Kevin Webb
@triangulator.org
Tinkering with semiconductors and copper for ebikes, cargo bikes, and things slightly larger.
Also curious about the pre/post-cloud internet (forecast: 🌤️).
Also curious about the pre/post-cloud internet (forecast: 🌤️).
It’s going the be fascinating to see how this industry picks up the pieces from the bubble and gets back to research. There’s a lot of work still to be done that doesn’t require trillions of dollars in hardware.
November 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
It’s going the be fascinating to see how this industry picks up the pieces from the bubble and gets back to research. There’s a lot of work still to be done that doesn’t require trillions of dollars in hardware.
Bummer to see I’m not the only one getting burned by this:
November 5, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Bummer to see I’m not the only one getting burned by this:
Somebody at the body shop DIY’ed the compact pickup Detroit won’t build.
October 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Somebody at the body shop DIY’ed the compact pickup Detroit won’t build.
idk, I think this is mostly a design choice on the part of the bot purveyors. Sycophancy sells.
Putting simple instructions into the context turns Claude (and ChatGPT to a lesser degree) into a combative critic that strawmans wild failure scenarios just to poke holes in my questions...
Putting simple instructions into the context turns Claude (and ChatGPT to a lesser degree) into a combative critic that strawmans wild failure scenarios just to poke holes in my questions...
July 21, 2025 at 12:25 AM
idk, I think this is mostly a design choice on the part of the bot purveyors. Sycophancy sells.
Putting simple instructions into the context turns Claude (and ChatGPT to a lesser degree) into a combative critic that strawmans wild failure scenarios just to poke holes in my questions...
Putting simple instructions into the context turns Claude (and ChatGPT to a lesser degree) into a combative critic that strawmans wild failure scenarios just to poke holes in my questions...
Airlines have been trying to use computers to decommodify and differentially price seats since the time of their invention. But “agentic purchasing” and embedding payment into the chat is going to make past conflicts like “screen bias” look quaint…
jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/artic...
jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/artic...
July 17, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Airlines have been trying to use computers to decommodify and differentially price seats since the time of their invention. But “agentic purchasing” and embedding payment into the chat is going to make past conflicts like “screen bias” look quaint…
jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/artic...
jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/artic...
Hadn't seen this happen before: Claude dropped into Mandarin to explain that I was attempting to mix (混合) two different ideas in my request.
July 3, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Hadn't seen this happen before: Claude dropped into Mandarin to explain that I was attempting to mix (混合) two different ideas in my request.
Great piece on BYD's $8,000 EV.
Also, fascinating tidbit about Shanghai banning small/inexpensive cars:
Also, fascinating tidbit about Shanghai banning small/inexpensive cars:
June 2, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Great piece on BYD's $8,000 EV.
Also, fascinating tidbit about Shanghai banning small/inexpensive cars:
Also, fascinating tidbit about Shanghai banning small/inexpensive cars:
Doubly unfortunate that conversations about surveillance devolve into unrelated fights about red light and speed cameras (which are useful/good).
Companies like Flock, that power nationwide LE infra, have a different definition of "safety" and don't even make products that enforce traffic laws.
Companies like Flock, that power nationwide LE infra, have a different definition of "safety" and don't even make products that enforce traffic laws.
May 29, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Doubly unfortunate that conversations about surveillance devolve into unrelated fights about red light and speed cameras (which are useful/good).
Companies like Flock, that power nationwide LE infra, have a different definition of "safety" and don't even make products that enforce traffic laws.
Companies like Flock, that power nationwide LE infra, have a different definition of "safety" and don't even make products that enforce traffic laws.
Unfortunately not enough folks who work with this technology understand how we got to where we are with 4a law's limits or intentions. Can't recommend enough Sarah Seo's book unearthing this history. thewaroncars.org/2019/10/31/t...
May 29, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Unfortunately not enough folks who work with this technology understand how we got to where we are with 4a law's limits or intentions. Can't recommend enough Sarah Seo's book unearthing this history. thewaroncars.org/2019/10/31/t...
Astonishingly, the US bike lobby is attempting to get sectoral tariff relief by blaming a lack of protectionism and "cheap" foreign bike imports in the 1990s for the collapse of US manufacturing.
1) Bonkers logic.
2) US cos failure to respond to 90s trends like MTBs killed the domestic industry.
1) Bonkers logic.
2) US cos failure to respond to 90s trends like MTBs killed the domestic industry.
May 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Astonishingly, the US bike lobby is attempting to get sectoral tariff relief by blaming a lack of protectionism and "cheap" foreign bike imports in the 1990s for the collapse of US manufacturing.
1) Bonkers logic.
2) US cos failure to respond to 90s trends like MTBs killed the domestic industry.
1) Bonkers logic.
2) US cos failure to respond to 90s trends like MTBs killed the domestic industry.
This morning in mobility
April 30, 2025 at 3:21 PM
This morning in mobility
Itemized tariff line on the receipt...
April 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Itemized tariff line on the receipt...
Slate vs '85 Toyota SR5 really sums this whole thing up. Incredible it took the US 40 years to even attempt a return to that level perfection. www.slate.auto/en
April 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Slate vs '85 Toyota SR5 really sums this whole thing up. Incredible it took the US 40 years to even attempt a return to that level perfection. www.slate.auto/en
This is actually a great-power competition story masquerading as a drink marketing piece.
April 23, 2025 at 11:59 AM
This is actually a great-power competition story masquerading as a drink marketing piece.
