July 2003 Archives

SIR Achives. For those of who are who are bored by simple bike routes around Seattle, here are some local long ones.

SaddleCo. Hat tip to "Road Bike Rider":http://roadbikerider.com on this one. Very cool looking saddle. Have you seen the innovative Flow saddle at www.saddleco.com? It has intrigued a number of roadies, and they've asked us to review it. The Flow has a see-through mesh top stretched across a nylon perimeter. It promises comfort, lightness, airflow and cool looks. Pretty cool looking. Great lust factor.

I've been trying to understand the various spam filters: * SpamAssassin: Welcome to SpamAssassin. Interesting to see the techniques that they are using. I've also been using outclass which uses Bayesian analysis rather than the header, text analysis, blacklist and collaborative spam-tracking database. * "Vipul's Razor":http://razor.sourceforge.net/. They noted Vipul's Razor which I'll have to look at that. Sounds pretty cool. * "Spamotomoy":http://spamotomy.com. They review spam filters. An interesting read. I like the p[oints about disposable email addresses for instance and also the reviews.

Well, I'm almost done. I've gotten everything on the bike. Including: * Michelin Cyclocross Jet tires. It is amazing these fit. They are fine in the rear, but a little tight in the front mainly because of the brakes not because of the fork. * Suntour Brakes with new brakepads. I took the brakepads off of the Teknos and put them on the Suntour, so braking power should be good. * Lock ring (how can a little ring cost $20 BTW!) is on, so I've got a 13-26 cassette in the rear. The main step remaining is threading that rear derailleur. I got some great advice from Vintage Bicycle Discussion Area. They basically suggested, getting a string down and through and then pulling it through. This won't work because it is so small a hole. Also suggested putting a derailleur housing through. Fails for the same reason. Best advice I've gotten so far them and Steve Hooper is to get mechanics wire which is very stiff or bailing wire to get there, then use it to pull through the derailleur cable. And, of course, next time I replace, make sure to pull a new cable through by taping it on to the old one before pulling.

Joi Ito's Web: Technorati talks FOAF. Hat tip to "Ludwig":http://www.theludwigs.com for creating a Friend of a Friend link. He says none of his friends are FOAFed, so I thought I'd join him :-) BTW, how does John find so much time to post. It's amazing!

:: Lance Armstrong Official 2003 Tour de France Website: Close look at the Trek Madone 5.9. Some moe details, but not the price which will be amazing I'm sure. Coming this fall to a bike store near you. Will have the new Dura-Ace 10, new ultralight fork from Bontrager. Although it is slightly lighter, the main advantage is aerodynamics. Says, you'll save a minute over a 200km ride. Wow, 160 miles and you sae 60 seconds. At the pro level, that's amazing. For us ordinary mortals, maybe we should train a little more :-) Still what a drool factor. Just look at the "photos":http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/OnLine2.nsf/Docs/D37499CB86AB278C86256D15006F21CD of the Dura-Ace crank and the frame itself.

Amazon.com: Books: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Been looking for books to get for my brother's birthday. I think I already got him this one, but if you don't have it you should get a copy. It explains one of lifes biggest questions, "Why do the White men have all the cargo?" (or translated from the New Guinean), why is it that the Europeans ended up with all the money and power. A great read.

News: Chris Carmichael on the Tour de France. _A great summary by Chris. Here are some excerpts_ There are always heroic performances in the Tour de France, but in 2003 we saw more than usual. Tyler Hamilton surprised everyone, including himself, by finishing the second stage of the race after breaking his collarbone inside the last kilometer of Stage 1. He soldiered on through the mountains and time trials, attacking all the way, and ended the Tour de France fourth place overall, with a stage win from a solo breakaway and a second place performance in the final individual time trial. In 2004, I expect Tyler to be standing on the podium in Paris with Lance Armstrong, though the CSC leader will have to wait at least one more year to win the yellow jersey. This 2003 Tour de France will be remembered most for the epic battles between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich for the yellow jersey. Armstrong was not as invincible as he was in previous years, and Ullrich was stronger than he was back in 2001, the last year he and Armstrong faced off in the Tour. Lance had to call on his team and his experience to find the strength and the strategy to win his fifth Tour de France, and he will savor this victory for a long time. Even after accomplishing the goal that he has pursued since this time last year, Lance won't take that much time off the bike. Following the Tour, Lance and I need a short break from each other. He doesn't want to follow structured training for a few weeks, and I don't think he needs to, so we'll talk less frequently than usual during August. He is booked to ride a few post-Tour criteriums, and there are some media obligations to take care of, but he'll still find time to ride almost every day. Once the excitement dies down, though, it's back to work on preparing for the 2004 Tour de France. There are plenty of riders already lining up to challenge him next year, but I believe that if Lance arrives at the start next year in the same or better shape than he was in this year, no one will be able to ride through him to win the 2004 Tour de France.

