After reading Watership Down to Bowen, I needed a break from reading long narratives to Bowen. I decided to cheat. Instead of reading to him, we'd listen to an audio book together. But which one? I settled on The Hobbit.
The Hobbit is a long book for a 6 year old kid, with a running time of 11 hours and 8 minutes for the unabridged version. (There was zero chance I'd go for the dramatized abridged version) I was worried that Bowen would listen for about 10 minutes and then decide that it was not for him. I shouldn't have.
First of all, Rob Inglis is a great narrator, not only using very different voices for each character, but when it came to the songs and poems (which I tended to skip over as a kid reading the book) he would actually sing! I don't think I could have sang the songs as well as he did, so paying for the book didn't seem like a bad idea. So after just one session of listening, Bowen was hooked. The listening took many many days, and Bowen didn't always have the attention span to listen carefully. But the nice thing about The Hobbit is that not only is it a book and audio book, there are also movies, so we would check out each movie from the library as he finished the section of the book, and as an added bonus we would do comparisons: how was the movie different from the book? Why was it different? Did Gollum look like how you imagined him to look?
The narration is not perfect: the riddles section for instance, was difficult for Bowen to comprehend because of the voice Inglis used for Gollum. But that's OK. We could get out the book and read the riddles, which Bowen loved. I need a good book of riddles.
Needless to say, I can recommend The Hobbit as an audio book for young listeners. I myself can't listen to fiction in audio book format, but I made an exception for this one. I guess I'll make an exception for Rob Inglis' Lord of The Rings next.
Tuesday, March 06, 2018
Monday, March 05, 2018
Review: Life is Strange (PS4)
Life is Strange is an episodic adventure game that falls into the faux-choice genre. In other words, while you're given choices and approaches to dialog, the plot doesn't actually change, and in key places in the story you're just driven on rails along the major plotline. In effect, the game has only one real choice, the last one you make in episode 5. Everything else is fluff or flavor.
The plot revolves around Max Caulfield, who's won a scholarship to a prestigious arts-oriented high school in the fictional town of Acadia Bay, Oregon. One day, while using the bathroom, she overhears a conversation between a friend she hasn't seen for years (Chloe), and a boy in the school. The encounter turns nasty, a gun is pulled, and Max discovers that she can rewind time.
The rewind mechanic is very well done, and the game provides several puzzles which can only be solved through Max's powers. Interestingly enough, dialog trees can also be rewound, so you can redo encounters and conversations until you get the response you're happy with. The game even helps you out by providing a "fast-forward" button so you can skip parts of the conversation that you've already heard.
The art direction is superb, though there are several technical glitches here and there on the PS4, where voices don't line up with character animation. This could be because the dialog has to be localized into multiple languages, but I think could simply be a limitation of the facial capture and animation technology. The music and sound direction is also excellent, providing a multi-media experience that's enticing, and in many moments lyrical. The music soundtrack is actually worth listening to, independent of the game.
In terms of story, the writing is actually better than many critically acclaimed movies. For instance, I think the story in Life is Strange is much better than Your Name, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time or even The Time Traveler's Wife. In any case, throughout the 5-Episode series the game winds and rewinds time continually. You get more exposition about the limits of Max's powers, and insight into the people who fill the world she lives in. By the end of the story, you've learned to care about them. Even the reveal is a surprise, though fair. The game's also not afraid to spend time on character development, rather than dumping puzzle after puzzle on you
Here's the best thing about the game: Max Caulfield is actually a really nice person and a great protagonist. The game portrays her as an introvert and her voice actress is great at showing her hesitancy in expressing herself. It's rare to see well-written introverts in the movies, but in video games? Max stands alone. At every point in time, you see her always trying to do the right thing. She's full of empathy and you're always rooting for her. She's a great heroine and when she faces agonizing choices you feel for her, even though you know most of those choices are false.
My biggest issue with this game is that the story isn't improved by it being an interactive game. Some of the puzzles are tedious and just break the flow and narrative. I think doing the plot/storyline as an actual TV series with great actors might actually be better than the medium of interactive media, especially given that many of the choices provided turned out to be false and fake.
