Thinking of Playa Del Carmen & Tequila

Not work or kid safe, but funny!

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Man Can Fly!

This video says it all. Wow!


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Following Tim O'Reilly on Twitter brings this kind of juicy bits. Thanks Tim!

05/25/07: Log of 3 Runs and a Rave: Neighborhood

More runs during which I listened to the Daily Source Code and Phedippidations. I didn't shave all week. I didn't blog during the week. Yes, you can guess. I did work. And, work, work, work. The all consuming WORK. But, I guess that's the price of living. Earn and spend the dimes. The work is challenging right now, but I do like challenges. So, it isn't all bad. And, is a lot good.

A couple of the runs below were in the afternoon. Man, I forgot how hot it can get. Steve, from Phedippidations, did a show on running etiquette. Number one on his list, don't wear headphones during races. Forget about it, Steve. I disagree that it is a violation of etiquette. That said, there are times when the volume should be off or very low. Like during announcements and such. Now, the passing in the chute thing (one runner passes another after the finish line, but before the officials take the tag from the runners number), that is BAD, BAD, BAD. Some good pointers in general though. However, I will be using my iPod for all races.

Steve also noted that his greatest single influence in his life was his dad. Upon reflection, I realized that I am a narcissist. The greatest single influence in my life is me. As I look back over nearly 50 years, there are numerous people that have influenced me. In fact, I can think of individual lessons learned from some of these influencers. But, the constant and most significant influence remains me. I define my essence and I plot my course through a sea of influences. But, I have to admit that I do feel some jealousy for those that have had the fortune to be born to good parents that can be cornerstones for life. STOP, no pity! I am doing great. The turmoil my parents created, created the mix of circumstances that helped to launch my life. I think P. Diddy said something like "as I look back at those I once hated, I have to thank them for being teachers."

Data

05/25/07: Afternoon

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:42
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	9:13
Weather:	Partly cloudy 87° Humidity-34%

05/23/07: Afternoon

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	47:48
Heart Rate:	146
Pace:	9:33
Weather:	Few clouds 82° Humidity-40%

05/22/07: Morning

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:36
Heart Rate:	144
Pace:	8:52
Weather:	Clear 70° Humidity-57%

Microsoft Vista Experience (so far)

I loaded Microsoft's Vista operating system last weekend (11/18-19/2006), and yes it took 2 days. I put it on a machine that was runnning Redhat's Fedora. So, I thought fine, I would boot the machine with the Vista DVD. NO LUCK. A windows install exe is not going to launch from Fedora. So, I loaded Windows Server 2003 from its installation CD which was bootable. NO LUCK, Vista in stall said must be Windows 2000 or XP. So, I loaded XP, then launched Vista Install. Walla Walla! Got Vista running.

I haven't used it as my main computer yet, but I am liking it so far. Although, I haven't seen anything earth shattering. The sidebar is cool, but hardly innovative. Didn't Windows 95 have something like this for a brief time. I did start ripping CDs to fill up the 15 GBytes of wasted space on my Creative Zen. I found a nice feature in Media Player 11 on Vista. You could tell it to rip on load and eject when done. This made mindless ripping easy. Everytime the door on the CD player opens, switch CD. But, Media Player starts ripping the first track before the track's info is loaded and it gets ripped without the info used by the player for organization. So, I had to turn off auto-rip. Fix this, Microsoft!

Finished "Knowing the Enemy"

Mary started from the position that we should ask the Islamic extremists why they are doing what they are doing. Given this position, she demonstrated how one can take these explanations and see the historical threads that led to the conclusions used by the extremists. This made for a very interesting analysis and reading. I find Mary's description of today's events and the history that led to them compelling and convincing. The extremists believe that they are on a path that is blessed by Allah and as such readily dismiss our forms of government. Further, they have managed to find a message that resonates with many in the Islamic world. Mary concludes the book with some reasonable advice. First, rename the "war on terror" to something that makes it clear that the war is on those that have declared jihad on America. This is not war against a tactic. Second, we need to help change the shape of the governance over most of the Arab community where the current governments are corrupt and oppressive. This does not mean invade and turn them into little America's. It does mean helping to support any initiative that puts the people in control and moves toward democratization and undermine the ability of the Jihadists to just garner continuing support.

Accident Hash Rave

Show 160 of Accident Hash was the best I have heard. Someone apparently wrote that C.C. likes pop music beats and he reacted (maybe, overreacted) and I loved it! Go C.C., I was driving and hanging out in the gym while listening, but man if I had been running this show would have ruled. Last, but not least, I must buy some Munk.

Book Update: Finished Podcast Solutions

I found the book very informative and the chatty style (not to be confused with lots of words) that created the allusion of a conversation with the authors was great. I have podcasting equipment on order and have improved the production quality of my podcasts that are hosted on an intranet as a result of reading this book. If you are interested in Podcasting , this is a great book.

Found a Running Podcast!

I was listening to the Dawn and Drew Show, a podcast, recently and they played a snippet of some guy that was recording a podcast while running. So, I went to their website and got the link, http://www.steverunner.com, and I am now checking it out. Too early for me to say if I like it yet, as I have not had a chance to listen. But, what a good idea. I emailed Steve too. He sure seems like a nice person as well. Thanks for the reply Steve. I asked him about the equipment he used to record.

I noticed a question/answer board, basically "Ask Steve", where there is an anwser to how one knows if he is a runner or a jogger. I gotta say, I think the answer is simpler. Ask the runner or the jogger (depends on their self-perception). Just my opinion. Me, I'm a runner and a jogger. Now, the ultimate question is are you "a real runner", lol (lots of laughs). For me, the answers to this question provides a framework for "you're a real runner if...".

You're a real runner if:

• You run in the rain
• You run in the cold
• You understand putting vaseline on your nipples
• You know the definition of "chub rub"
• You watch friends drink while you abstain 'cause you have to run tomorrow
• You drink beer tonight even though you are running tomorrow

This list could get huge.... But, I have heard this at many a runner/jogger gathering.

The Dark Tower - Finally or No, Not Yet!

Stephen King has written the last of the Dark Tower series and I have been reading them as they have come out since the 1980's. What a long time! I thoroughly enjoyed the journey through the books. I have found it difficult to read other books of this type (read as Tolkien and such). Yet, I was attracted to this story and its main characters. It has been a great read.

First, I was excited to learn the last one was done. Finally, we get to the tower! Second, I was sad to think the journey was to end. Roland and his ka-tet traveled far, fought hard, and shared their souls.


Thanks for the trip, Stephen.

Rave - I Figured Out How to Use My Zen Sleek

I have had my Creative Zen Sleek for a few months now, and finally I have learned how to use it correctly. My major mistake was to somehow get my music loaded on to the player where each artist and album was treated as a folder. Thus, the desktop software seemed to suck when it came to looking at all songs for sorting and such. I reformatted and loaded anew. This time I selected all the tracks on the PC tab after selected the various directories within which I may have music and drug them to the "Music" tab on the player. Now, I can slice and dice 'em. Don't know how I started down the folder path, but it sucked. I can also look for the most recently loaded on to the PC. Thus, noticing what needs to be moved is now easy. Yeppee!