NOAA Tidal Data. When sailing, its important to know what the tides are doing. This is the official NOAA site for this. Says that tomorrow at noon will be slack tide in Seattle at -2 feet below mean low/low tide. So, at 1PM or so, the tide is going to rising or surging.

Adam Bosworth's Weblog: More on the same. hard to imagine adam with writers block, some good comments on dusconnected apps. hat tip to satoshi.

Bibliomania: Free Online Literature and Study Guides. Bibliomania is a great free study guide. Don't understand the business model, but am sure glad it is there. Here's useful quote for someone defending their turf:

Not only reason but experience, in hundreds and thousands of instances, show that a well-traced, sufficiently manned, and well-defended entrenchment is, as a rule, to be looked upon as an impregnable point, and is also so regarded by the attack. Starting from this point of the efficiency of a single entrenchment, we argue that there can be no doubt as to the attack of an entrenched camp being a most difficult undertaking, and one in which generally it will be impossible for the assailant to succeed.

Like Zagula, I've been collecting quotes and thoughts like mad. Here are some good sources: * Library Sun Tzu The Art of War and Strategy Site by Sonshi.com.. . Besides Sun Tzu, he's got most of the other classic military thinkers like "Clausewitz':http://www.sonshi.com/clausewitz.html * "Web Wargaming":http://www.webwargaming.com/. While doing this, I found someone who wrote a javascript wargame that runs off a website. How fun.

Well, I've tried lots of headphones and have been married to my 20 year old Sennheiser 424s, but I have to say after three hours of writing a "book" (that's another story), I'm completely hooked on the Ekymotics ER-6. Not their most expensive, but simply awesome in sound, I can hear things I never thought were possible plugged into my PC. BTW, another great forum for research is Head-Fi (Headphone Hi-Fi) - Headphones.

The Seattle Times: My take: Tour works wonders to rejuvenate biking interest. He did it! And, in the course of winning made lots of new biking fans including me of course. Interesting that at the two parties we went to last night, the Tour de France came up. Folks were interested and even the average sports fan seemed to know about the race and quite a few had even watched it live or on Tivo. Amazing. Hope he gets a few days rest before training starts for next year :-)

Tom's Hardware Guide PCs & HowTo: The Mailman Has Arrived: Four Mini-PCs on the Test Bench - The First Car: A Motorized Carriage. Jennie and Adrian asked me about updating their computer "brain". They have a five year old Northwest Computers machine that I recommended, but it won't run the latest Apple MP3 player software (since that requires Windows 2000 and their machine is way too slow for that). So, they either get a brand new G4 or they update their brain. Here's an analysis to see what's cheaper: H4. Ultra-High end brain Since I got my dad a dream PC a while ago, it was easy to crank up Pricegrabber and see what pricing was like, here's a recommendation for a $1,000 brain upgrade: * "Shuttle SB61G2":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=929169/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. This is the mini-PC which is great except for the heat problems if you use it all day (which they won't). Main problem is that it is pricey at $340 list. Right now it is $320 from Googlegear or accupc. * "Intel Pentium 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=929169/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. It is just $170 right now vs. $265 for a 2.8GHz. It has all the coolest features like hyperthreading. * "Corsair TWINX5123200LLPT":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=706747/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. This actually two 256MB modules. You needed them together because this is a system that has better performance with two banks. The most painful recommendation since doubling to 1GB only add as about $70 dollars more and memory is the most important thing. Right now at $170 vs. $245 for "Kingston KHX3200AK21G":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=939430/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3 which are two of their modules tested together or $208 if they are not tested together. * "Sony DRU-510A":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=781816/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. Despite my problems, still something I've used at $235 now as OEM version. Also might consider the "LG GCC4480BI":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=689311/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. I need to research this more, but this is a CD-RW drive that can also read DVDs. Only $62 from accupc. Or, there is a Lite-on for $40 that is a CD drive only. * "Western Digital 200GB":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=607706/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. A 200 GB hard drive. Actually a little bigger than she needs, but given there is room for only one hard drive, a good choice. About $190. Total cost is $1,100 for the ultra system. h4. The right brain Looking at cost, here and trying to get it down, the main thing is to: * Get a single stick of memory rather than the dual bank. So the HyperX by itself is $130. * Get a DVD/CDRW combo drive, so you can't burn DVDs, the LG one is $60. * Drop to the 120MB Caviar drive instead of the 200GB one, which is $100. Total cost is $780. Wow, that's pretty amazing machine. h4. Low cost machine Given the benchmarks show there isn't a great difference between the older SiS651 chipset and the newer one, plus the fact that the SS51G2 is much cheaper, you could go really lower end with good performance and get: * Shuttle SS51G2. This works and is say a year older. Now at $170 * Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHs 800MHz. As before, there is no real discount for the older chips. So at $170. * Corsair 512MB CL2 PC2700. Slow memory, at $91 is all you need in this box since it doesn't support DDR400. * Lite-on 52x CDRW is just $40 if you really want to economize and I know it works. * Western Digital WD1200JB 120MB drive. $100 Total cost for the briain update is $571. Wow, that is really inexpensive.

