Frequently, well-meaning friends or colleagues send me links to articles on the New York Times website: nytimes.com. I think it was ten years ago when I first jumped through their “give us personal information about yourself in exchange for free access to our articles” hoops. Since then, EVERY TIME I’ve wanted to see an article on their godforsaken site I’ve had to create a brand-new login. I don’t know whether its their policy to throw away accounts older than 30… Read the rest
Actually, I did it on purpose. I knew there was a chance it might rain, and I thought that if I was gonna get caught riding home in the rain, I’d rather ride the heavy, stable, upright bike with the electric handwarmers (one of which actually works) than the beast with 120 horsepower on a hairtrigger, the steep steering angle, and the brakes capable of throwing me forward over the handlebars.
Well, sure enough it rained tonight. I waited for … Read the rest
Apparently a 2.1 gHz G5 has enough horsepower to decode an HDTV signal and display it fullscreen without the stuttering pauses that plagued the setup on the old dual-processor G4 system. The cinema aspect ratio monitor isn’t much bigger than my old CRT, but it is wider, so TV shows that come in in widescreen look a lot better.
Oddly enough, even plain old network TV is pretty watchable in HD. I have to admit that … Read the rest
One of the problems of reading books that have been recommended is the fall to reality from the expectations generated by high praise. Light almost certainly suffered from this.
Although I found it to be an enjoyable read, I did not find Light to be engaging. The characters were largely difficult to empathize with, and instead of character development Harrison sends his characters off in multiple directions without much reason. Indeed, the resolution of the book is so indeterminate that it … Read the rest
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/03/MNGHFHI5HM4.DTL&type=printable
This morning was the second time since returning to work that my commute on the train has been delayed by a fatality on the tracks. It’s bad enough being late to work, to find out the reason is that someone died after getting in the way of my chosen vehicle (well, another one on the same route anyhow) is really saddening.… Read the rest
It was on this day in 2005 that I walked into Golden Gate Cycles on Pine Street and paid way too much for an underpowered but shiny and pretty miniature cruiser. I’d had my motorcycle endorsement for all of thirty hours and was determined not to be the squid who liquifies himself on the way off the dealer’s lot, so I wasn’t considering anything bigger than a 250cc bike. Other than that, I wanted something I could buy with … Read the rest
For whatever reason, the Tiananmen protests stuck with me more than the fall of the Berlin Wall. I find people rallying against an oppressive regime a more compelling story than a large military force surrendering to another large military force. Maybe it’s just the drama of the story, or maybe it’s that I don’t believe what Mao wrote about power flowing from the barrel of a gun. I believe in democracy, not just as a principle but as a practical … Read the rest
Did you all hear about that custom and rare car collector that died of carbon monoxide poisoning while running his foreign cars in his garage without opening the garage door?
The coroner’s report said he died of auto-exotic asphyxia.
…
I just bought a sign to put on my wall. Generally I think these fake old tin signs are sort of tacky, but I remember being a little kid obsessed with dinosaurs, and when I discovered that there was a … Read the rest
New Progressive 412 rear shocks on the Stone. They’re all shiny and chromey and I wish I’d gotten black covers instead. The shiny chrome makes the rest of the bike look dirty. I’ll try cleaning it and see if the chrome starts looking good.
Replacing the rear suspension was surprisingly easy. It took only about 20 minutes. OK, granted that Turnsignal Tim did all the real work, but I was there and it was really straightforward.
What amazes me is that … Read the rest