June 2003 Archives

Google Groups: View Thread "Ritchey "Break-Away" bike -- opinions?". Been looking at a bunch of custom bicycles with S&S couplings. Great in the $1300-1600 for the frame plus $400 for the couplings. The Break-Away is an $1,100 frame, but what about the quality. Here are some notes from rec.bicycles.tech. Great the way google caches and indexes this. "Bilenky":http://www.bilenky.com/. Here are some interesting S&S coupled bicyles mentioned in the the previous post.

While researching the latest move by the RIAA to "sue":http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10195 individuals, I ran across some interesting papers: * CSC 8990 Seminars. The first paper is on how PTP actually works and a good description of how to use conventional digital signature techniques to hide who is talking to whom and about what. Also learned a good deal about how these directories actually work. * "Daniel Peng Suit":http://barillari.org/papers/peng/peng.html. Interesting facts about the suit against someone doing a directory service called Wake. * "LA Times":http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1971122. Largely sympathetic to the music industry not surprisingly since they all live in LA. * "The Register":http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/31463.html. The alternative view which is that piracy is a side effect of too expensive albums where you pay an effective price of $16 for one good cut. Also some good notes on encrypted alternatives like "Freenet":http://freenet.sourceforge.net/ and "Waste":http://www.nik.com.au/waste/. I guess the lesson for me is that the miracle of the Internet is that in 24 hours, you can hear about something and find two good technical responses to it. Amazing.

CAMPAGNOLO 2003 RANGE - INNOVATION. _It's been confusing which of the three different derailleurs you should get. Here's a simple explanation_ The Campagnolo Record, Chorus and Centaur groupsets offers three models of rear derailleurs with short, medium and long cage. The rear derailleur with the short cage is for equipping the 2x10 drivetrain, while the medium cage version is required for the 2x10 drivetrain with the 13-29 sprocket cassette and for all the 3x10 drivetrain combinations with the exception of 13-29 which requires the model with the long cage. The new crankset is distinguished by smart refined styling and the excellent functionality of its construction. It is available in two combinations, 30-40-50 and 32-42-53.

Well, as most folks know, I just love carbon fiber. It's in just about every component that I have on my bike. Today though, I learned that it is a miracle material for sure, but it does have its downsides. Caveat Emptor. h4. Campagnolo Record Seatpost: Don't overtighten even once! My good buddy Dave has one of these. Someone tightened it too much with the seat post collar facing to the rear. This tore through the carbon fiber. The bike shops and his bike fitter though it looked OK, it was just one little tear. By the time we were 50 miles into our ride, he had to tighten it up three times and when we pulled it out, it was an oval and the crack ran down six inches. A reminder that carbon fiber is only strong in one direction (in this case vertically, so the horizontal force of tightening cracked it like a peanut shell). We dug around and found Bike Master in Spanaway. What a great guy! Does BMX, but replaced this $100 part with a $12 aluminum seat post and it was fixed. h4. Easton EC-90 Handle Bars: One crash is all it takes On the ride back, I was tired, ended up on a busy street, hit the brakes too hard in the front. This caused the front wheel to wobble. Like an idiot (or someone who had been riding for 11 hours), I tried to stand up at 15 mph. Predictably, crashed. The bar came down hard on the curb. Snapped in right in half. I only had a scrape. Same problem as the seatpost. The fibers are lined up left and right, so an impact that was vertical, just snapped it. I was lucky, the break was three inches to the right of the stem, so I could ride home by using the close to the stem hand position. A nerve racking hour I can tell you. I think I'm going to get aluminum bars from now on. This is my second cracked handlebar. The first was from tightening a 25.4 stem on a 26.0 EC-90. Cracked right away. Then, one impact and this 31.0 EC-90 is dead. Plus, aluminum is cheaper too. You've been warned. The Deda 215 looks good. Make me nervous about my Time Monolink carbon fiber stem, but I think it is unlikely to take the brunt of a crash. Unlike bars, which are almost always going to.

Singletrack - Home. A ezine from Britain. Got a good review from "Adventure Cycling":http://adventurecycling.org as a place to look for mountain touring and other things.

