Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱

https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes

An old guy who has been places and seen things.

Do not re-post my posts (or screenshots of my posts) on other platforms. These posts are meant only for Mastodon.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/notjustbikes
Nebula: https://nebula.tv/notjustbikes
Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes
Pronouns: he/him

Public Key

npub1z7xtq2j2202tfpxl7cmfmac4n45gv6tuyuwjdcfu0gyc58jxek9qc6q5jf

NIP-05 Address

notjustbikes_at_social.notjustbikes.com@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsp0r9s9f998495sn0lvd5a7u2e66yxd97zw8fxuy785zv2rervmzspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsqsn8xw

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1z7xtq2j2202tfpxl7cmfmac4n45gv6tuyuwjdcfu0gyc58jxek9qc6q5jf

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Last Notes

2024-09-10 23:33:31

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and I was just answering.

2024-09-10 22:36:28

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because every single time I've provided my videos on a free platform I've regretted it.
I have no interest in reliving the clusterfuck experience that was my Odysee channel.

2024-09-08 11:07:14

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Nebula link is here:
https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-are-taiwans-roads-still-a-living-hell/

2024-09-08 11:05:57

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no, it was not, due to an issue with the first sponsor:
https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes/113019270682570172

2024-09-08 10:48:41

My latest video is live on YouTube!
A few years ago a CNN article called Taiwan's roads a "living hell". This triggered a series of new laws and projects designed to make the streets safer. But has it worked?
I used to live in Taiwan, so I'm very familiar with the previous situation, so I decided to go there myself to find out if things had changed for the better.
https://youtu.be/ZdDYVjDwgwA

2024-09-07 13:51:37

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I have a video about that 😉
https://youtu.be/ztpcWUqVpIg

2024-09-06 20:45:34

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except that my tram gong was recorded in Rotterdam. 😉

2024-09-04 22:40:03

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no. Maybe decades, but not years. I will archive them myself.
I had a LOT bad experiences with monitized copies and plagiarism since I've started creating. I literally had to hire lawyers and get within days of suing once to get someone to stop, and it cost me thousands.
I'm very blackpilled about the promise of open content licenses.

2024-09-04 22:37:59

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on YouTube you can only select "Creative Commons" or "YouTube license". I switched to the YouTube license when people started abusing the Creative Commons videos.
I had hopes that people would use little clips of my content to tell their own stories but over 99% of derivative videos were just straight copies and/or plagiarism.
I'm pretty jaded about the promise of open licenses for video content now.

2024-09-04 22:35:27

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I have trouble watching my old videos because the voiceover was SO dry and boring.
I was often recording with a portable voice recorder in between the coats in a closet though, so it was hard to be expressive! 😁

2024-09-04 17:34:53

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huh. Interesting.
In the early days I used to mark all my videos as Creative Commons, but I changed it when people started to upload the whole videos elsewhere, monetize them for themselves, and no service was willing to help me with anything because it was marked Creative Commons.
This is why we can't have nice things. 😢

2024-09-02 15:24:49

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agreed!!

2024-09-02 14:10:31

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good! I hope you enjoy it.
Try to get out if Amsterdam (maybe Utrecht or Delft or Leiden?) or at the very least, outside of the touristy canal ring to see the rest of the city.

2024-09-01 21:34:53

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yes. I commented on it that I'm really glad I don't live in the US. 😬

2024-09-01 12:12:44

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Yes, Abigail is great! Definitely one of my favourite channels. I've been watching Philosophy Tube since the bookshelf days.

2024-08-31 12:34:39

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I don't know enough about it to comment, sorry.

2024-08-30 15:38:52

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yes, but there are many, many places in the world that would just allow cars in anyway. In Canada they would just have people destroy a local park or greenspace by turning it into temporary parking.
It's notable that Circuit Zandvoort actually did something about it.

2024-08-30 13:17:44

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Car use in the Netherlands does seem to peak at the 35 to 50 age range, so yeah, Gen Xers are more likely to drive than boomers.
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/113/051/159/311/466/186/original/0d43674cd91eae28.png

2024-08-30 12:57:16

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yeah, that makes sense.
This is also a music festival attended almost exclusively by Gen Xers who I swear are even more likely to drive here in the Netherlands than the Boomers.