: Small Net Builder : Real Help for Your Small Network from Tim Higgins FAQ. Super useful frequently asked questions from Tim. Includes a good section on wifi repeating and "WDS":http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/FAQ-16-Wireless+Networking-0.php#426

Tom's Hardware Guide Networking: Review: Belkin F5D7130 802.11g Wireless Network Access Point - Other Features. I need some access points around the house, the Belkin has some good features for "meshing" together multiple access points. Something called Wireless Distribution System allows various APs to use others as repeaters. Pretty cool. Belkin for including both WDS bridging and repeating, giving it an edge over Linksys' WAP54G, which supports only WDS bridging without allowing simultaneous client connection, i.e., repeating. But it doesn't have management and monitoring.

RoadBikeRider.com. _Yet another great tip from Ed and Fred about how to get really low gear ratios_ Dear Uncle Al: I read that Tyler Hamilton was running 52/36-tooth chainrings for the climbing stages of the Tour. I'm wondering if I could set up my road bike like that. It seems to be a great way to gear down for a hilly event or multiday tour. -- Sheila O. Uncle Al Fires Back: Tyler is using a team sponsor's really cool carbon crankset with a 110-mm bolt pattern. It allows a 34- or 36-tooth small ring. Full Speed Ahead (FSA) makes that 110 crank for just the reason Tyler uses it -- better climbing ratios called the "Carbon Pro Compact":http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/road/pages/cranks/carbon-pro-compact.htm. Pinarello has a similar carbon crank. I really like the idea! This is for 9-speed Shimano compatible. Only 521 grams too. Wonder when the Dura-Ace 10 compatible one comes out :-) Unfortunately, a Shimano double-chainring crank has a 130-mm bolt pattern, and Campagnolo uses 135. Neither is designed for smaller than a 39-tooth ring. I hear of 38T rings in the aftermarket, but they're not made by Shimano or Campy.

"Chris Carmichael":http://www.olntv.com/tdf03/carmichael.html has some of the best commentaries about what is going on with Lance I've seen. Here are few key ones before the Time Trial tommorrow. Good luck Lance!: * Lance needs a kick. Basically says that at Luiz Ardiden, Lance was cool, but not on fire, the fall gave him a kick in the pants to go and win it. * "Stage 19 Preview":http://www.olntv.com/tdf03/carmichael18.html. It's been years since a time trial has mattered so much. Lemond overcame a 50 second defiicit in 1989 to win by eight seconds overall. Did the same to win his third a year later. There are only 65 seconds between Ullrich and Armstrong. Gulp...

For all you equipment geeks, here's the latest from www.cyclingnews.com: * US Postal has been campaigning new forks from the Trek/Bontrager line-up at the Tour, as well as the new Madone 5.9 frame. According to Trek teams liaison guy Scott Daubert, the Bontrager XXX fork is lighter than the previous 5900 fork by dint of a carbon crown lug and standard headset, rather than the 5900's permanent lower bearing. The XXX fork will be available from August 1 with a US RRP of $425. * Incidentally, the world, his uncle and his dog have all been asking why Lance Armstrong has been using a 5900 Superlight instead of the Madone 5.9 in the mountain stages. The Madone is still a beta model, according to van Roosbroeck, team mechanic, and it's not set up with the right STI shifter and left downtube shifter, which Lance prefers. Here's the Q&A's on the new Dura-Ace 10: * Will the new Dura-Ace be compatible with existing nine-speed wheels? Yes. The ten-speed cluster is very slightly wider than the old nine-speed, but will fit on a nine-speed hub with just a little over-hang. However, the new ten-speed hubs and wheels will only take a ten-speed cluster. * Will I need new tools for the bottom bracket? The new bearings require a specially-shaped spanner to fit and remove them, but that spanner will be supplied with the cranks. * What chainring and sprocket combinations will be available? Chainrings: 53/42, 52/39, 53/39, 50/39, 54/42, 55/42, 56/44 and Sprockets: 11-21, 11-23, 12-21, 12-23, 12-25, 12-27

