Tag: e-bikes

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Let us start October off on the right foot with an exciting new edition of the Pook-Emu Bee Links.

Oh no, whatever will I do?

1 | Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots (Sarah Perez for TechCrunch. Sep. 30, 2026.)
One may think that your favorite (I hope) feed proponent would be outraged about Reddit discontinuing its RSS feeds. To paraphrase the Reddit community: “Well ackshully….” Why in the world would I want to contaminate my feed collection with Reddit?

2 | Citi Bike user reveals outrageous ‘hidden tax’ slapped onto every e-bike (Aurielle Weiss for the New York Post. Sep. 26, 2026.)
These lunatics are complaining about the speed limit. The fees can’t be high enough.

Kitty

3 | Bronx Zoo welcomes adorable snow leopard cub threatened by extinction (Natalie O’Neill for the New York Post. Sep. 30, 2026.)
I too welcome the new snow leopard.

4 | Workers free kittens from shredder that could have ‘obliterated’ them in purr-fect rescue mission (Steven Vago for the New York Post. Sep. 28, 2026.)
A very timely kitten rescue.

Starcents

5 | Starbucks to close 250 stores: ‘Difficult decision’ (Anders Hagstrom for Fox Business. Sep. 24, 2026.)
I have never been a big burnt coffee fan, but there was once a time when Starbucks was clearing the bar many people

6 | Starbucks Japan releases new Pikachu Honey Cream Latte into the wild for new Pokémon collaboration (Oona McGee for SoraNews24. Sep. 29, 2026.)
I wouldn’t drink it because it looks like a year’s worth of sugar. But Starbucks did a surprisingly decent job of converting the Pikachu aesthetic into a drink.

Self-Hosting

7 | Radiology practices that own their imaging equipment less likely to face closure (Marty Stempniak for Radiology Business. Sep. 30, 2026.)
That checks out.

8 | Self Hosting Passwords (Chuck Carroll. May 20, 2026.)
He uses KeePassXC and Syncthing. He is a smart man. I hubly say that because I too use KeePassXC and Syncthing. With that being said, I would not necessarily recommend our combo to “normies.”

Photograph

9 | Sheep Tree (Jan Ulicki on Lens Culture. May 20, 2025.)
Great photo, baaaa.

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I have a rough three-day work-stretch ahead of me, but the weekday Pook-Emu Bee links streak must continue (I will however compromise on feature images today).

1. Brainless TikTok trend causes $2,000 in damage to SoCal home (Daniel Farr for the New York Post. August 26, 2026.)
States and localities should consider sentence enhancement provisions for crimes committed for social media consumption.

2. EXCLUSIVE: US Investigators Have Proof That UNRWA ‘Social Worker’ Caught on Tape Dragging an Israeli Body Into an SUV on Oct 7 Was an Active Hamas Operative (Adam Kredo for The Washington Free Beacon. August 25, 2026.)
It’s always who you least expect… except for those times when it’s the most obvious suspect.

3. $3 Specialty Coffee Is Back In Brooklyn (Ainsley Martinez for Patch Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill, NY. August 25, 2026.)
I seldom buy coffee when I’m out (firmly in the DIY coffee camp) but $3 for a cup of any size is cheap around these parts. Maybe I’ll find a reason when out with a friend to give it a try.

4. I switched from Android’s default keyboard to an open source alternative to eliminate my constant typos (Oluwaniyi Raji for Android Police. August 25, 2026.)
I also use Heliboard. It’s good. I turn autocorrect off because autocorrect is a war crime. The predictive suggestions are solid but I tend to forget about them. I need to make myself remember because typing on touchscreens is not a strong area for me.

5. Roblox applies restrictions to games featuring “reward-driven media feeds” available in Roblox Kids and Select (Sophie McEvoy for Games Industry.biz. August 26, 2026.)
The fundamental problem with Roblox is that its ostensible target demographic should not be playing social online games, period.

6. NYC’s borough-based jail boondoggle is nearly $8B over budget and years behind schedule (Matthew Fischetti for the New York Post. August 24, 2026.)
It’s already casting a long shadow.