2024-08-30 12:50:59

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it's good to be hopeful! 😁
... but they don't deserve it in this case. 😉

2024-08-30 12:34:10

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absolutely. They also have a separate section further down the page about accessibility for disabled people so there's no reason to believe that the message above is only meant for people with mobility issues.
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/113/050/985/724/602/964/original/e0bd7d568764a757.png

2024-08-30 12:23:18

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This is particularly ironic when just a few weeks ago there was Circuit Zandvoort, a literal car race, that has a car-free "exclusion zone" around it and requires that nearly everyone in attendance arrives by walking, cycling, or public transit.
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/113/050/940/586/157/737/original/e69a801922ac4ce5.png

2024-08-30 12:20:47

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no, they do not

2024-08-30 12:13:52

I was surprised to read this passage on the Wooferland festival website that says that "accessibility is best by car" when it's easily accessible by bike from Haarlem and a 15 minute walk from a train station.
You'd think that a music festival (of all things) would want to discourage cars because of traffic, safety, parking, and drinking & driving issues, but apparently not!
Car supremecy is alive and well, even in the Netherlands.
(The page is in Dutch but I translated it for this post)
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/113/050/902/511/187/047/original/cc434ac44fbd36c6.png

2024-08-25 18:26:36

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the Heathrow Express used to have baggage drop off at Paddington

2024-08-25 16:42:07

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yes I know, but they used to play the other song in Taipei though.

2024-08-24 22:06:51

My latest video is now live on Nebula!
https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-are-taiwans-roads-still-a-living-hell
It's about the impressive changes that Taipei has made since we lived there back in 2010/2011, and some of the negative press they've received with respect to road safety.
Unfortunately I've had a bit of a snag with the sponsor segment for this video, so the YouTube version is not ready yet. But I didn't want to delay the release of the Nebula version just because of a sponsorship issue.
Enjoy!

2024-08-24 15:32:03

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is American Samoa a domestic flight? It's an American territory, but it's not part of the United States of America, right?
It would be like Curaçao, Aruba, or Sint Maarten that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but are governed independently.
Whereas Bonaire is literally a municipality of the Netherlands.

2024-08-24 13:25:35

My parents are telling everyone that, in a few months, they are going on holiday to the Netherlands but their lazy son who lives in Amsterdam won't even bother make the effort to visit them, even though it's a domestic flight.
They're going to Bonaire. 😂

2024-08-17 17:07:36

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I remember when Toonies came out my coworker argued it should be called a "Moonie" because it had the Queen with a bear behind. 🐻

2024-08-17 17:06:52

"Toonie size" hail 🌩
#canada
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/112/978/449/110/980/847/original/bba4de301636b6ad.png

2024-08-17 13:59:13

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in my experience, these shop owners who complain are using these parking spaces themselves.
They know saying they they want to park next to their business makes them sound like assholes, so they pretend it's for their customers.

2024-08-15 19:36:08

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yes, I'm done with it! 😁

2024-08-15 19:24:22

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Yonge is where I picked up the car. It obviously wasn't my destination!

2024-08-15 19:21:35

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well that's fun.
That's been my experience with owning cars, too. Lots of time spent at the dealership due to electrical faults. 🙄

2024-08-15 19:19:24

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it's more expensive than the Toyotas at the same garage, but if I'm going to have to drive through a car-infested suburban wasteland, I want to be sitting on a leather couch.

2024-08-15 19:16:48

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sadly there's no other way I could go when I needed to drop off the car on Rowhampton. 🤷‍♂️

2024-08-15 19:03:01

Just another normal day for NJB, filling up my Audi with gasoline! 👍 ⛽🚗
(put down the pitchforks, it's a carshare car)
My conclusions:
Toronto sucks to get around by any means of transportation; car-centric cities don't work well for anyone.
There are WAY too many destinations in the GTA that are inaccessible by transit.
It's been so many years that I forgot how gross gasoline is. Plugging in an electric car at home is so much better.
Android Auto works pretty well.
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/112/967/542/199/154/046/original/f76320292a7a61fb.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/112/967/572/978/179/508/original/cc772dfa7e264f1c.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/112/967/574/604/174/763/original/967163aa635c8578.jpg

2024-08-15 03:16:10

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amazing

2024-08-14 17:42:17

My very favourite stupid comment on my channel is:
"if you like Europe so much, why don't you move there?"
😐 ... OK.

