whoa, the reverse car analogy? You're blowing my mind, here.

Seriously, this is one of my favorite features. There is a Co-Op ATM in the 7-11 a block from my house. It's a million times more convenient for me than my old bank. Plus, there are Co-Op credit unions all over the place.

You can at least remove yourself from the whims of some of these corporations. Find yourself a local credit union, and put your money there. They're not perfect, and they don't have all the fancy 'Get an iPod when you open a credit line' deals, but a stable place to keep your money, that is more or less customer-owned, should outweigh those gimmicks. I haven't looked back since I opened an account at a CU after WaMu went down.

This "Cars vs Bikes" argument is old and played out. I'm a cyclist who drives occasionally and I'm a driver who bikes for fun. I can understand the frustration on both sides of the issue. I don't tend to give much though to the law, but in this case having rules to follow keeps both parties safe, happy and on-time. For the most part, both the drivers and cyclists I have encountered have followed those rules, and so I don't know why these internet discussions get so heated. When I'm in a car my mild inconvenience is worth your safety as a cyclist, and if I'm on my bike, respecting traffic signals and right-of-way doesn't significantly decrease my own travel time. No one should be in such a hurry that they put their safety and the safety of others at risk. Admittedly, though I regularly participate in Seattle's Critical Mass, which damages my moral standing in the argument.

More on topic, this idea isn't really that great. It all depends on how it is implemented and marketed. Something like this might give a self-righteous rider more encouragement. It does seem like it could be useful, merely as a visibility tool, but the pattern that is projected probably has as big an effect on the inflation of the riders sense of importance as it does on the driver's visibility of the rider, and so I'm not sure the 'bike lane' metaphor is the best choice.

Too many mosquitos, and it will develop a taste for human blood.

At this point in time, Tony certainly isn't losing that much business. In the future, as the current generation of technically aware grow older and begin to make up a higher percentage of the consuming population, the equation changes. Even now a good number of my non-technical friends use the UrbanSpoon iphone app to find dinner-spots and online reviews.

If we set a dumb precedent now, it will have consequences when the internet is large enough to have more of an impact on a small business.

Of course as internet usage swells, the number of reviewers will scale. Perhaps that alone will drown out planted reviews.