Greetings y'all, made it through another busy week with only a confused ego and a cold.  Could have been much worse :)  And so now I look forward to a weekend off - recovery time for both :) - and then off to New York for week of visits with customers and prospects...  but first, this!

PS also I love the irreverent tone of the dialog boxes, check out the installation at right - "I authorize you to slap me if I violate the terms above" - I love it :)

]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:24:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L3

Fully agree with this: Andreessen's advice to old media: burn the boats.  "...he points out, that the iPad will have a 'fantastic browser.'  No matter how many iPads the Apple sells, the Web will always be the bigger market.  'There are 2 billion people on the Web,' he says. 'The iPad will be a huge success if it sells 5 million units.'"  They won't take his advice - it is a classic innovator's dilemma scenario - but taking it would be the only thing that could save them.  On any device, even on the iPad, there will always be a web interface with more content then the local app environment.

]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:24:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L4 Good move: Palm introduces WebOS plugin development kit.  "They call it a 'plugin development kit', but what it really means is that developers can write compiled C/C++ apps for WebOS now."  The more Palm can do to encourage app development, the better; this seems like their biggest weakness...

]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:24:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L5 See you in the air - flying Virgin to New York Sunday...

]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:24:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100305.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html

(yawn) man I'm a bit tired but I will make a filter pass (yawn) ...

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:44:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L1 Craig Mod: Books in the age of the iPad.  [ via Daring Fireball ]

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:44:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L2 JPL asks Is that Saturn's moon Titan, or Utah?  "Planetary scientists have been puzzling for years over the honeycomb patterns and flat valleys with squiggly edges evident in radar images of Saturn's moon Titan. Now, working with a 'volunteer researcher' who has put his own spin on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, they have found some recognizable analogies to a type of spectacular terrain on Earth known as karst topography. A poster session today, Thursday, March 4, at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, displays their work."

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:44:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L3 Facebook for WebOs gets a much-needed update.  Indeed, and I love it.  Especially the way friends' Facebook profile pictures are now automatically mapped to their phone numbers from my Exchange database.

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:44:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L4 I'll leave you with this pretty excellent Rube Goldberg machine, featured in an OK Go music video.  Stick with it because it keeps getting more and more radical... anything which features a pachinko machine has to be great, and there's at least one piano destroyed, as well as a TV sledgehammered... and it all ends with the band getting shot with paint.  Yippee.

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:44:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303a.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100303-Kooza.html

Yesterday night I was talking with a friend about Las Vegas, and how fun it is, and especially the shows, and especially Cirque du Soleil.  (And in the back of my mind I was thinking I *still* prefer their traveling shows under the big tent, where I first saw them and where my mind was blown by them :)

... so this you will not believe ...

Tonight I’m riding down PCH, enjoying the night, and I reach Del Mar.  And I look over and see this giant striped tent.  Wait a minute, I know that tent!  Holy crap, it's the Cirque du Soleil!  So I Google and find:

Cirque du Soleil's Kooza

Their latest traveling show is in Del Mar *now*!  How cool is that?

Yes of course I must see them!

 

]]> Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:35:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100303-Kooza.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html

March, whew.  And I am back in Vista, for the week, double whew.  Living in a hotel room and eating out constantly is definitely taking a toll.  After this week I have less need to be in the office, but will be spending time on the road elsewhere...  so be it.

Among the positives of being on the road, I've discovered I really like elliptical trainers.  Might have to get one for home (if I'm ever there long enough to use it :)  And while working on elliptical trainers, have rediscovered how much I hate dislike CNN.  They don't even pretend it's actual news anymore, it is like some weird reality show.

]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:08:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L1 Will Obama still be blaming Bush in 2012?  Yes.

]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:08:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L2 Technoccult: The philosophy of punk rock mathematics.  "The point of punk ... was that ANYone could get the experience of being in a band, of performing in front of peers, of expressing yourself, without there being a prerequisite to participate.  This blew my mind, and it was that conversation that turned me from a nascent douchebag into a self-aware poser."