My buddy Robert wanted to convert a GIF to EPS. Thanks to Google, here's how to do it: * GIFWorks! Free Online GIF eTools. A cool online utility that is a basic GIF editor. * "ACDSee":http://acdsee.com. I have used this before, but it appears to be a general tool. Can't seem to find a dedicated GIF to EPS converter, but searching now on Download.com

Sony firmware is not that great. Release 1.51 blows away your ability to read double density DVDs (e.g., DVD9's). Also, with Sony firmware, you can't use the bitset compatibility trick to make DVD written with it work with many players, so it is better to switch it to Ricoh firmware. Since the firmware update (Rflash or RWFlash) doesn't allow this kind of conversion from one brand to another you have to fool it. As documented in "BZ's":http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=239&view=previous post and also "BB's":http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=10057&highlight=dru120a. Here are the instructions customized for converting Sony to Ricoh firmware conversion: # If you are using Windows, change from DMA mode to PIO mode. How to do this varies significantly depending on your version of Windows. If you have XP, the exact sequence is: a) Choose Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/System, b) Choose Hardware/Device Manager, c) Choose IDE ATA ATAPI Controller/Secondary IDE Controller/Properties (or whatever controller the DVD recorder is on), d) Choose Advanced Settings/Transfer Mode and select PIO Only, e) Select OK # Copy the Rflash program and a Sony firmware update in a directory, for instance "\Sony". Rename the firmware to a simpler name, for instance sony.ric. # Copy the Ricoh update in a second directory (for instance "\Ricoh" and rename it with the same name as the original one, or to \Ricoh\sony.ric # Open Windows Explorer so you can easily make *LATER* a copy of ricoh\sony.ric to replace sony\sony.ric. Reduce the size of this explorer window and place it to an edge of your screen. # Execute the Rflash program in the "\sony" directory. It will display your drive and the Sony firmware (with your drive denomination). Place the window to allow you to see also the explorer window we have seen in the previous step concurrently with the Rflash window. # In RFlash, press the "Start" button to begin flashing. If the firmware has the right code, the program will begin to save your drive's firmware to the disk. Once the backup is in progress, as quickly you can, copy *NOW* the ricoh\sony.ric to replace sony\sony.ric. If you succeed, the RFLash program will update the drive with the Ricoh.ric firmware that is masquarading as sony.ric. # You will probably see the RFlash program is frozen. Don't worry, it is still properly working. If all is OK, it wiill tell you at the end of operation (several minutes, be patient !) the upgrade is done. # Simply reboot your computer and now, you will have a new drive drive which now thinks it is a Ricoh. You should see Windows XP recognize a "Ricoh M5125A" drive if it worked. # Now change that drive back to DMA mode otherwise writes won't work and the drive will be slow. So follow step 1 agove and then choose the DMA if found transfer mode option. Finally, for future reference Here's a list of places to learn about Sony and Ricoh for future reference plus a guide to converting the Sony DRU-120A drive into a Ricoh by a firmware change: * Google Search: sony dru-120a to ricoh firmware The HP writer dvd 200i/e is an oem Ricoh MP-5125a DVD+R DVD+RW writer. Firmware versions 1.06,1.27,1.36 and (1.51 being the newest). Other variations of the drive are the Aopen DVRW 2412, Memorex DVD100, Traxdata RW5125a, Sony DRU-120A, Philips DVDRW6002, Philips DVD RW-D28. * "Ricoh Support":http://www.ricohpmmc.com/. This is the official site for firmware * "Firmware Forum on Ricoh":http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=39. This is the firmware information page with the latest information on Ricoh drives. The Ricoh DVD MP-5125a has firmware versions, 1.13,1.18,1.27,1.38, 1.51 and (1.64 being the newest). You can get the utilities and things at "Download":http://www.ricohpmmc.com/1/drivers.asp. * "Sony Firmware":http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=30. Here's the latest on Sony firmware downloads.