Nevertheless, compelling story, great art direction, many interesting puzzles, and good music make this a complete package. It's worth your time and deserves its awards. Recommended. And play it with a good sound system. The game deserves that effort.
The plot revolves around Max Caulfield, who's won a scholarship to a prestigious arts-oriented high school in the fictional town of Acadia Bay, Oregon. One day, while using the bathroom, she overhears a conversation between a friend she hasn't seen for years (Chloe), and a boy in the school. The encounter turns nasty, a gun is pulled, and Max discovers that she can rewind time.
The rewind mechanic is very well done, and the game provides several puzzles which can only be solved through Max's powers. Interestingly enough, dialog trees can also be rewound, so you can redo encounters and conversations until you get the response you're happy with. The game even helps you out by providing a "fast-forward" button so you can skip parts of the conversation that you've already heard.
The art direction is superb, though there are several technical glitches here and there on the PS4, where voices don't line up with character animation. This could be because the dialog has to be localized into multiple languages, but I think could simply be a limitation of the facial capture and animation technology. The music and sound direction is also excellent, providing a multi-media experience that's enticing, and in many moments lyrical. The music soundtrack is actually worth listening to, independent of the game.
In terms of story, the writing is actually better than many critically acclaimed movies. For instance, I think the story in Life is Strange is much better than Your Name, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time or even The Time Traveler's Wife. In any case, throughout the 5-Episode series the game winds and rewinds time continually. You get more exposition about the limits of Max's powers, and insight into the people who fill the world she lives in. By the end of the story, you've learned to care about them. Even the reveal is a surprise, though fair. The game's also not afraid to spend time on character development, rather than dumping puzzle after puzzle on you
Here's the best thing about the game: Max Caulfield is actually a really nice person and a great protagonist. The game portrays her as an introvert and her voice actress is great at showing her hesitancy in expressing herself. It's rare to see well-written introverts in the movies, but in video games? Max stands alone. At every point in time, you see her always trying to do the right thing. She's full of empathy and you're always rooting for her. She's a great heroine and when she faces agonizing choices you feel for her, even though you know most of those choices are false.
My biggest issue with this game is that the story isn't improved by it being an interactive game. Some of the puzzles are tedious and just break the flow and narrative. I think doing the plot/storyline as an actual TV series with great actors might actually be better than the medium of interactive media, especially given that many of the choices provided turned out to be false and fake.
Nevertheless, compelling story, great art direction, many interesting puzzles, and good music make this a complete package. It's worth your time and deserves its awards. Recommended. And play it with a good sound system. The game deserves that effort.
Sunday, March 04, 2018
Review: Kissral Bluetooth Earbud Headphone
My refurbished Moto Hint+ has started to have battery deterioration, to the point where a fresh charge wouldn't last 20 minutes of talk time. If you've ever been on hold and had to wait 20 minutes, you know that having the headset cut out at the worst possible time is a major pain. Not wanting to buy new old stock (which probably has been sitting around for along time), I decided to see what Amazon had to offer.
It turns out that $16 buys you a Kissral Bluetooth earphone that looks very similar to the Moto Hint+. The device is tiny, as small as the Moto Hint+ was, but without a battery case. The battery case is very nice, not just because it recharged the Moto Hint+, but also because it was big enough for me not to lose. This tiny thing is very easy to lose. On the other hand, at $16, it's not a disaster if you lose it. The annoyance is that it charges using an old-style Nokia-phone type barrel tip rather than micro USB, which is one more wire to carry and lose while touring.
The advertising touts 8 hours of phone calls and 6 hours of music. In practice, I think I got about 3-4 hours of phone calls and 2 hours of music (really using it for Google navigation audio while renting a car) before it started complaining about low battery. The problem with the device is that it wouldn't just complain about low battery and stop. It would continuously nag you about the low battery, rendering the headset unusable. So there might have been more talk time left, but it was too annoying to use with low battery.