]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:08:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L3 There's a new Tivo in town, the Series 4 aka XL.  I'm not clear on the advantages over the Series 3, maybe 1080p output?  I continue to love my Series 3 a lot, but not sure what else I would want... maybe a 3rd tuner?  Or more disk space!

]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:08:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100301.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100228-proudest_Dad.html

What can I say? Yes, we had a great time :)

]]> Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:31:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100228-proudest_Dad.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html

Blogging on a drizzly Saturday, and happy to be *home*.  Later tonight I am attending the annual Oaks Christian Father Daughter dance with Alexis  - really looking forward to that! - but for now, I am catching up and hanging out.  One of those [rare] days on which you have time, and you feel some pressure to use it wisely, and yet laziness sets in.  One of those days on which you choose to blog! ...

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L1 Global warming fraud: the big picture.  I'm afraid I am starting to disbelieve *all* global warming information.  My mind is throwing out the baby with the bathwater, and I can't make it stop.  Science, please!

Prompted by Al Gore in the NYTimes: We can't wish away climate change.  Yeah we can't wish it away but we can't wish it in, either, and Mr. Gore and his supporters seems to be doing exactly that.

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L2 Wow, this is cool: Financial Engines revs up for IPO.  I interviewed with them twelve years ago, amazingly enough...  and they are still going strong with roughly the same cast of characters, and have finally made it to going public.  Congratulations to Jeff Maggioncalda and Bill Sharpe and all of their investors...  and good luck!

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L3 Analysts Gerry Purdy on the iPad: migrating to a three-device world.  "One of the fundamental changes going on in mobile computing & communications is the migration...  to a ‘three mobile device environment’ with most people having a notebook to create and manage content, a tablet for eBook reading and rich media playing, and a cell phone for calling and messaging."  Huh, not sure I agree.  A tablet definitely won't replace a cellphone, but it might replace a laptop for many people.

As I think about it, while I want an iPad as a toy, I don't think there's really a use case for me to have an iPad.  I have a laptop already, and a cellphone.  But I could see a use for my Mom to have an iPad instead of a computer.

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L4 Definitely a taste of things to come: Recognizr: An Augmented Reality App.  "This app, Recognizr, can learn to recognize people's faces and link them to their social networking identities."  A dancing bear right now, but the possibilities for augmented reality are limitless...

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L5 TechCrunch on the iPhone's peephole.  Essentially making the point that why restrict content in apps when the entire Internet is available in a browser, including porn and every other thing.  When you look at it this way, it is obvious that Apple's moves to restrict porn are a branding excercize.  It will always be true that any content whatsoever will be available on all iDevices via their web browsers...

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L6 Macalope: The Jerk Store.  Hilarious.  The usual disclaimers about putting down sharp objects and hot liquids before reading apply.

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:06 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L6 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L7 Now here's a useful list: The 10 coolest roads to ride.  For the purposes of this list, cool = serious climbing.  Check out the Stelvio Pass at left, whew!

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:07 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L7 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L8 Here we have A celebration of duct tape.  Yippee.

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:08 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L8 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L9 Philip Greenspun finally sees Avatar, and wonders why are there no fish in the movie?  The answer to that is simple: the story didn't involve fish.  Every single element of Pandora and its fauna and flora was designed in support of the story, all else would have been irrelevant.  Moviemakers like James Cameron don't set out to create a world, they set out to tell a story :)

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:09 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L9 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L10 Apropos: Alien Invasion.  Plain talk about actual aliens we might encounter.  "As far as I can tell, nobody talking about interstellar contact has a model even vaguely close to a reasonable analysis of the situation. Short form: these discussions are the equivalent of the natives of a Polynesian island deciding who shall be allowed to wave as the galleons heave into view. The discussions are entirely about political dominance among scientists, and nothing to do with reality."  It's a great article, and I love this observation: "We simply aren’t going to see less sophisticated visitors due to the starship paradox: send a starship out now with all Earth’s current technological resources behind it, and then wait and send one in 50 years with full nanotech.  The second one gets there first."