_This is Peta-Jane, Alex's teacher, favorite poem. Amazing that he could do a Haiku, but not surprising given how mathematical it is, you know, 5 syllable, then 7 then 5_ Fishy, Fishy Fishy in a tank Swimming in the water blue Swaying in the weeds Fishy fish My fish in a tank On a hill top green and gray On a windows edge

Google Search: shuttle sb61g2 problem. It took forever to figure out this problem becuase the answers are in a newsgroup and not yet indexed on the web. In short, when I assembled my Dad's PC, I kept getting hangs when running at full 200MHz for the CPU. Turns out there is a problem with the Intel i865G chipset and DDR400 modules. They can't handle a short RAS to CAS delay (this is memory timing thing). You have to change the BIOS setting from 2 to 3 cycles. A voila it works. Aamzing what you have to know to get this to work.

Ars Technica: Introduction to Multithreading, Superthreading and Hyperthreading (10/2002). I finally got a new Intel "Prescott" chipset for my dad. Supports something called Hyperthreading. Make it look like one processor is two to Windows and Linux. Here's a good explanation of what is going on.

With the drop in the dollar. All my favorite overseas places are not longer price competitive. The pound when from $1.44 to $1.69 overnight. So, in buying things, you can either get them for list price from "Excel":http://excelsports.com or you can get some discount from "Licktons":http://www.lickbike.com. I am not haunting the ebay auctions more too. Here are some parts I've been looking at: * Campagnolo Record 2000 6 Steel/4 Titanium 10sp Cassette. Need some more cassettes given the different wheelsets I have. Right now I've worn my 12-25. So only have a single 11-23. Need another 12-25 and probably a backup 11-23. Price is $149 at Lickton's. List it $159. * "Wheels Manufacturing 10-Speed":http://www.branfordbike.com/cassette/cog9.html#item1. I have one Shimano-hub Mavic Ksyrium, but don't like the shifting performance of the Mavic M10 Campy-compatible 12-23 that I have. These are Wheel Manufacturing remanufactured Shimano cassettes. $184, so it is more than same a Campy cassette for Duraace.] * "Campagnolo Chorus Medium Cage":http://www.lickbike.com/i0407050.htm. This is $120 and is a medium cage, so can take up to 29T back cogs. * "Wippermann Connex 10-speed Chain":http://www.lickbike.com/i0325050.htm. Heard from several folks this was a better chain than the stock Campagnolo. It is stainless steel nickel and should last longer. Weights about an ounce more. 292 grams vs. 279 grams.

Doodlebaby. Hat tip to Zagula for this. Alway slooking for great places to buy gifts.

History and Revisions of the TREK OCLV Frameset. Great review of the history of the most famous. Thanks to Lance Armstrong frame right now. Didn't know that they had such a special front fork. Also love their "gush":http://www.chainreaction.com/oclvbest.htm about the OCLV frame. It's just 2.3 lbs for the OLVC 120 and 2.2 for the OLCV 110. Plus the fork is very light too. On the other hand, good steel frames are now down to 3.6 lbs like the "Co-Motion Espresso":http://www.co-motion.com/espresso.html and Aluminum is about where carbon fiber is like the Co-Motion "Ristretto":http://www.co-motion.com/espresso.html at 2.4 lbs.

Ludwig seeks Self Defense courses in the area. John is looking for self-defense courses. I've heard great things about Home Alive and Connie is on the board of Womens Funding Alliance, so I've seen a grant proposal from them. Don't know about the others. I've been taking martial arts courses off and on for the last 15 years. Reminds me that I really do want to get back into it. Now that the kids are older, maybe this is a good time. If I were doing this, I'd find Rachel. An ex-Marine, knows her stuff. She's in the area. Did her classes for two years. As a kid who got threatened a lot in school (I wonder why), there is nothing like confidence builders like this. And, of course for many folks, it is, unfortunately, a part of life that you need to know this. Of course, the self-defense is the practical part, there are other great things like strength, flexibility, confidence and discipline that the martial arts teaches you. Taking "Tang Soo Do":http://www.worldtangsoodo.com/ in my sophomore year was the single best thing that ever happened to me as I reflect on it. A great thanks to Dennis Eardley, our instructor from the tougher parts of Trenton and Monica, the head of the group. Turns out BTW, that basic self defense is about 95% awareness and then there are basically two techniques. In fact, the Korean Army teaches something called "Hapkido":http://www.hapkido-info.net/ which is essentially these two moves over and over (that is punch to the nose, shatters it, then shards to the brain and the other is the groin kick then see above). Other trick is learning basics of releases (most important one is realizing that you can get out of nearly any hold by just pressing in the direction where the his thumb and fingers meet). The best long term group in Seattle is the Washington State Karate Association. In my humble experience, the main thing I did learn from Rachel is that nothing you can do can beat a bullet and only on TV is avoiding a knife easy. Other thing I've learned is that humans are amazingly fragile. It is far easier to hurt someone than you would ever expect. Personally, I've had my hand broken, I've destroyed someones knee, I've cracked ribs.

