one of their kind

Sunday,  05/11/08  02:13 PM

Today I did another great ride from Amsterdam, this time West through the extended estuary to the coast at Sandvoort, then South a bit and back via Schiphol airport.  At some point my philosopher iPod dialed up Santana's You Are My Kind, which was amazing because I was ruminating on the Dutch, on being Dutch, and on how, despite never having lived here, nor having any plans to live here in future, I feel more comfortable here than anywhere; truly I am one of their kind.

If you are a regular reader you know I place significant stock in genetics; not that genes are destiny, but they are certainly part of it.  In today's weird liberal ethos this point of view is considered "bad" - since all men are created equal, we must pretend that all men are created the same, which is foolishness - but I prefer honesty to political correctness.  Whenever I am in Holland the culture embraces me with its familiarity.  And that culture (like all cultures) is born of its people; the libertarian social approach (not to be confused with liberal), the steadfastness and self-reliance, the competitiveness, the entrepeneurialism combined with enlightened altruism, the easy acceptance of sex and sexuality, the embrace of family and quiet religion undertones.  It all feels comfortable, there isn't the tension between the people and their way of life you feel in America.

I suppose a key element of this cultural feeling is the underlying homogeneity, which can't be found in larger countries like the U.S.  Certainly the sizeable Muslim immigrant population in the Netherlands doesn't feel comfortable; they haven't integrated very well with the Dutch and their imported culture clashes at many levels; a problem which is being exacerbated by their much higher birth rate.  It is reminiscent  but perhaps worse than the situation created by the large influx of Mexican immigrants in the Southern U.S.

Anyway it is really nice to be here, even if only temporarily.  I can soak up the feeling and carry it around with me.  You can take a Dutchman out of the Netherlands, but you can't take the Dutch out of him :)   Ik ben echt wel Nederlands.

Amsterdam II

Saturday,  05/10/08  01:52 PM

Day II in Amsterdam - I journeyed to Drenthe, in the Northeast of the Netherlands, for a brunch / family renunion / birthday celebration for my Mom (75), and two of her cousins (75 and 80).  We talked and ate all day; it was great.  Best part was describing my family twenty times in a row :)

The Giro has begun, and Christian Vandevelde of Slipstream is in the maglia rosa!  Congratulations to Slipstream; last year they were a step below the Pro Tour, this year they've clearly made it to the top echelon of the sport...  it will be interesting to see how they do over the next three weeks, they do not really have a GC contender but do have many riders who can win stages.  And clearly they have a good team!

Carlustblog remembers the Porsche 928.  "The 928 was a fantastic car that helped define the sports GT category, marrying supercar performance with comfort and everyday practicality. The 928 had such an embarrassment of ability that it captured the imagination."  It certainly captured mine; since being a teenager I always wanted one, and then, when I was 32 and finally able to afford one, I almost bought one.  I came this close -> <- but ended up buying a then-brand-new Lexus SC400 instead.  (I never regretted the Lexus - it was a great car - but I do sometimes wonder how much fun it would have been to have a 928.)  [ via Instapundit ]

greetings from Amsterdam

Friday,  05/09/08  01:07 PM

Hello all - this post is coming to you from sunny Amsterdam, where I find myself on a combination of family visiting and business.  It is now about 10:00PM here - I arrived this afternoon in fine style after an uneventful and comfortable flight (KLM are really good).  The weather is fantastic; I used my rusty Dutch to rent a bike (!) and toured the canals downtown, then took off into the countryside North of the city called Waterland.  Finished up with a nice Entrecôte accompanied by excellent Rijoa.  And now I am ready to [try to] sleep.  But first, a quick pass of the blogosphere...

Holland is the most cycle friendly country on Earth; everyone rides, there are bike paths everywhere, and cars are unfailingly polite to cyclists.  I don't know how it all got started (some say it was gas rationing during WWII), but now that it has, it is a good thing.  You've got to love these Dutch girls with their long legs; they don't think anything of riding a bike to a club wearing a dress and heels!  One of the many pleasures of Amsterdam...

