Yes, You/We ARE Invisible!! Part1

[eroellig]

The rules as I heard them are:

1) Everyone else is out to kill you.
2) See #1


Regarding Panoramic pictures, here are directions and a free panoramic stitching program that is "da bomb".

http://www.vogelblik.nl/index.php?ti...ource_Software

This program does a WONDERFUL job. Just make sure that your pictures overlap at least by 20% and by no more than 50%. BTW: this will stitch up & down as well as left & right.

I took a 360 degree view of my parents front yard. I can't tell where the seams are.... This program doesn't just butt two pictures together and "blur" the seam like some programs will. It will actually correct for the distortions that are created when an area is snapped in two pictures after the camera has moved.

One big hint (noted in the article) to make this work the best is to put your camera in manual aperature & shutter mode and adjust for the brightest area in view. Otherwise, you WILL notice the differences in how a camera in automatic mode will take the different views if your scene is not uniformly lit.

Eric

[Toolmaker Tim]

Invisible Bikers

Outstanding article T.C. Perhaps it should be included in the tech tips so it doesn't disapppear as fewer of us read or respond to it. A couple of things caught my eye. I have only one working eye, and because of that I 'see' floaters and my blind spot more clearly than others because my brain (such as it is) doesn't cancel them out like happens with people with the blessing of two eyes. You would be surprised how much detail those two things obscure. Since I have been driving and riding I have made it a practice to not fixate on one thing and keep my eye moving. I have found to my embarasment that if I don't, I pull the bonehead move ove not seeing an otherwise obvious car, truck, bus, bike, or pedestrian. It takes a while to get in that habit, believe me I know, but it has saved my hide on more than one occasion. Something else I've noticed is that mirrors can lie to you so I make a habit of always looking behind me when I change lanes. Maybe someone with two eyes can see everything,but I not me, I can be fooled so I don't trust mirrors. It's not magic when there is suddenly a vehicle where you were sure there wasn't. Depth preception is not as much of a problem. After a while you learn to get a spatial sense of where things are in relation to one another. On the other handgetting smacked in the head with a few footballs and baseball tends to renforce the learning curve
One thing I have discovered is I have a wider field of vision in my one eye than most people have in either eye by itself. I would think that is just my body adapting to a handicap.
So, please everyone out there, make sure you have eye protection. Having only one eye is tolerable, but can be a bit exciting at times. Try riding down the road with one eye closed for a short time in a NO TRAFFIC area. I bet it scares you a little.

[xsilerating]

2 Rules 2 Ride By... Live By

Part II...

If nothing else, I try to always ride with these two rules in mind...

1) Everyone else on the road is out to get you. Keep your eyes in constant motion, know what and who is in your immediate vicinity (cars, trucks, buses, bicyclists, pedestrians, radar cops - in front, behind, to the left, to the right, look up (aircraft surveillance, birds, large bugs and swarms of bugs), look down (small animals, children, toys i.e. balls, kites, RC cars, etc.) traffic signals, stop signs, people not slowing down, people not speeding up (green light), 'cause they've got you in their cross hairs; and,

2) Don't give anyone the opportunity to use the 'excuse' that they "didn't see you". It is my personal belief that, all daylight and dusk riding be done with the headlight 'high beam' activated and, (unless you're trying to hide from someone) auxiliary lighting should be installed and USED for ALL daylight, dusk and nighttime riding (as long as your charging system can take it - the use of LED's helps). The brighter and more visible you are, the less likely you'll be missed by and amongst the masses.

Attached (hopefully) is a pic of the front end of my bike, with the high beam activated and, a set of LED driving lights installed. I've been told by a number of people that, with the LED's, I could be seen - during daylight hours - from a distance of at least 1km. (5/8 mile).

[madmax-im]

Exactly

Xsilerating....this is exactly what I was suggesting...the more lighting the more visibility....add to that BRIGHT colors for your riding jacket too.

[SanDiegoMike]

Thanks a million T.C.
I'm making my daughter read evey word of it to reinforce what I've been telling her for some time now...it's not just Dad being overprotective.

[egsols]

Eyeopener TC Should be published.