7. NYers say Citi Bike has gotten too expensive, can a new advocate-led campaign make it cheaper? (Ethan Stark-Miller for amNY. August 18, 2026.)
Hear me out. Instead of stealing my tax money to subsidize City Bike rides for my betters who will then violate traffic laws and threaten to run me over, what if we at least banned the electric City Bikes and made everything more expensive?

8. Smithsonian affiliate AANM gets federal funds, criticized 9/11 response (Robert Schmad for Fox News. August 25, 2026.)
Score another one for team taxation is theft.

9. Taliban facing constant challenge to authority in provinces bordering Central Asian states (Eurasianet. August 25, 2026.)
Economic ties aside, I’ll note that Uzbek and Tajik police don’t take kindly to men having beards, so the Taliban would probably be well-advised (granting I don’t think they’re much into taking advice) to keep their various militants from causing cross-border problems.

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Another weekday means another set of Poook-Emu Bee links.

A rainbow suitcase with wheels sitting in front of a gray kiosk on a sidewalk.
I photographed this suit case on August 14, 2026, on Court Street between DeGraw and Sackett. Only the brave wheels away a “free” suitcase in Brooklyn.

1 | Jeanie Buss battling siblings over sale of remaining Lakers shares to new ownership group: reports (Scott Thompson for Fox Business. August 17, 2026.)
The unfortunate ramifications of sidelining your siblings for your own benefit. Your siblings, now having little stake in the organization, may decide that turn-about is fair play.

2 | Private Pre-K in Brooklyn Heights: Kinder Prep Montessori’s New 4–5s Program (sponsored post on Brooklyn Bridge Parents. August 18, 2026.)
Note that “sponsored” here refers to sponsored on Brooklyn Bridge Parents. I am not sponsored by any preschools (or anyone for that matter). Here, I demonstrate my impeccable independence with a question. How is this preschool simultaneously in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Brooklyn Heights? Spoiler: It is in Brooklyn Bridge Park, not Brooklyn Heights. BBP is a neighborhood unto itself for all intents and purposes (evinced by the fact it now has preschools).

3 | Geekom admits to shipping malware-laced network drivers for AMD mini PCs — company responds with guidance, removes malicious package (Bruno Ferreira for Tom’s Hardware. August 18, 2026.)
Quoting Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony (HT): “Just wipe the drive and reinstall Windows first.” I offer a slight amendment: Wipe the drive and install Linux first. I installed Linux on my two Beelink mini PCs (note I am unaware of any stories about Beelink shipping malware, but as a general matter I would agree with bringing your own operating system to your China mini-PC).

4 | I clung to Android’s 3-button navigation for years until I learned this clever swipe trick (Jade Bryan Jardinico for Android Police. August 17, 2026.)
Being a relative late-comer to Android, I recently went the opposite direction from swiping to three-button. I had too many problems with unwanted swipes.

5 | May This Balloon Banjo Resonate With You (Kristina Panos for Hackaday. August 17, 2026.)
I see a new project for my good friend and expert luthier, Victor V. Gurbo.

6 | BIA Reads Dictionary, Finds that a ‘Departure’ on Advance Parole Is a ‘Departure (Andrew R. Arthur for Center for Immigration Studies. August 17, 2026.)
One of my first assignments at my job about 10 years ago involved the 2012 Board of Immigration Appeals decision in Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012). When I saw the Board’s new decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026), which overrules Arrabally and Yerrabelly, I thought to myself that time flies.

7 | NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin backs away from e-bike registration despite pressure (Haley Brown for the New York Post. August 14, 2026.)
I conclude by quoting myself from the May 15, 2026 Pook-Emu Bee:

I will spoil the feedback process for anyone who questions unlimited accommodations for bikes (including effective exemption from traffic laws) in New York City. Heads, bikes win. Tails, you lose.

Nicholas A. Ferrell

PS to NYP: She folded because of pressure (from the bike lobby) not despite pressure.

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Pook-Emu Bee links are back today as we start the new work-week.

Yellow flower in Brooklyn. It glows because of the camera flash.
I took this photo on July 2, 2026. I “believe” it is in Columbia Street Waterfront District.

1 – Persona 30th Anniversary Paper Fragrances Feature Designs Announced (Orpheus Joshua for Noisy Pixel. August 9, 2026.)
I have been a Persona fan since I first played FES more than 16 years ago. I have been seeing one 30-year anniversary note after another. I am respectfully asking Sega’s marketing team to calm down. The shark has been jumped.

