HOW DO YOU COMMUTE TO WORK? TRY CYCLING.

I started cycling to work about two years ago. Coming from the suburbs, cycling in Toronto was a SCARY first time experience – you’re suddenly faced with a whole lot of cars, pedestrians and a manual worth of bike etiquette. It felt like learning how to drive all over again. But after realizing how much money I could shave off each month if I forego my metropass ($142 a month!), I decided to try it out.

Buying the bike

My first city bike was a $70 no-named beater from Craigslist. It sure wasn’t pretty but it did the trick and definitely wasn’t high on the bike theft scale. That was a huge issue for me as bike theft is extremely prevalent in Toronto and I knew that I could leave my bike, if locked properly, safe from the hands of a sleazy bike thief. After the purchase of my helmet and lock, I spent a total of $225 (yep, the helmet cost more than the bike).

Eventually I upgraded to a newer bike but I would suggest going with a beater bike to test out whether cycling is for you or not. You don’t want to be riding a death trap either so make sure the bike is in ride away condition or that it won’t cost you more than the cost of the bike itself to repair. If you’re not sure what to look for, ask your seller to meet you at a bike repair shop and get an expert to check it out before you purchase.

Consider your city’s landscape too – if you live somewhere with a lot of hills, a single speed bike might have you passing out halfway to the office. People seem to love the look of cruisers but they’re slow and very heavy so I don’t recommend them for a commuter bike. My personal recommendation is a hybrid bike for it’s general usage and comfort.

Planning my route

Planning my way was super easy with Google Maps. Google Maps has a great cycling function that gives you the most bike-friendly routes to your destination. Toronto can be a nightmare to navigate around in rush hour but I found a great side street that ran from my house all the way to the front of my office. I get to work 5 minutes earlier on a bike and get to leave on MY time, not the streetcar schedule.!

The “bike code”

There are many spoken and unspoken rules about cycling in Toronto that if broken could leave you with a lot of enemies or even badly hurt. I was so nervous about riding my bike for the first time that for the first few days, I would watch other cyclists and take mental notes. What do you do if you’re stuck behind a bus? Is the sidewalk really off limits? One of the best piece of advice that was given to me was to follow the rules of the road as if I was driving a car (stay on the right unless you’re passing, signal when you turn or stop, stop for the streetcar, etc.). That and to always ride perpendicular to streetcar tracks. Through enough practical experience, biking etiquette is extremely easy to pick up. It can be nerve-wrecking but just use common sense. If you can drive a car in Toronto, you can definitely bike!

Working out made easy

I value my sleep too much to wake up early enough to work out, so cycling is a great way to get my exercise in during my commute time. It’s not only a good burst of energy in the morning but you also get to leave the zombie-like commuter crowd behind. I’m a sweaty mess when I arrive at the office but I feel so refreshed and ready to tackle my day.

Eventually, I started biking everywhere. It has made it so much easier to run errands, visit friends on the fly and just explore the different neighbourhoods Toronto has to offer. I encourage those interested in bike commuting to just try it! Dust off that old bike sitting in your garage or scour Craigslist for a beater like I did. The initial investment might be a lot but with regular maintenance you’ll have a reliable mode of transportation that will save you months worth of public transit fare.

Do you commute by bicycle?

HOW DO YOU COMMUTE TO WORK? TRY CYCLING.

I started cycling to work about two years ago. Coming from the suburbs, cycling in Toronto was a SCARY first time experience – you’re suddenly faced with a whole lot of cars, pedestrians and a manual worth of bike etiquette. It felt like learning how to drive all over again. But after realizing how much money I could shave off each month if I forego my metropass ($142 a month!), I decided to try it out.

Buying the bike

Planning my route

The “bike code”

Working out made easy

Do you commute by bicycle?

HOW DO YOU COMMUTE TO WORK? TRY CYCLING.

I started cycling to work about two years ago. Coming from the suburbs, cycling in Toronto was a SCARY first time experience – you’re suddenly faced with a whole lot of cars, pedestrians and a manual worth of bike etiquette. It felt like learning how to drive all over again. But after realizing how much money I could shave off each month if I forego my metropass ($142 a month!), I decided to try it out.