Is it as premium a device as the Moto Hint+? No. But it seems to get the job done, and the price can't be beat. I find that a device like this is great for cycling or touring, where sometimes you just NEED voice directions but can't be looking at the screen all the time, or need to be on the phone talking to the host while searching for the AirBnB in a foreign locale. At 13g including the charging cable it's well worth putting this into your touring kit. Recommended.
It turns out that $16 buys you a Kissral Bluetooth earphone that looks very similar to the Moto Hint+. The device is tiny, as small as the Moto Hint+ was, but without a battery case. The battery case is very nice, not just because it recharged the Moto Hint+, but also because it was big enough for me not to lose. This tiny thing is very easy to lose. On the other hand, at $16, it's not a disaster if you lose it. The annoyance is that it charges using an old-style Nokia-phone type barrel tip rather than micro USB, which is one more wire to carry and lose while touring.
The advertising touts 8 hours of phone calls and 6 hours of music. In practice, I think I got about 3-4 hours of phone calls and 2 hours of music (really using it for Google navigation audio while renting a car) before it started complaining about low battery. The problem with the device is that it wouldn't just complain about low battery and stop. It would continuously nag you about the low battery, rendering the headset unusable. So there might have been more talk time left, but it was too annoying to use with low battery.
Is it as premium a device as the Moto Hint+? No. But it seems to get the job done, and the price can't be beat. I find that a device like this is great for cycling or touring, where sometimes you just NEED voice directions but can't be looking at the screen all the time, or need to be on the phone talking to the host while searching for the AirBnB in a foreign locale. At 13g including the charging cable it's well worth putting this into your touring kit. Recommended.
Friday, March 02, 2018
Review: Timbuk2 Command TSA Messenger Bag
I really like my Quora-Top-Writer issued Half-Mass messenger bag. It's light, roomy (I can carry Bowen's blanket, lunch box, and accouterments to school for him, so he can ride his single bike unloaded). However, it has one fatal flaw, which is that it's not waterproof.
I found an older model of the Timbuk2 Command Laptop TSA messenger bag on eBay for a decent price, and figured, why not. It's supposedly waterproof, and I got a small, having complained that the Quora bag was too big. The biggest difference between the old and the new as far as I can tell is that the buckles have been replaced by a hook/loop (not velcro) system.
When it arrived, I was dismayed to find that it was heavy: much heavier than the Half-Mass, which isn't surprising, since it actually is waterproof, and that doesn't come for free. I'm sure the TSA exterior zip-pocket for a laptop doesn't come light, either. The main (non-laptop) compartment is also messily subdivided into lots of little pockets with zippers, velcro pockets, etc. It's nice for organization, but I don't think I need to be that organized. The extra pockets also make it hard to use, and I'd prefer one big compartment so I can just dump Bowen's blankets, lunchbox, etc. It also didn't come with a side-stabilizer strap. An e-mail to Timbuk2, however, solved that problem: they asked me for a few pictures and sent me a side stabilizer strap almost immediately.
I recently got caught in the rain and verified that yes, the inside of the bag stayed dry even though I'd gotten soaked. It's heavy, however, so I'm not sure I'd use it unless it's raining. I don't know how bike messengers use this bag all day. I think I'd recommend the Patagonia Half-mass over this except for the waterproofing, and of course, any of the Carradice saddlebags for day to day use.
I found an older model of the Timbuk2 Command Laptop TSA messenger bag on eBay for a decent price, and figured, why not. It's supposedly waterproof, and I got a small, having complained that the Quora bag was too big. The biggest difference between the old and the new as far as I can tell is that the buckles have been replaced by a hook/loop (not velcro) system.
