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!http://photos-356.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v79/6/97/505253356/n505253356_57356_4479.jpg! Skis have gotten fatter and fatter. Five years ago when I bought my first set, the “mid fat” was a very chunky 78mm at the waist (the narrowest part of the ski under your foot). Now you regularly find people with 90mm and wider that you can use for every day and carving. And with the incredible ski season of last year and this year, there are lots of days with 12 inches of new powder where a 78mm will just sink. The new powder skis make anyone look good. So what’s a good ski? Well, there are lots of reviews, but “Skiing”:http://skinet.com does the most comprehensive. Amazingly, the reviews can’t be found on the web except by an incredibly ungainly interface that merges the test results of Ski and Skiing so they are pretty much impossible to read and it isn’t clear where the scores come from. So, you pretty much have to subscribe to the paper version of Skiing and wait for every September. From that, you can find the so called “Big Mountain” skis which are those that are between 95mm and 110mm in width. Here are the best of the best:

# “Volkl Gotama”:http://www.volkl.com/ski/freeskiing_gotama.html . These skis have great karma is you happen to be buddhist. In fact, “Gotama”:http://www.yourdictionary.com/gotama and in case you didn’t know like me, it’s pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, go it it go’ ta ma. Technically, it is the family family name of Buddha (so his full name was Gautama Buddha) in his last early incarnation int he sixth century. “Wikipedia”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotama points out that. As a ski from Volkl, it is what’s call a freeski or a freeride ski meaning it is mean for going out beyond the groomed. It is a 133-105-124 size in the 176cm length (respectively, it is 133mm at the widest tip, 105mm at the waist and 124mm at the tail). I demoed it yesterday and it was amazing. We were in four feet powder down a hill and it really floated up, as well as 2 foot powder on the trails and finally on a beginner run that was groomed. The 176cm length seems very short and if you are in the backseat (that is leaning back), the tip wobbles like crazy, so this is a ski that you really want to be forward (think, I can’t see the tips when I’m skiing forward). It lists for $800, but typically, it is $700 at REI, Altrec and just about everywhere else. These skis like the others ski short, so a 176cm is good for most folks below 5″11″
# “Line Prophet 100″:http://www.lineskis.com/#/skis/freeride/big_mountain/prophet_100 . I had not heard of Line until this year. K2 acquired them last year. This is their Big Mountain Free Ride ski. It is just $600 list and is top rated by Powder, Free skier and Skiing magazine. It can handle all the powder and is short and light. So you can use it on the groomers too. After 5 years, basically, the all purpose ski has moved from 78mm to 100mm (that’s a move from 3 to 4 inches wide, so a big change).
# “Black Diamond Verdict”:http://www.bdel.com/gear/verdict.php this is another freeride ski that lists for $600. It wont Outside Magazine and did very well in the Skiing Magazine tests. They recommend the 170cm if you are under 165 pounds. It’s incredibly versatile as it can be used for telemark, for downhill or for alpine touring as “telemarkski.com”:http://www.telemarkski.com/html/rvw_black_diamond_verdict.html points out.

By the way if you want to know from real users, “Epicski.com”:http://epicski.com seems to be the place folks hang out and you can hear unscientific opinions. ;-0

So what binding would you pair with a ski like this, well, I normally use Marker (no reasons except that this is what I started with). So in that like, the “Jester”:http://www.backcountry.com/store/MRK0006/c/s/Marker-Jester-Ski-Binding.html seems like the best fit. It is a freeride binding, so it is heavier which is bad, but more durable and it won’t release forward which make a difference doing tricks. Probably too much binding for someone like me who isn’t doing jumps, but looks nice in white These by the way do require you swap out the ski brakes as they are a max of 90mm and the ski needs a 110mm brake. As “REI”:http://www.rei.com/product/759064 says, it is for the big mountain. List for $330. There don’t seem to be any reviews of bindings, so hard to say what is better.

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Someone asked me about radar detectors. I’ve actually never gotten one, but have looked over the years, but haven’t had the patience to use them, plus I don’t go fast too much. That being said, the state of the art has really improved. “007radardetectors.com”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/tests.htm runs an annual test and while expensive at $400-500, the very best ones really do a pretty good job. “Laserveil.com”:http://www.laserveil.com/escort/passport/9500i/ also does a nice job.