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:10 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L10 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L11

Boing Boing has an awesome feature on the Cassini Mission.  "In 1997, we aimed a rocket towards Saturn and sent a 13-foot-wide satellite off on a mission to explore the strange worlds in our own (relative) backyard.  This month, NASA announced plans to extend the Cassini space probe's Saturn sojourn until 2017—nine years longer than its original end date of 2008."  Check it out!

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:11 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L11 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L12 While blogging away this morning my Palm Pre updated itself to WebOS 1.4, how nice.  Among other things we now have video capture and editing and more cross-linking between apps.  Oh, and the LED blinks when you have messages :)

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:12 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L12 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L13 So be it, onward, a quick ride and then dancing with my daughter...

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:54:13 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227c.html#L13 http://w-uh.com/posts/100227b-Poppy_house.html

Way back in the dawn of time, five years ago, I invested in a cabin in the Cleveland National Forest, back in the woods East of Orange County.  The detailed circumstances need not concern us here, but let's just say this cabin was rustic, it was one of about thirty such cabins on U.S. Forest land which could be privately owned for hunting or hiking or just hanging out in the woods.  With such an arrangement you don't actually own the dirt, just the structure, and the Forest Service grants you a long term lease.  Anyway as I say it was rustic, having been built in 1934, and was indeed falling apart, and in fact required a huge amount of work just to get to the point where it could be inhabited.

Through various twists and turns I ended up selling this cabin to an architect, retaining a small interest, and he's done amazing things with it.  Recently he posted a website describing what he calls The Poppy House, and looking at the pictures the transformation from the original cabin is remarkable.  Somehow it retains all of the rustic flavor, and yet it seems like a modern structure.  And of course it is *still* located in the middle of the Cleveland National Forest.  Way cool.

It's amazing to see it transformed into such a great place!

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:40:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227b-Poppy_house.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100227a-NY_Mom_said.html

 

shoot, forgot again, I hate when that happens :)

a worthy winner of a cartoon caption contest
(New Yorker, 3/1/10)

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:22:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227a-NY_Mom_said.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100227-Olympic_speed.html

I think I maybe enjoy the winter Olympics more than the summer Olympics.  There is less - pageantry, sports, athletes, prestige - but less is more.  Many of the sports seem to involve speed...  like speedskating :) and even sports like figure skating require speed to generate height.  And skiing is always amazing; I loved this Sport Illustrated cover, with the U.S. skiing medallists:

Of course one of the marquee athletes in this Olympics is Shaun White, who has elevated his sport of snowboarding from a fringe "X" newcomer to one of the mainstays of the games.  Here's the Tomato in flight:

Snowboarding seems like applied physics, how to convert kinetic energy from gravity into angular momentum!  I'd love to do that...  I haven't had the time to spend long hours watching, but the snatches of the games I've caught make me want more.  Too bad we only see these sports every four years.

]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:10:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100227-Olympic_speed.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html

Wow, a quiet day, wrapping up a week which was anything *but* quiet.  Still in mental recovery from getting hit by a car while riding - that will take some time to get over - and have a lot of other stuff going on too...  wow.  Amazing what one little brain can have going on all at once :)  Anyways, there is stuff going on outside my head, too; let's take a look at some of it, shall we...

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L1 Now that America has the America's Cup back, there is active debate about where the next Cup will be held...  The Horse's Mouth has a great suggestion: Cape Horn.  And I would add, during the Southern winter :)

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L2 Here we have a cool slideshow of mind-bending optical illusions.  Whoa, make it stop moving!  (this is *not* an animated GIF :)

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L3 Once again with the confusion between correlation and causality: Smokers have lower IQs than non-smokers.  This headline should read: stupid people more likely to smoke.  Sigh. 

Or how about this one: Writing headlines about IQ lowers IQ.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L4

This is cool: new looks for old garage doors.  The possibilities seem endless... how about a view of a sunset?