2 – Someone built a browser that generates every website from scratch, and it impressed me more than it should (Mahmoor Faisal for XDA Developers. August 8, 2026.)
I wouldn’t advertise being impressed by what Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony accurately described as being a “slop machine.” With that being said, I have no doubt that many more people will read about his mind being blown by a slop machine than my daily links, so what do I know?

3 – The Current Status of American Schools (Larry Sand for American Greatness. August 4, 2026.)
Could be better. But the administrators in New York City are doing great.

4 – NYC Council pushes slate of measures to address dangerous e-bikes (Craig McCarthy, Matthew Fischerri, Hannah Fierick, and Matt Troutman for the New York Post. August 4, 2026.)
It’s not enough, but it’s a start. Unfortunately, the start will have to contend with the anarcho-bikists and a Mayor who enables and encourages them, so count me on the “not optimistic” side.

5 – ReactOS Implements First Windows NT6 System Call In Step Toward Vista Compatibility (Michael Larabel for Phoronix. July 2, 2026.)
I had a decent experience with Vista so I think I’ll take my talents to ReactOS once they reach full Vista compatibility.

6 – BasicSync and Synctrain: solid apps for bringing Syncthing to phones (Rodrigo Ghedin. May 8, 2026.)
I don’t use iOS but I am glad to see that there is now a plausible, free, and open source Synthing option there (even granting the iOS-imposed limitations).

7 – Magic Magikarp Makes Moves (Ian Boss for Hackaday. December 5, 2025.)
Nintendo should be ashamed of itself for not coming up with this idea on its own.

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After two missed days due to having many work assignments, I return with a new edition of my Pook-Emu Bee links. Of course, there are no Pook-Emu Bee links tomorrow because of the newsletter and Sunday is hit and miss, so I encourage you to thoroughly enjoy today’s links.

1. Microsoft BitLocker-protected drives can now be opened with just some files on a USB stick — YellowKey zero-day exploit demonstrates an apparent backdoor (Bruno Ferreira for Tom’s Hardware. May 13, 2026.)

I had never heard of Bitlocker until one day in 2022 when someone I know was locked out of his Windows PC due to BitLocker. He managed to get back in but I dare say this security vulnerability could have been very useful. (HT Ambient Irony.)

2. Just stop using these (Hazn. May 13, 2026.)

I largely agree. If only everyone would just stop using those.

3. I want to comment on your blog post (Forking Mad. June 13, 2025.)

I respect the take but the spam on the one NLJ page I have with comments, the Guestbook, is already apocalyptic. But this did give me a fun idea. Stay-tuned.

4. New agents.txt file found on DreamHost (Kelson at K-Squared Ramblings. May 13, 2026.)

VPS providers should probably refrain from “retroactively” adding agents.txt or other files to live websites. At a minimum, I would suggest a warning and explanation.

5. WataMote anime studio Silver Link sees financial losses for third consecutive year, despite revenue growth (Carlos “Zoto” Zotomayor for Automation West. May 14, 2026.)

WataMote aired in 2013 and was not particularly good (I would classify it as “OK”). Thus, my first thought when I read the article was “well yes, if your best example of the studio’s work is a mediocre meme anime that aired 13 years ago.” But Silver Link handled all three seasons of Non Non Biyori, all of which were good (especially season two, which aired in 2015) and the third of which was my fourth-ranked TV anime of 2021. With that being said, Silver Link’s output is a bit bleak. Tearmoon Empire (2023) and Kokoro Connect (2012) were decent. I remember liking the first half of Tanaka-kun Is Always Listless back in 2016. Maybe I should finish that.

6. Android 17, Gemini Intelligence, and Googlebook: My first impressions (Rodrigo Ghedin at Manual do Usuário. May 13, 2026.)

I’m starting to see why Android is taking some dark turns.

7. The Dark Side of Unitree Robot Dogs (Maya Posch for Hackaday. May 12, 2026.)

When digging further into the robot, he found an easy to exploit arbitrary command execution flaw via the Wi-Fi password entry field, a year-old CVE-2025-2894 exploit, as well as highly suspicious traffic to Chinese servers whenever the robot’s software figured that it was not being watched.

I could have guessed the second part without the benefit of the completed research.