The main ones to consider are from the big three, Escort, Bel and Valentine that have been constant favorites:

* “Escort Passport 9500i”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/escort_9500i.htm. This one is $450 and it has a GPS built in so it remembers where false signals are. Since garage door openers and motion sensors use the same frequencies as police radar, getting false signals is a big problem. Its accurate as well. The main drawback is that it isn’t completely stealth, the police have something called VG-2 that can detect emissions that radar detectors make. In some states like Virginia, it is illegal to have radar detectors. It is also heavy at 10 ounces. It doesn’t score a perfect on many things, but is very highly rated.
* “Bel STi Driver”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/bel_sti_driver.htm. This has nearly the best sensitivity of all of them and is completely stealth. It is also $450.
* “Valentine One”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/valentine_radar.htm has the best sensitivity of them all, but it is a matter of degrees.

Finally thanks to the Internet, there is even a site that tracks speed traps called “speedtrap.org”:http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/ste_city.asp?state=WA

And with all those lasers out there, all kinds of folks are selling IR blocking paint like “veil”:http://laserveil.com that makes it harder for a laser to see the reflective parts of a car like the headlamps. I have no idea if these work though.

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I’ve been using “Thule”:http://thuleracks.com for years and Yakima before then. They are both great. Just depends on what you started with. The old !>http://www.thuleracks.com/images/logo.gif! Volvo used Thule, so switched to them a while back. It is hard to get discounts on the stuff, but typically you can get 10% off of list. We’ve used “Rackwarehouse.com”:http://rackwareshouse.com in the past and they’ve been reliable. “REI”:http://rei.com also carries them and you can go visit. In Seattle, there is “Rack and Road”:http://rackandroad.com. REI sells at list price, but Rack and Road has a 10% discount. The main issue with mail order is you really have to know what you want and you should wait for a sale that knocks 10% off and gives you free shipping and hopefully no tax (not true for REI and Rack and Road as they have retail locations in Washington for me).

It is confusing, but there is a fit guide on these sites that helps you. for a typical car, which today has no rain gutters, you have to get:

* feet (400xtr Aero’s are typical)
* a bar (47″ is typical for a small car)
* a fit kit which are little thingies that tie into your cars doors
* wind shield on the front because it sure does blow and cause lots of noise
* a set of 4 locks as the above lists at something like $410 and it is depressing to have it all stolen

Then, you can move on to the actual stuff on the racks themselves. I know this costs a lot, but think about what it would cost to have your bike or skis sailing down the road. The big decision is whether to go with the traditional big square bars or their new aluminum aero bars. Personally, the square bars are functional and cheaper but ugly whereas the aero ones actually look like they might be part of the car. If you get aero like the 400xtr, they you have to get aero adapters for everything.

* Six ski rack pack. This is the most versatile. Most of the time, you can get three skis in but lay them flat rather than pressed together. You can also put your poles up there too.
* “Sidearm”:http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=594. Thule has tried many bike mounting systems, but there are so many different kinds of mountain bikes now, that they don’t work well, this one is expesnive at $145 list but should work on everything since it actually is a friction system against the bike tire which is reasonably standard. If you have a road bike and don’t want to attach it to a tube especially bikes that are carbon fiber where the tube can crush, then get the “Peloton”:http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=517 which is fork mounted.

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Well, it certainly is snowing and raining a lot in Seattle. Most folks just use the tires that come on their cars, but having dedicated snow and rain tires really make a difference. “Tire Rack”:http://tirerack.com is an amazing source of information about winter tires. For instance, they explain the basics of those crazy “tire size”:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=46 and “service description”:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35 that tires use like 225/50R16 91H becomes something you might understand (225mm wide, 50% as tall tire, radial construction, 16 inch rims, 92 means each tire can carry up to 630kg and be run at speeds up to 130mph.

More importantly, they have great advice for winter tire “sizing”:http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=126 that is to get a narrower than stock tire. So if the stock tire is say 225/50R16 then you can use a narrow 205/50R16 tire (that is 205mm wide instead of 225mm wide) because you plow less snow in front of you. Also they have “recommended”:http://www.tirerack.com/installer/Installer.jsp?zipCode=98004 that are top quality folks like Auto Dynamix in Bellevue.

Perhaps most important, they have lots of end user “surveys”:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=C that tell you what other folks like. In the winter category, these are the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D which is great in just about everything except really bad ice. It is a performance winter tire. If you really want the very best ice and snow, then the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 seemst o be the ticket, but it isn’t as good on dry pavement, so better for those really winter all the time places. For us in Seattle where the only real snow is up skiing, the Dunlop seems like a better choice. You basically can run these winter tires for six months and then when its the summer, go back to high performance summer tires.