Qwest | DSL | Customer Service. My poor friend Robert is trying to get his DSL to connect to a router box and he can't seem to find the Ethernet connection. His only seems to have a Cisco DSL modem with only a USB connection. Confusing since both the Cisco 675 and 678 are Ethernet. I'm wondering if Qwest actually gave him a USB-to-Ethernet adapter and that is why it looks like USB.

RoadBikeRider.com. Every road bike rider should get their newsletter. Here's some great advice about tires I haven't seen elsewhere. I've been throwing away my tires a little early, so this is a great set of tips: Dear Uncle Al: How can I tell when it's time to replace my tires? And does it make sense to rotate them like with car tires to extend their life? -- J.J. P. Uncle Al Fires Back: This is easier than finding WMD's, J.J. My technique is to keep the rear tire on until the brownish casing starts to show through the black tread. Then, I put the front tire on the rear wheel and install new rubber up front. If you don't move the front tire, it'll probably rot on the rim before it ever shows signs of serious wear. So this type of rotation is a smart idea. Not smart is rotating a half-worn rear tire to the front. Don't make it easier to lose control because of a front-tire flat or blowout. Have your best rubber on the end of the bike that has the most to say about staying upright. Besides plain ol' wear, there are a couple of other compelling reasons to retire a tire. One is a cut too big to be "booted." A cut through the casing can be patched, or "booted," if it's small and straight. A cut that's jagged or curved is probably a blowout waiting to happen, so chuck the tire if it looks that bad. You can boot a cut from the inside with a tube patch or tough strapping (filament) tape. I like to use a couple of layers and cross the fibers, kind of like the bias of the casing itself. Strapping tape is strong, and the fix should last the life of the tire. The second sign that it's replacement time is when the rubber has dried like a prune on a Phoenix sidewalk. Riding on a dry, cracked tire, no matter how little tread wear there is, is a bad idea. It'll grip about as good as eggs in a Teflon pan. (I know, I know -- mine stick, too.) Check for dryness when the tire isn't inflated. Pinch the tread and look for telltale cracks. Scrape your fingernail along the sidewall and watch for powdery residue. Tires dry out from too much sun exposure, like I'm starting to do. And from ozone exposure when they're stored near electric motors or LA smog. A dry climate, like we have here in Colorado, will do it, too. I've been told that Armor All will prevent drying, but I'd be wary of putting anything that slippery near rims and brake pads. Remember, these are just bike tires, not works of art. Replace them if they're questionable. One other note: For you gals and guys who race, never do it on a compromised tire. A blowout in race conditions could put your life on the line (and the lives of riders around you). If you can't race on good tires, stay home and earn enough dough till you can afford them. Sketchy equipment cannot be tolerated in the peloton. Get ready to have a flat! It's fine to be a world-class flat fixer, but it's better not to puncture at all. This quick checklist before you leave the house can make a puncture less likely--and quicker to fix if it does happen. * Check your tires. Very few punctures happen the instant you ride over something (pinch flats excepted). Usually, a small and sharp shard sticks in the tread, then works though to the tube during many wheel revolutions. Find these bad boys by checking the tread in bright sunlight or with a flashlight. If you spot something, carefully pop it out (not into your eye) with the corner of a small screwdriver. Dig a little to made sure you don't leave the sharp tip. While doing this, look for thin areas where the casing is beginning to show through the tread. Never continue to ride a worn tire. It's a lot more susceptible to punctures. A front flat can make it hard to keep the bike upright. * Check your seat bag. It should be well stocked with two tubes, two or three tire levers and a patch kit. Don't forget a small piece of Tyvek, duct tape or other strong, thin material that's suitable for lining ("booting") the inside of a cut in the tread or sidewall. Put each tube in a zip-shut plastic freezer bag. They'll be easier to pack than in a box, and less likely to have holes worn by rubbing against tools. Sprinkle talcum powder into the bags as another way to reduce friction. It'll make the tubes easier to install, too, and it might even reduce the chance of flats. By the way, do you have the right size tubes? We've seen riders flat on their 700C tires and pull a 26-inch mountain bike tube out of their seat bag. Or, riders on fancy wheels with deep V-shape rims will have useless tubes with standard-length valve stems.