I've been thinking about the ghost bike idea - I've realized the main effect of a ghost bike memorial is on cars, rather than bikes.  People who drive by a bike memorial every day will take notice and possibly be more careful.  In this way a memorial to a bike accident victim could prevent more accidents, which would be a great result.  So I am now for ghost bikes; they may be spooky, but if they increase awareness of bikes on the part of cars, they're a good thing.

This Saturday the Giro d'Italia begins, and with the last-minute inclusion of Team Astana (Contador, Leipheimer, Kloden, and company) this is the BIG race of the year.  Especially watch out for Dennis Menchov, last year's Vuelta winner, who is/was gunning for the Tour but realizes with this field this is the race to win.

Leigh Himel wonders Have we Crossed the Chasm?  It's kind of a non-question, because "we" don't cross it; according to Geoffrey Moore it is a transition each technology goes through in market adoption.  Leigh asks "when it comes to technology", like there's one thing called "technology", but clearly that's wrong.  Different new technologies find their market adoption separately over time as they go through these stages, and it will ever be so...  Still I like the post for this nice diagram :)

Scott Adams ponders The Economics Party.  "I decided to start my own political party. I call it the Economics Party. There’s no paperwork involved, and you don’t even have to stop being a Democrat or Republican or whatever to join. The Economics Party won’t have its own candidates. All we’ll do is agree to vote for the candidate with the best long term economic policy, according to the consensus of leading economists."  I love it.  Of course this is a sort of electoral college; we're delegating our votes to "economists", on the theory that they know better than we do.  And perhaps they do :)

Instapundit links Obama's Support Similar to Kerry's in 2004.  I don't know why it wouldn't be; although Obama is a much more appealing candidate, his liberal voting record suggests similar positions on many issues to Kerry's.  Unfortunately in 2004 this meant he could win the nomination, but not the election, and it may mean the same in 2008.

So, have you signed the Save XP petition?  I think it is in everyone's best interest to do so; if you're an XP user who hasn't yet "downgraded" to Vista, you don't want to have to, and if you're a Vista user who has, you want to put pressure on Microsoft to make sure their next version of Windows isn't a step backward.  Apparently about 200,000 people have signed the petition, but while Microsoft has made some noises to indicate they might extend the life of XP, so far there has been no change in the official position...

For an interesting perspective on why this is important, check out Ars Technica's three part series: From Win32 to Cocoa, a Window user's conversion to Mac OS X.  There is some great background on why and how Windows squandered its technical lead, as well as good information for would-be Mac OS X developers.  Part II features a section called Vista, Schmista, which accurately summarizes the failed promise of Vista.

Finally, this lightbulb has burned continuously for 107 years.  Now that's amazing.

Tuesday,  05/06/08  10:30 PM

I'm at a conference, the Healthcare CIO Summit, sort of speed-dating for companies.  Pretty interesting and pretty exhausting :)  But of course I have time for a quick pass on the blogosphere...

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful awesome amazing daughter Megan, who turned 11 today; wow.  I can't believe it has been eleven years, and yet I can't believe there was a time before Megan, either.  We had a nice dinner to celebrate, along with an amazing Santa Rita Pinot from Amapola; really I can't remember ever having a bad Pinot from that appellation... 

I think the question of the day, or of tomorrow, will be has Obama now clinched the nomination?  It appears he has won North Carolina and lost Indiana, but won by enough and lost by little enough that it blunts Hillary's momentum.  Now the question will be will Hillary quit (no!) and who will he choose as VP (not Hillary!)

Perhaps the main effect of the two-donkey race for Democrat candidate has been to level the playing field for the Republicans.  A few months ago it seemed a foregone conclusion that whomever the Democrats nominated would end up winning the general election; now, while Obama is still ahead, McCain appears to have a real chance.

