Archive: May 18, 2009

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silversoaked!

Monday,  05/18/09  10:00 PM

There's a guy in my cycling area who thinks it's fun to drive around squirting cyclists with a supersoaker.  He has been the subject of much discussion within the Conejo Valley Cyclists, my local riding club; it sounds harmless but it isn't, one of these days someone is going to get hurt, perhaps seriously.  On a bike it only takes a second of inattention to end up in front of a car or in a ditch.  We refer to this guy as the "silversoaker" since he's known to drive a silver SUV.

So today, while climbing Decker Canyon as part of my local "Malibu CC" ride, I was silversoaked myself!  He didn't pass me close or try to run me off the road, just squirted me with Gatorade or something like that.  Still.  I managed to ID the vehicle, it was a silver Toyota Highlander license #6AJG163, and notified our local sheriff, who has been accumulating reports of this guy's activities.  I hope we find the guy so we can gently explain he shouldn't do this anymore :)  Stay tuned!

 

Monday,  05/18/09  11:58 PM

Kind of an interesting day today, had some good strategic discussions while working, got silversoaked*, and attended a cool art history exhibition at Megan's school.  And blogged...

*rode Malibu CC in 1:59:26, not my best but not bad.  This ride contrasts perfectly with the Kessel Run, which I plan to do tomorrow after work; Malibu CC is 100% up and down for 30 miles, including the Decker Canyon wall, while Kessel is practically flat for 40.  A good training combination, which I need because I have the horrible Heartbreak Double coming up this Saturday (202 miles with 15,500' of climbing)...

...and I have a metric ton of travel coming up, including a little trip to Raleigh, NC later this week...

Well enough about me, let's see what's happening "out there":

Rant of the day, or of any day: Daily Kos' Kos notes newspapers are clinging to a dead business model for dear life.  As I keep saying, this isn't their fault either, it is what it is...  creating and selling bits is a tough business. 

Apparently Wired magazine can't sell ads.  Too bad, because [unlike newspapers] they would seem to have a product which is much better in print than online.  But if they can't sell ads, they're going to be just as dead... 

As an aside, I've loved Wired since issue #0, and can remember when "wired" was a euphemism for "high tech and cool".  Now something wired is old tech and retro, and wireless has replaced it.  As they would say, wired=tired, wireless=wired.  Maybe they should change their name?

Speaking of wireless, the Palm Pre is launching on June 6, for $200 with a two-year plan.  Yes of course I'm going to buy one, I've been waiting for six months!  This is the must-have product of the year for me... 

Scott "Dilbert" Adams on your phone: "I was thinking about how different our lives will be as cell phone technology continues to improve..." (and he lists a bunch of cool stuff) "All of this technology already exists in some form, or will soon.  In the future, the only computer you will ever need will be in your pocket."  No question. 

WolframAlpha has launched, and it looks pretty amazing.  What's funny to me is that so much of the MSM insists on comparing them to Google; I can see parallels, but they're definitely doing something different to "search".  (Henry Blodget has a particularly clueless take.)  For one thing, WolframAlpha doesn't return links, it returns information. 

Seth Godin helpfully explains the difference between Luxury and Premium.  This *totally* makes sense to me, it is the difference between Maserati and Lexus.  If you're trying to be either one you have to be clear on which one :) 

How cool is this?  e-Ink watches...  what will they think of next? 

Philip Greenspun: Ruby on Rails and the importance of being stupid.  A tale of two servers...  I love it. 

Here we have a field guide to freeway interchanges.  Very helpful, now you'll know what to call the thing you find yourself stuck in... when you're parked halfway between one freeway and another in the middle of a nest of ramps.

 

 
 

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