Living in Arizona, it can sure be tough to get out and pound the pavement when the temps climb into triple digits. Many people recede to the gym, and work out in air conditioned comfort, but I have always hated the gym (variety of reasons). So I lace up my shoes at lunch and go for a run, or I ride my bicycle in to the off (always good for a 106F+ ride home). People in the office look at me like...
Touching a nerve
So, I have a regular blog where I talk about product management and other career-like things. I get 20 or so visits a day, and I have some followers in the product management / product marketing world. I try to be a little bit of a balance against all the happy-feel-good self promoting blogs from the Product Management conslutants. Some things I have noticed: The greater the “snark”...
The curse of being a “Techie” – Making things too complicated
I have always been adept at technology. I am sure that some of it is natural aptitude, and some is single bloody-minded-ness that I learned from working with many different computers and other “smart” devices for years (decades now). I am the person that all my family calls when they have problems with tech. But sometimes, it is a curse. Case in point: In 2007 or 2008, we took the...
More nostalgia – Technology – the PC Clone
After my Atari 8 bit and 16 bit days, I tacked hard into PC clone land. My first build was a Mylex motherboard, with 640K ram, and a 286 CPU. I remember buying the components from a variety of sources, but since this was pre-internet (probably 1986 or so) I didn’t mail order anything. Probably got much of it at Fry’s Electronics. Added to this was an PC AT case and power supply, a...
The good ol’ days – Technology edition
Like everyone who makes it to middle age, I have a rich tapestry of memories. Today, while bicycling, I reminisced about my first computer, an Atari 800. The year was 1979, my freshman year of high school, and I got exposed to the new computer lab at school. It had (I think) 4 Apple ][+’s each with two disk drives, and small color composite monitors. I was in love. Of course, I...
Fitness Update (was how I am trying to not be a “People of Walmart”)
Been a while since I updated. I started this quest about 2 months ago (actually April 9th, I started weighing myself daily), and I was 232#’s. I began counting calories, and tracking everything I ate, as well as trying to be more diligent about exercising. In early May, I got back on the bicycle (first ride in 6 months or so, I was rusty and SORE afterwards), and have been getting more...
Hypermiling – Pisses me off
Today on the drive home, I was behind a Prius who was hypermiling. In case you are unaware, there is a phenomenon in the hybrid car world of people who work to minimize their fuel consumption. The cars’ onboard computer very accurately tracks fuel consumption, and they challenge themselves to keep the MPG as high as possible. To do this, they very slowly accelerate from a stop light, and...
Why I hate Microsoft, part 1,392
I freely admit that I am a Mac user. OS-X just works better for me, and my workflow. But I will grant that Windows 7 is pretty good, and usable. Of course, since I work in the corporate world, I am forced to use Windows (well, in the past I have been a rebel and was a Mac in a PC world, but I stopped beating my head against that wall). For the most part, Windows is fine. I even like Office 2010...
Google All Access versus Spotify Premium
Recap: After Google announced their “All Access” plan for their Play service, I jumped on the free week. The intent was to compare it to Spotify which I had been a premium customer for about a year and a half (I went premium there to get rid of the ads and the “sponsored tunes” which really sucked – being top 40 crap). Early on, the reason why I went to spotify was...
Physics Geek Alert
In a meeting today, we were talking about models for contact mechanics to measure the indentation of an indenter probe into a surface. I got to correct someone that the correct term is Hertz-Sneddon.
Ian Sneddon, referred to as a Mathematician, made significant contributions to many areas of physics.
Yeah, I am a geek.