Based on curated lists from BookBub, Crime Reads, Book Riot and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, Quora and Reddit, and recommendations from authors like Jasper Fforde, Sharon Shinn and David Brin, here is a roundup of the 81 best sci-fi crime novels ever written.

Italy is a car infested country. I would love to know impressions of fellow users from other countries that visit Italy: do you see this?

We rank in the low part for public transport and rails (except high-speed trains). Which is not surprsing

Moreover, automotive industry is sinking in Italy, so there is not even the justification of helping "economy", for pushing on cars so much.

Finally, there are many more cars than car licenses in Italy. Which, IMHO, is completely absurd

Cross-posted from: https://mastodon.uno/@rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/113632796547131119

The Dutch headwind championship was just held, after it was cancelled last year because of too much wind

https://sportnieuws.nl/wielrennen/nieuws/nk-tegenwindfietsen-beleeft-glorieuze-dikke-vette-inhaaleditie-weer-of-geen-weer-2024120714492536221/

crossposted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/113624068074346817

People on bikes may be rude and may not follow the rules, but can't be aggressive.

When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, the man with a pistol will be a dead man.

Original stripe from the Onion: https://www.theonion.com/bum-rush-hour-1846606314

Cross-posted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/113615912203015089

Shifter is a youtube/peertube channel with lot of great insights on cycling.

Every year he collects stuff to gift to bike commuters and I there are some good suggestion in it.

Edit: to clarify: the message in the ad is actually ironic/satirical, mocking the advice for cyclists to wear high-viz at night.

It uses the same logic but inverts the parts and responsabilities, by suggesting to motorists (not cyclists) to apply bright paint on their cars.

So this ad is not pro or against high-viz, it's against victim blaming

Cross-posted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/113544508246569296

introduzione

Nel mio lento percorso per abbandonare google, mi mancava un'applicazione per sistemare le foto. Google photo con i suoi filtri a portata di dito e strumenti raffinati, era difficile da battere.

Con l'ultimo aggiornamento image toolbox ce l'ha fatta.

Image toolbox è lo strumento FOSS più completo disponibile su android per manipolare le foto. Riesce sia a offrire un'interfaccia veloce per sistemare una foto e prepararla per la pubblicazione, sia strumenti molto avanzati per modificare le immagini.

per un uso veloce

Diciamo che avete fatto una foto, e volete pubblicarla sul fediverso, ma volete fare una o più delle seguenti cose:

• sistemare luminosità, contrasto, saturazione...
• ruotarla di qualche grado per raddrizzare l'orizzonte
• cropparla o aggiustare la prospettiva
• ridurre la dimensione del file per non intasare i server (formato, risoluzione e compressione) *eliminare i dati exif

Usando lo strumento "single edit", il più in evidenza, potete fare tutto in un colpo. E' incredibilmente potente. Sempre visibile la dimensione del file in uscita. E' anche sempre possibile paragonare la foto originale senza modifiche a quella che si sta editando

usi avanzati

oltre al single edit ci sono molti strumenti avanzati. Qui una selezione di quelli che ho usato

• applicare filtri su una maschera

l'ho utilizzato per dare l'effetto sfocato allo sfondo di un'immagine. Bisogna prima definire la maschera e poi selezionare un filtro per la maschera tra i numerosissimi disponibili (sfocatura, B/N...)

• edit su file multipli (batch)

si possono cambiare le caratteristiche di tanti file tutti insieme: per esempio ridurre la risoluzione, convertire formato, croppare etc.

• OCR

image toolbox integra tesseract: è in grado di leggere il testo dalle immagini così da poterlo copia-incollare. L'ho usato varie volte per scrivere l'alt-text di immagini con testo. Google foto lo fa meglio, ma questo non è male, e fa tutto off-line

• collage di più immagini

Un semplice strumento per unire varie immagini, con tanti template per disporle sul piano

• tanti altri

veramente ci sono un sacco di altri strumenti che non ho ancora usato. L'interfaccia è fatta però bene e, nonostante la quantità di possibili opzioni, l'app rimane molto accessibile

Conclusione

Non tutto è perfetto, e certe volte l'app si comporta in modo strano o inaspettato. Inoltre a volte non è velocissima a mostrare la preview del risultato.

Però adesso non ho più bisogno di google photo (la parte galleria l'ho sostituita con Aves) e ho molti più strumenti a disposizione, e più accessibili

Ironic video by fairphone reminding is that electronics should be repairable like bikes are... Or aren't they?

A recent article by ifixit highlighting how bikes are getting less and less reparabile too!

https://www.ifixit.com/News/101675/bike-manufacturers-are-making-bikes-less-repairable

In a move similar to reddit or twitter, Strava is restricting API usage, and other policy changes.

I think an alternative to strava, which is also federated, would be really cool

EDIT: I know you can record teacks and keep them offline and there is plenty of ways to do so. I think the main aspect of Strava is the possibility of sharing the activities with contacts on strava itself. Like for peertube or pixelfed, the fediverse has the potential to allow any user to share what they like and the other users can see, boost, comment, from their mastodon, pleroma, froendica or wharever accounts. The fact that someone wants to share a track is his own business.

The timing of exposure appears crucial, with heightened vulnerability during prenatal development and early childhood when critical neurodevelopmental processes occur.

The research suggests that individuals with genetic predisposition to ASD may be more vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution exposure

The implications extend beyond individual health to public policy. How might cities need to adapt their urban planning to protect vulnerable populations? What role could air quality monitoring play in prenatal care?

Actually I don't see why anything would be done to orevent development of autism, when not much was done for all the already known damage that actual urban development cause

Link to the actual article:

• https://bm.genomicpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/BM0115-Amal-2024.pdf

A few weeks ago, I sent my 1985 Swiss Army Knife back to Victorinox for a broken blade replacement.

It came back today, fully repaired, cleaned, polished, lubricated and in a new box.

Total cost: £10 + return postage.

They sent the knife back with an invoice. I didn't have to pay a penny before the job was done.

A product that's been out of production for almost 40 years, repaired at very little cost by the original manufacturer.

I'm stunned. Happy, impressed, grateful and stunned.

I have at least a couple of victorinox Swiss army knives, I will keep this in mind!

I just discovered this community and this episode came to my mind, back from 2016.

The screenshot is from this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXuJdqMkCb0

You can read the news in English here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/aug/05/plane-on-road-after-overshooting-runway-in-italy-video