When it arrived, I was dismayed to find that it was heavy: much heavier than the Half-Mass, which isn't surprising, since it actually is waterproof, and that doesn't come for free. I'm sure the TSA exterior zip-pocket for a laptop doesn't come light, either. The main (non-laptop) compartment is also messily subdivided into lots of little pockets with zippers, velcro pockets, etc. It's nice for organization, but I don't think I need to be that organized. The extra pockets also make it hard to use, and I'd prefer one big compartment so I can just dump Bowen's blankets, lunchbox, etc. It also didn't come with a side-stabilizer strap. An e-mail to Timbuk2, however, solved that problem: they asked me for a few pictures and sent me a side stabilizer strap almost immediately.
I recently got caught in the rain and verified that yes, the inside of the bag stayed dry even though I'd gotten soaked. It's heavy, however, so I'm not sure I'd use it unless it's raining. I don't know how bike messengers use this bag all day. I think I'd recommend the Patagonia Half-mass over this except for the waterproofing, and of course, any of the Carradice saddlebags for day to day use.
Thursday, March 01, 2018
Review: Batman - City of Owls
City of Owls follows on the lackluster successful Court of Owls. The story is still a bit incoherent: the Court of Owls comes after Bruce Wayne, and discovers that he is Batman, infiltrating the Batcave. We get a nice glimpse of the safeguards and extra weaponry that Batman has to defend the Batcave, but nothing you wouldn't expect.
Then we get the reveal of who the mastermind behind the Court of Owls is, but it's not even all that exciting. To end the book, we get a flashback to Alfred's father, as well as an introduction to Mr. Freeze. At least the main story from the previous book js completed and there's no cliffhanger.
The like the Court of Owls storyline, but I feel like it got dragged out way too long for no particular reason. Not recommended.
Then we get the reveal of who the mastermind behind the Court of Owls is, but it's not even all that exciting. To end the book, we get a flashback to Alfred's father, as well as an introduction to Mr. Freeze. At least the main story from the previous book js completed and there's no cliffhanger.
The like the Court of Owls storyline, but I feel like it got dragged out way too long for no particular reason. Not recommended.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Review: Aukey QC 3.0 Dual Wall Charger
I'm forever trying to keep the weight of my touring kit down. Since QC phones have become the norm, it's nice to have a QC compatible charger while traveling, since while on tour, the phone has become the navigation device, the hotel/AirBnB booking device, the emergency contact device, the livetrack device, and the camera/RAW processor.
The Aukey 3.0 dual charger was on sale for about $6, so I picked one up hoping that it would be light enough to replace my old standby, the lightweight New Trent NT90 or the Moko Universal Charger, neither of which had QC.
Unfortunately, the dual charger weighs in at 111g. The Newtrent + the QC charger that came with the Moto G5+ came in at 113g, but that gives me 3 USB ports! With the Moko, the weight might go up a little, but since you need power adapters anyway, it's still a win. So this charger's no good for touring. It's useful for car and hotel tours where I can charge both my wife and my QC compatible phones at full QC speed, and for $6, it's a very good deal. I guess the physics dictate that there's no way to shave the weight of these high power chargers past a certain point.
The Aukey 3.0 dual charger was on sale for about $6, so I picked one up hoping that it would be light enough to replace my old standby, the lightweight New Trent NT90 or the Moko Universal Charger, neither of which had QC.
Unfortunately, the dual charger weighs in at 111g. The Newtrent + the QC charger that came with the Moto G5+ came in at 113g, but that gives me 3 USB ports! With the Moko, the weight might go up a little, but since you need power adapters anyway, it's still a win. So this charger's no good for touring. It's useful for car and hotel tours where I can charge both my wife and my QC compatible phones at full QC speed, and for $6, it's a very good deal. I guess the physics dictate that there's no way to shave the weight of these high power chargers past a certain point.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Review: Oh My Goddess! Vols 1-3
There was a Comixology sale on Oh My Goddess!, so I bought Vol 1, Vol 2, and Vol 3 all at a fairly low price just to see what it was about, since the series (which runs to 48 volumes) got fairly good reviews.
It turns out that the series is basically a sit-com in comic book format, very similar to Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 or Bewitched. The idea is that a lonely nerdy guy at a technical university dials a wrong number and gets a direct hotline to the gods/goddesses. The goddess shows up and grants him one wish, and thinking that it's a prank, he wishes for her to stay with him forever, and of course, the wish is granted and she moves in with him.