Buying the bike

Planning my route

The “bike code”

Working out made easy

Do you commute by bicycle?

Cell Phones or Two-Way Radios: Which Is Right for My Business? (Part Four)

Almost any discussion of cell phones eventually turns to apps. This smartphone platform has these cool applications and that platform has these others. Many people don’t realize that two-way radios have apps as well, and their growth is being fueled by the same third-party ingenuity that gave us Angry Birds. In this final installment of our comparison of cell phones and two-way radios, we’ll look at applications and that most paramount of concerns: cost.

Applications came to two-way radios as they went digital. Just as in smartphones, software developers saw an opportunity to design apps for the most popular platform, and in digital two-way radios, that’s Motorola Solutions’ MOTOTRBO line. Motorola MOTOBRBO has grown from a single radio in 2007 to a line of more than 20 models today. The latest, which include theMotorola CP200d, were introduced just recently. Here are five of the most popular apps designed especially for MOTOTRBO:

1. iTalkie from TABLETmedia is a quality text, voice, and location solution that is easily deployable, maintainable, and cost effective. It offers push-to-talk with presence-driven, phone-like calling and texting. Employees can use their PCs to talk and send messages to others on their radios and handhelds.

2. eztracker@trbo is a single-position application for continuous monitoring of a fleet using Google Maps. This TABLETmedia application lets dispatchers see the positions of vehicles and re-route them around traffic. Text messages can be sent to individuals and groups.

3. The phone@trbo system from TABLETmedia allows radios to connect to office phone systems, so that incoming calls are routed to radios. This innovative app can be configured to route a call to a group or individual radio or to send it to a voice response system where the user can dial a specific radio or group.

4. SafeDispatch by SafeMobile makes desktop dispatching easier than ever with new features and a live mapping interface. SafeDispatch lets users improve field communication, access critical fleet information, and enhance reporting.

5. SafeNet, also from SafeMobile, not only allows the tracking of personnel and mobile assets in the field, but it also gives users access to their radio solution from anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Radio apps often are designed to meet a specific need, because that’s what businesses have. However, the vast majority of the time, they just want groups to be able to communicate one-to-many and in groups. That’s still where radios dominate over phones.

Walkie-Talkie

The walkie-talkie (more officially referred to as the portable transceiver, or even HT) is really a hand-held, transportable, two-way stereo transceiver. It's improvement throughout the 2nd Globe Battle may be variously acknowledged in order to Jesse M. Hings, stereo professional Alfred T. Major, as well as architectural groups from Motorola. Comparable styles had been made for other[clarification needed] military, as well as following the battle, walkie-talkies distribute in order to open public security and finally industrial as well as jobsite function. Main features incorporate a half-duplex funnel (only 1 stereo sends at any given time, although a variety may listen) along with a "push-to-talk" (PTT) change which begins tranny. Standard walkie-talkies look like the phone phone, perhaps somewhat bigger but nonetheless just one device, by having an antenna installed on top from the device. The place where a phone's earpiece is just noisy sufficient to become noticed through the person, the walkie-talkie's built-in loudspeaker could be noticed through the person and people within the owner's instant area. Hand-held transceivers enables you to connect in between one another, in order to vehicle-mounted or even bottom channels.
History[edit]

The SCR-300 "walkie talkie"
The very first stereo receiver/transmitter to become broadly nicknamed "Walkie-Talkie" had been the actual backpacked Motorola SCR-300, developed by a good architectural group within 1940 in the Galvin Production Organization (fore-runner associated with Motorola). The actual group contains Serta Respectable, that created from the style utilizing rate of recurrence modulation, Henryk Magnuski who had been the main RF professional, Marion Relationship, Lloyd Morris, as well as Expenses Vogel.
Motorola additionally created the actual hand-held 'M SCR-536 stereo throughout Globe Battle II, also it had been known as the actual "Handie-Talkie" (HT). [1] The actual conditions in many cases are baffled these days, however the unique walkie-talkie known the rear installed design, as the handie-talkie had been these devices that could end up being kept completely within the hands (but experienced greatly decreased performance). Each products went upon vacuum cleaner pipes as well as utilized higher voltage dried out cellular electric batteries. (Handie-Talkie grew to become the brand associated with Motorola, Inc. upon Might twenty two, 1951. The applying had been submitted using the Ough. Utes. Obvious as well as Brand Workplace, and also the brand enrollment quantity is actually 71560123. )
Stereo professional as well as creator from the Joan-Eleanor program Alfred T. Major additionally done the first technologies at the rear of the actual walkie-talkie in between 1934 as well as 1941, and it is occasionally acknowledged along with inventing this. [2]

