Tralfaz

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  • Hiking – Almaden Quicksilver Park

    Since I blew out my legs riding yesterday, I decided to take it easy, and go for a hike.

    Ha ha ha.

    I printed a map for Almaden Quicksilver Park, and hit the trails.

    Not really sure where I was going, I just started up New Almaden trail, and then turned onto the Hacienda trail. Holy shit, it was a butt kicker. Large, wide trail, but very very steep. The first leg of the Hacienda trail is marked for hiking only, and it is now wonder why.

    Got to the juncture with Mine Hill trail, and found a lot of cyclists. Got some guidance, so I took Mine Hill trail, avoided the turn to Castillero Trail (it appears to be an extra 0.3 miles).

    There is a great view of Mt. Umunhum and a little rest area, with a couple of benches, a horse watering trough, and some much appreciated shade.

    From there, I continued on Mine Hill trail, a meandering (and much welcome) downhill along a ridge. Of course after about two tenths of a mile of shade, the sun was baking.

    The turn south on Prospect Trail #3, a hiking only trail, was steep, switchback laden, and difficult to hike. Of course, there was evidence of some douche-y mountain bikers riding (boo) on these trails.

    By the time I got to the intersection of Prospect and the New Almaden trail, I was at the 6 mile mark, and I just wanted the hike to be over. The downhill was doing damage to my feet. Not accustomed to the boots, I could feel the blisters forming. Crap.

    About 2.1 more miles, and I was finally back at the parking area.

    Total damage: 8.1 miles, 1776 calories, 1575 feet of climbing, 3:01 total time (2:39 moving time).

    I should have done another 34 mile bike ride…

  • Bicycling Magazine – what world do they inhabit?

    Bicycling Magazine – what world do they inhabit?

    I have posted about the ridiculousness of Bicycling Magazine in the past. I do not purposefully subscribe, but instead I get a copy with my Performance Bicycle membership.

    Every month, this rubbish appears at my house. This month’s edition has a giant picture of a rear cassette from SRAM that has 11 speeds. Of course, you have to go to page 94 to figure out why the fuck they have this (hint: it is a way to have only one chainring on your crank, and still ride a wide variety of terrain. Of course, they say that unless you are a novice, or have very specific needs, don’t buy it).

    On the cover there are leaders for:

    • A pizza that is rocket fuel for riding (It is a restaurant in San Francisco making a wood-fired Naples style pizza)
    • Pot and riding (in states where recreational marijuana is allowed, and yes, WADA will still fuck up your shit if you compete and piss positive.)
    • And, a lame link to one of their Q&A’s on what to do if you get dropped.

    Yes, the last one. I had to look it up. It is referring to being on a group ride, and being dropped means that on a climb, you lag and they all tear off ahead. How to handle that (just keep riding, no need to apologize, because some of us are fat fucks that can’t climb worth shit.

    Of course there are plenty of reviews of bikes. Herein lies my biggest grief about this magazine. Virtually all the bikes they test and review are $2800 and above. Yes, some times they go bargain shopping, but far more likely what they are reviewing is a $6K bike.

    Seriously, their attitude is that you don’t get into anything worth riding until you are well above $3,500. That is just fucking whacked.

    s-works-webWould I be able to tell the difference between my $1200 Lemond Buenos Aires and a Specialized S-Works? Yep. Would I be able to discern an $8K price differential? Nope.

    The funny thing: For the last 3 months, I have received an: “Act NOW!” letter to renew my subscription. Really, like I want to spend $20 a year on this rag.

    Last article I read: On the benefit of going to bicycle mechanic school. Starts with a tale of a 26 year old racer who has been on the pro circuit since she was 13. Never twisted a wrench, it was done by her father or a mechanic. So she went to school.

    Seriously, if you don’t have enough mechanical intuition to do the basics (adjust cables, change and adjust brakes, lubricate bearings, true wheels), just take it to a shop. For fuck’s sake, you don’t need to go to school for that shit.

  • The Dentist

    Today was that twice yearly ritual, visiting the Dentist. Hygienist and a quick check.

    Where else will you get the joys of the poker, the gouger, and the scraper jabbed at your teeth and gums? As I have long had some moderate gum recession, I get exhortations about keeping the exposed root on my first molars clean.  And the reminder to use a fluoride rinse.

    Ah, the pleasant staff, the pain of gouged gums, the mild bleeding. The hamfisted attempt by the hygienist to have a conversation (seriously, you are elbows deep in my mouth…)

    And of course, where else would I hear the light banter of KBAY 94.5, and the latest Kelly Clarkson tune?  I mean c’mon, isn’t that the definition of a great time.

    Of course, I have hairline fractures in another tooth, so I will get to go back for a quick filling to hold it together and avoid a catastrophic failure and yet another crown.