Forbes.com: A Splash Of Blackberry Color. Yahoo, Blackberry is finally doing a color version. I like the 6210 form factor and the 7230 is a color version. Confusingly, the thing is actually "blue" :-) Anyway, in Europe, it will sell for $300 while the monochrome version goes for $200. These are bigger subsidies than what you can get in the states, where the monochrome version is $250-300.

Integrating blogs and DMOZ. Interesting project call k-collector for integrating blogs and directory categories automatically.

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: No silver bullet. Great pieces about being successful. Sad thing is that many startups will never get to version 3.0. The trick is how to have enough success and funding to get there.

VentureBlog. Had to happen, even the VC business is getting a blog community. This is a pretty good one.

Bill Owens - Right On!. I've gotten a chance to get to know Bill. An amazing guy. Ex-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Health Study for those over 50. Steve discovers that there really are no rules when it comes to what's healthy to do or not.

Joel on Software - Fixing Venture Capital. Great piece by Joel on what is wrong with the Venture business. Not to mention a nice font. Hat tip to Ludwig again for finding.

John and his Jag. I love the fact that Ludwig knows who he is. He just bought a Chevy and is selling his Jag.

Firebird Browser. Ludwig recommends it. I just downloaded Opera and Netscape and I have to say these have gotten much better. "Downloading":http://www.mozilla.org/projects/phoenix/why/ this one now.

Farmed Salmon -- Bad. Actually, there are many more things than farmed salmon that are bad. At "Seafood Watch":http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp, there is a huge "list":http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_regional.asp. The long and short of it is that most things that are around like bay shrimp, chilean seabass, cod, orange roughy, etc. are really bad to eat. Read the "All Fish":http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_factsheet.asp list to see what the status of nearly every form of seafood is or download the wallet sized card. Best choices are listed, but the best run fishery in the world is in Alaska, so pretty much anything Alaskan is going to be OK. But, John is right, it really pays to ask. Restauranteurs do take note, when you say, "I don't eat farmed salmon, please find out from the chef where this salmon comes from and how it was caught."

a little ludwig goes a long way: Microsoft NGSCB. Ludwig is right, the next generation secure computing initiative called The Nexus does sound like the Matrix IV.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Tony Perkins Startup Advice. Good acvice for starting a company. I like the point about build a community first.

