August 23, 2002

More fun with SUVs

/ current events

According to the New York Times (registration required), some folks are demonstrating their dislike for SUVs by sticking mock tickets on their windshields. This seems to inspire a lot of anger. According to the article, some people write the organization to express their displeasure, or to defend their choice of vehicle.

One man told a sobering story. “You have no idea why I drive the vehicle I have,” his message said. “Maybe, just maybe, it’s because my wife and myself have lost a son in an accident and want my family to be safe. Try losing a child.”

This guy is guilty of two lapses in thinking: 1. For the occupants, SUVs are not safer than cars, they just make you feel that they are (and because of the risk-compensation mechanism, might actually be even more dangerous than they seem); 2. SUVs are much more dangerous to surrounding vehicles. So, hey, who knows–maybe this guy, having lost his child, will cause someone else to lose one.

Austin blogging

/ personal

There was a meetup of Austin bloggers a few days ago, at the Bouldin Creek coffee house. It was fun. A total of six people showed: Jon Lebkowsky, Jenny Nazak, Rebecca Robertson, David Nunez, Rob Fischler, and myself. Completely coincidentally, I also just discovered an Austin bloggers webring.

It’s interesting to peruse some of the other meetups listed on this site (I hadn’t even been aware of this system until I heard about the blog meetup). A lot of lonely groups out there, with only one person. Perhaps the Bruce Springsteen group could get together with the Prince group. And to compare the memberships of groups dedicated to various websites I like. Apparently Metafilter (10 members) is more popular than Plastic (only 4) or Kuro5hin (6). Perhaps because Metafilter is a faster read.