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L5 News you can use: the mathematics behind a good night's sleep.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L6 Okay, you know I'm a fan of speedskating, and I'm Dutch, so I have to note this amazing disaster: Sven Kramer was on his way to winning the 10,000 meters when his coach directed him into the wrong lane, costing him the gold medal.  Man, did that ever suck.  I watched this without sound on the CNN headlines, and could tell instantly what had happened by the body language.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:06 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L6 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L7 A funny picture from Jason Kottke: how genetics works.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:07 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L7 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L8 Huh, this is interesting: Slashdot notes PayPal to open App Store for developers.  These would be developers of applications which use PayPal, but presumably not end user applications, so the market will be pretty small.  Still...

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:08 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L8 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L9 Mark Pilgrim: Simplicity is hard.  Let's go shopping!  Mark is great even when he's writing about nothing.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:09 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L9 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L10 This is way cool: BMW Oracle have posted full video of each of the 33rd American's Cup races.  Amazing stuff...  (I especially like those English accents of the commentators, perfect :)  The aerial views are especially telling, the size and scale of these yachts is amazing, and their speed in that light air!

I hadn't appreciated before that really BMW Oracle won this regatta in the first minute of the first race, when Alinghi tried to cross on port and failed.  Right there you could see the power of BMW Oracle was going to carry the day.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:10 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L10 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L11 Cool: Tesla launches Roadster lease program.  Kind of a risk for them, given that there is no secondary market for Roadsters, so the residual value is unknown... but great for people who want to buy one.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:11 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L11 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L12 Ten reasons to avoid talking on the phone.  If you needed any more :)

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:12 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L12 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L13 Robert Scoble: Palm's small-screen bet doomed the Pre.  He could be right.  Palm was trying to make the phone as small as possible, and they succeeded in making a wonderfully small phone, but perhaps a bigger screen would have been more important...

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:13 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L13 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L14 Totally agree with this: Killer whale, the clue's in the name.  How weird is it that everyone is trying to figure out why killer whale's are aggressive?  They are at the top of the food chain!  Nobody asks why tigers are aggressive, do they?

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:14 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L14 http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L15 ZooBorn of the Week: A baby Tahr.  (Himalayan Tahr are one of three species of large Asian ungulates related to the wild goat.)

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:15 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100226.html#L15 http://w-uh.com/posts/100224-Bam.html

Hey guess what?

So last night I was out riding and got hit by a car!   Bam.   First time in twenty+ years of riding…   My bike and I went flying across the intersection but we are both okay with only minor scrapes.   Could have been so much worse.   Good for about a quart of adrenaline and some philosophical thoughts.   The sky is bluer, girls are prettier, and music sounds better today :)

I will not soon forget yesterday.  Onward!

]]> Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:39:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100224-Bam.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100222-never_get_mad.html

A parable told me by a Spanish friend and partner:

A young man set out to find the best examples he could for living.  He heard of a man who was older than the hills themselves, living quietly in peace with his surroundings.  He sought far and wide for this man, and finally found him.  "Oh father," he said, "I wish to learn all I can.  Please tell me, what is the secret to your long life?"  The old man studied him for a long moment.  "I never get mad."

]]> Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:40:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100222-never_get_mad.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html

Still in recovery mode from yesterday's double century, hobbling around but feeling great.  (And eating everything in sight :)  That's how it goes with ultra cycling.  I do have another busy week ahead - with a bunch of travel - but let's make a filter pass first, shall we?

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L1 Tesla's Elon Musk wins the 2010 Automotive Executive of the Year Innovator's Award.  Congratulations!  Richly deserved; Tesla are clearly going where everyone else wants to go but nobody else has...  true electric cars.

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L2 Is Yahoo doomed to the be the next Alta Vista?  Short answer: yes.

Little known fact about Elon Musk: he sold his first company Zip2 to Alta Vista in 1999, back when Compaq owned them.  Compaq?

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L3

Here we have the world's 18 strangest airports.  Islands, short runways, long ones, runways with hills in the middle, and roads crossing; they're all here.  Very cool.  The runway at Saba airport, shown at right, is barely longer than a carrier deck.  Whoa.

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L4 Slashdot considers cheaper pico-projectors as standard equipment on cell phones.  You know this is only a matter of time, right?

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L5 Slate: Why there are so few great, inexpensive wines from California.  The simple explanation is that markets work.  If an inexpensive wine is great it is soon becomes not-inexpensive.  Especially in California.