The goddess Belldandy has a bunch of powers and limitations, and the first couple of books explore the hilariousness of her powers and of course, many times her solutions don't really help solve the problem. By the end of the second book, the writer/artist (Japanese comic books tend to be written/drawn by the one person rather than being a team effort) has ran out of ideas and of course, more characters are added to the cast to spice up the situation. (As someone once said, "Rumiko Takahashi's idea of character development is to add more characters", and Kosuke Fujishima didn't hesitate to use her playbook)
I can see where this series is going (and it is oh so very predictable), so I'm not even going to bother checking out the rest of the series from the library.
It turns out that the series is basically a sit-com in comic book format, very similar to Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 or Bewitched. The idea is that a lonely nerdy guy at a technical university dials a wrong number and gets a direct hotline to the gods/goddesses. The goddess shows up and grants him one wish, and thinking that it's a prank, he wishes for her to stay with him forever, and of course, the wish is granted and she moves in with him.
The goddess Belldandy has a bunch of powers and limitations, and the first couple of books explore the hilariousness of her powers and of course, many times her solutions don't really help solve the problem. By the end of the second book, the writer/artist (Japanese comic books tend to be written/drawn by the one person rather than being a team effort) has ran out of ideas and of course, more characters are added to the cast to spice up the situation. (As someone once said, "Rumiko Takahashi's idea of character development is to add more characters", and Kosuke Fujishima didn't hesitate to use her playbook)
I can see where this series is going (and it is oh so very predictable), so I'm not even going to bother checking out the rest of the series from the library.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Review: Caesar's Last Breath
Caesar's Last Breath is a non-fiction collection of science essays about gases and our atmosphere. It's got a lot of great stuff about gases, including details about the discovery of Oxygen, as well as the number of different atmospheres the Earth has had since it formed 4.5 billion years ago.
I enjoyed the coverage of various aspects of atmospheric science, including scary stories about the death from radiation that some of the scientists and engineers engaged in the Manhattan project had. In both cases, they both knew they'd gotten fatal doses, and it must have been a horrifying thought. What's sad was that both incidences were quite preventable.
The coverage of weather forecasting by computer was probably the least detailed, but that subject probably deserves its own book. And yes, there's coverage of climate change, and Kean editorializes that he thinks that humanity would probably rather find a way to sequester carbon or engineer the planet's thermal systems than to cut back on its luxurious lifestyle (probably sadly true).
Finally, I also enjoyed the account of how various gases were liquefied (I've always wondered how liquid nitrogen was made) and Einstein's excursions into inventing refrigerators.
Good stuff, and well worth your time. Recommended.
I enjoyed the coverage of various aspects of atmospheric science, including scary stories about the death from radiation that some of the scientists and engineers engaged in the Manhattan project had. In both cases, they both knew they'd gotten fatal doses, and it must have been a horrifying thought. What's sad was that both incidences were quite preventable.
The coverage of weather forecasting by computer was probably the least detailed, but that subject probably deserves its own book. And yes, there's coverage of climate change, and Kean editorializes that he thinks that humanity would probably rather find a way to sequester carbon or engineer the planet's thermal systems than to cut back on its luxurious lifestyle (probably sadly true).
Finally, I also enjoyed the account of how various gases were liquefied (I've always wondered how liquid nitrogen was made) and Einstein's excursions into inventing refrigerators.
Good stuff, and well worth your time. Recommended.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Review: Nashbar Headband
The Nashbar Headband looked just like the old lycra headband I had, except that rather than being tie on, had an elastic band at one end that held it to your head. In practice, it's not too tight, and fits nicely under the helmet.
I worried that it wouldn't wick sweat as nicely as my old headband, but despite riding the tandem on Saturday where the climb from Calaveras road all the way to the top of Sierra road took more than an hour in early afternoon heat (the grade exceeded 12% in many places), the sweatband did not overload, and sweat did not get into my eyes. Comparing it with the SweatVac, I think it's because the band does a better job of channeling sweat to the back of the head than the SweatVac, because of positioning.
