It is surprising how much we rely on the Internet. The other day I was asked if I knew the phone number to a certain business; which I didn’t so I looked it up; now did I open up the phone book and start searching though the pages? No. I  opened up my Firefox browser and did a Google search for it.  Now in all honesty living in a small city  the phone book might have been a little faster, but I still prefer to go online for that information. Why? Well because in addition to the phone number I can see  things like store hours, weekly specials,  current inventory and whether or not they have some  web only specials, and if it looks interesting to me but I don’t know how to get there then I just use  a mapping site like Google maps or Mapquest to  show me the way. If I am in the mood to watch an older TV show or a movie then I check out  free sites like  Hulu. I know that now even ABC , NBC , and CBS all offer clips and full episode on their sites as well. When I am in the mood for a little gaming I open up Steam and head  straight for my favorite game Team Fortress 2. Where I can easily knock off a few  hours on a good server.  If I want to find out if there is anything  new about Autism  that might be helpful to my  son It’s just a matter of typing a few words into a search engine and  if I want to listen to music most radio stations have an online broadcast as well and if I am I the mood for a certain type of music I can go to a site like Pandora and select my music from  Artist , Genre or many other options. I know many of you  are the same way, some  practically live their lives  online and through sites like Second Life and Utherverse they can pretty much do anything they can in real life and often times more.  The Internet has come along way since I first jumped on it using a dial up modem and windows  98 and I believe  there will come a time when the Internet is not just a fun and convenient thing to have access to, but an integrated part of our everyday lives. 

I was talking to  a gentleman the other day  who had an electric hub motor on his bicycle. I asked him if it had a decent range on a charge and he said it was great he could go on his regular bike ride and never have to pedal. Ok while I have nothing against electric assist systems I actually think they have  some good uses. I always thought of them as electric ASSIST systems designed to help out with your pedaling efforts, you know like helping you  up a long hill or helping to get you moving when you have a full load on your bike. Personally I think if you want  an electric only bike there are many fine examples such as  the  eGO vehicles.  I would like to have  a system like Bionix  you can set  your  level of assist wanted  or just turn it off when no assist is needed. It also has the option of regenerative braking. This I think is a great feature. More then a few times I have  found myself heading down a steep hill making generous use of my brakes to  keep my speed down below windburn speed. With  the regenerative braking  set it to a high level  and let it keep your speed in check without  a lot of extra wear and tear on your breaks. Sounds like  a  real good  solution if you have a cargo bike or are loaded up for touring. Now I know there are probably quite a few cyclist out there who  would look down on using an electric assist  system while touring , but you know I think the most important part of a bike tour is actually enjoying the tour; now some may enjoy telling stories of how they  made it up some long mountain pass  reaching the top with their legs burning and having to stop and throw up before continuing on. I personally have  no problem pushing myself up a long hill and have felt the burn more then a few times but if by employing an electric assist system I can avoid the puking at the top of the hill then I say that’s a good thing. A good place to get started on finding out about electric transportation is http://www.electric-bikes.com/ They have all sorts of good information there.