8. reMarkable’s Paper Pure is a $399 E Ink writing tablet that replaces the reMarkable 2 (Brad Linder for Liliputing. May 6, 2026.)

No backlight is an interesting design choice. Very nostalgic to me as someone who grew up using a Worm Light with my Game Boy Color.

9. Pedal parking: DOT plans 500 new bike hubs for NYC streets; online feedback encouraged (Barbara Russo-Lennon for amNY. May 4, 2026.)

I will spoil the feedback process for anyone who questions unlimited accommodations for bikes (including effective exemption from traffic laws) in New York City. Heads, bikes win. Tails, you lose.

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Work did not allow for timely Pook-Emu Bee links, but today I return with nine new links from around the web.

1 Popular WordPress redirect plugin hid dormant backdoor for years (Bill Toulas for Bleeping Computer. April 29, 2026.)

Not popular enough for me to have been using it (but do attend to the issue if you happen to be running Quick Page/Post Redirect on WordPress).

2. Waylay Callais! (Josh Blackman for The Volokh Conspiracy. April 30, 2026.)

After much anticipation, the Supreme Court finally decided Louisiana v. Callais. (The Chief Justice pronounced it as waylay.) I have some preliminary thoughts.

3. No Country for Moderate Men (Amit Segal at It’s Noon In Israel. April 30, 2026.)

According to several senior Iranian sources, only one man has direct access to the definitely-still-alive-Supreme Leader: IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi.

It just so happens that Mojtaba and Vahidi are in complete lockstep.

Iran is really doing a visual novel plot here.

4. France’s domestic intelligence agency monitors ‘masculinist threat’, reluctantly (Carl Deconinck for Brussels Signal. April 30, 2026.)

Look! Shiny object!

5. How I Do Content Engineering with Claude Code (Ryan Law for Ahrefs Blog. April 28, 2026.)

“Content engineering…”

6. Saying “No” In an Age of Abundance (Jim Nielsen. February 3, 2026.)

In an age of abundance, restraint becomes the only scarce thing left, which means saying ‘no’ is more valuable than ever.

7. Introducing RateMyPet (Fraser McLean. May 17, 2025.)

For the past few months, I’ve been working on a new pet project (excused the pun 😂), called RateMyPet. It’s a social site where users can share photos and stories about their pets, and rate each other’s pets. The idea is to create a fun and engaging community for pet lovers.

8. FDNY Lithium Ion Batteries To Blame For Garbage Truck Fire In Downtown Brooklyn (Rob Flaks for News12. April 24, 2026.)

The fires always start from that which you would least expect.

9. Colored Pencil Review: Pentel Mulit8 2mm Lead Holder (The Well-Apportioned Desk. April 23, 2026.)

I don’t need colored pencils. But if I did, I would probably find this one compelling.

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Pook-Emu Bee was off yesterday because it was Newsletter day. But the newsletter is out, and Pook-Emu Bee links are back.

1. FDNY changes policy after clout-chasing models turn NYC fire station into their own sorority house (Tina Moore for the New York Post. April 18, 2026.)

The change came after The Post exclusively reported Saturday that two models turned a Greenwich Village fire station into their own personal sorority house — sauntering inside with firefighters, climbing on a firetruck and shaking their booties to Lil Wayne’s ‘Fireman.’

I approve of keeping social media-addled idiots out of fire houses. I am sad that we needed a new directive to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

2. Life Sentence for Sinaloa Cartel Smuggler Busted with 2 Million Lethal Fentanyl Doses (Randy Clark for Breitbart. April 18, 2026.)

Life is the correct punishment for most fentanyl trafficking offenses.

3. When Did “The Nerds” Start Ruining Each Sport? (Neil Paine. December 20, 2024.)

I’d describe the trend as analytics strategies flattening the sports.

4. Daniel Jones’ Impossible Cap Math (Troy Chapman at Cap & Trade Football. April 17, 2026.)

Given the salary cap rules and number of players on football teams, making the math work is complicated.

5. Almost 90% of Japanese people dislike random and “blind bag” merch, but the majority still buys it, large-scale survey shows (Amber V for Automation West. April 18, 2026.)

