Best products from r/uofmn

If you are willing to learn how to bike carefully and you accept that you're going to fall every now and then, I'd absolutely recommend it. Me and my friends biked all through the winters, and I only ever used a bike with thin tires. They clear the bike paths with great consistency, at least on campus. For roads in the area, get comfortable taking a lane of traffic since roadway bike lanes are less consistently cleared.

You've got to dress properly for it (see my other comment here), but I couldn't tell you how much time I saved by biking nonstop through my four years here with only 10 or so falls (which were more like baseball slides anyways). There are a couple days where biking is just impossible due to ice (which can even be managed with studded tires, though I never had them). For the most part, biking on campus in winter is just a matter of braking/turning slowly and gradually and avoiding sudden movements in general.

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Bring and use a U-lock, bring your front and rear lights, and don't forget to wear your helmet!

> Yes, the laptop program justifies its existence every year through some pretty deep data tracking and analysis.


Would love to see any data on that. The price of the laptop is around, what, $1000? For that price, you can buy basically two laptops with nearly the same specifications (example). I doubt that enough people blow through two laptops in four years, thereby justifying the cost to the student. But, I could be wrong -- what kind of data tracking and analysis supports it?

The cable seems like a really simple 3.5mm straight to 3.5mm right angle. amazon

You can get this one for $5 and should work fine. If you spend more money, the quality might improve. Also the jacket around the connector might not exactly fit so you may have to try a few cables or cut it back with a knife.

Get a thicc U-lock (like this) and a thicc flex cable (like this)

When you lock your bike outside, lock the frame with the U-lock, and string the flex cable through both wheels and the seat if you can. Never had my bike stolen. If you have a nice bike, you need to get just as nice security for it.

Other tips:

• Lock your bike in high-traffic areas
  
• Make your locking configuration as complex as you can
  
• If you bike in the winter/rain, get chain grease, your chain WILL get rusty af and break if you don't.

You're also gonna want some ice cleats. The Yaktrax models available in stores are garbage. You want something that bites into the snow/ice, and straps securely onto your boots. There are lots of good options, but I'm partial to these.

> The characters themselves lend no help when it comes to pronunciation

Lots of characters have radicals called phonetics that hint at pronunciation. This is especially true of simplified characters. Have you tried something like this?. Learning the characters straight from the textbook was awful for me but this book has helped endlessly

It's like 20 dollars mate

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017DEETZM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459198334&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=nexus+5x+charger