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: User Interface is an Art: WiFi hotspot business. The usual smart thoughts from Satoshi. Glad to know that he wouldn't fund a wifi subscription service (since we haven't :-). It is interesting to ask what folks will want with all these hotspots and will there be an opportunity to monetize them. Low cost will be the key. And of course, who can disagree that RFID is the next big thing :-)

Zagula spells trouble: Headphones. Zagula is on the headphone hunt as I was not too long ago. As usual, it depends on what you want and where you want to use them. Presuming, this is mainly for the airplane. There are the echo cancellers like the Bose which a big a bulky. Turns out you get much isolation just by physically blocking, so I used these things from a hearing aid company called Etymotics. See "headphones for plane flights":http://www.tongfamily.com/guide/000928.html

Emocium: Forum - 2 Kazaa Programs Try to Block RIAA. So, it has begun. Now folks are going to have a public list of RIAA IP addresses at something called Public Guardian and you can block addresses with some Kazaa derivatives. "Banned IP Addresses":http://methlab.tech.nu/. So it goes. Shows that technical solutions are always out there. Also blocks port 1214 so that folks can't see what you have. It's a matter of time before a list like this goes completely distributed and P2P systems become anonymous IMHO. They have a utility called PeerGuardian that blocks known RIAA addresses. Had it up for 24 hours and noticed that someone from Universal Studios SBC (at least their IP address) were pinging me. Interesting. Apparently, there are quite a few folks with bots now selling their searches to the music industry according to the folks at Methlab.tech.nu.

OK, after studying the market pretty carefully, here are the two bikes I would get for "have fun while traveling use". I said two because one would be for speed and the other for rough road and touring:

Ultimate Road Racing Bike

Ritchey BreakAway Bike. I still need to test ride one, but low cost, here is how I would outfit it today (it's basically what's on my road bike now with a few to-die-for accessories:

• Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork. The best there is.
• Chris King headset. The most durable there is.
• Dura-Ace 10 gruppo for derailleurs, crankset, bottom bracket, STI levers. Haven't tried the Dura-Ace 10, but the newest feels the coolest particularly for the cost and also with their incredibly strong bottom bracket. The new Record uses lots of carbon so will be light and brittle I fear.
• Time Monolink stem. OK, it's expensive, but it sure is light and strong.
• Deda Newton bars. Oversized and durable but light at 205 grams
• Topolino Durango wheelset. I have these are they are so light and strong.
• Polar S720i with Power Output. Maybe only needed for training, but while expensive, gives you speed, cadence and power.
• 12-25 Cassette and 39-53 in the front. Good wide range, assuming light loads.
• USE Alien Carbon seat post. Again an old favorite and light..
• Selle Italia SLR. 135 grams and I can actually ride it comfortably for 12 hours, so I'm probably the only one.
• Veloflex Pave tires. Very smooth. AGain what I'm riding now.

Touring Bike

Co-Motion Norwester Pilot. This is a S&S coupled bicycle that's steel. It does weigh 3.85 lbs plus 0.5 for the couplers, but it is flexible enough to run a wide range XTR drive train plus Dura-Ace on top:

• Fork. Probably Woundup as they are strong and have eyelets for front racks.
• Headset. Chris King
• Deda Newton stem and bars. No reason to go to carbon fiber for the stem given the additional weight, durability is more important.
• XTR Front and rear derailleur, bottom bracket and crankset. For stength and lightness. Although the new Dura-Ace bottom bracket might be good if it can fit the XTR crankset.
• 24-34-44 compact drive crankset running 11-34 XTR cassette in the rear for the ultimate in flexibility.
• Dura-Ace STI levers
• Avid Shorty 6 or maybe even the XTR V-brakes with linear pull convertor. Depends a little on weight.
• Campagnolo hubs on Mavic CXP-33 rims, 3-cross in rear, 2-cross in front. 32 double butted 17/14/17 spokes on each
• Michelin Cyclocross Jet if it is dirt roads, otherwise Vittoria Allweather if rainy or Continental GP3000 if dry.

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: User Interface is an Art: Java benchmark. Hattip to Satoshi for finding a benchmark site. Amazing to see how different performant is at "Jbenchmark":http://jbenchmark.com. There is a 10x difference in performance. For instance the Motorola 720i is at 500 utils while the Sharp sh53 is at 1500 and the Nokia 7650 is at 2524.