    Great day.

  • Seen in Silicon Valley – Mystery Spot

    Seen in Silicon Valley – Mystery Spot

    More in the things found in Silicon Valley. This isn’t as mundane as a Mercedes with a lawnmower in the trunk. Nope, this is about the Tourist Trap, AKA The Mystery Spot.

    kome_packWhy am I bringing it up? Mainly because there are so damn many of their bumper stickers everywhere. I swear every third car has a “Mystery Spot” decal. More than used to have the iconic KOME 98.5 decals back in the day

    The attraction is a “house” built in Santa Cruz where it “appears” that the laws of physics has been suspended. Balls roll uphill, you can’t stand perpendicular to the floor, yada yada.

    Of course they offer some ridiculous explanations of the phenomenon. From their website, they claim that there is a circular magnetic anomaly, 150 feet in diameter that affects the local gravity. Of course this is malarky. The physicist in me doesn’t need to calculate the mass of such an anomaly to know that it would have to be neutron star density. But it plays well to the rubes.

    bumper stiskerReality is that the house is built on a hill, and thus is slanted 20 degrees from normal, while carefully modifying the perspectives so that the brain is confused by the eye. The human mind wants to find horizons and levels, and will use the clues of the structure to build this, even if they are way out of what we would consider normal.

    A thorough debunking was done in the 1990’s by a psychologist at UC Berkeley.

    Of course, that hasn’t quenched the popularity one iota, and you see shitloads of Mystery Spot decals.

    (Side note: It is damn sad that the KOME decals sell for $12 on FleaBay)

  • Not going to happen – Comcast Solar

    Not going to happen – Comcast Solar

    Over the last week, I have had three calls from Comcast. Trying to sell me on their "Energy" program.

    Apparently they want to install solar cells on my house, pay me $1,200 for the privilege of doing this, and save like 20% on my electric bill.

    Asking them who "owns" the panels brought about a lot of hemming and hawing. Apparently I grant them access to put them on my roof, and to feed into the power grid, and I get some minimal credit for the electricity. But I don't own them.

    From the hassle I had to go through selling my house in Tucson, even though we did own those panels, me thinks that having something owned by Comcast on my house would be a very bad idea.

    Look, it is bad enough that I have to use these wads of fuck for my Internet and TV, as scummy as they are, but to trust them to put photovoltaic panels on my house?

    Not in this fucking century.

  • Seen in Silicon Valley

    Seen in Silicon Valley

    One thing about moving back to the bay area has been an adjustment. I left in 2003, and things were weird then. However, the 11 years I was gone has led to a watershed of oddity. This is the first in a series of things I see on the roads here.

    Entry #1, a green Mercedes E320, with yard work tools hanging out of the trunk. A gas lawn mower wedged in the trunk. Inside the car was a string trimmer, and other tools.

    Only in Silicon Valley is a Mercedes a car for a landscaper to travel around in.

  • It just isn’t fair …

    It just isn’t fair …

    All my life (ok, most of my life at least) I have played guitar, wishing that I could crest a plateau that has evaded me. Alternate picking, one of the foundations of shredding on guitar, has been a skill I struggled with.

    Of course I tried often. A lot of exercises. Training videos by Al di Meola, Paul Gilbert, Rusty Cooley all bought, watched and attempted. All failed.

    Life intervened, I got a busy career, and my practicing waned. What was a three hours a day passion (practicing and playing) in College, turned in to an hour every other month, if I was lucky.

    Add in 25 years to the equation, and it was bleak.

    Then as I posted a while back, I had a breakthrough. Strict alternate picking just “clicked” and the speed that I chased in a misspent youth was there.

    That was my electric guitar with a good crunchy tone. Today, on my nylon string acoustic, and a thin pick, BAM, it just worked again. Shit. Not quite Al di Meola smooth, but fluid, fast, and now clean.

    Damn. Too bad that I now have pretty serious arthritis in my left thumb, so I can barely play for a half hour without several days of agony.

    Curse you music gods.

  • Damn you Netflix – Death in Paradise

    Damn you Netflix – Death in Paradise

    Trying to avoid opening the work laptop yesterday, I was browsing Netflix, and one of their recommendations just popped under my remote. Death in Paradise, a BBC detective show.

    The premise is somewhat weak, the pilot showed a police officer in Sainte Marie (Martinique in the Carribean) was killed with some unusual circumstances. An inspector from Scotland Yard is sent over to solve the case.

    So you are on an island in paradise, with a classic British person (full suit, tie, etc).

    Now I am frickin’ hooked. Catchy themes, always with a twist, and enough humor and interplay between the cast. Fun.

    The stiff english gentleman, the island girl detective, two worlds collide. Makes me want to sell everything and move to Martinique.