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L6 Wildlife picture of the day: a leaping polar bear.  Beautiful!  (click to enbiggen...)

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:06 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L6 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L7 Ha, you could see this coming: "Miss Me Yet?" Bush Merchandise a Hit Online.  Truly a sign of the times :)

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:07 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L7 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L8 Dave Winer: what we don't understand.  Truly computer UI complexity it too high.  One reason iPhones have been so successful is that they're so simple.  It may bode well for the iPad, we'll see...

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:08 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L8 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L9 AppleInsider: Inside Apple's iPad: Adobe Flash.  "The iPhone's lack of support for Flash does not appear to have had any impact on its popularity, but clearly has played a significant role in devaluing the importance of Flash in mobile devices, even if other platforms are enthusiastically embracing Flash."  It seems pretty clear that iDevices will never support Flash, so Adobe's Flash to iDevice cross-converter is the best solution.  It also seems clear that over time Flash will be less important as a result.

Slashdot: Why Flash is fundamentally flawed on touchscreen devices.  The argument is that mouseovers aren't supported, but that's pretty weak; there are plenty of ways to build a great Flash UI without mouseovers...

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:09 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L9 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L10

Autoblog reviews the Jaguar XF Supercharged.  "There have been very few cars like the 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged, and that's a shame. Yet it's difficult to explain why this car is so special..."  This really seems to be the first Jaguar in some time which *is* special, recapturing some momentum for the brand.

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:10 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L10 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L11 And the Olympics featured Ice Dancing tonight!  Yay!  Truly one of my favorite "sports", especially when Tanith Belbin is involved.  Slate has a round up of ice dancers and their costumes :)  Some of them are rather unusual...

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:11 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L11 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L12 And our ZooBorn of the weekend would be: a baby Meerkat named Picasso.

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:33:12 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221a.html#L12 http://w-uh.com/posts/100221-Camino_Real_Double.html

Yesterday I rode the Camino Real Double, my first of the year (first of the decade!)  I had a good ride; although it started a little rainy and was coldish and windyish all day, it was on the whole pretty pleasant.  I spent a good part of the ride alone, and finished in 13:43 elapsed time, ended up 30th out of 170 riders, not too shabby...  I am quite pleased with myself.

Some pictures:

Sunlight off the water, passing through San Onofre

The beauty of the Camp Pendleton wilderness adjacent to the ocean

at the 150 mile mark, still able to smile
then the climbing began, and then it got dark

During this ride I ate hardly anything, instead I ate as much as possible beforehand, and drank Hammer constantly.  It seemed to work.  Near the end I got some string cheese and at the last stop they had soup and chili...  that was pretty nice.  The memorable part of this ride is always the last leg through Santiago Canyon in the dark, surrounded only by cactus while you are only a few miles from the urban sprawl of Orange County.

Next up is the Solvang Spring Century on 3/13, despite being a mere Century I always seem to bonk.  Stay tuned!

]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:58:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100221-Camino_Real_Double.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html

Yet *another* max busy week, and another week in which I was gone; in Vista MTW and then flew to San Jose for a meeting yesterday, and just got back tonight.  It was a good week in which many good things happened; I feel great.  Hope yours was good too?  And tomorrow I'm riding the Camino Real Double (!), my first of the year (first of this decade in fact :) and so yes I need a good night's sleep and no I should not be blogging.  But I am!

... and we find that as usual, it's all happening ...

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L1 And so this week began the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, did a little watching here and there, including as much of my favorite sport speedskating as possible...  and my new almost-favorite, snowboarding.  Makes me want to go out and learn to snowboard; I'm a good skier and a rotten sometime snowboarder, and maybe that should change :)  Did you see Shaun White?  First he won the gold medal, and then he did the world's greatest run ever.  Wow.