I have never purchased “blind bag merch.” I have purchased Kinder eggs. I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

6. E-bikes are all over mountain trails. Some want them banned (Jack Dolan for the Los Angeles Times. April 15, 2026.)

I don’t have a stake in mountain bike trails, but I do want to see e-bikes banned. I’m willing to make common cause with the California mountain bikers if they support me on the sidewalks.

7. The Black Hole of Brooklyn Heights Finally Lists (Adriane Quinlan for Curbed. April 17, 2026.)

I linked to an article about this house back in Newsletter 239.

8. Open-border legal activists instruct migrants to fabricate false gay asylum claims, BBC finds (Carl Deconinck for Brussels Signal. April 15, 2026.)

Likely common here in the United States as well since asylum claims based on sexual orientation are cognizable under controlling precedent and the stories can be structured in such a way as to explain the lack of corroborating evidence. That is not likely to say that they are likely to succeed, however, and these activists hurt applicants who have legitimate claims on this basis.

9. City Deems Fort Greene Manse Unworthy of Protection (Anna Bradley-Smith for Brownstoner. April 10, 2026.)

I like the house. Bad call by the landmarks commission.

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The Pook-Emu Bee, your favorite (or “favourite” if you prefer British English) daily links collection, returns after taking two days off for Newsletter Leaf Journal Saturday and Easter.

1. E-Bikes = Freedom (Matthew Morgan at World of Matthew. April 6, 2026.)

The “Why the hatred of e-bikes?” section summarizes my feelings about e-bikes in Brooklyn, New York City.

2. Mamdani signs ’emergency’ order to block concerts, food festivals at NYC parks during FIFA World Cup (Carl Campanile for the New York Post. April 6, 2026.)

The actual policy does not affect me. But I include the link to note that the World Cup games are being played in New Jersey, not New York City. After the Mayor suggested last week that being able to commute across the Brooklyn Bridge has something to do with accessing World Cup matches in New Jersey, I am beginning to think the leadership of New York City is suffering from some sort of collective delusion.

3. AI-Generated Data Can Poison Future AI Models (Rahul Rao for Scientific American. July 28, 2023.)

This bridge had been crossed before this article was published in July 2023.

4. Noelia Castillo Ramos and the Dictatorship of Happiness (Tiare Gatti Mora for Compact. April 3, 2026.)

What we value is no longer a meaningful life, but a life in which we achieve and maintain a positive emotional state.

5. George Harrison Explains Why Everyone Should Play the Ukulele (Open Culture. October 16, 2024.)

My first thought when I read this was Haruko’s “ukulele no good” line in episode 3 of FLCL. Of course, she was using the ukulele as a weapon, which was a very different use-case than what George Harrison had in mind.

6. Claude Code’s source reveals extent of system access (Thomas Claburn for The Register. April 1, 2026.)

I employ a secret method to ensure that Claude does not have access to my system. I won’t reveal it (proprietary, unlike some of Claude’s source code now), but I will tell you that I achieve it without installing anything.

7. Rookies almost never make good teams better (Henry Abbott at TrueHoop. April 3, 2026.)

Despite being the person who wrote an entire essay arguing the contrarian position that the Detroit Pistons would not have been better off had they drafted Carmelo Anthony over Darko Milicic in 2003, Mr. Abbott’s position is far too extreme for my taste. For example, while he notes that Cooper Flagg’s advanced stats are middling, I do not think it follows that Flagg would not have potentially made a good team better in a smaller role than he is playing for the Mavericks.

8. Microsoft inches closer to glass storage breakthrough that could finally make ransomware attacks impossible in the data center and hyperscalers — but only Azure customers will benefit from it (Keumars Afifi-Sabet for Tech Radar. December 6, 2023.)

Glass storage looks aesthetic. I approve.

9. The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya 20th Anniversary Project Revealed With New PV And Art (Orpheus Joshua for Noisy Pixel. April 3, 2026.)

I watched Haruhi a few years after it aired in 2006. The titular character is still an all-timer in 2D person stage presence. (I referenced her in my best female character award section for 2024 and in a short post about anime characters with brown hair). Haruhi also informed my articles on Halloween in Japan and anime characters with brown hair. Haruhi as a show? I still think it is good but it is certainly not the best-aging show of the era. Speaking of the era, I need to do a 2006 Anime Review at some point. 2006 was loaded. Of course, I need to write 2025 first…