2024-08-14 14:48:38

I had a great conversation with Twitch streamer & bicycle advocate Bike Curious about "tacitical" or "guerilla" urbanism. When your city won't fix things, it's time to fix it yourself.
https://youtu.be/mMomhNmOJH0

2024-08-14 14:02:31

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I have not yet made a video about taxis, but yeah, Amsterdam has way too many of them.
It's frustrating how many tourists will just call an Uber to literally any destination within the city as opposed to using transit or even walking.

2024-08-14 13:15:23

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thanks! But why would I talk in any more detail about the sirens? I linked to an entire video about only that subject. 🤷‍♂️

2024-08-12 12:24:23

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google "motonormativity"

2024-08-11 16:03:43

One of the things that really pissed me off when I was an advocate was when a plan that was designed to make the streets safer was vetoed by the Fire Department. And that was it: whatever the Fire Department said was what we did, because nobody can question the Fire Department.
But when firefighting is objectively done better in other countries that have safer streets, there comes a time when we need to push back a little.
https://youtu.be/j2dHFC31VtQ

2024-08-05 13:17:01

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I am convinced that many fire marshalls do this just because they're car-loving suburbanites who don't want to see cars limited in any way, so they use their status as the fire department to get these initiatives cancelled.
Like when business owners say that removing car parking would run them out of business ... and then it's found that actually, the owner and their employees use the parking spots all day every day, not the customers.

2024-08-03 18:37:47

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glad to see that it's not just me and that you get visits from the Tone Police as well! 😁

2024-08-03 14:50:23

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thanks!

2024-08-03 14:49:58

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yeah I didn't know about them either until the research for this video.

2024-08-03 00:24:21

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I feel like Fuck Tha Police is referring to the overarching institution of the police, and not individual police men and women.
Otherwise it would be Fuck Tha Policemen. 😉

2024-08-03 00:23:02

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yeah, I originally had that in the script but it was too much of a distraction so I cut it. I'll probably bring it up in a future video.

2024-08-02 15:01:42

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I'm happy to answer.
It depends what level of support you want to give, to be honest.
I say on my Patreon page that if you're going to sign up to the €1 or €3 tier, then you'd be better off signing up to Nebula with my code. You get better value for your money that way.
But if you want to give more, then Patreon probably makes the most sense (or a Nebula lifetime subscription).
But to be honest, don't worry about it too much. And watching on YouTube is support enough.

2024-08-02 13:54:10

My latest video is live on Patreon and Nebula!
https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-how-american-fire-departments-are-getting-people-killed
One of the things that really pissed me off when I was an advocate was when a plan that was designed to make the streets safer was vetoed by the Fire Department. And that was it: whatever the Fire Department said was what we did, because nobody can question the Fire Department.
But when firefighting is objectively done better in other countries that have safer streets, there comes a time when we need to push back a little.

2024-08-02 10:55:08

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Yeah, it's not a well-publicised thing right now. I'll mention it to some creators.
I know that [@american.fietser](https://threads.net/@american.fietser/ ) has enabled it, so definitely follow him!

2024-07-31 00:28:53

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yeah, and I sure as hell didn't look as cool as SPFDJ does, back when I was a DJ in the late 90s. 😂
... it was a Hallowe'en rave, OK!? I didn't always dress like this 👷
https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/112/878/268/757/638/640/original/db7a1ebb4dc8b91d.mp4

2024-07-30 23:58:59

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omg seriously!? Sadly I'm flying to NYC on Friday. Next time! 😢

2024-07-30 23:37:13

I'm writing my latest script while listening to this set from SPFDJ.
The driving techno is great for keeping me focused on writing, but sometimes I start bopping my head so much that I can't see what I'm typing. 😂
https://youtu.be/vQANrgpnztw