Welcome to Our Site!. Hey, my blog is the #1 hit for Trek 560, here's someone else using an old bike the right way. _BTW, I just updated my template so that "Sitemeter":http://sitemeter.com collects information on all my pages, not just the home page. Wow, hits are rising. I used to estimate 1,400 page views per month, but the total looks much higher._

a little ludwig goes a long way: Living Below Your Means. John found a great piece about living below your means. I actually learned quite a bit from the "Millionaire Next Door":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1563523302/qid=1059019860/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/103-8871901-9475810. They call it playing good defense. I'm sure glad Connie is a good defense player :-) BTW, a good test of your below your means quotient is what actual book on Amazon will you buy. The default is you can get a hard cover new for $15.40. But, they also offer a used hardcover for $6.98, a paperback for $10.47, the audio cassette for $12.60 or a used paperback for $7.25. Me? Well, none of the above. I'd got to "Half.com":http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=1062436&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1 where you can get a like new one for $3.95 plus $2 shipping. :-) Guess that makes me cheap. Connie would say, "why do we need this book anyway?" She's the star.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Mini PCs. Despite my headaches with these Shuttle boxes, they clearly are the way to go. So much lighter, but also much faster. John is right about the heat problem. There are nearly 90 watts alone from the processor plus the video system. If we are willing to give up on performance, go to the mobile processors with their advanced power management. Haven't seen mobile processors in mini form factors though.

Eureka, that last post about loose connectors finally tipped me off. When I installed a wireless LAN card in the Shuttle, there is a header behind the card that got disconnected. This blew away the front USB ports and also the audio on *both* the front and the back. Now it is reseated and everything works. The Shuttle is so small, it is easy to dislodge things. h4. Comcast woes continue If you plug a different network card into the Comcast modem, Comcast, unlike AT&T does detection of cards. This forces a complete reinstall and reauthentication. Means that you should make sure to keep your subscriber ID and your work order number around for a _long_ time. You also need to keep the magic installation CD somewhere close. What a hassle. It also requires three reboots even on Windows XP. Sigh.

SFF TECH SS51 FAQ. Hey, here looks like a good source of information on the XPC. Most complete that I've seen. Here are some tidbits: * "Lost Circuits on BIOS":http://www.lostcircuits.com/advice/bios2/1.shtml. Reportedly the most complete explanation of what all those BIOS settings mean. * "Trouble Burning CD-R, CD-RW or DVD":http://www.sfftech.com/showfaqs.cfm?fid=18&fcid=13. If this doesn’t solve your problem, some users have reported vastly improved speed and reliability of CD/DVD drives after installing chipset IDE drivers. Please see the FAQ's 'Drivers & Downloads' category for more information on obtaining these drivers if available for your particular chipset. * "SiS IDE Drivers":http://www.sfftech.com/showfaqs.cfm?fid=18&fcid=23. Do I need to install the SS51 IDE "drivers":http://www.ocworkbench.com/bios/sis/ide202.zip on my machine? No. In fact, these drivers are not provided by Shuttle directly, but are available from SiS, the chipset manufacturer. It has been reported that these drivers resolve certain DMA and other issues relating to CD-ROM, CD-RW, and DVD devices within the SS51. It has also been reported that installing these drivers can increase system hard-disk performance. Note, if you do not install these drivers, Windows or Linux will use its own internal drivers. * "USB 2.0 Drivers":http://www.sis.com/support/driver/utility.htm. You need them if you want to run USB 2.0 on the older SS51G apparently. * "Quieter Fan":http://forums.sudhian.com/messageview.cfm?catid=33&threadid=22772&highlight_key=y&keyword1=psu. The fan is incredibly loud, so some hackers figured out how to rip it out and replace it. Not for the faint of heart.

Just spent a frustrating day trying to get my Dad's Comcast broadband internet connection to work. Spent an hour with a very nice woman at 1-800-comcast, but the thing didn't work at all. Seems that you have to use the Comcast installation CD otherwise, you get incomplete activation. So, it worked for a short time and then failed. She tried to get me to ping sas.r1.attbi.com which I can see at my home, but the DNS seemed completely broken at my Dads. We tried to use the Comcast CD with this Broadjump software and that failed. Then I tried again this afternoon and it worked. Somehow it bypasses a lot of things like a broken DNS. When the thing came up again, I had a completely different and new TCP/IP address. Very interesting. BTw, Comcast level 2 technical support can't be reached, they have to send a trouble ticket and 72 hours later, maybe someone will call you. I'll believe it when I see it. h4. Other wows, no audio or USB on the Shuttle SB61G2. Well, do it yourself also didn't work super well, now the new Shuttle I got my dad has no audio and the front USB ports don't work. They used to. Thank goodness for "google":http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=sb61g2+audio searches of newsgroups which yield... * SB61G2 audio and USB problems. Someone had dead USB, it was because of a loose connector and noisy audio (also sounds like a loose connector) * "Sudian Forums":http://forums.sudhian.com/categories.cfm?catid=43&STARTPAGE=10. They have a forum dedicated to just the Shuttle. Seems pretty active. There are entries on the Corsair memory problem and also bad audio.