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L2 The best restaurant in the world?  That might be El Bulli.  Here's what Grant Achatz saw...  "Mr. Achatz worked at El Bulli for a few weeks in 2000, and what he saw there shaped his career. Now the chef at Alinea in Chicago, Mr. Achatz wrote back with this reflection."  Added to the life list.  Along with Alinea :)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L3 Here we have the fantabulous AR.Drone, an iPhone controlled smart helicopter, kind of a remote telepresence.  It is cast as a sort of toy, but the technology here is amazing; the little vehicle actually acts as its own WiFi hub, and the phone communicates with it over TCP/IP.  Of course the gyro in the phone can be used to physically control the 'copter.  Way cool, and a harbinger of much to come...

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L4 Scott [Dilbert] Adams ponders replacing yourself.  "Think of the first 20 people you know who have had all the kids they are likely to have. That generally means people over 40. For the purposes of this discussion, exclude anyone over 70. Add up the adults in your group. Then add up the number of offspring they produced. Is the net gain in humans sufficient to grow the population?"  Next up, he'll ponder what it means that his group is reproducing less and others more...

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L5 The Adolph Hitler parody of all Adolph Hitler parodies, as he himself makes a YouTube video...  please set down sharp objects and hot liquids before watching :)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L6 Dan Wineman tries to use a restaurant website from his iPhone.  This happens to me all the time; why do people use Flash for this stuff?  Bad bad badness...  [ via John Gruber ]

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:06 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L6 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L7 The next generation of UI design?  Brad Feld: Oblong dazzles more than just me.  "That’s a picture of John Underkoffler at Ted on Friday giving one of his jaw dropping demos of Oblong’s g-speak spatial operating environment. Lest you think this is science fiction, I can assure you that Oblong has several major customers, is generating meaningful revenue, and is poised to enter several mainstream markets with g-speak derived products."  Cool!  (but... "Oblong"?)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:07 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L7 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L8 Dave Winer is now in New York (permanently!) and wonders about the 2nd Avenue Deli.  "Not saying anyone did anything wrong, just thinking about how the universe allocates real estate, and how it's changing...  Where was the government when the matzoh ball soup and pastrami needed bailing out?"

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:08 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L8 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L9 Oh yeah... red wine and dark chocolate are cancer killers!  I knew there was a reason I thought they tasted so great together, and now I know what it was :)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:09 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L9 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L10 I Lego New York.  I lego it.
(check out this blog post for an example ;)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:10 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L10 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L11 A poll finds Americans are the most attractive people in the world.  Here's my perspective on this; there are some amazingly attractive Americans, and in some areas amazing concentrations of attractive Americans.  But I don't think on average Americans are that attractive.  Too many of us are overweight and out of shape, and dress poorly.  IMHO the average Spaniard, Frenchman, or Dutchman is more attractive... I have been conducting informal research on this all my life :)

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:11 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L11 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L12 Wow is this cool: the Water Cube Pavilion for the 2012 World Expo in Korea.  "The Water Cube’s structure is composed of water filled basins, which act as both a temperature buffer as well as the main attraction. A bit like being inside an aquarium, the hollow inner sanctum will be lit with water-filtered light, and will be used as an exhibition center during the Expo."

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:12 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L12 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L13 Cycling analyst John Wilcockson on Stage 8 of the Amgen Tour of California: a sting in the tail.  "Four times up the infamous Rock Store climb (4km at 7 percent) will make this a race of attrition... This spectacular conclusion to the California race will almost certainly end with three Tour de France contenders on the final podium."  I can't wait...

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:13 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L13 http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L14 ... but wait I must, and in the meantime tomorrow there's the Camino Real Double.  See you Sunday!

]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:06:14 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100219-week_of_100215.html#L14 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html

A nice quiet Valentine's Day... hung out, coded, blogged, and generally enjoyed being home...  as I have another week of travel coming up...  sadly this almost feels like a rhythm now, work away from home all week, and then hang out on the weekend.  So be it.  Ready for a filter pass?

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L1 Robert Scoble: The elephants in the room at TED.  "Let’s take the elephant head on: rich people can afford things you and I can’t.  I can’t afford a Ferrari either.  Even though I definitely appreciate them.  I can’t afford a private plane, even though when I’ve gotten a ride in one I’ve always appreciated them and can see why I’d want one.  I can’t afford an original Ansel Adams’ print, either, even though I am a huge fan and would love to have one."  This is so true...  fire on 'em, Robert!