Fun! Just look for a used steel frame cross/gravel bike on Facebook. A good one is probably at/under $1k. That's been my go to for a city bike and you can take it on trails. E.g. www.facebook.com/marketplace/...
April 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Fun! Just look for a used steel frame cross/gravel bike on Facebook. A good one is probably at/under $1k. That's been my go to for a city bike and you can take it on trails. E.g. www.facebook.com/marketplace/...
Lectric XPedition or better Aventon Abound. If you can find them used they're about $1k. E.g this one just needs a new seat www.facebook.com/marketplace/...
April 14, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Lectric XPedition or better Aventon Abound. If you can find them used they're about $1k. E.g this one just needs a new seat www.facebook.com/marketplace/...
One of the many knock-on effects of US tariff insanity: pricing pressure will impact product safety.
E-bikes and other Li+ products are at particular risk of backsliding on safety as batteries make up a huge % of BOM cost/opportunity to reclaim lost margin.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-d...
E-bikes and other Li+ products are at particular risk of backsliding on safety as batteries make up a huge % of BOM cost/opportunity to reclaim lost margin.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-d...
April 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
One of the many knock-on effects of US tariff insanity: pricing pressure will impact product safety.
E-bikes and other Li+ products are at particular risk of backsliding on safety as batteries make up a huge % of BOM cost/opportunity to reclaim lost margin.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-d...
E-bikes and other Li+ products are at particular risk of backsliding on safety as batteries make up a huge % of BOM cost/opportunity to reclaim lost margin.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-d...
The situation over on Kickstarter is not good. Here's an info graphic on how one project is trying to avoid bankruptcy, and explain known knowns/unknowns while waiting for their shipment to arrive: www.kickstarter.com/projects/zep...
April 8, 2025 at 2:08 PM
The situation over on Kickstarter is not good. Here's an info graphic on how one project is trying to avoid bankruptcy, and explain known knowns/unknowns while waiting for their shipment to arrive: www.kickstarter.com/projects/zep...
Have you seen the insanity on @peopleforbikes.bsky.social industry update yet?
It took until Friday for to figure out what was actually owed on shipments **already in transit** -- the damage this nonsense going to cause is staggering.
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
It took until Friday for to figure out what was actually owed on shipments **already in transit** -- the damage this nonsense going to cause is staggering.
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
April 5, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Have you seen the insanity on @peopleforbikes.bsky.social industry update yet?
It took until Friday for to figure out what was actually owed on shipments **already in transit** -- the damage this nonsense going to cause is staggering.
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
It took until Friday for to figure out what was actually owed on shipments **already in transit** -- the damage this nonsense going to cause is staggering.
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
Pouring one out for the folks who've paid for production on goods they no longer can afford to land in the US.
Would love to see reporting on the total value of stranded goods now adrift in the global supply chain.
Would love to see reporting on the total value of stranded goods now adrift in the global supply chain.
April 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Pouring one out for the folks who've paid for production on goods they no longer can afford to land in the US.
Would love to see reporting on the total value of stranded goods now adrift in the global supply chain.
Would love to see reporting on the total value of stranded goods now adrift in the global supply chain.
The @peopleforbikes.bsky.social status updates on tariffs are pretty bonkers. It took two days for the administration to publish an updated EO explaining the actual fees owed on *shipments already in transit*
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
April 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The @peopleforbikes.bsky.social status updates on tariffs are pretty bonkers. It took two days for the administration to publish an updated EO explaining the actual fees owed on *shipments already in transit*
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
www.peopleforbikes.org/news/bike-in...
Ugh, tough to read this on an evening when DOGE is pulling the plug on big chunks of NOAA's computing and data infrastructure.
www.eenews.net/articles/doz...
www.eenews.net/articles/doz...
April 5, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Ugh, tough to read this on an evening when DOGE is pulling the plug on big chunks of NOAA's computing and data infrastructure.
www.eenews.net/articles/doz...
www.eenews.net/articles/doz...
Thanks! Funny story, this whole thread was prompted by a print newsletter that arrived by mail this afternoon. Idk exactly why but feels like an important reminder of the kinds of enabling social infrastructures that make complex things possible.
April 5, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Thanks! Funny story, this whole thread was prompted by a print newsletter that arrived by mail this afternoon. Idk exactly why but feels like an important reminder of the kinds of enabling social infrastructures that make complex things possible.
Paper linked above, The Geodesy Crisis, is fascinating.
I'd love to know how many other niche yet essential fields wrote memos like this. The same story is playing out in so many fields requiring scientific depth and long-term investment by skilled researchers.
I'd love to know how many other niche yet essential fields wrote memos like this. The same story is playing out in so many fields requiring scientific depth and long-term investment by skilled researchers.
April 5, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Paper linked above, The Geodesy Crisis, is fascinating.
I'd love to know how many other niche yet essential fields wrote memos like this. The same story is playing out in so many fields requiring scientific depth and long-term investment by skilled researchers.
I'd love to know how many other niche yet essential fields wrote memos like this. The same story is playing out in so many fields requiring scientific depth and long-term investment by skilled researchers.
I'm starting to suspect that tariffs aren't the solution to our industrial and scientific competitiveness problems:
aagsmo.org/wp-content/u...
aagsmo.org/wp-content/u...
April 5, 2025 at 1:11 AM
I'm starting to suspect that tariffs aren't the solution to our industrial and scientific competitiveness problems:
aagsmo.org/wp-content/u...
aagsmo.org/wp-content/u...