I took a spill off of my mountain bike a couple of years ago, and still have the scars from the operation on my shoulder. My trusty Schwinn from the early 90s took it in stride, and other than a small rip on the seat, it was unaffected. 
Still…we have a Giant Sedona in the family, only a couple of years old, and it feels like a totally different bike. The Sedona has an aluminum frame, and while the bike feels like it’s half the weight of the Schwinn, it seems to feel a lot stiffer on the road, and more responsive. I don’t care for the “twist” shifters, but it still shifts smoothly. My Schwinn, this year, has been acting up–the thumb shifters were smooth, but I’m having a lot of trouble with the derailleur hunting for the correct sprocket, and I’m jumping between gears constantly. After 15+ years, I’m ready for something new.
Continue reading Mountain Bikes: Phase 1 (Giant and Specialized)
Yearly Archives: 2009
Ubuntu 9.04
For the third time in as many years, I’ve downloaded Ubuntu and burned the ISO image to CD. 
With Ubuntu, you can try it out by booting up the CD (the LiveCD feature). You don’t get all of Ubuntu’s functionality, or install other software, but you can get a good feel for how Ubuntu looks and feels. Performance is also a bit slow when the OS has to access the CD to retrieve more data, but that’s not a big deal since Ubuntu seems to use memory space to run the OS in LiveCD mode. My first (or maybe I should say “third”) impressions of Ubuntu are below.
Continue reading Ubuntu 9.04
Zune HD: The Next Generation of Zune
I’ve been reading a lot of buzz about the Zune HD online recently. Rather than the squared circle, navigation comes by way of a touchscreen. The screen itself is larger (actually “widescreen” dimensions of 16:9). In addition, the Zune HD will provide full integration with the Xbox 360, and also features a web browser that will work anywhere that WiFi is available.
Still no clue yet as to what suggested list pricing will be, and I also haven’t found out what type of storage will be on board. I’m hoping it’s still hard-drive based, as the flash-based models just don’t have the storage capacity that the drive-based models do. 120GB is a good bet, although 160GB was possible with the iPod, and Toshiba has a 240GB dual-platter drive that will fit in the same space as the 120GB drive (although it’s very pricey right now).
It all looks attractive right now. My only concerns are, first of all, what type of interface the Zune will have for entering text in the web browser. And second, I’m not that fond of touchscreen devices. My current Zune gets smudged enough in normal use; I can’t imagine what the HD will look like after a few hours in my greazy hands. And without a stylus (a la the Nintendo DS), touchscreens can sometimes be very vague to navigate. The browser is a nice attraction, but on the other hand, I may prefer something like a Blackberry that has an actual keyboard, and can be used away from WiFi locations.
We already know that any other player can’t top the industry leader in sales (for now, anyway), but there’s still plenty of innovation out there among competing brands. Those of us who like (and prefer) the Zune have a lot to look forward to with this new model.
Vintage Boombox and Ghetto Blaster Museum
I’ve found a great “time waster” for all of you electronics geeks out there: Pocket Calculator’s Vintage Boombox and Ghetto Blaster Museum. If you ever owned a boombox, this is one site that’ll have you waxing nostalgic over those stereo behemoths of the past. Today’s portables can’t compare to some of these classics. I even owned one of those: the Sony CFD-5, which was the first boombox with CD player (basically, the D-5 Discman guts in a full-featured AM/FM/Cassette boombox). The site features dozens of pictures and descriptions…great reading!
A&M Corner’s Sergio Mendes Album by Album Series
Over at A&M Corner, we are launching a new Album by Album series. This 
one is dedicated to Sergio Mendes. About once per week, we will introduce a new album for discussion, and use the information we gather as part of a new, upcoming project that will include a revamped Mendes discography. Just posted is the first installment for the 1961 debut album, Dance Moderno. Click here to take part in our new series!