The band weighs 13g, 3g less than the SweatVac, so not only does it work better, it's lighter too. At $5, you can buy several at once (and top up the order with chains, etc to get free shipping) and rotate them during a tour so if you lose one it's not a disaster.
Recommended.
I worried that it wouldn't wick sweat as nicely as my old headband, but despite riding the tandem on Saturday where the climb from Calaveras road all the way to the top of Sierra road took more than an hour in early afternoon heat (the grade exceeded 12% in many places), the sweatband did not overload, and sweat did not get into my eyes. Comparing it with the SweatVac, I think it's because the band does a better job of channeling sweat to the back of the head than the SweatVac, because of positioning.
The band weighs 13g, 3g less than the SweatVac, so not only does it work better, it's lighter too. At $5, you can buy several at once (and top up the order with chains, etc to get free shipping) and rotate them during a tour so if you lose one it's not a disaster.
Recommended.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Review: Keen Arroyo II Sandal
This is one of those times when my cheapness got me. The Arroyo II Sandal was on sale on Amazon at $55, and I picked up the exact same size as the Newports I usually use. The Newports are so great that whenever I wear out a pair, I just buy a new one, but they are expensive.
Unfortunately, the Arroyos aren't nearly as nice. They're still wearable, but I just don't like them as much. For one thing, they're a half size big compared to the Newports. For another, the casing is leather instead of fabric, which means that you can't treat them roughly (e.g., use them on a sailing trip, run in water, etc).
I should have tried them on earlier but didn't do so until recently so I can't return them now. I'll just have to wear them to death. Not recommended.
Unfortunately, the Arroyos aren't nearly as nice. They're still wearable, but I just don't like them as much. For one thing, they're a half size big compared to the Newports. For another, the casing is leather instead of fabric, which means that you can't treat them roughly (e.g., use them on a sailing trip, run in water, etc).
I should have tried them on earlier but didn't do so until recently so I can't return them now. I'll just have to wear them to death. Not recommended.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
First Impressions: Canon G7X Mk 2
I've been wanting to replace the Sony RX100 for a long time. Roberto owned and recommended the Canon G7X Mark II, and it ticked all the right boxes: 24mm wide angle, 4X zoom (the 24-100mm range is easily my favorite range), fast (f/2.8 at maximum zoom, f/1.8 at minimum), 1" sensor, image stabilization, fast continuous shooting (missing from the RX100) and a flip up screen. Retail price is a nose bleeding $679. But Canon had a refurbished sale for $450 (Canon refurb'd cameras come with a year warranty), so I jumped on it. You might be tempted by the G9X Mark II, which often sells for cheaper and is a newer camera, but don't. That camera has a much slower lens and does not get to 24mm (the wide angle side of the lens only goes to 28mm)
The G7X Mark II is heavy (11.1oz vs RX100's 8.55oz). Most of the reason is the tilt screen. It still fits in a cycling jersey pocket (important for my use case), and the start up time feels a little faster than the RX100's was (2.2s vs 2.8). But most important of all, it has physical controls, which makes shooting with it while riding much better than with most phones (the Moto series is a notable exception, with twist to shoot and the volume buttons as shutter buttons, as is the Sony).
Continuous mode was great. You could hold down the shutter button and just twist the camera, letting you get a guaranteed good shot of your son on a tandem while riding. The penalty, however, is an astonishingly long 15 seconds after that it'll take for the buffer to clear before you're allowed to close the camera and put it back into your pocket! So that makes continuous shooting a bike path or easy riding feature only. Fortunately, the shutter button is correctly calibrated, and I never took a continuous sequence of shots when my intention was to shoot a single shot instead.
At 21 mega pixel, I could crop 80% of the pixels and still get usable images. That makes it a good choice for shooting from a moving bicycle.