The Landing School: Boats For Sale - LS 26 Weekender. What a beautiful boat that "Lewis":http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/llevin/default.asp told me about. He's looking for one that he can use in Maine. Also a nice one for around here. Also he finally explained to me why a sailboat actually moves forward. Let me short circuit this by saying that the "conventional":http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/BernoulliEffect.html explanation of the Bernoulli Effect is not the answer. Where somehow the air on top of the foil must travel faster than the air flowing underneath, like the two flows have a date at the back. To me that answer has always been hard to fathom. If Connie the molecule leaves around one route that is 8 miles and I, "Rich The Molecule" leave on another that is 4 miles, where does it say that Connie is going to paddle twice as fast. More likely, we'll go at the same speed and she'll only be half way around when I finish. Some folks get it right like "Sci-fun":http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/scifun/Activities/FunPhysics/bernblower.html, but it still doesn't explain why a foil like a sail has force. "NASA":http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bernnew.html. Provides the best explanation that I've seen and of course it is complex. It is not just the Bernoulli Principle or the Newton conservation of mass principle. What happens is that the answer is complex and there is something called the Euler Equations that you have to understand. Thanks Lewis!

Harris Cyclery Brakes for Bicycles. I got my BR7301 Tektro 521AG Long-Reach Dual-Pivot Calipers from Harris no problem for just $50 and they only weight 350 grams. Not much given the cost. I had assume my Trek 560 was long "reach":http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_r.html#reach with a "recessed":http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_r.html#recessed mount. But, interestingly, this is one of the few bikes I've seen with a short reach, but it is actually a modern one with a recessed mount and short reach. I didn't realize the Trek's of 1985 were so modern.

Well, I'm almost done with this bike. I'm short a barrel adjuster, but the most important problem right now is how to thread the rear derailleur cable. Here's the response I got from Skip who runs the vintage Trek site:

Hello Richard - I have wondered about that myself. Hmmmmm - Perhaps you can use a vacuum cleaner hose to suck a thin string or thread through the stay, while holding the bike vertically. Then tie the end of the string to the cable and pull it through. Sorry that I don't have the definitive answer. If you do get something to work, please let me know. You could post the question on the vintage light weight discussion "list":http://oldroads.com/d_ltw_def.asp?rec_count=1 . Good Luck! skip vintage-trek.com

Cannot find Weapons of Mass Destruction. The funniest site I've seen in a long time. Someone did a spoof of the "Web Page cannot be displayed" message that Internet Explorer shows and change it to "Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed." Hilarious. Ludwig says I missed it and this went through the blog world a few weeks ago. Oh well, I'm behind. It is the #3 hit on google when you search for "wmd"

VeloNews: Chris Carmichael on Lance and the Time Trial. _Wow, hard to imagine someone who weighs 158 pounds dropping nearly 13 pounds in one day!_ Lance Armstrong lost about 6 kilograms of fluid weight between the morning of stage-12 and the end of the stage-12 time trial, and also lost 1:36 to Jan Ullrich during that same time period. Losing 2 percent of your body weight due to dehydration leads to a 10-15 percent drop in performance, and Lance lost 8 percent. Lance consumed a lot of water and sports drink throughout last evening and the morning of Stage 13. Even though his waking body weight (measured after using the bathroom) was nearly normal, he knew it would be one more day before he regained all his power. During stage 13, he rode carefully and tried to conserve energy wherever he could. All things considered, Lance put in a great performance to finish stage 13 only seven seconds behind Jan Ullrich, and to pass Alexander Vinokourov in the last 500 meters.

Velonews on Stage 15. _Proving that there is still great sportsmanship in professional cycling. Lance falls, but Hamilton and Ullrich tell the race leaders to wait for him_ Armstrong was sent toppling to the ground just as he was accelerating away from Ullrich and the lead bunch of riders with about 10km to go. Armstrong had just shot by the attacking Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) and drifted to the right side of the road when a fan's yellow musette hooked the right side of Armstrong's. It was my fault because I was riding too close to the fans," Armstrong said. "The bag hooked my handlebar and there wasn't much I could do." Ullrich swerved to his left to miss the downed Armstrong and Mayo, and the race was thrown into chaos as the leading bunch was unsure if Armstrong would continue in the race. Ullrich pedaled on ahead with Tyler Hamilton (CSC), Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo), Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel) and Christophe Moreau (Crédit Agricole). Hamilton and Ullrich told the other riders to slow down and wait for Armstrong.