Tom's Hardware Guide Motherboards & RAM: Metamorphosis from Springdale to Canterwood. Those folks at Tom's Hardware are amazing. They figured out that the folks at ASUS activated a feature in the lowend chipset 865P that gets you an additional 5-10% performance. This normally costs you $55 more because it is only in the high-end 875P. Amazing, the sleuthing going on as you read the piece. The net is that the ASUS P4P800 Deluxe is a great buy. Abit has now done the same thing with their motherboard. BTW, there is a P4P800 and a P4P800 Deluxe. The only difference I can find is there is a Firewire and Raid on "P4P800 Deluxe":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=843014, but not "P4P800":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=825529. The net is that if I were buying a fast PC today, it would be if you want to build a big box server size machine then get: * "P4P800 Deluxe":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=843014. Fast and inexpensive motherboard thanks to the ASUS hack discussed above. If you get this, you'll also need a graphics card, power supply and chassis. * "ProSilence 420 Power Supply":http://silentmaxx.net/silent_products/power_supplies/power_supplies.html. My pet peeve is that these things are so noisy. In my machines, it is the power supply fan that is just awful. Tom's Hardware "Power Supply How-to":http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20030609/index.html. explains how to create a completely silent power supply. Yippee. Net net, completely silent are the Pro Silence PCS-350 by Silentmaxxfor $235 and the 300-watt Engelking AP2-6300SFC-A. Zalman's ZM400A-APF is a 400 watt supply that generates 27.5 dB(A), so it is pretty quiet. The CPU needs 90 watts and a high end card like the Radeon 9800 needs 70 watts, so you do really need a big supply now. * "Silentmaxx Cases":http://silentmaxx.net/silent_products/cases/cases.html. These cases have sound insulation, so they cost more, but absorb 95% of the sound. $125. * "Shuttle SB61G2":http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/Motherboards/shuttle_sb61g2.shtml. If you want an integrated box that will be about 10% slower because it uses the 865G (integrated graphics version of the 865PE). Main issue is the on board graphics is 6x slower than a ATI Radeon 9500, a mid priced card these days, and slows the system down as it uses shared memory. Turns out there is absolutely no difference between it and a standard 865P (without the memory trick mentioned above) even with the integrated graphics if you are just doing desktop productivity things. Amazing. Here are the common components you need to get no matter what system above you choose: * "Pentium 2.8 GHz 800FSB CPU":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=811945/blsrt=1. This is the hyperthreading 800MHz FSB screamer. The fastest is the 3.06 GHz. As usual, I recommend one part down from the very fastest available. * "Kingston HyperX 512MB RAM":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=708383. Memory incompatibilities abound between different motherboards and DDR3200 memory. "Anandtech":http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1828 did a huge review and found that. BTW, you no longer can just ask for memory of a certain speed you have to know the timings (as in 2-2-2-5 we are referring to the CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, and Precharge Delay in that order). The lower the numbers the better. They did a specific "test":http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1828&p=11 of the P4P800 and various high speed memory and found that the Crucial LL were the fastest but very expensive while the Crucial were the best value. Unlike other benchmarks I've seen where getting CAS 2 (that's the first digit in the four digits now used) made a big difference vs. CAS 2.5 or CAS 3, with these new chipsets, it doesn't make much difference. Crucial (2.5-3-2-5) for instance was 354 fps in a Quake 3 benchmark and Corsair (2-2-2-5) was 357 fps. But, Corsair is 30% more expensive. These need to be bought in pairs I believe. * "Value version of the nVidia GEForceFX 5900 Ultra":http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030512/index.html. nVidia is back on top with this card. Beats the ATI Radeon 9800. As usual, I recommend the next card from the top for price/performance. That is either the Radeon 9700 or the upcoming nVidia value version of the 5900 engine (codenamed NV35). * Western Digital WD2500JB":http://storagereview.com/articles/200304/20030417WD2500JB_1.html. This or (the nearly identical "WD2000JB":http://storagereview.com/articles/200304/20030417WD2500JB_1.html but cheaper $/byte) are the ones to get. Surprising given the evolution on the processor side that the recommendation hasn't change. Things are coming though with Serial ATA and the coming 10,000 RPM drives, but these will be 36GB at first, so not really good for single platter system. I'd recommend getting a pair of these and getting a set of 3.5" removables, so that you can RAID them and pull them out as needed. You should really get two. A system disk and a data disk. * "NEC 1760V":http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20030221/hitachi-04.html. This is one of the first 16 ms response time monitors. And, it is a gorgeous 17 inches. Of course if you can afford it, go to 19 inches. That is really amazing. If you are looking for networking gear checkout: * "Netgear WAG611":http://www.tomshardware.com/network/20030522/netgear-11.html. OK, you need a networking card if you are going 802.11. The Netgear uses the new Atheros chipset, so you get 802.11a/b and draft g, with standard g coming. That's just about everything you need.

Tom's Hardware Guide Networking: Review: Wireless SMC EliteConnect 2.4-GHz 802.11b High Power Wireless PC Card (SMC2532W-B) - Wireless Features. This is a very cheap ($50) 802.11b card that runs at 200 mW rather than the more typical 15-30 mW you'd find say in a Linksys card. Interesting result is that it can give great range, but the most important way to get rang is to have the antenna oriented correctly. Makes sense when you think about. Those tiny antennas stuck in the PC Card slot of a notebook are in a lousy position. Net, net, get the orientation of the antenna right first. Or, get an external one, then you can get a card that juices the power. Will be interesting to see how Steve Hooper does with his high power AP (200 mW) and his high power WiFi card in getting between two rooms that are very far apart.

Wheelcraft. Australian, they make a 700c wheelset with MTB hubs. Need to see the axle spacing required. Not much written about this. These folks appear to be one of the few doing it. However one thing to watch out for is the stress. According to Alan Cline over at "Co-Motion":http://co-motion.com, who wrote to saying: I feel the canti brake setup is the best for touring - disk brakes interfere with rack mounting and make packing the bikes (with couplers) more difficult. Disk brakes on rigid front forks are an especially bad idea -when the braking forces are moved from the rim down close to the hub, it places incredible rearward stresses on the fork. This is exacerbated by heavier loads. We do not offer a disk brake on our forks.