When stopped, you can get great images, and the fact that you're shooting RAW files means that even when you forget to turn on fill flash, you can recover shadow detail in Lightroom. As a relatively old camera, this is supported even in the pre-subscription-only version of Lightroom.
One of the great practical features of this camera for bike touring is that it will charge either via the included charger or via micro USB port. No more carrying a dedicated charger while on tour, but if you do carry the dedicated charger the charge time is significantly less. The other good feature is that you can use a wireless connection from your phone to download photos from the camera to the phone and also geotag the photos from the camera's GPS log. Again, very useful when touring, but I still wished the camera geotagged itself like the Canon S90/95 series did.
It's a great camera, and at a discounted price, well worth the money (and extra weight). Recommended.
The G7X Mark II is heavy (11.1oz vs RX100's 8.55oz). Most of the reason is the tilt screen. It still fits in a cycling jersey pocket (important for my use case), and the start up time feels a little faster than the RX100's was (2.2s vs 2.8). But most important of all, it has physical controls, which makes shooting with it while riding much better than with most phones (the Moto series is a notable exception, with twist to shoot and the volume buttons as shutter buttons, as is the Sony).
One of the great practical features of this camera for bike touring is that it will charge either via the included charger or via micro USB port. No more carrying a dedicated charger while on tour, but if you do carry the dedicated charger the charge time is significantly less. The other good feature is that you can use a wireless connection from your phone to download photos from the camera to the phone and also geotag the photos from the camera's GPS log. Again, very useful when touring, but I still wished the camera geotagged itself like the Canon S90/95 series did.
It's a great camera, and at a discounted price, well worth the money (and extra weight). Recommended.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
First Impressions: Columbia Mens Titanium Outdry Ex Reversible Jacket
I needed something heavier/warmer for winter riding, and came upon the Columbia Titanium Outdry jacket on sale. Like the Rab Windveil, it comes with a hood, but unlike the Windveil, the material is heavy enough that it doesn't flap in the wind. The sleeves do flap in the wind when you're descending above about 20mph, but all jackets are going to do that if they're not 100% form fitting, and good luck with that if you're skinny!
The jacket is relatively heavy, my size small jacket came in at 345g, or almost 3x the weight of the Rab Windveil. In exchange, it's much better in cold weather, comfortable in a range from about 32F to about 50F in active conditions (i.e., you're cycling, not standing or sitting and reading a book, for instance). I tested it on a morning ride and found that near about 48F you start wanting to unzip and take it off. The jacket is reversible, so you can wear it shiny side out or matte side out. My guess is shiny side out is better for rainy conditions (so the water beads off the waterproof coating and doesn't soak into the jacket making it heavier), and matte side out is better for around town where you don't want to look like someone equipped for severe weather conditions.
The jacket absolutely will not roll up to fit inside a jersey pocket: don't even think about that. It's purely a pannier/backpack item. I can't decide whether it's a better item to have in conjunction with the Rab Windveil or weather a fleece will be better. My guess is that fleece jackets are less practical on a bike tour because having an extra layer of waterproofing is potentially more useful.
I'll be keeping this one. Even when not on tour, it's a great cold weather jacket. I guess that means I'm recommending it.
The jacket is relatively heavy, my size small jacket came in at 345g, or almost 3x the weight of the Rab Windveil. In exchange, it's much better in cold weather, comfortable in a range from about 32F to about 50F in active conditions (i.e., you're cycling, not standing or sitting and reading a book, for instance). I tested it on a morning ride and found that near about 48F you start wanting to unzip and take it off. The jacket is reversible, so you can wear it shiny side out or matte side out. My guess is shiny side out is better for rainy conditions (so the water beads off the waterproof coating and doesn't soak into the jacket making it heavier), and matte side out is better for around town where you don't want to look like someone equipped for severe weather conditions.
The jacket absolutely will not roll up to fit inside a jersey pocket: don't even think about that. It's purely a pannier/backpack item. I can't decide whether it's a better item to have in conjunction with the Rab Windveil or weather a fleece will be better. My guess is that fleece jackets are less practical on a bike tour because having an extra layer of waterproofing is potentially more useful.
