Andy Laub they call me "The Solution"

Within the last week new issues of both Wired and GQ both showed up, and both included the same Fashion Rocks supplement. An interesting read, but it got me thinking about how close the too are in terms of both content and feel.

Back in the 90’s, Wired was strictly a magazine for nerds. I don’t mean that negatively, but it’s true. I never felt smart enough to read it, but maybe that’s because I was in high school and didn’t know what was going on anyway.

Similarly, GQ always had an unapproachable air about it; I’d never be gentlemanly or fashionable enough to be a GQ reader! It’s so… hoity toity.

Now though, everything’s completely crossed. Nerds read GQ, fashionistas read Wired, and I read both. Furthermore, it’s become more and more apparent that one person can actually be both and this is acceptable in modern society. That makes me happy.

I think a lot of this stems from the fact that certain pieces of gadgetry have crossed the boundary from being purely functional to being fashionable as well; it’s cool to be in the crowd that owns them.

At the same time, we’re seeing certain pieces of fashion take a more technological approach. Shoes are the best example of this. Nike shoes are the best example of this, and they use the technology as a selling point. This is not to say that everything in both worlds will eventually overlap completely; suits will continue to be sold based purely on appearance and servers will continue to be sold based purely on their tech, but it’s nice to see that the overlap exists.

There are a few companies that thrive in this overlap. They’re the tech companies that it’s cool to buy from or the apparel companies that are secretly nerd havens. I suspect we’ll be seeing more and more as time goes on.

Way back in February, shortly after launching this version of the site, I made a commitment. Essentially I resolved that this iteration of the site would remain live and largely unchanged for 6 months.

Today marks the date, and though DOCADD still has me in its clutches, but its grip is loosening. Minor bits and pieces have been altered along the way, along with a slight refresh last month, but nothing extensive has been altered and so I consider the effort largely successful.

Furthermore, I’m happy enough with the site in its current form, that barring another minor update or two, it will continue in this state for a couple more months. Instead of arbitrarily redesigning again, I want to hold out for the next CSS Reboot on November 1.

This decision holds a couple of advantages:

• It keeps me from rushing into things. No matter what happens, I cannot show a finished product before November 1. Plenty of time to refine a design (this should be the long part) and CSS-ify it.
• It generates more interest as part of a larger event. I’m still getting hits from the one I did back in Spring of 2005. And I’m a sucker for publicity.

Now it’s just a matter of working the design magic. I’ve got a general wireframe in mind but nothing solid yet. I want it to be nice. Really nice. I just have to figure out how to make it really nice without resorting to the Web 2.0 trendiness.

There are also a couple of features I’m wanting to try out, though I can’t say with certainty what will work and what won’t. Following in jb’s and more recently majafa’s footsteps, there’s a good chance you’ll see a “recent comments” section on the homepage.

That’s really all I know.

Dinner this evening took us down to Stevens Point and the Golden Corral buffet smorgasbord extravaganza. The food was admittedly quite good and there was an amazing selection, but the atmosphere was a whole other story.

The second you walk in the door you find yourself in line, waiting to pick up your tray, plates, and drinks. After looping back and forth several times, you finally accomplish this and are then escorted to a table that is, honestly, rather tight even for normal-sized people. While we were eating, another party was being seated and had to be moved because one of them couldn’t fit in the chair. Sadly, I imagine this is a common situation when you step back and look at the majority of their clientele.

As we alternated between consuming plate after plate of food, rushing to get more food, and making use of the “unlimited refills” beverage policy, more than one of us observed how the Golden Corral is a pretty accurate representation of the US: fat, crowded, and rushed.

This kind of environment makes It difficult to relax when compared to a “normal” restaurant. Everyone seems very focused on eating as much as they can in what can only be an effort to get the most out of the $9.95 entry fee. Except they’re so focused on eating they don’t take the time out to enjoy the food.

The most disturbing aspect was this nagging feeling as though we were animals being led into a feast and fattened up for some as yet undetermined finale. I’m not sure if that was their intent as far as atmosphere is concerned, but the name certainly fits.

I got Airbagged, or rather Longboarded last week.

The result? Airbagindustries.com is now my top referrer of all time, narrowly eclipsing a Google Images search for “CHICKEN FIGHT”.

Now, how do I make those people come back?

For the first time in what has literally been years, I took the bike out to Nine Mile yesterday for a ride. I had a good time, though it was not without its painful moments. I knew that my endurance wasn’t up there even before starting due to a late start this year and a lack of long rides, but I did about as well as can be expected in spite of various components on my bike that were openly plotting against me.

The biggest culprit was the tires (above). I bought Kenda Kross Plus tires to replace my worn out (OEM) Hutchinsons because I knew my bike would spend a lot of time on pavement and opted for a smoother ride provided by the slick center section. The knobs on the sides did an admirable job of providing traction in most off-pavement cornering situations and made this setup perfect for a commuter bike.

I knew there were going to be problems when my bike slid out from under me on the second turn of the ride. I’m not sure if that was a hint that I needed better tires or an affirmation that I should’ve indeed worn my gloves, which I had left in the car and figured I probably wouldn’t need. Honestly though, this was just some really lose, fine dirt, and no tire is going to save you from that.

Just slightly injured, I continued on in search of a good single track to start the real ride. There were no trail maps at the time, and there was a wedding going on near the chalet so I didn’t want to disturb. My philosophy at Nine Mile has generally been “let’s see where the trails go and hope we can find our way back.” Fortunately this has worked well so far as I am still here.