This is especially appropriate to post on Megan's birthday; the NYTimes reports on Prepping Robots to Perform Surgery.  Some of you may know, seven years ago when Megan was four she had open heart surgery performed using a Computer Motion robot (it went perfectly); that company is now part of Intuitive Surgical, who are profiled in the article.  What awesome incredible important technology.  Count me as a fan.  [ via Slashdot! ]

Mark Pilgrim: the day the music died.  "This is a letter I sent to my father to explain what it means that Microsoft is pulling support for MSN Music."  An ardent opponent of DRM, Mark nails it, as usual...

And another from Mark (who is blogging more frequently, it seems!): when the fall is all that's left, regarding the fact that while Opera and Safari were desperately competing to see who could pass the Acid3 test first, Mozilla sat on the sidelines and carped.  I have to agree.

Jeff Atwood explains model-view-controller.  Well that is helpful, but still leaves me wondering why one needs "a pattern" at all; seems like you use concepts like MVC when they apply, but don't force them when they don't.  Not all applications need to be (or should be) "skinnable".

John Gruber: regarding the iPhone keyboard.  I don't care how many people say they've gotten used to it, and how it really isn't that bad, it does take getting used to and it is really that bad.  Over the years I've become amazing proficient at one-thumbed typing on my Treo, and I'm not willing to give that up.  Clearly Apple will have to find a way to provide some physical feedback, and I bet they will.

TTAC asks: do we still like supercars?  With a review of the amazing Ascari A10.  The quick answer is YES.  A more considered answer is ... yes, of course!  I mean, 0-60 in 2.8s, wow.  (And we also still like Top Gear :)

Ottmar Liebert is touring again and will be in California during July.  Mark your calendars!  (I'm shooting for July 1 at Soho in Santa Barbara; a cool venue which is perfect for Ottmar...)

MSFT vs YHOO

Monday,  05/05/08  01:39 AM

[posted on 5/5 at 1:39 AM]

Yeah, I'm still awake, and just checked my RSS reader, and I can't believe how "everyone" seems to assume that YHOO is going to take a beating tomorrow, while MSFT will not.  I really don't get this. 

From the start it seemed to me that Microsoft was dealing from weakness; they needed Yahoo more than Yahoo needed them (and they definitely wanted Yahoo more than Yahoo wanted them; in fact, all of Yahoo's actions signaled they were not interested).  Microsoft increased their price, and was probably willing to increase their price more, but they realized that 1) Yahoo was really not interested in being bought (people are one of Yahoo's key assets), and 2) Yahoo was willing to make themselves less valuable in order to prevent being bought (via deals like the Google adwords test).

At the end Yahoo got what they wanted (being left alone to execute) and Microsoft did not (they don't have a new cool strategy for online success).  Meanwhile Yahoo's quarterly financials were good, and Microsoft's were not.  So tell me again why Yahoo's stock is going to suffer tomorrow, and Microsoft's will not?

If I was a market player - which I am most assuredly not - I would buy Yahoo and short Microsoft.  This seems a clear case where the so-called experts are wrong, and a contrarian could make some money.  Stay tuned, we'll see what happens tomorrow later today...

[posted on 5/5 at 9:30 AM]

So what happened?  YHOO opened down (20%) and has trended up since; MSFT opened up (2%) and has traded down since:

There was a lot of volume right at the start.  If I had bought in the market when it opened, taken YHOO long and MSFT short, I would be looking pretty good right now.  Easier to do on paper than with real money :)  Stay tuned...

[posted on 5/7 at 8:30 AM]

The endgame?  YHOO has now levelled, but definitely came up from open on Monday, while MSFT is roughly the same as Monday open; it went down for a day, and then came up for a day.

