This has got to end-o

AI is sloppifying lots of different areas, and there are a bunch of people pushing it, and a great number more taking the lazy option. It's going to take time before societies start to really push back and rebalance the value they place on human produced content. It will get worse before it gets better.

@Dodonline The slant-parallelogram derailleur is relatively simple. The complexity comes when you bring in indexing. Having just rebuilt a Campag shifter to replace the shift-lever spring I can tell you that this is a complicated machine, but then an electronic system will need an equivalent for every function of the mechanical one in some form or other: some of which will be in electronics, some of which will be in software, some will be switching, some may involve radio transmission/reception, plus it will need an electric actuator to replace the mechanical effort of the human input. Compare that with a set of bar-end shifters in friction mode.

Perfect example of doorbell camera footage being used to pursue a criminal by passing the video evidence to police. Though in this case the police response has been woefull. Would any driver complaining about cyclists using camera footage to report them object to this case, or others where a different crime was caught on camera?

@open_roads "hurty words" - well, it's a lot easier to wrap up cases if the defendant has documented their own offences, of course. Of course it seems a large number of masked paramilitary types appearing and intimidating folks (the blackshorts) didn't get police priority (even with some advance notice), while nonviolent hippy types and old folks holding up not-very-hurty words written on paper did. So if you feel they're not just it's not that they're being partial, just arbitrary...

Institutionally anti-cyclist, but we'll never get an inquiry into it.

@Barraob1 Handy Guide to Met Police prioritisation: Violent Mugging / Bike Theft - Not a Priority Antisemetic marches / banners - Not a Priority Illegal eMotorbikes - Low / No Priority Drug dealing - Low Priority Hurty Words online - Top Priority This may be a little unfair but if they can't even be bothered to get the hirer details of a lime bike involved in a violent mugging they can hardly claim to be effective as a force.

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello. Had our expensive bike stolen have we, sir?" "Maybe you should consider yourself fortunate to have been able to buy one sir? And think of those less privileged, sir. Also there are some would argue that you shouldn't be on the road because you don't pay road tax, as well as slowing motorists, sir." "I hope we didn't retaliate or use any foul or threatening language, sir. We will be checking doorbell cameras just in case, sir. We don't condone that type of behaviour."

Can you imagine if it was a car jacking incident with one of the thieves using a hire car, they'd just hired? Call me cynical, but I can't believe the Met wouldn't contact the hire car company a little quicker.

That brings it home rather too forcefully, just a few streets and half a mile away from my door. Thankfully an extremely uncommon event around here, in fact I can't actually recall such a thing happening in East Dulwich in the two decades since we moved to this particular (and particularly lovely) neighbourhood. Not that that is any consolation for the rider of course, for whom many sympathies. Absolutely disgraceful reaction from the police, imagine if someone had been pulled from their car by thieves who had then driven off with it, five will get you ten that the area would have been flooded with squad cars, they'd probably have sent the chopper up as well. It's an indication of how far down the priority list cyclists and bicycles are; most forces/officers seem to regard bikes as, in the phrase so beloved of motoring forums, "children's toys" and prioritise their theft accordingly.

If ever you needed proof of how seriously police treat bike theft, this is it. One of the bike hackers paid for a lime bike rental and two months on, nothing. Make a rude gesture and it's game over, tracked down in a matter of days.