I had two hours to kill in Newark Airport. They have an amazing number of store there. Got to listen to about half a dozen headphones and try the noise cancellers. Wow, the good ones work well. Here are some recommendations: * "Headroom":http://headroom.headphone.com/layout.php. A great souce of technical information. They sell high end headphone and amplifiers. Have a great "guide":http://headroom.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=2 for buying head phones. * "Etymotic ER-4P":http://headroom.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&subTopicID=26&productID=0020100005. This is a "low cost" at $269 but has a high recommendation from Headroom. Provides 20 dB of isolation and doesn't need batteries. Tweaks the base up, so if you want to get an amplifier, it's not for you. * "ER-6":http://headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&subTopicID=26&productID=0020100100 is probabkly a good compromise in terms of cost. * "Sennheiser PX200":http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&subTopicID=26&productID=0020080020. If you don't want to stick things into your ears. These are supposed to be good. I've had Sennheisers. The old HD 420 and the HD 414 for 20 years and they are great. Not echo cancelling but only $50 and they don't need any fancy amplifier. They are sealed so you'll get 10db isolation. * "Grado SR60":http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&subTopicID=26&productID=0020090060. Only $60, but don't have any noise isolation or cancelling. * "Sennheiser PXC250 ":http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&subTopicID=26&productID=0020080021. Finally, if you want a low cost echo canceller, the Headroom folks like this. Offers 23db of noise cancellation and you don't have to stick plugs into your ears but it does require batteries. I tried the similar HDC 451 and they were great. So, these are good if you don't want an Ezmotic EP-6 which you have to plug into your ear and you still want 20 dB+ of isolation. Cost is about $129, so similar to the EP-6. Here is what C|Net says, slightly different advice and they talk about different models: * Sony MDR-NC11. Haven't tried them myself, but the best thing is that they don't weight anything (2 oz) and are compact. The review says they really do cancel and relatively moderately priced at $100. * "Bose QuietComfort 2":http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342422-1304-21235911.html?tag=pdtl-list. These were the first and in many ways the reference standard. Haven't tried them myself, but at expensive at $300 and big and bulky. Where to buy them? * "Headroom":http://headroom.com. They sell speciality stuff. Support them if you can given the information they provide. * "PriceGrabber":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=333&sortby=popular-&vendors%5B%5D=SHS&lo_p=0&hi_p=0&form_keyword=&ut=ceccbd6597353c26. Has a list of low cost places.

If you get a chance to spend a weekend away in the San Juans, here are some recommendations: * San Juan Island Lodging in Friday Harbor, The Highland Inn Bed and Breakfast. Expensive, but a spectacular view. Helen has just two rooms and the look out into Haro Strait. When we were there, we arrived just in time to see "J Pod":http://www.whaleresearch.com/j1.shtml. * "Duck Soup Inn":http://www.ducksoupinn.com/. A great high end dining spot. * "San Juan Safaris":http://www.sanjuansafaris.com/. We took a five hour kayak. That's a bit long, but if you take it from Roche Harbor, you have a good chance of seeing the Orcas not to mention Bald Eagles, Cormorants and Seals. * "Thai Kitchen":http://sanjuanislands.kulshan.com/Washington/San_Juan/Restaurants/Thai_Kitchen.htm. Perfect antidote to all that heavy Duck Soup gourmet stuff.

Connie's Blackberry died and now the 6210 is widely available. * BlackBerry 6210. A T-mobile reseller. $249 with activiation, free car charger. $40 unlimited data or $30 if you are getting a voice plan too. Nice price. * "Karbon Systems":http://www.karbonsystems.com/products_detail-23.html. $249 for an AT&T Wireless one. Slightly more expensives $40 basic and $50 unlimmited data. Also have the T-Mobile plans, but no online buying.