After Stage 14, Lance is in trouble. _Ullrich is looking very strong at 15 seconds behind and Vino is just 18 seconds, tomorrow is the last mountain stage and Lance hasn't been great at the individual time trials...gulp, here's his own personal assessment_ With astonishing frankness, Armstrong spoke about his supposed 'decline'. "It's fair (to ask that); I'm not riding as well as I have in years past," he admitted. "I can't exactly say why, but I wouldn't argue with people who say I'm declining. This is a sport where you can not only look at the differences between other riders, but you can look at the times on certain climbs. If you look at the times on l'Alpe d'Huez, that's four minutes slower, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that guy is not as strong as he was two years ago. Something is not clicking." "I knew it was going to be close but I probably didn't expect it to come down to the last few decisive stages," he added. "There's one more day in the mountains and the final time trial. But, hey, I mean something's not gone right... but there's nothing I can do about that now; all I can do is wake up every morning and do my best. And that's what I'm doing. If we get to (the final time trial in) Nantes and I have fifteen seconds (lead) and I lose by the time trial by sixteen, it will go down as the closest Tour de France in history. And I'll go home and have a cold beer and come back next year. So I'm not going to cry and whine; I'm just going do my best."

Custom Clothing. Hat tip to rec.bicycles.tech, Sugoi makes custom jerseys. Just the thing for the STP. Get a bunch that say *ignition* on it :-)

Satoshi's Wireless Weblog: User Interface is an Art: KDDI will bet on BREW. More astute analysis by Satoshi. He points out that the three major carriers will each have their own unique development environments. Also, that super fast QVGA screens are coming. i can't wait!

"Ullrich Wins!":http://www.letour.fr/2003/us/live.oft?service=RaceServer&RaceType=TDF&RaceYear=2003&StageNumber=1200&Language=ANG. Wow, Ullrich, decisively won the Stage 12 time trial. What a performance to watch. Ullrich has won before and with four mountain stages coming, this is going to be a very interesting race. Now Stages 13-16 are going to be super interesting. It's on at 6 AM Pacific Time on Outdoor Life. You can also hear it on "OLN":http://olntv.com. Can't wait. Makes me want to ride myself.

Lance is only 30 seconds or so ahead, so the upcoming time trial is key. "Chris Carmichael":http://www.olntv.com/tdf03/carmichael11.html says that this could be the deciding moment. A short race, perfect for an Ullrich vs. Armstrong race. Also, if you missed it, here the incredible footage of the "Beloki":http://www.olntv.com/tdf03/carmichael11.html crash on stage 10 and Lance doing the cross country thing to stay in the race. Incredible.

tubing. A long thread on what frame material is better led to this article that is an objective view of the material strength. Great for geeks, while others debate (endlessly) whether a steel, aluminum, titanium or carbon fiber bike is better. Anyway interesting reading, it shows essentially, that steelis the most dense between aluminum and titanium. Also says that for a given density (e.g, same construction), then the stiffness of aluminum and steel are identical (would not have thought that) Also, that the stregnth of the latest type of steel (Reynolds 853) is greater than aluminums and nearly that of Titanium. Basically, it used to be that steel was heavier for a given stiffness, but with Reynolds 853, this isn't true. Titanium particularly the high end 6Al-4V beats everything, but is super expensive (40% stronger than Reynolds 853 and same stiffness). The last disadvantage is that steel does rust and does fatigue, so has a theoretically shorter life if you ride like a maniac.

Heartratemonitor.co.uk Comparison. A good comparison of the two best cyclocomputers out there. The Polar, I have. It is twice as expensive because it measures power output more exactly, but the HAC4 has more features. Plus, Lance uses the HAC4. Anyway, I ordered the power output kit for the Polar, so we'll see. Beside the more accurate power output calculation, the HAC4 has more altimeter functions such as the gradient, rate of ascent and descent. Summary is the HAC4 sounds like a better value, but the Polar is more accurate. Also see the "Cycling Forum":http://www.cyclingforums.com/t25754.html thread that essentially says the HAC4 software isn't that good and the Polar is unreliable in its readings.

Roadcycling.com - Cycling news - It's a secret ... sorta. Great article about new bicycles. Good picture of the Trek Madone 5.9. Also, Cannondale has a bike that weighs just 14.8 lbs (!!!!). And, the new Campagnolo Record Carbon apparently has different directions for their carbon fiber, so a derailleur won't snap like a toothpick if pressed the wrong way in a crash. Good idea! "Cycling News on Dura-Ace 2004":http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2003/news/apr24. There is also lots of news about the new 10-speed Dura-Ace and other hcanges they've made.