One last tip is to make it easy, invest in some nice looking alloy wheels, so that you don’t have the expense of constantly remounting your winter tires. While a good set of allow rims may cost $400, the $20 per tire it costs to remount adds up quickly.

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If you have a 1.0.2 phone and you click on itunes and take the 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 update, you will unfortunately have a bricked phone that won’t make calls but will work on Wifi. There are a host of ways to fix this, but here are some folks who can help:

iPhone 1.1.1 Special Report: Native apps, unlocking/unbricking, troubleshooting – iPhone Atlas

# Downgrade your iPhone to firmware/software 1.0.2 if you are currently using a “bricked” 1.1.1 iPhone.
# Jailbreak your iPhone. The simplest method for this is to use AppTapp.
# Once Installer.app is on your phone, use it to install the BSD Subsysem and OpenSSH (both under “Subsystem.”)
# Download the re-virgizining tool,
# Follow this guide to use the re-virginizing tool to restore your phone to a factory-fresh state.
# Using iTunes, update your iPhone to software/firmware 1.1.1 and make sure it works normally (it won’t be unlocked at this point, but should work with AT&T SIM cards)
# Jailbreak your iPhone again using this guide for Mac OS X or this automated tool for Windows.
# Put AnySIM for iPhone software/firmware 1.1.1 on your iPhone using this guide for Mac OS X or this guide for Windows.

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It does point out you typically need a new battery every three years and the best places to get them are Goodyear, Sears, Firestone or Pep Boys. You can get them cheaper at a Target, K-mart or Walmart or even online,b ut then you have to install it yourself.

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Doesn't mean it is perfect for instance the new 1D Mark III which is a 10 megapixel (the lack of 's' is a big deal) camera that has focus problems that "RobGalbraith.com":http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-8746-9194 has spend lots of time figuring out. The main thing is a chance to the sub-mirror assembly (whatever that is) that improves autofocus in AI Servo mode at higher temperatures plus the 1.1.3 firmware installation.

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It just goes to show what happens if you read Consumer Reports and “Car and Driver”:http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/11724/2007-mazdaspeed-3.html and try to find a car that both the practical folks at CR like and the sporty folks at C&D like. The only crossovers are the BMW 328i and the Mazdaspeed 3. I have never even thought about buying a Mazda before, but it makes some sense when you think about it. The Mazda 3 was called the Protege and really saved that company. The Mazdaspeed 3 itself has 260 horsepower on a very light 2500 pound chassis, so it just flies at 5.7 seconds 0-60 and it is just $25K. That’s kind of an amazing value. And it has really gotten some good reviews. The car won Car and Driver 10Best this year and last year and over a “couple”:http://www.caranddriver.com/carreviews/2008-mazda-mazda3/mazdaspeed_3.html of reviews including this month where it won the “hot hatches in the roaring 20s”:http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/14232/subaru-wrx-v-dodge-caliber-srt4-v-mazdaspeed-3-v-volvo-c30.html.

There is a “2008.5″:http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123687977 model refresh that happens in January. The big ones are that Sunlight Silver and Cosmic Blue (I actually like that color) are being discontinued, instead you can now choose Black mica, True Red, Crystal White Pearl Mica and Metropolitan Gray Mica (hey that’s is that means Blue and Silver are gone and you now get Black, Red, White and Gray . Also they are taking all the Dark Gray trim out and replacing it with Black.

The main competition looks like the Subaru Impreza WRT and the Mitsubishi EVO. Both are $5K more expensive since they are all wheel drive and the Mazda is larger in the rear seat so more practical.

Why does it work so well? The chassis is actually developed by Volvo and is the Ford C1 global platform. It is what is used in the Ford focus and the Volvo S40. Ford owns 30% of Mazda so that makes sense. and is inside the 40 series cars, so it has a European like ride. The rear suspension was designed by Ford and is an E-link multilink suspension. The transmission is borrowed from the RX-8. The car is made in Japan and has a 2.3 liter, turbocharged engine and comes with a six-speed manual for the old fashion folks like me. Outside of America, it is called the “Axela”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Axela.

Only thing to note is that in 2009, there will be a redesign coming which will be sportier and the 2.3L will become at 2.5L with photos at “Edmunds.com”:http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=122903. That means btw about 30hp more for the 2009 model.

“Mazdas247.com”:http://www.mazdas247.com/ seems to be the place that Mazda types hang out.

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