Great notes from Cam Myhrvold about astronomy for amateurs. So I am at astronomy camp put on by the University of Arizona. Here are three very cool pieces of software/sites. "Clear Dark Sky":http://Www.cleardarksky.com It looks at the weather forecast (wind, cloud cover, and I guess the key thing is the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere above your location) and predicts how good viewing will be on a particular night across the U.S. And Canada using a index of nightime viewing they have developed. Like accuweather for astronomers. "Heaves above":http://Www.heavens-above.com This site tracks satellites in orbit and tells you when you will see them at your location. I tracks dozens and dozens of satellites. The coolest thing about this is tracking the Iridium Flash. Iridium was of course the company that put up a constellation of low earth orbiting satellite for wireless communications. The company went bankrupt but one legacy they did leave is huge satellites (Iridium put phone switching into each satellite so they are fucking big) in a low orbit and with their solar reflectors out they literally light up the earth beneath them. Depending on your locale they can streak by at magnitude -9. For reference this is about 100x brighter than jupiter (the brightest planet in our sky). I haven't seen this but would like to. I am in tucson at the moment and 2 passed by last night at magnitudes -1 and -6 (alas I went to bed a little after 3 and they passed at 5:02). Google Iridium Flash and you can see some dramatic photos or be a real man and stay up and see them for yourself with heavens-above. Starry Night This software turns your PC into a very powerful planetarium. Want to know how how neptune will look from Io (one of the moons of Jupiter) on May 1 at 12:01 in 2019? This will show you. Does Pluto actually pass inside the orbit of Uranus? This will show you (and the answer is non trivial). You can also do stuff like recreate a total solar eclipse and view it from multiple locations at once (for instance from earth and then from the moon looking back at earth). Don't know what it costs but it's not much

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: User Interface is an Art: Harmony Remote. Satoshi has discovered this. BTW, the manufacturer site is "HarmonyRemote.com":http://www.harmonyremote.com/. "Ludwig":http://www.theludwigs.com thinks it is great idea and his family actually would use it. The heart of the idea is to be activity based and to guess the likely activities from the devices that you have (e.g., if you have an AVR, TV and DVD, I bet you'll want to watch a DVD, by turning on the AVR, the TV, the DVD and then hitting play). Cost is $300, so pretty high given that you can get a color Pronto for $600, but I bet volumes are small. The best source of information is at "Remote Central":http://remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-harmony/list.cgi. Hmmm. I'll have to get one. I've been using the Color Pronto for home, but these are expensive. Great screen though.

Grace is another one of the Tong's who is far older than her chronological age. I'd guess she's about 35. Recent evidence are what she told me over the last week: * Refrigerator in the Bathroom: "Dad, the water isn't cold enough in the bathroom, when I grow up, I'm going to have a refrigerator in my bathroom to keep things cool." * Adopting a Baby Sister: "Dad, there are people who don't have parents. We should adopt a baby, she can live in my room and I'll take care of her."

Albert Einstein Online and "Stephen Hawking":http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html. Now Alex wants to be a physicist having read about both Albert Einstein and also Stephen Hawking. I told Alex that I wanted to _Albert Einstein_ when I was little. Since Alex is really 50 years old in terms of wisdom, he said to me, "Dad, you can't be Albert Einstein, you should just be Richard Tong." Enough said. He's right. And then of course, there is the funny turns of phrase he's learned...my favorite and he looks at two asparagus on top of his favorite food, mashed potatoes: Dad, could you please move Mr. and Mrs. Asparagus please?

OK, got "Hoops":http://scbhooper.com an S-720i, but now we need the power output kit. These are harder to find at a discount. Here are some sources listed in order of my confidence in them: * "Colorado Cyclist":http://www.coloradocyclist.com/common/products/productdisplay2_v2.cfm?PRRFNBR=27091&S=22977,22978,27734,20070,22854,28682,12111,24608,24609,27091,24610,24604,16241,24603,12150. $314 vs list of $349. * "Excel Sports":http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=8&major=3&minor=2&description=S%2D710+Power+Sensor+Set&vendorCode=POLAR. At the $350 list. These are listed in google page rank order: * "Polar-USA.com":http://www.polar-usa.com/new-polar-power-kit.html. $315 but includes free shipping. * "Trisports.com":http://www.trisports.com/polarpowerkit.html. $297. I've also ordered before from them. * "Polar-Hearate-Monitors.com":http://www.polar-heartrate-monitors.com/polar_power_kits.htm. $315 * Polar Power Output Kit for S-710 Heart Rate Monitor. Another site that has it for $315.