The most interesting thing that's happened is the rumors that the conversation continues...  Apparently there are enough Yahoo shareholders who are disappointed that the deal didn't take place at $33 (given that YHOO is at $25, and hasn't been anywhere near $33 for over a yead).  Also of interest are stories trying to find other companies for Microsoft to buy - like AOL (!?)

Sunday,  05/04/08  09:32 PM

I had a great day today; Megan and I went to Open House at JPL, and although it was crowded, it was really cool.  We saw a Mars Rover in action, some excellent videos of satellites taking off and being launched, live footage of Earth and Mars and Saturn and comets (taken by satellites ), and saw how they manufacture and test satellite parts.  JPL is a good thing.

I just want to thank everyone who's emailed about Ole's Ride for Cancer.  I need to post a little form to gather your information, and I will; please stay tuned.  In the meantime your support has been very gratifying.  I have a Google Alert set for "pathology", and I just saw this blog: Pray for Christin, about a 15-year old girl diagnosed with osteosarcoma.  Her prognosis is grim.  This is what it is all about, helping people like Christin.

Meanwhile out in the blogosphere, it's all happening...

So Microsoft has given up trying to buy Yahoo (at least for the moment; maybe the stock will get hammered, the price will go down, and they'll try again).  Speculation online seems to focus on how badly Yahoo's stock will get hit, but really I think Microsoft was harmed more than Yahoo; they needed Yahoo more than Yahoo needed them.  (Remember the recent earning announcements; Yahoo beat expectations, while Microsoft was flat.)

I think this is the best take: Does Ballmer need to go?  I don't know about that - my hunch is yes - but Microsoft needs something or they'll die.  Sure they generate a ton of profit, and that's great, but there is little innovation left over there.  With the Vista fiasco and Office becoming less and less relevant, the trend is clear.

Gigaom replays a McKinsey article on Pixar, including an interview with Director Brad Bird.  One of the key bits: "Q: What undermines Innovation?  Brad Bird: Passive-aggressive people - people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away - are poisonous. I can usually spot those people fairly soon and I weed them out."  Perhaps Microsoft needs some Brad Birds.  [ via Jason Kottke ]

I totally agree with Fake Steve Jobs: The problem with Facebook.  "A new study discovers that the vast majority of Facebook apps are an utter waste of time...  Facebook is a Ponzi scheme. A handful of VCs have created the illusion of an actual market by funding apps companies and then doing deals with each other -- passing cash back and forth among to make it look as if money is being made."  There is nothing there for which anyone would pay.  Nada.

Want to see the web 2.0 echo chamber at its stupidest?  Check this out: Six new startup stars.  I want you to read about these six companies, and tell me whether any of them make the slightest sense to you as a business.  Stars?  C'mon.  TradeVibes epitomizes the narrowness of these companies; "the best way to discover and research hot new startups online".  Riight.

So Andreas Klöden won the Tour of Romandie (remember him).  And rumor has it the Giro may invite Klöden's team Astana after all...  Let's hope so; then we could see Contador and Leipheimer in action in a grand tour...

The Tesla Roadster is supposedly "in production", but it isn't clear how many have actually been delivered.  They did just open a store in L.A. - but with a 15-month backlog it will be for marketing, not for sales.  "The Tesla store looks more like a cool ad agency or hip restaurant than a car dealership. Its industrial look features poured concrete floors, exposed beams and ductwork, mirrored front glass and planter boxes filled with horsetail stems. The service department is out in the open to allow customers to see what is going on with their cars."  Will I visit?  Of course!

How cool would this be: Bison could once again thunder across the great plains. 
Yes, please!

Finally, from Megan today: "two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left".

breathless victory

Sunday,  05/04/08  07:24 PM

Yay, I made it!  Yesterday I completed the Breathless Agony century, 114 miles and 12,300' of climbing, including the final climb to the Onyx Pass above Big Bear, at 8,443' above sea level.  It was really great, in fact, I have to say this was the best organized and supported cycle race in which I've ever participated, right down to the fantastic chili meal served at the finish.  The weather cooperated nicely too, not too warm in the flats, and not too cold in the mountains.  I did wear a light jacket for that 38 mile descent at the end.  Yeah, that's right; after you reach the Onyx pass, you go downhill at speed for nearly two hours to the finish.  It makes you appreciate all the climbing!