    Now I have three seasons to watch.

    Thanks Obama.

  • Specialized Invades Santa Teresa Park

    Specialized Invades Santa Teresa Park

    Today I did a mountain bike ride in my local park. As I was wending my way around the park, I noticed something odd. I passed an amazing amount of cyclocross bikes on the trail.

    Trust me, if someone is off road, doing some serious dirt riding with drop bars, it is a a cyclocross bike. I mention this, as I see maybe one a year. Tops.

    Today, I saw at least 6 in about 5 miles of trail riding. About 1/2 way through my ride I rode past a huge tent, with Specialized emblazoned all over the side. I asked one of the people with a black Specialized T-shirt on (who was carrying some beer) what this was all about.

    A closed event, hosted by Specialized for their dealers to become familiar with the 2016 series of bikes. There were stations to setup suspension, to adjust bikes, tons of food, and probably 200 bicycles.

    Cool place to do it. Santa Teresa park has a pretty wide variety of trails. From tight technical single track, wide open fire roads, some gnarly rocky downhills, and even some good roads to ride on for those inclined to try the road bikes.

    I was totes jelly.

  • Apple Photos – it sucks big tool

    Apple Photos – it sucks big tool

    Like many Apple users, when I bought a digital camera in 2003, I naturally gravitated to using the bundled iPhoto. It worked well, and my original camera, a Canon Sureshot 2.1 megapixel camera, integrated with it well. We took a couple of international vacations, and iPhoto was a useful tool for managing the photos.

    Of course, I upgraded from that original digital camera to a DSLR, and started shooting in RAW format. iPhoto worked well until 2008 or so, but at about 40,000 images it really started to collapse under the weight of managing the photos.

    At that time, I bought a copy of Apple’s professional photo organization tool, Aperture. In its second version, it was quite good. It picked up the old iPhoto libraries and albums, it worked well. Its organization capabilities were vastly superior, and it worked well for me. Additionally, it had some great tool for minor processing of the images, fixing blemishes (i.e. sensor dirt on my EOS-20D), and filters/adjustments. Not quite Photoshop, but for a duffer like me, it was very useful.

    Fast forward to 2012, and the beginning of merging with the iPhone/iOS world. The version 3 upgrade brought this thing called the Photostream. Captured by your iPhone, it created an “album” of your off the cuff photos. It was good in concept, but in practice it really sucked. Suddenly my library was cluttered with all these “Photostream 201x October (or whatever month)”. The first few months, it was OK, but 3 years later, I can assure you it sucks to have these small automatically created albums. I can’t find shit, nothing is organized, and in general it is a disaster.

    In 2014, Apple announced that Aperture was going the way of the Dodo, and never will be improved, or even updated for new OS versions. Boo. I took that as a trigger to look for a replacement, focusing on Adobe Lightroom.

    Fast forward to today, and Apple has completely deprecated Aperture. You are forced to move to Photos, their new iCloud linked solution.

    So, being the good Apple acolyte, I made the transition.

    The good:

    • The photostream is dead. Thank fucking God, someone at Apple put a bullet in that feature.
    • All your photos are online, and sync’d with all your devices/computers. You have the option to have reduced resolution images on your devices, instead of 12megabyte RAW images. So I have my entire collection on my iPhone, and it doesn’t swamp my storage.
    • Editing the metadata is a bit streamlined. But the truth is, I am not ever going to go back and manage my 60K images one by one. Not gonna happen, regardless of how streamlined it is.

    The Bad:

    • You pretty much need to buy additional iCloud storage. So now I have paid storage on Dropbox, Google Drive, and now iCloud. A wee bit of overkill.
    • It doesn’t do anything with all the fucking “Photostream” albums. That homeless abortion is still crawling up your leg. There is money to be made for some entrepreneur to create an app that will coalesce these albums, and allow you to deadhead through them, categorizing and sorting. So that people like me can stop obsessing about this cluster fuck.
    • It has these giant buckets called “iPhoto Events”. That is where it dumps all the iPhoto albums you defined. So you are constantly navigating among lame folders. Yes, I could re-arrange them, but I have hundreds. What a pain.
    • Much of the image modification/tweaking you could do under Aperture is gone. Simple controls, optimized for internet/social media sharing. Lame. Tres lame. I would even say completely, full retard.

    Alas, my main photo organization tool will be Adobe Lightroom. It is just a better workflow. Fortunately, Adobe realizes that a lot of serious amateurs and pros who used Aperture will be switching, and have built into the latest version(s) of Lightroom the ability to go import all the Aperture libraries.

    I can understand why Apple did this. The pro applications aren’t major drivers for them, and convergence between the iOS devices and the OS-X devices makes for a better experience.

    Fortunately, we have some options.