Noemfoor, Nederlander Brand new Guinea, This summer 1944. The ALL OF US jewellry (foreground) runs on the Handie-Talkie throughout the Fight associated with Noemfoor.
Additionally acknowledged using the creation from the walkie-talkie is actually Canadian creator Jesse Hings that produced the transportable stereo signaling program with regard to their company CM&S within 1937 that he or she known as the "packset", however that later on grew to become referred to as the actual "walkie-talkie". Within 2001, Hings had been officially embellished because of its importance towards the battle work. [3][4] Hing's design C-58 "Handy-Talkie" is at army support through 1942, caused by the solution R&D work which started within 1940.
Subsequent Globe Battle II, Raytheon created the actual SCR-536's army alternative, the actual AN/PRC-6. The actual AN/PRC-6 signal utilizes 13 vacuum cleaner pipes (receiver as well as transmitter); another group of 13 pipes comes using the device because operating extras. The system is actually manufacturing plant arranged along with 1 very and could end up being transformed to another rate of recurrence within the area through changing the actual very as well as re-tuning the system. This runs on the twenty-four in . mix antenna. There's a good optionally available phone H-33C/PT that may be attached to the actual AN/PRC-6 with a 5-foot cable television. The internet sling is actually supplied.
Within the mid-1970s america Sea Corps started an attempt to build up the team stereo to change the actual poor helmet-mounted AN/PRR-9 recipient as well as receiver/transmitter hand-held AN/PRT-4 (both produced by the united states Army). The actual AN/PRC-68 was initially manufactured in 1976 through Magnavox, had been released towards the Marine corps within the 1980s, as well as had been used through the ALL OF US Military too.
The actual abbreviation HT, based on Motorola's "Handie Talkie" brand, is often accustomed to make reference to transportable portable pork radios, along with "walkie-talkie" frequently utilized like a layman's phrase or even particularly in order to make reference to the gadget. Open public security or even industrial customers usually make reference to their own handhelds merely because "radios". Excess Motorola Handie Talkies discovered their own method to the fingers associated with pork stereo providers rigtht after Globe Battle II. Motorola's open public security radios from the 1950s as well as sixties, had been borrowed or even donated in order to pork organizations included in the Municipal Protection plan. To prevent brand violation, additional producers make use of designations for example "Handheld Transceiver" or even "Handie Transceiver" for his or her items.
Developments[edit]
A few mobile phone systems provide a push-to-talk phone which allows walkie-talkie-like procedure within the mobile system, without having calling the phone every time. Nevertheless, the actual mobile phone supplier should be obtainable.
Motorola offers IDEN mobile phones (e. grams., i867) that may possess 15 discussions more than all of 10 nine hundred MHz stations (see Moto Talk) in between suitable mobile phones without needing the actual mobile phone system or perhaps a bottom train station. This is helpful away from selection of the mobile phone supplier in addition to decreasing system costs.
Walkie-talkies with regard to open public security, industrial as well as commercial utilizes might participate trunked stereo techniques, that dynamically set aside stereo stations with regard to better utilization of restricted stereo range. This kind of techniques usually make use of a bottom train station which functions like a repeater as well as controller, even though person mobile phone models as well as mobile phones might have the setting which bypasses the bottom train station.

vacuum cleaner bags

First we have the Hoover vacuum cleaner bags, which are easy to install and are made of high quality material. These bags come with multi-gusset for maximum opacity. They also have a rubber membrane that offers dustproof seal. The bottom seam of the bag is double folded, which provides extra strength. The seams are double glued, which provides extra strength to the bag. These bags also come with double wall filtration as well as a dustproof sandwiched collar. Designed to meet and even exceed your expectations, these are high-quality bags and you can when you place your order, each pack will contain ten paper vacuum bags.