(You guys may be getting tired of my post-race reports, but too bad; this is my blog, and I'm a cyclist, so some cycling is inevitable :)

The Breathless Agony mascot is the grim reaper; he was at the summit to help me celebrate:

This race is timed to the summit; I made it in 6:15, and I'm pretty proud of it.  Even more bragworthy, on the last two climbs I was not passed by anyone.  (We won't mention the people who finish in five hours, who were already up the road; they're disgusting :)  All in all a great ride, I can't wait to do this one again next year.

Next up is the Eastern Sierra Double, in the area around Mammoth Lakes.  Stay tuned for more...

Thursday,  05/01/08  11:38 PM

Happy May Day to you!  Man, four months gone in 2008 already, one third of the year.  Not that it hasn't been eventful - wow, has it ever - but still it does not seem like it has been that long.  Among other things, that means I've been blogging again for four months!  Yay.  I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am :)

Biking news - today I did the Stunt / Piuma loop, with my friend Tim; man, I felt strong.  Last Tuesday I did the Mount Palomar / Lake Henshaw loop, and that felt good, too.  I think I'm ready for Breathless Agony Saturday; now I just have to eat and drink a lot tomorrow, to make sure my tank is full. 

As you saw, today I was accepted to ride in the Furnace Creek 508 (yay!) and am turning it into Ole's Ride for Cancer (yay!).  I'm pretty excited about that!

So that's my news, now, let's see what's happening everywhere else, shall we?

TTAC on the Dodge Challenger: the retro-flop has landed.  What I think is really interesting is the accompanying picture, see at left, comparing the 1970 Challenger to the 2008 model.  Each seemingly epitomizes the design ethic of its time.  Now, which is more attractive?  To me there is no question, the 1970 car is way nicer looking.  The thick bodies, skinny windows, and big rear ends of today's cars are ugly.  It can only be a matter of time before the pendulum swings back...

I'm shocked: Twitter said to be abandoning Ruby on Rails.  This should spark a great debate in the Web 2.0 echo chamber, but really, we all know Ruby performance sucks, so why would it scale?

Other shocking news: Blu-ray: the future has been delayed.  "Hot on the heels of last week's report from ABI Research noting that many consumers may not see the picture quality difference between Blu-ray and standard DVDs comes the latest Blu-ray sales figures from NPD Group. And they're not pretty."  The real problem is online video, the attack from below.  Apple just announced they will be selling new movies on iTunes the same day they're released on DVD.  That's just another nail.  Blu-ray will never be big, before long it will be irrelevant, its "victory" over HD-DVD long forgotten.  Remember laser discs?

Here we have the R2D2 DVD projector.  Once you see it, you realize this was inevitable, how utterly cool.  Too bad it costs $3,000, however...

Derek Miller on the joys of the old IBM 101 keyboard.  Man, I loved those keyboards, makes me want to go find one.  Nothing quite like that real metal base, with the unique buckling-spring key action.  And you can be heard typing for miles :)  Right now I use a nine-year old Micron keyboard; I love it, but I know the day will come when a key will break, and then what?  Today's wimpy limpy keyboards are massively worse.  Well there is always eBay...

Finally, via my friend Peter, these pictures of a record-breaking Coke / Mentos explosion-fest, as 1,500 students discover the joys of Chemistry.  Whoa.

Ole's ride for cancer

Thursday,  05/01/08  10:57 PM

As you saw, I have been accepted to compete in the Furnace Creek 508 bicycle race, "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport".  This is a pretty incredible event; competitors have 48 hours to complete 508 miles through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert, including 35,000' of climbing.  For some people it is a race to see how fast they can do it, for me it will be a contest to see if I can do it.  It will be one of the hardest and coolest things I've ever done.