Branford Bike: Campagnolo 10 Speed MK 2 Cassettes. Dave Malcolm and I are going to ride the "STP":http://cascade.org and he asked me about what cassette in the rear to use. He has an 11-23 cassette and is wondering if he should get a bigger one. Here are some facts, but Well. I'd reco a 12-25 in the back. A 13-26 doesn't add much at the top end (a ratio thing, it is just 26/25ths longer). If you want "Excel":http://excelsports can get you a pretty good price. About $150 or so as I recall the the record titanium/steel cassette. If you can wait, "Sdeals":http://sdeals.com or "Total Cycling":http://totalcycling.com has better prices (dependent on exchange rate, they are in the uk). Also, "Ebay":http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&st=2&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=campagnolo&ht=1&currdisp=2&itemtimedisp=1&category5=42332&combine=y&from=R9 has auctions on these, but you have to know where to look and get it from a reputable seller. You actually can't go beyond 13-26 unless you replace just about your entire drive train. The derailleur you have is what is called a short cage so only supports up to 26 in the back. Also you would need a new front derailleur. About $400 plus, so that isn't super practical. By the way, last piece of advice is to make sure you follow the shifting recommendations closely. The campy drive chain is very delicate racing oriented. If you run improperly even a short time, you can trash the rear cog, the chain and the front cog. The chain should last 2-3,000 miles and a cassette up to 7,000 miles if you take care of them. What's proper? Make sure when you shift, you never, never run the small ring in the front with the smallest three gears in the back. Also the large front ring should never run with the largest 3 cogs in the back. I destroyed my drive train in 500 miles doing this. Voice of experience. We should also check your chain length as well campy chains are notoriuous for having relatiely short life. Like 1500 miles if you aren't careful. Given how hard this bike was raced it could be worn. That's is lengthened so that it actually wears the cogs.

Home Theater SPOT! and Dan Kurts. It is still way too hard to get high definition TV. But, I finally can watch it (albeit from my Dad's house) thanks to Dan Kurts over in Seattle and the good folks over at the Hometheaterspot.com. Amazingly difficult to get it to work. We are back to the old days of antennas and reflections. Just because it is digital doesn't mean the signal is clean. If there are leaves in the way, it gets into the way of UHF. Other strange thing is the channel number strategy. Who every heard of numbers like 4-1, 5-1, 9-1, 9-3 as so on. Here's a quote from the official "National Association of Broadcasters":http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/issues/digitaltv/DTVStations.asp. Basically, they allow subchannels, so PBS in Seattle has is VHF channel 9 and for HDTV, it is 9-1 by default but can also be 9-2, 9-3, 9-4 and so on. Yikes, explain that to my mom, but I understand the idea, they have a bunch of UHF stations (the last column in the table below), but didn't want to have people remember new channel numbers, so they created a mapping back to the old VHF numbers, since channel 4 is ABC in most major markets for example. I understand, but yikes, how confusing: | Station | Network | Tune To | UHF Channel | | KTWB-TV | WB |22.n | 25 | | KSTW | UPN | 11.n | 36 | | KCTS-TV | PBS | 9.n | 41 | | KBTC-TV | PBS | 28.n | 27 | | KWPX | PAX | 33.n | 32 | | KWOG | IND | 51.n | 50 | | KING-TV | NBC | 5.n | 48 | | KONG-TV | IND | 16.n | 31 | | KIRO-TV | CBS | 7.n | 39 | | KCPQ | FOX | 13.n | 18 | | KOMO-TV | ABC | 4.n | 38 |

Amazon.com: Books: Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Wow, it is amazing how things don't change. If you replaced 1967 with 2002, you'd almost have the same story. There are many views on the Six Day War (a.k.a. The June War). This was fascinating to me because of the very personal accounts on all sides. I had not realized how June 1967 was really all about personalities or that the incredible actions of leaders on all sides, from Egypt to Jordan to Syria to Israel were in many ways completely terrifying. Today of course, it feels like the same thing just got reenacted in Iraq.b

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: User Interface is an Art: Who controls the user experience?. Another great analysis by Satoshi about user experience. Essentially, when carriers control it well like DoCoMo, Vodafone and Verizon, it seems to work well. It is uniform across devices, etc. That has a big impact on success.

It's interesting to see how site statistics have been changing. Initially most of the hits on this home page were from the default home pages for my many machines, so the referrers were often tongfamily.com or none. I now get about 20,000 hits per month, so not that many, but most were from google as accidental searches. There was one amazing period where I had the only site pointed to Kazaa hacks in late 2002, but that was an aberration. Now, most hits are not from my own personal machines, but instead seem to be from lots of google more purposeful searches and also links from "Candlepower":http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB22&Number=250791&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1. Thanks much PhotonBoy and also from "Microsoft Watch":http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,4248,933657,00.asp. Thanks Mary Jo! Also getting lots more comments from random folks as well that I don't know. Interesting the power of the web. It's only too bad that comments don't seem to get indexed by google. Maybe the next iteration of that machine.