Back to the tires. The two situations where they really were a hinderance were:

1. Quick descents leading into sharp turns. I’ve decided that riding semislicks on single tracks is kind of like the drifting of the biking world. You’re not leaning much in these situations so you’d be relying on that center section of tire to provide stopping traction. My approach was to just modulate the brakes until I was going slow enough to make the turn, and then let the back wheel lock up a bit to slide me around. It worked pretty well, actually,
2. Ascents on smooth dirt were also an issue because in these situations I was already up and leaning forward, taking the weight off the back wheel and inducing some slippage.

If I was a serious trail rider or had another bike, I would set it up with some better off-road tires, but this honestly wasn’t so bad. I kept away from the long uphill logging trails (which in the past had wood shavings), something that absolutely would’ve killed me.

The other and more minor issue was with my pedals (PS: the Crank Brothers site is hot). This was my first time riding clipless in a full-on trail setting, and it was OK. There were no times where I was struggling to unclip, which can prove disastrous when you’re trying to abandon your bike as it’s headed for a tree (not that mine was).

The way Crank Bros’ clipless pedals work is best explained by picturing two lines crossing each other with a spring holding them in an “X” shape. When you clip in, you compress the X horizontally and it springs back around your clip. This can be done from any angle and they call it All Access.

An unexpected caveat with the All Access system was that scraping the bottom pedal against a rock pressured the springs to open and release your foot. This led to a few times where I thought I was clipped but wasn’t, which can be a problem when you’re landing off of a jump and your foot slips. Still though, for pure aesthetics and ease of use I love the All Access design.

In spite of all this, and my chain skipping once or twice and also jumping free of the chainrings completely, it was a good time. I really want to go again today.

That’s right; I was making a list. And so it goes:

I want a new phone. For the longest time I’ve been digging on the Samsung A900 (aka “Blade” aka “the Samsung RAZR”). It’s got the rad moves, and it plays those newfangled AAC files with little to no effort! The only issue is that it’s slightly on the pricey side, and there’s no contract (re)signing to soften the blow.

The MOTOFONE is a worthy contender.

There’s a new contender that’s recently entered the ring. I’m not talking about that Katana thing; I’m not such a fan. But I’m super stoked on the recently announced MOTOFONE. I love it for its simplicity, but there are two outstanding issues:

1. It doesn’t flip.
2. Who even knows if it will end up with Sprint? Their track record for carrying other skinny Motos isn’t exactly, well, existent.

Other stuff:

• The time has not yet arrived, but I see an Xbox 360 in the future, eventually.
• I mentioned this before, I think, but I’m liking that Canon Digital Rebel XT.
• Nearest in the future is a Trollpod. It ships this month and I’m looking forward to seeing reviews of it.

I had been intending to do this since seeing it somewhere else and in light of the recent Apple-related events now seems like an appropriate time, since the first item on the list is a new computer. The Powerbook has served me well since January of 2004 and it will remain in the stable, but it’s time for a new, dedicated desktop machine.

I went through this crisis last year when I had originally thought about picking up a PowerMac G5. It never happened for reasons explained therein (too many choices!) which actually worked out to my advantage with all the Intel activity.

The choice should be easier this time around, but I’m still conflicted. When I stopped looking at the PowerMacs I resolved to wait and see what happened with a direct (Intel-driven) replacement for my laptop, but it never showed up. I’ve griped about this in other posts, and as much as I like the MacBooks they’re just not for me.

After the disappointment that came with the realization that I now own an orphaned product, I decided to see what would happen with the Mac Pro. Apple didn’t disappoint, but for what I’d be using it for it’s a ridiculous amount of overkill. And while I could afford it, I simply don’t want to.

On the other end of the spectrum there’s the Mac mini, but until it gets real desktop components (which would obviously require a larger case – Intel Cube, anyone?) it’s off the radar.

This leaves the iMac, which for my needs is nearly flawless. Sure it can only hold one hard drive, but as long as that hard drive is a monster I’m fine. It looks good, it’s fast, and it’s got every option I’d want standard. It gives me a nice environment in which to start playing with Parallels (OK, I admit, I really just want to load up The Sims).

The only issue then, is what happens to this gorgeous (20″) display of mine. I’ve thought about running it with the iMac, but cool as it would be that seems excessive for my home office; I simply don’t want that much screen space. Work, however, is a different story, so maybe it will end up there?

Display issues aside, the iMac is the clear winner of this surprisingly epic battle. Maybe I’ll finish the list tomorrow.

We went camping with some friends this weekend, and that was fun, but the State Park pass system sucks. You can either buy a year-long pass for $25 or a day pass for $8.

The better deal is obviously to buy the year pass, but the problem is it’s this terrible sticker that you have to permanently affix to your windshield. There are a couple problems with this:

1. I don’t like sticking crap to my car. And this crap doesn’t come off so after the year is up you’re left with a permanently useless sticker.
2. Each pass is intended to be paired with a vehicle which really doesn’t make much sense from a consumer standpoint. Why not offer a tag or static sticker that can be moved from car to car? That way when my car is inevitably getting fixed I can swap the pass to Abe’s car or vice versa. If you really want to get technical, join the 21st century and let each pass be paired with up to 2 or 3 different vehicles and that’s it.
3. I don’t like sticking crap to my car, especially ugly crap.
4. If you decide you want to take your motorcycle to the park, you’d have to stick this to your bike. Furthermore, on bikes without windshields the front part of the sticker is adhered to the surface leaving only the back visible, and I’m sure this is too much for a typical warden to wrap his or her head around.
5. People don’t like sticking crap to their motorcycle either, nor do they like buying motorcyles with crap stuck to them.
6. The Parks Department is retarded.