About Me

I'm a graduate student living in Bridgeport, a creative and working class neighborhood in Chicago's Lower West Side (or Near South Side). I bike practically everywhere, even when people think it's not practical.

My Photos

I have never professed to being a photographer or care about the quality of the photos I take. I take pictures because I like to remember what I see and look at. And to share interesting things. For my own enjoyment, tis no art.

ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer ActiveTrans member mixer Metra Metra Metra Dutch family arriving via tricycle The Dutch tricycle carries many things, including a child Unique chain lock on Dutch bicycle Me handling a Dutch tricycle Me handling a Dutch tricycle Cool bike people at DeFietsfabriek Awesome Nishiki Prestige A bonus of bikes at South Loop Target Railway Post Office - First try Nick pulling a trailer on his fixed gear Nick pulling a trailer on his fixed gear 

Madsen Cycles Cargo Bikes

I'm trying to win a free Madsen Cycles cargo bike.

Resume

I work for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation as a consultant to the Chicago Department of Transportation. My supervisor and I manage the city's bike parking facilities. Alone, I deal with the city's abandoned bicycles.

My talents include PHP programming and interfacing with MySQL databases. For my current job, I developed a custom web application to plot existing and prospective bike rack locations in the city, complete with extensive metadata and geolocation data.

I'm knowledgeable when it comes to electronics and computer consulting. If you didn't get my advice first, you probably made a poor purchasing decision.

Download DOC|PDF.

Workstation

All computers run Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Listed in order of longest tenure:

  1. iBook G4 1.2 GHz
  2. Mac Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz
  3. Mini Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83 GHz (runs Leopard Server)

All computers use Time Machine to backup. Computers 1 and 2 backup to the Mini, which hosts an external RAID 1 enclosure with two Seagate 750GB SATAII drives.

LiveJournal

I'm that good at planning now
Posted on Jun 21, 2009.

Last Wednesday I put on a public meeting for citizens of Chicago. It took 5 weeks. I'm just that good. I can do anything.

More details about this so-called public meeting:
http://www.bike2015plan.org
http://www.chicagobikes.org

Photos are on my Flickr:
MBAC breakout groups and participants
Whole set of photos.

Also, I'm collecting tips on how to make ChicagoBikes.org more interesting, or ideas on features to add. We just broke into online videos...

If you can't tell, "I like my job" and "I like PHP and MySQL."
I like how math and programming are universal languages, known around the world.

Caught on camera
Posted on Jun 11, 2009.


TCO PBP Photo 051
Originally uploaded by trapgosh

I was caught on camera at West Town Bikes on Tuesday. That's me with Alex Wilson helping to "chase" my bottom bracket.

My Nishiki broke on Thursday
Posted on Jun 07, 2009.


My Nishiki broke on Thursday
Originally uploaded by stevevance

I dropped it off at Blue City Cycles in Bridgeport (Chicago) so he could weld it back together.

It broke about 2 blocks after leaving Jewel on Des Plaines (home of one of the worst bike parking configurations).

I expected this to happen and I decided to continue riding my Prestige until it broke. Then, I would know it as broken and that I could then take it to someone to fix. I was not injured when it broke - the bike just kind of wiggled and I stopped and my friend picked up me and the bike. :(

Steven at Five Guys
Posted on Jun 05, 2009.


Steven at Five Guys
Originally uploaded by Joshua Koonce

Barack Obama and I both like Five Guys. Too bad he moved to Washington, D.C., before the first Chicago location opened.

Music brands
Posted on Jun 05, 2009.

In the near future, music brands will never die. When Britney Spears's body terminates (she has no pulse and stops breathing), the world won't know it. Like in William Gibson's book "Idoru," the artist will turn virtual and no one will know the difference. The music has always been virtual, but now so will the performer. A hologram. The same songs will continue to be created, and the same dance moves, and the same music videos. Idoru pulls the wool over your eyes.