Ah, how you laughed, but who will have the last laugh?

E-Bikes are on the up in the UK according to this Independent article. Hardly surprising given the spiraling cost of petrol. It’s only a matter of time…

English, Chinese, Pinyin for the coutries taking part in the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany.

All UK photos including the G’s wedding are now up on flickr.

…back from extended absence due first to technical difficulties and then because we’ve been on holiday in the UK for two weeks.

I’ve uploaded the first three lots of photos, to flickr (which i’m experimenting with).

Check out…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14238923@N00/sets/

BIG SORRY to all the people we didn’t see in the UK!!!!

Well, finally here they are the pics of the e-bike that I’ve promised so many people…

… and it really is the best thing since sliced bread. It is however worth noting that it’s a pleasant 23 Celsius today with less than 40 per cent humidity. The verdict may yet change!

I’ve just stumbled across this, I wasn’t previously aware there was so much momentum behind teaching Mandarin as a second language – at least not outside of China

Wired 14.04: The Mandarin Offensive

Anywhere else and this might seem strange…

In-fact, given the look we got of this man, there was clearly something felt to be strange about this whole scene…

FT / China Economic Quarterly article that marks the passing of the 30th anniversary of a mass demonstration in Tian ‘An Men Square to commemorate the death of Zhou Enlai and that precipitated the fall of the ‘Gang of Four’ and the end of Mao’s China. The article makes some interesting and relevant suggestions about the relationship between democracy, freedom of speech and innovation.

FT.com / Comment

As an example of something that was mentioned recently on Ambling Sheep I can’t imagine a set of circumstances arising where I end up transporting a fridge on a push bike.

To be fair to the elderly gentleman concerned, it was more the car driving up the bike lane that was causing problems to the flow of traffic.