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Benjamin Fry

@bluejekyll.bsky.social

1.2K followers 1.3K following 1.2K posts

Rust, Rusty Bikes, and making everything safer. Berkeley, CA.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · Nov 22

I just went to the Berkeley Transportation and Infrastructure Commission meeting to recount this story.

That was hard. I barely kept it together. I hope I did Ben justice.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · Nov 19

On Thursday, Nov 14th, I was riding home from BART. At Rose and Josephine in Berkeley, an intersection that I have always treated with care, and especially after dark, I ended up witnessing this tragedy. I saw a car hit a pedestrian (Ben I later learned).

Walk Bike Berkeley @walkbikeberk.bsky.social · Nov 18

Beloved, long-time Berkeley community member Ben Brown was the pedestrian killed on Rose Street.

Please consider donating to this GoFundMe to help his family with funeral expenses and travel.
gofund.me/c4cb551e

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 8h

Damn, another person hit on Rose this time at the Ohlone Greenway. Thankfully Berkeley is upgrading this particular crossing, but clearly it’s not happening soon enough.

Rendered plans for an upgraded crossing of the Ohlone Greenway and Rose St in Berkeley, CA.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 9h

Well, I just learned something. I thought class 1 & 2 e-bikes were effectively treated the same, but class 2 has more restrictions than class 1 which is interesting.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 10h

I agree that it’s overblown, but it is a common theme, and then the conflicts of usage in the limited amount of space we have is a real issue.

I don’t know that there’s an easy solution here other than enforcement. Motorcycles can just as easily use this infrastructure as anyone on a bike.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 13h

I fear that the abuse of this infrastructure by people on higher speed electric devices will continue to be used to push back on the exact infrastructure that would help solve the issue. It’s similar to how there’s almost no regulation keeping modded cars and trucks off the street.

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Reposted by Benjamin Fry

b101nf0matr @b101nf0matr.bsky.social · 14h

It's a great and refreshing change of pace to see a politician speaking up for trans constituents, rather than remaining silent in the face of the rampant and concerted effort of some to gin up transphobia, or worse, cowardly ceding ground on trans rights for perceived political advantage.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 16h

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

No joke, I was thinking we should close the street to cars until the city does something to make it safer for people.

I like your idea better.

Reposted by Benjamin Fry

cecilia lunaparra @cecilialunaparra.bsky.social · 1d

please join me in keeping these two victims of traffic violence in our thoughts.

it is so heartbreaking to repeatedly see our residents and visitors, especially the most vulnerable, be subject to such violence on our streets.

The Berkeley Scanner @berkeleyscanner.com · 1d

BREAKING: A driver struck two pedestrians, including a pregnant woman, near UC Berkeley on Friday, sending both to Highland Hospital.

'Major windshield damage': 2 people struck near UC Berkeley

Both pedestrians, one of whom is pregnant, were rushed to Highland Hospital, according to early reports.

www.berkeleyscanner.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Fry

The Berkeley Scanner @berkeleyscanner.com · 1d

BREAKING: A driver struck two pedestrians, including a pregnant woman, near UC Berkeley on Friday, sending both to Highland Hospital.

'Major windshield damage': 2 people struck near UC Berkeley

Both pedestrians, one of whom is pregnant, were rushed to Highland Hospital, according to early reports.

www.berkeleyscanner.com

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

😳

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

That’s a beautiful map. Hopefully we can get some bike lanes actually built that connects those corridors properly.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

This is a great thing. Maybe my kids will be able to live nearby in the future, and not have to move to South Dakota or something.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

Oh no, Berkeley is going to be destroyed! All the developers are going to come and take our houses through eminent domain and then build 100 story sky scrapers, all just to line their pockets.

Damn, I’m in the wrong type of development.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

Sorry, I read your post and I know what it meant, it just initially read like they are going to generate more energy than they consume, which would be pretty amazing!

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 1d

Me reading this and wondering if they’ve figured out a way to change the law of the conservation of energy.

Next I’m sure I’ll learn the reason the California high speed rail is taking so long is because they’ve decided to use warp drives.

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 1d

Caltrain’s new electric trains are designed to recuperate energy when breaking. The agency made a deal to sell that energy back to the local power supplier, which will net the agency millions of dollars in annual revenues.

Caltrain electrified trains return power to grid, offsetting energy costs

For decades, Caltrain has been known for what it takes off the roads. Now, it's being rewarded for what it puts back into the power grid.

www.cbsnews.com

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 2d

Yes. And like all night long! Probably my bikes telling me I’m not using them enough.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly the question I ask. Just send me the prompts you would have sent the LLM, and I’ll be able to read it faster and get just as much out of it.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 2d

More people asking for more safe space from cars. The issue isn’t that people running are in the lane, it’s that the lane should be wide enough for people to pass.

There are people who ride bikes that are slower than me, it’s the same problem. Join forces, ask for more space with a unified voice.

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 2d

I had all sorts of bad dreams last night. I kept dreaming that I left my bikes unlocked, and then I was chasing people around who were trying to steal them.

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Reposted by Benjamin Fry

Cambridge H. Lutèce @camlutece.bsky.social · 3d

Bay Area transit teeters on a fiscal precipice. To save it, riders and workers are banding together.

In my debut article for the Bay Area Current, explore the everyday people behind the fight to save transit and what that means for solidarity. Thank you!

bayareacurrent.com/the-people-a...

The People Against Transit Cuts

Bay Area transit is heading off a cliff. Can riders and workers in San Jose slam the brakes?

bayareacurrent.com

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Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 3d

Both my grandfathers and one of my grandmothers were anti-fascists. Part of the OG antifa that helped take down all the fascist governments of WWII.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 3d

I called last week.

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 3d

Even the Good Samaritan would get lynched by this mob.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."

Benjamin Fry @bluejekyll.bsky.social · 3d

Worst part, probably were rushing to get some kids in that van to school before work.

I commend that kid for not swinging that bag and knocking that person out.

Reposted by Benjamin Fry

Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 4d

An adult driver angry at a child they hit with their car.

Our car culture summed up in one video.

Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.com · 4d

Police in Airdrie, Alberta (just north of Calgary) say this driver hit a 17-year-old girl in a marked crosswalk, got out of the vehicle, and appeared to get upset at the teenager before driving away.

They released this video and are now trying to identify the driver.

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Reposted by Benjamin Fry

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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