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:01 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L1 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L2 TTAC: An illustrated history of automotive aerodynamics.  If you love beautiful cars, check this out - great shots of some amazing old cars.  I'd say they don't make 'em like they used to, but I guess that's not true; today's Maserati's (among others) are rather pretty :)

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:02 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L2 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L3 Philip Greenspun: Factory Navigation System pricing.  "I’m wondering now if the inability of mainstream car manufacturers to take advantage of modern electronics is harming their profitability."  What he writes about is so true; the electronics in modern cars are obsolete from the moment they're designed, so that by the time you buy them, they're positively ancient.  The nav system in my car is so far inferior to the nav system in my Palm Pre phone, it is ridiculous, and the system in my car was expensive, while nav was just another app that came free on my Pre.

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:03 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L3 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L4 And here we have Computer Engineer Barbie.  I am not making this up :) 

Well, why not?  I wonder if she likes PHP?

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:04 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L4 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L5 Wrapping up the weekend, here we have the ZooBorn of the day, a baby anteater.

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:05 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214c.html#L5 http://w-uh.com/posts/100214b-Trizilla_wins_aga.html

And so it is over; BMW Oracle's amazing trimaran (aka "Trizilla") has won the 33rd America's Cup, today defeating defender Alinghi's nearly-equally-amazing catamaran with a horizon job lead.  It was apparent to all that BMW Oracle was considerably faster on all points of sail in all conditions, making the result a foregone conclusion even if the regatta wasn't a simple best out of three.  As it was, the race was over at the start, but then a wind shift gave the lead back to Alinghi.  But not for long, as the speed and power of the trimaran's wing sail prevailed, particularly showing a huge advantage off the wind.

Here are some great photos:

And here's a cool video showing the yacht at full speed:

And so it is over, just like that...  all those years of work and dollars of R&D spent, and three days of racing and it is all over.  Still, the U.S. has regained the America's Cup - that's a great thing - and the next defense will be much better, with more competitors...  it might even be in San Diego!  Stay tuned...

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:15:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214b-Trizilla_wins_aga.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100214a-Googe_Earth_rocks.html

I finally made time to install Google Earth on my "new" laptop, and was reminded once again how absolutely cool it is.  That this capability exists is amazing enough, but that it is completely free - even free from advertising - is astonishing.  Google might come under fire for some of their practices and policies, but they are still quite a phenomenon.

I especially like using Google Earth in conjunction with my spiffy 3DConnexion Navigator, a little hockey-puck shaped navigation device which comes with an interface to Google Earth.  It makes zooming around really easy, rotating, tilting, etc.  Quite remarkable.

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:10:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214a-Googe_Earth_rocks.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100214-Happy_Valentines.html

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Shirley and I had a wonderful dinner last night  at our new local favorite Leila's, accompanied by a simply amazing Foxen Sea Smoke.  The more Santa Rita Pinot Noir I drink, the more I love it; it might be replacing Napa Cabernet as my wine of choice.  I can't say it is more affordable - I'm not the only one who likes it, and the market prices have responded to the demand - but it is more subtle and versatile.

Valentine's Day is this weird holiday, a chance to spend time with the one you love, but also a chance to screw up.  As my daughter says, "love is complicated enough without Valentine's".  Anyway good luck, I hope yours is as good as mine :)

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:17:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100214-Happy_Valentines.html http://w-uh.com/posts/100213a-Amgen_TOC_stage_8.html

Man am I looking forward to this!  The 2010 Amgen Tour of California's final stage 8 takes place right in my own backyard, with four circuits of my daily training ride including the world famous Rockstore climb.  How absolutely cool is that?

The video overview of the stage is great, yes you must watch it...  and note this overhead view of Rockstore and Mulholland.  Mark your calendars, the TOC is the week of May 16 this year, and stage 8 will be on May 23rd.  I will be at the very top cheering for Levi!

]]> Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:09:00 PST Ole Eichhorn http://w-uh.com/posts/100213a-Amgen_TOC_stage_8.html