$300k on bike study?
09-28-14, 07:03 PM
#1
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$300k on bike study?
From the way they described this it seems like something that bicycle manufacturers would do. Not sure why the government needed to do it. In any case I think I could give them the answer for $100k — design them like Workcycles, Batavus, Azor, Gazelle, or other Dutch manufacturers.
Feds spend $300K on study on how to ride bikes | Fox News
Feds spend $300K on study on how to ride bikes | Fox News
09-28-14, 07:30 PM
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09-28-14, 07:37 PM
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Lead quote in that 'article' comes from Rep Lamar Smith of Texas, who is, unbelievably, the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. He is a skeptic about climate change. Nothing more need be said about his understanding of science.
Easy to say that a very small study costing $300, 000 was wasted, much harder, and seemingly not of interest, to question say, the massive cost overruns on the F35 fighter. ($300K would be a rounding error there.)
Easy to say that a very small study costing $300, 000 was wasted, much harder, and seemingly not of interest, to question say, the massive cost overruns on the F35 fighter. ($300K would be a rounding error there.)
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09-28-14, 08:59 PM
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09-28-14, 09:26 PM
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I find this really hard to believe, and suspect someone is playing with numbers or facts. I've been part of a few large and small NSF, NIH, and DOD grants (for neurochemical and biochemical investigations). This figure seems awfully large to me, and funding for the sciences has been really crappy for awhile with major layoffs in a lot of good labs. The article is more or less meaningless unless one sees the grant proposals.
09-28-14, 09:42 PM
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Typical waste of taxpayer money by the tax and spend Washington b'crats. Just because this is a bike forum and it was spent on cycling does NOT make it right.
09-28-14, 10:16 PM
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For a slightly more balanced view:
U.S. Senator Calls Robot Projects Wasteful. Robots Call Senator Wasteful - IEEE Spectrum
U.S. Senator Calls Robot Projects Wasteful. Robots Call Senator Wasteful - IEEE Spectrum
09-29-14, 10:33 AM
#10
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This is just a typical "wasteful spending" rant from a guy who takes a six week vacation to help people run for re-election. They do this everytime they need to point out wasteful spending, without of course, including themselves.
He helped secure $950,000 in federal money for better traffic flow around a base near his house.
Rep. Lamar Smith financial profile and asset distribution - Capitol Assets: A Washington Post investigation
I'm sure they did a study as part of the project.
He helped secure $950,000 in federal money for better traffic flow around a base near his house.
Rep. Lamar Smith financial profile and asset distribution - Capitol Assets: A Washington Post investigation
I'm sure they did a study as part of the project.
09-29-14, 02:50 PM
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I could not find anything the came close to saying just what the study found out.
I will point out that one of the articles blasting it said that this study was unnecessary because of all the work done perfecting bikes for events like the Tout de France.
I still can't judge the usefulness of the study, but I can judge how much weight to put on the articles complaining and the answer is none.
I will point out that one of the articles blasting it said that this study was unnecessary because of all the work done perfecting bikes for events like the Tout de France.
I still can't judge the usefulness of the study, but I can judge how much weight to put on the articles complaining and the answer is none.
09-29-14, 05:34 PM
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I have scanned the preliminary results and found them interesting, and thus worthwhile studying. Hard to tell how much was spent on this but I am sure the figure thrown out by the media was hyped up a tad. Even if it were 300k, if you stacked it up against all of the other Govt outlays that folks consider wasteful, it would be down in the hoe hum range.
Would you rather it be spent on:
Alaskan town home to airport with no planes and harbor with no road Gee, only a hundred or so million!
Would you rather it be spent on:
Alaskan town home to airport with no planes and harbor with no road Gee, only a hundred or so million!
09-29-14, 05:44 PM
#13
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It is only obstensively about bikes...
Think outside the bike... I mean box.
Most of this fundamental research ends up, HOW???
Think outside the bike... I mean box.
Most of this fundamental research ends up, HOW???
09-29-14, 06:49 PM
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09-29-14, 08:42 PM
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09-29-14, 09:19 PM
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Anyone who has ever worked in an engineering consulting business knows how quickly you can burn through cash on a project. I've been personally responsible for many multi-thousand dollar Microsoft Word documents. Many consults bill $100+ an hour, and when you spread that across a multi-person team it adds up quickly.
Aaaaand ... if they were government scientists / engineers the dollar figure is more of a book keeping thing since they are employees and get paid regardless of what they were working on.
Aaaaand ... if they were government scientists / engineers the dollar figure is more of a book keeping thing since they are employees and get paid regardless of what they were working on.
09-30-14, 11:35 AM
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If successful, the results of this research will improve the fundamental understanding of how humans interact with bicycles and will help to pave the way to the design of bicycles for a wider population audience and for a wider range of tasks. Systematic design of bicycles with more utilitarian purposes (as opposed to recreation) may be made possible, which in turn will lead to lower cost, healthier, and more sustainable modes of personal transportation. Graduate students will be directly involved in the research as well as in the dissemination of the results through classroom instruction, scientific publication, and outreach activities at the K-12 level and local science centers. The familiarity of children with the bicycle makes it an ideal candidate to spark their interest in future engineering careers.
Makes those who wrote the mocking articles saying research for the TDF and other pro cycling makes this useless. I also decided to bold the secondary impact they pointed out.
09-30-14, 12:23 PM
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I feel it is a perfectly legitimate use of science dollars. I'd rather $300,000 of tax payer money goes towards scientific studies, even this one, rather than paychecks for our congress folk.
09-30-14, 05:12 PM
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Reading the prelim report was interesting.
Human Control of Bicycle Dynamics with Experimental Validation and Implications for Bike Handling and Design | Jason Moore - Academia.edu
I wonder if the Hon Rep Smith has any comment on the control laws developed? Seems this work was used by Peterson and Moore for their PhDs at UC Davis.
scott s.
.
Human Control of Bicycle Dynamics with Experimental Validation and Implications for Bike Handling and Design | Jason Moore - Academia.edu
I wonder if the Hon Rep Smith has any comment on the control laws developed? Seems this work was used by Peterson and Moore for their PhDs at UC Davis.
scott s.
.
09-30-14, 05:27 PM
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I don't know of anyone that doesn't care how their money is spent. I would assume that those who don't care how tax dollars are stolen and/or wasted... aren't paying taxes.
Last edited by Dave Cutter; 09-30-14 at 05:31 PM.
09-30-14, 05:36 PM
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The site is noted for its aggressive, ideologically driven reporting, modeled after liberal counterparts in the media such as Think Progress and Talking Points Memo.[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP] Jack Hunter, a staff member of U.S. Senator Rand Paul’s office, resigned in 2013 after a Free Beacon report detailing his past as a radio shock jock known as the “Southern Avenger” who wore a luchador mask of the Confederate flag.[SUP][5][/SUP] The publication also broke several stories about former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s successful 1975 legal defense of an accused ****** that attracted national media attention.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][6][/SUP]
The New York Times described the Free Beacon’s reporting as “gleeful evisceration.”[SUP][7][/SUP] However, its tactics have also led to attacks from media critics and watchdog groups. The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf called the Free Beacon’s stated mission “decadent and unethical.”[SUP][8][/SUP] Liberal Media Matters for America founder David Brock sent a letter to news organizations in 2014 saying, “If credible media outlets regard the unethical practices of The Free Beacon as valid, all of journalism will be debased."[SUP][9][/SUP]