Over the past few days I sent some emails that I thought would stimulate some discussion, but I heard no replies. OK, well people are busy, no problem. But then when I sent something from my iPhone today, I got some pretty quick responses. After checking with a couple of folks, it became clear that they were receiving emails sent from my iPhone but not from my home computer. Continue reading →
Yesterday’s Rainy Bicycle Commute
Yesterday was my first available window to get on the bike for the first time in over a week. Yesterday’s forecast was dry and low 40s in the morning, and showers and in the 50s in the afternoon. So it was a perfect day for a bike commute, as I could test my rain gear in both wet and dry conditions, as well as not having to deal with wet gear when I arrived at work. After all, if people in “bike friendly” Seattle and Portland can do it, why not me? Continue reading →
iPhone Crash – Lessons Learned
A couple of days ago my phone locked up on the Apple screen after rebooting, and the only way out was to put it into DFU mode and do a full restore. But all is working now, here’s what happened.
It all started when I used the HomeBudget app for the first time. When entering the dollar amount for expenses, pressing a digit on the keypad (see photo below) resulted in the digit being entered twice. Continue reading →
Why I Like a Good iPhone External Keyboard
Back during my cross-USA bicycle tour in 2001, I composed daily email updates (this was pre-blog days) of my trip using a Palm Pilot docked into a Landware GoType external keyboard. To send my updates, I docked the Palm Pilot into the PocketMail BackFlip and then held the combo up to a pay phone (those were still relatively easy to find in rural areas) – listening to the screeching as my email was transmitted.
While remarkably low-tech by today’s standards, this setup was small and light, which was perfect when traveling by human power for over two months. In more recent years, this setup had evolved into a Palm smartphone with an external Bluetooth keyboard. Continue reading →
Upcoming Route 66 Bicycle Tour (AZ & CA)
Soon I’ll be spending some time with family in northern Arizona. Afterwards, I’ll be able to sneak away for a bicycle tour. No, I won’t be able to get away for 70 days to do a solo ride across the US like I did back in 2001. This time it’s for a few days on parts of old Route 66 in Arizona and California. Continue reading →
Bit the Bullet, Switched from Palm Centro to iPhone
I was a happy Palm PDA user for years, and when it was time to get a smartphone, the Palm Centro was logical choice, in part to dodge the issue of migrating my contacts list and other data. Unfortunately, a year into my two year contract with AT&T, it was now plainly obvious that the Palm OS is a dying (if not already dead) platform. This came to a head when I was having a tough time finding a decent Twitter application (the recent 2TwitMe is the only one I can think of). This post by another blogger echoes my sentiments on moving away from the Palm platform – although written two years ago!
So I got a good deal on a first generation 8GB iPhone from a friend. Continue reading →
2010 Tour of California – Pondering Stage 6 Routing
Today the 2010 Tour of California bicycle race route was announced <http://www.velonews.com/article/99506>. The big news this year is that they moved the race from February to May, with the better weather allowing for this mountain stage that caught my eye: Continue reading →
Disaster Links for Southern California Mountains
During disasters, I try to get information from as close to the source as possible, rather than the television news which is often second hand. Here’s a few links that I use for the Southern California mountains:
- Twitter feeds: SanBernardinoNF, AngelesNF, inciweb – for the Sheep Fire, use #Sheep_CABDF
- Wrightwood Forum – a great local forum with a high signal-to-noise ratio
- Inciweb
Here’s a few links specific to the Sheep Fire:
Well, I Caved in to Twitter…
After thinking “why the heck would anyone want to use it” – now the subject line says it all! Continue reading →
Interbike Report
I just got back from a two day visit to Las Vegas for Interbike, and as promised here is a show report. I only go once every couple years or so, as for me there’s not enough changes to warrant going once a year. Sorry, I didn’t take a camera, so there’s no photos, but Dan had a camera and I’ll link to any photos that he might post. Continue reading →