Robert’s Rants & Rationalizations

Years ago, maybe on the older high/freeways, these signs (“Slower Traffic Stay Right”) were as evident as the speed limit signs. Although they are not on a few highways, the sign states the rule-of-thumb, slower traffic should stay to the right of the faster traffic.

It’s common to see tailgaters in the fast lane, and that usually means that the vehicle tailgating wants to go faster than the one in front! Move over and let the driver pass, and then you can resume your position and speed until the next vehicle come up on your tail.

When I drive and come up on slower traffic in the fast lane, usually, I can see a convoy of vehicles behind the slow vehicle in the front or lead position, and that person isn’t aware of all the vehicles behind them as the empty lane in front increases.

If you are like me, one who loves open-source/GPL software, the internet is my playground. Yet, I’m not a programmer, so the hills are higher and tougher to conquer than the educated/experienced/skilled climber. I can a lot of things, but I’m not a master of any. It’s a paraphrase that describes me very well.

So, I got this idea to add the country and city labels to visitor info in some web reports I’m scripting. I can get and find country info via IP, but city information appears to be something you must buy for around $20US, the lowest I’ve see in one hour of googling.

I, instead, just go with one of the Country GEOIP dbs. But, I have a problem, I can’t read the entire list in Excel. So, I google for a script to import a ‘CSV file into MySQL’ and get a decent list. A free membership-only requirement to download a script ends up not working! So, I try more and find something in a forum at http://www.modwest.com/help/kb6-253.html, and IT WORKS! Checking the data via PHPMyAdmin (my fav) shows ‘success’!

Basically, copy the code, replace one or two items for your situation, add the database connection info before the clipped info and make the file a php doc. Now, call it via the web browser!

I am happy! Now, I’m putting it aside for now while I work on other things…I hope I get to it soon, but as you and I know, priorities change with every tock of the clock.

BTW, when I changed from Filemaker to MySQL, I paid something like $49US for a kludgy series of steps to convert the native FMPro data to get it into MySql. If I had any brain back then, I would have simply used a search engine and did what I did for this issue! Damn!

Do you find yourself, sometimes, with a motorcyclist uncomfortably close behind you when you are driving in the fast lane? What do you think the rider wants? If you have to think about it, you should continue reading! The rider wants to get past and is waiting for you to move, sooner than later. If traffic slows below 35 MPH, expect the rider to split-lanes and leave you in the dust.

If the rider comes up behind you, number one, the rider is going faster than you, and number two, you should look for a way to let the rider by.

Don’t be alarmed if the rider is closely behind. The rider can see past your vehicle, in most cases, and is ready to nose-down the bike, and note, the motorcycle can slow faster than you (if the rider is experienced…listen for a thump at the rear of your vechicle!)

Just let the rider get by, and your concerns are done, for now, until the next rider appears!

If you are turning right on a surface street, move to the far right if it is safe and there is paved roadway available. This will allow traffic behind you to flow without an interruption, which will keep drivers content. Whenever you force the vehicle to slow behind you, you are causing the vehicles behind you to all slow by either lifting off the accelerator or braking…this effect is known as a ripple effect.

Keep everyone happy and content by driving smart, not hard.