. That soon will have to change.

Seventeen years after the 1994 “dooring” bulletin, San Francisco has begun to add safety zones around parked cars that will protect cyclists from the hazards of automobiles and their passengers. Both sides of cars now will unquestionably have to yield to moving traffic, but more importantly there is a buffer built into the road to help cars more safely operate their doors:

“Floating Parking” & Bike Buffer Zone in Separated Bike Lanes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

A site called worldofkoch.com used to educate customers about brands used to fund political movements in America. This information looked non-controversial to me last year.

It was public information from the large petroleum company founded on government subsidies that has since grown through many common consumer product acquisitions — Koch Industries. Worldofkoch was a convenient place to get a list of their products.

Some used the site to make a point that purchasing from that particular list of products would send money directly to climate deniers, homophobic organizations and other Regressive causes. Whether you are for or against their Regressive policies, the list made it easy to see the connection to personal consumption.

The list looked something like this:

Or in text format:

Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Lycra
Stainmaster Carpet

Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products
Georgia Pacific Building products:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)-
Agricultural Plaster
Arts & Crafts Plaster
Dental Plaster
General Purpose Plaster
Glass-reinforced Gypsum (GRG)
Industrial Tooling Plaster
Investment Casting Plaster
Medical Plaster
Metal Casting Plaster
Pottery Plaster

FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF
Wood Fiberboard –
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing

COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber

Interesting to see the worldofkoch site has been taken down and replaced only with a “bad request” error, just as controversy over the Koch Industry role in politics is growing. Were they attacked? Is it a preemptive defensive move? Perhaps they just do not realize their site is down and someone should give Tim Ziegelbein (hostmaster@kochind.com) a shout.

The Federal Aviation Administration has posted a request for comments related to oxygen generators in lavatories.

This document publishes in the Federal Register an amendment adopting airworthiness directive (AD) 2011-04-09 that was sent previously by individual notices to the known U.S. owners and operators of affected airplanes identified above. This AD requires modifying the chemical oxygen generators in the lavatory. This AD was prompted by reports that the current design of these oxygen generators presents a hazard that could jeopardize flight safety. We are issuing this AD to eliminate this hazard.

[…]

We must receive comments on this AD by April 22, 2011.

It looks like they are removing them to reduce the risk of someone converting the oxygen into an explosive. I noticed this AD while researching the portable electronic device controversy. Strangely, I have not yet found any humorous comments about explosive lavatories or a need for oxygen generation while in the lavatory.