My neighbour wears a safety vest riding...I can't get to that point. As a surveyor I work in and around traffic and equipment constantly. Many cars have still come straight at me regardless of what I am wearing. I am thankfull that I have never trusted traffic and as such am still able to post. (One time I was working in the centre of a subdivision road (40kmh/25mph zone), 3:00 pm..just as school was letting out, and almost got clocked by a cop.)

Its my own personal opinion that driving a vehicle has become too easy and the manufacturers have been forced by legislation to create weapons that compensate for the ineptitude of many drivers. Although abs, traction control, etc. have their merits I wonder if they have actually contributed to high incidence of driver inattention that I witness constantly.

As has been said many times, and as I have told my neighbour in response to his distaste of my black leather riding attire, the onus is on the rider to see everything before it happens and not to rely on others seeing the rider. Ride as if everyone wants to kill you. Famous last words.... his right blinker was on but he didn't turn

[madmax-im]

Its my own personal opinion that driving a vehicle has become too easy and the manufacturers have been forced by legislation to create weapons that compensate for the ineptitude of many drivers. Although abs, traction control, etc. have their merits I wonder if they have actually contributed to high incidence of driver inattention that I witness constantly.

[/i] [/B]

Lets not forget that cell phones,text messengers,gps nav systems and just abt any other distraction you could think of...would prolly be a cause of driver inattention moreso than say ABS brakes and traction cntrl...Jeeez the other day I saw a lady reading the newspaper while she was driving down the superslab!

[egsols]

Originally post by Madmax-im

Lets not forget that cell phones,text messengers,gps nav systems and just abt any other distraction you could think of...would prolly be a cause of driver inattention moreso than say ABS brakes and traction cntrl...Jeeez the other day I saw a lady reading the newspaper while she was driving down the superslab!

Not forgotten, I guess what I was trying to say is the fact that cars are now made with a plethora of safety features that make driving them such a mundane task, the driver is no longer forced to concentrate on keeping the vehicle under control, as was the case many moons ago with none power drum brakes, no rack and pinion steering, bias ply tires, etc.

I believe this has contributed, greatly, to many being able to text, make calls, watch their nav displays, eat, do their makeup, yadda yadda yadda.

However......as I was told recently....how can you smoke while riding your bike, don't you need both hands on the bars at all times!!!! I asked if they keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times and, god forbid, ever steered with their knees.

[Guy_b_g]

I think GPS is actually an aid to paying attention on the road....with this condition....that the driver doesn't program the GPS while driving.

GPS keeps drivers from having to take their eyes off the road to look at a map if they use the voice prompts.

[Toolmaker Tim]

Distractions

Hey Madmax-im, what about dvd players! I bet if they aren't behind the front seats, the driver will be watching them!

[madmax-im]

Re: Distractions

Originally posted by Toolmaker Tim
Hey Madmax-im, what about dvd players! I bet if they aren't behind the front seats, the driver will be watching them!

Yeah what abt all those cars on Pimp My Ride that have the DVDs' all over the car...glad I dont live in L.A...

[Toolmaker Tim]

I don't know about you, but if the TV's on and I walk by , I'm stuck. I guess it's the pretty flashing lights

[yamahansolo]

this was a good informative post!!! i am going to send it to fellow riders on other sites if you don't mind.
chris

[Cobia]

Great article

Your efforts to illustrate this are greatly appreciated, very informative, and should open many eyes to our exposure and hopefully save lives.
That is why we should all make every effort to make ourselves more visible and not be afraid to use our horns.
That is also why I installed a headlight modulator, the loudest horn I could find with out having to make major mods, and two 21 LED arrays (3 flashes then on) flanking my license plate that work in conjunction with my brake light.
This, instead of the latest trend of concealing your brake and turn signal lights to make the bike look sleeker.
Sleek = invisible to me and that is exactly what I don't want.

[Nulle]

Thank You: That was great and maybe should be included in drivers education classes all over. Lighting would be a big help in being safer and the loud pipes save lives is just a hope as at any noticable speed the sound will be behind you not in front where ya might need it.