To give myself extra motivation, I'm asking all of you to sponsor me, and will donate the proceeds to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  You may know, in addition to being one of the greatest cyclists of all time, having won seven consecutive Tours de France, Lance Armstrong is also a cancer survivor, and his foundation is prominent in funding cancer research, raising awareness of cancer, and most importantly helping cancer victims and survivors.  It is a wonderful organization and [I think] a very appropriate recipient of whatever donations I am able to raise in this way.

If you are interested in sponsoring me and making a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, please let me know.  Your interest will be a pledge, and if I am successful in finishing the race, I'll let you know so you can make a donation.  The race is this October 4-6, and I'll post / email progressively more information as that date gets closer.  I also plan to post periodic updates so everyone knows how much money we've raised together!

I am pretty excited about competing in this race, but also pretty daunted by the difficulty.  In the middle of the night on Saturday, with 250 miles ridden and 250 left to ride, the idea that I'm helping to raise a bunch of money for cancer will be a great motivator.  Thank you in advance for your sponsorship (!), and stay tuned for more details...

Furnace Creek, here I come

Thursday,  05/01/08  10:34 PM

From:	508 Race Office [raceoffice@the508.com]
Sent:	Thursday, May 01, 2008 6:18 PM
To:	Ole Eichhorn [ole@pacbell.net]
Subject:	Furnace Creek 508
Attachments:	2008entry508.pdf

Hello and congratulations!

You have been selected to compete in the 25th Anniversary Furnace Creek 508 on October 4-6, 2008, "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport".  You are part of a select group who will participate in this world-famous spiritual odyssey through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert.  We look forward to sharing the experience with you!

To confirm your spot in the race field, please submit the appropriate Furnace Creek 508 entry fee and the attached three-page Pdf form WITHIN ONE WEEK.

2008 will be an extra special edition of "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport" as we celebrate the race's 25 year history.  Thank YOU for being a part of history!

Best of luck with your preparation and please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to help.

Sincerely,

Chris Kostman
Chief Adventure Officer, Race Director, and Totemizer
AdventureCORPS, Inc.
http://www.the508.com

Yay, I made it!  Or maybe, crap, now I'm in for it...  Whew.  There are two tragedies in life, not getting what you want, and getting what you want.  Which is this?  Stay tuned :)

Posts and articles in the last month:

04/30/08 11:16 PM - Wednesday,  04/30/08  11:16 PM
04/30/08 01:04 PM - koninginnedag!
04/29/08 12:16 AM - Tuesday,  04/29/08  12:16 AM
04/28/08 01:25 AM - recovered
04/27/08 10:27 PM - Sunday,  04/27/08  10:27 PM
04/27/08 09:52 PM - contemplating breathless agony
04/25/08 10:05 PM - Friday,  04/25/08  10:05 PM
04/24/08 10:33 PM - Thursday,  04/24/08  10:33 PM
04/23/08 09:52 PM - Wednesday,  04/23/08  09:52 PM
04/22/08 11:32 PM - Tuesday,  04/22/08  11:32 PM
04/22/08 11:05 PM - midnight special
04/20/08 09:25 PM - Sunday,  04/20/08  09:25 PM
04/20/08 08:53 PM - everything you need to know about COM
04/20/08 09:09 AM - the cynic
04/20/08 09:01 AM - renewing the war on cancer
04/18/08 11:21 PM - Friday,  04/18/08  11:21 PM
04/16/08 11:18 PM - confidence!
04/15/08 11:02 PM - Tuesday,  04/15/08  11:02 PM
04/14/08 10:57 PM - Monday,  04/14/08  10:57 PM
04/13/08 07:26 PM - Sunday,  04/13/08  07:26 PM
04/13/08 06:07 PM - Unplugged

For older posts and articles, please visit the archive.