Author: BrianR

Yellow Cargo Bikes

When i was in Mexico last I saw these yellow tricycles everywhere. They where used for all kinds of street vending. I wondered what models they where. Just a bit of googling later and I discover the word Mercurio on a yellow frame. It looks like Mercurio sells the Triciclo de Carga.

Then I found the HUSKY MODEL T-370 CARGO TRICYCLE YELLOW. Looks pricey and tricky to ride without a ton of stuff in it.

Check out the flickr search results for the words cargo bike mexico. It shows how creative people are with these things.

Social Networking Software Alternatives

I haven’t tried all this software yet. So I can’t endorse it exactly… But when I do give it a shot I’ll write a review. I hope to add more to this list as I find them.

OneSocialWeb The purpose of onesocialweb is to enable free, open, and decentralized social applications on the web. Its protocol can be used to turn any XMPP server into a full fledged social network, participating in the onesocialweb federation. The suite of extensions covers all the usual social networking use cases such as user profiles, relationships, activity streams and third party applications. In addition, it provides support for fine grained access control, realtime notification and collaboration.

Opera Unite Opera Unite is a new technology platform allowing you to share content directly with friends, without having to upload anything to a Web site. You can stream music, show photo galleries, share files and folders, or even host your own Web pages directly from your browser.

Diaspora (Due in October 2010) the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network

Pligg is an open source CMS (Content Management System) that you can download and use for free. Pligg CMS provides social networking software that encourages visitors to register on your website so that they can submit content and connect with other users. Our software creates websites where stories are created and voted on by members, not website editors. Use Pligg content management system to start your own social networking community in minutes.

Data Ownership

A few years back, prob around 2005, I got an education about personal data ownership and privacy. I taught myself.

Then in 2006 I started using Twitter. The real time satisfaction of sending out a few bits of text and potentially receiving IMMEDIATE response is/was intoxicating.

Fast forward to 2010 and certain events have reminded me what I learned.

Did I forget how important data ownership is? Was I, am I, willing to trade my data property in exchange for services? (ex. Twitter, Facebook,) Am I over the immediate gratification of a GIANT community?

Not sure. But I hope you’d like to visit my virtual living room to chat. Its ok if its quite for awhile. 🙂

p.s. I’m not sending Tweets from my wordpress blog to drive traffic here to earn $. Just to revive my home.

My Local Energy Journey 3

It was back in October 2009 when I last wrote about biodiesel stuff aka My Local Energy Journey. The next step for me was to do a bit of prep work. I didn’t want to put biodiesel in the MB right away. I’ve read too many stories about clogged filters and rotting hoses bursting. So I waited till a warm weekend when I had some time to work on the car. (I don’t have a garage.) The big bonus is I learned a lot and gained some confidence. Very valuable.

I did a fuel purge on the ’81 Mercedes 240D. It got a ton of gunk out of the fuel system. I was amazed at the extra horse power after this procedure. Clean injectors are cool! This is the how-to I followed. Very helpful! Diesel Purge – Injector and Injection Pump Cleaning

After this I replaced all the fuel lines under the hood and swapped out both fuel filters. Again the awesome DieselGiant.com to the rescue! I got it done with the wonderful step by step how-to called Mercedes Fuel Hose Install.

After a bit more tightening and a good test drive this step is done. Next stop the biodiesel pump!

(Part Two of this series can be found here.)