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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 10h

I made an infographic map. Oxford's Congestion Charge scheme (from 29th Oct) is not like most congestion charge schemes, because you can get to most streets in the city without being charged. My impression is a lot of people haven't realised this.

A street map of Oxford.

Woodstock Road, Banbury Road and the streets in their immediate vicinity are coloured pink. Botley Road and streets off it are coloured green. Cowley Road, Iffley Road and Abingdon Road and streets off them are coloured blue. Streets in Marston and Headington are coloured orange. The ring road matches the colours at each junction and fades between colours as it goes around. A small area in the middle is coloured yellow, and labelled "Central Permit Area". THe Congestion Charge traffic filters are indicated by black circles circles with white segments, those white segments correspond on a 24 hour clock face with when the filter isn't operational (and the remaining black, when the filters are operational). Crosses mark other filters in the city that are enforced by ANPR but are not part of the Congestion Charge scheme.

Text at the top of the image reads "Temporary Congestion Charge for Cars in Oxford 2025-2026. Any road outside the Central Permit Area can be accessed without passing any traffic filers by using the Ring Road and selecting an approporiate exit junction (matching colours on this map)."

A key at the bottom matches the filter types, with text "Traffic Filters. Hollow Way & Marston Ferry Road 7-9am and 3-6pm. St Cross Road, Hythe Bridge Street, Thames Street and St Clements, 7am-7pm. £5 daily permit covers all Congestion Charge filters. Free Permits available. For example for residents, business use, health and car, SEND and disabilty. Congestion Charge permits do not apply for other filters, such as High Street or in East Oxford/Cowley."

Small print reads "Full details at https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel" and "©@sjgower Contains OpenStreetMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Locations of highway filters are approximate and for overview purposes only. v1.3"

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Shai @shaiuk.bsky.social · 2d

The man didn’t research so you don’t have to.

3kg of sweets in 3 days is likely bad for your health.

Important pre-Halloween EBM.

Barnsley man in hospital after three-day cola bottles binge

Nathan Rimmington ate his way through 3kg of sweets - and doctors were shocked he survived.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Kat Steiner🔸 @kastrel.bsky.social · 3d

I think it's telling that by far the most positive reaction I've had at inductions this year has been telling new students our chat widget is staffed by real librarians, not AI.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 12d

Same, but I'm assuming in your case you're not the idiot who can't communicate, while in my case I very much am.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 15d

www.who-rabies-bulletin.org/site-page/oc... indeed

Reposted by Stephen Gower

Living Streets @livingstreets.bsky.social · 16d

Not sure why that second X link has appeared - sorry about that! You can map pavement parking hotspots via this link act.livingstreets.org.uk/page/176767/...

Map pavement parking hotspots

Five years ago, the Government consulted on how the dangerous practice of pavement parking could be tackled in England. The Government has yet to respond. Together we want to show how pavement parkin...

act.livingstreets.org.uk

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 24d

Signs of the Zodiac?

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Sep 10

Only clubs within the "central permit area" and only until Botley Road is reopened and the congestion charge comes to an end. But I agree this is not the way to mitigate this. I think they should have a club minibus from the P&R, paid for with grants like news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/106500-of-gr...

Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Sep 8

Royal Mail will allow me to track my item, but only after delivery.

A dialogue box, headed "Track your item" with a space for "Your reference number", that has been filled in (then redacted for this screenshot) with a button that says "Track your delivery". An error message in small red text is below the box for the reference number and reads "An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item".
Finally there are two links, on the left the text "Need help with your reference number?" and on the right the excellent Welsh flag and the text "Cymraeg".

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Rob Watkins @whelkaholism.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Jeff Speck @jeffspeck.bsky.social · Aug 17

Rule 78: Put Street Trees Almost Everywhere

Street trees do it all, they...
Cut crashes by 45%
Raise home values 9%
Boost retail sales 12%
Clean air, cool streets, absorb stormwater, improve health, and make places more inviting

Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Kit Whitfield - fantasy writer @kitwhitfield.bsky.social · Aug 9

A tombstone in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, photographed by Andy Darby.

Note the border inscription.

Gravestone inscribed: Alistair Stephen Fabian Mitchell. 13-6-1957, 10-2-2019. Barrister of the Middle Temple. My brain, socialist. My heart, anarchist. My eyes, pacifist. My blood, revolutionary.

Around the edge, the legend: The only man in British legal history to be convicted of biting a policeman with someone else’s teeth.

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Daveybot @daveybot.bsky.social · Aug 9

Haha! It worked!

I scoped out the angle this morning and figured I’d be very lucky to pull it off, but it was surely worth a try, eh?

#Edinburgh #RedArrows #Photography

A spiral staircase in a lovely concrete carpark. Out the top of the stair you can see the sky, Edinburgh Castle, and the Red Arrows.

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · Aug 5

Online Safety Act: "a little inconvenience is a small price to protect our children"

Asking people to drive responsibly where there are children: *tumbleweeds*

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Reposted by Stephen Gower

Carl Zelten @jzelten.bsky.social · Aug 3

As Orwell's novel start to enter the public domain, I'm rewriting them to give them happy endings.

The project is called Orwell That Ends Well.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jul 13

Should the folk on the right hand side of streets like these have the same opportunity of charging as those on the left? If so, what solution is suggested?

Google Streetview image of a terraced street (Marlborough Road in Oxford). Houses on the left each have a small front yard, where those on the right open directly on to the street. The street is not wide enough for on-street parking on both sides; the right hand side has double yellow lines. Incidentally in the distance there is a van parked on the double yellow lines fully blocking the pavement.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jul 7

I hope at least the councillors can read www.theatlantic.com/technology/a... before the debate. If they have any more time, there's plenty of links in that article to research published in peer-reviewed journals.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jul 7

And now I see Oxford City councillors @katherinesmiles.bsky.social and @andrewgant.bsky.social are citing this book in a motion to "Ban Smartphones in Oxford Schools". Is there any chance at all we can do evidence rather than sensationalism?

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jul 1

Put a clothes peg on their clothing.

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Glennyrodge @glennyrodge.bsky.social · Jun 25

felt coot, might delete later

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Cowleyforniadreaming @holybollards.bsky.social · Jun 21

Oxford residents get 100 free passes p.a. for the congestion charge. When will Oxford bus users get their 100 free bus passes?

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jun 20

I don't get the link between the data breach and the Greater Oxford proposals. Am I missing something?

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jun 20

This has come to a head today as our children's school announced they are banning all smartphones on site (I assume just for pupils!) from mid July. It will be fine, we're only 5min cycle ride from the school, so for evening activities, they can come and pick the phone and head out again.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jun 20

The theory of learning styles sounded good and presented simple answers to real problems of why some children thrive in some teaching environments and some don't, however the research evidence wasn't ever there. This feels very similar to the enthusiasm with which this book about phones has. BICBW.

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Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · Jun 20

The Anxious Generation is a book that blames smart phones for all that is wrong with the young'uns today. It is being widely read and promoted by teachers and school leadership here in the UK at least. From the outside (as a parent) it has a similar feel to the now debunked "learning styles" theory.

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