I'll be keeping this one. Even when not on tour, it's a great cold weather jacket. I guess that means I'm recommending it.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Review: Balancing on Blue
Balancing on Blue will probably never make the best seller lists: you can't even find it at your local library. It'll never be made into a major motion picture, and that's a good thing. Unlike more dramatic accounts of through-hikes, it's made up of days after days of competent hiking:
The trail descriptions are fun, and also provide me insight that I didn't know, such as nobody seems to carry a trail map on the AT, but usually just a digital guidebook with elevation profiles (apparently it's hard to get really lost). There's also a little bit of history, as well as a story about a death on the trail of another hiker. There's plenty of great prose about the beauty of the scenery, and of course, the great gift of the American wilderness: solitude.
Foskett has plenty of attitude, and is at least honest about how rude he is (in one instance, he insists on his personal trail name for another hiker, despite her picking another one for herself). It's also quite clear from the book that the AT is such a long hike that days away from the trail are necessary in some cases to recover.
I'll probably never do a big through hike of the 3 major US trails, but Balancing on Blue is a fun short read without the whining, moaning, and groaning (and insanely stupid stunts) that mar other memoirs of such accounts. In short, it's not incompetence literature, and therefore recommended.
The author, Keith Foskett, has already hiked the El Camino de Santiago and the PCT, so long distance hiking is not new to him. He doesn't make a big deal out of camping, getting dirty (though there's several pages devoted to crotch rot, which I'd experienced in my youth as a recruit in a tropical army), and enjoys giving people trail names far too much.The soles of my feet had formed the usual hard covering of skin, the body’s method of dealing with constant wear and tear. Two, small ridges ran along the underside of my little toes which always happened on thru-hikes and the pads below my big toes were hard and calloused. Now on full throttle and fighting fit, I slowly started making inroads into the mileage deficit. My mileage was hovering around twenty-five each day and I’d even thrown in a couple of thirties. (Pg. 144)
The trail descriptions are fun, and also provide me insight that I didn't know, such as nobody seems to carry a trail map on the AT, but usually just a digital guidebook with elevation profiles (apparently it's hard to get really lost). There's also a little bit of history, as well as a story about a death on the trail of another hiker. There's plenty of great prose about the beauty of the scenery, and of course, the great gift of the American wilderness: solitude.
Foskett has plenty of attitude, and is at least honest about how rude he is (in one instance, he insists on his personal trail name for another hiker, despite her picking another one for herself). It's also quite clear from the book that the AT is such a long hike that days away from the trail are necessary in some cases to recover.
I'll probably never do a big through hike of the 3 major US trails, but Balancing on Blue is a fun short read without the whining, moaning, and groaning (and insanely stupid stunts) that mar other memoirs of such accounts. In short, it's not incompetence literature, and therefore recommended.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Review: SweatVac Ventilator Cap
I don't know about you, but one of my limiting factors when cycling is sweat output. Basically, the point at which sweat runs into my eyes is the point at which I have to back off my effort level and slow down. One of the problems of growing up in the tropics is that you develop excessive sweat glands, which means that any time you workout you sweat way too much: enough to leave salt stains on your clothing and salt on your face after a hard ride. The best solution, of course, is to not let your kids overheat when they're growing up or they'll end up with too many sweat glands too. But that's too late for me.
Type "sweat band" into Amazon, and you'll get a collection of terry-cloth bands. These might work if you're a tennis player, soccer player, or basketball player, but any sport where a helmet is essential safety gear rules those out: they puff up your head to the point where a helmet won't fit. Ages ago, I bought a 3-pack of lycra sweat bands that were perfect from Nashbar. They were thin, and absorbed sweat very well. They were also comfortable, because they didn't come with elastic: you tied a knot, which let you adjust the appropriate tension. Their fatal flaw is that they're easy to lose, and this year I lost the last of them and of course, neither Nashbar nor anyone else carries anything similar (they were probably too low profit margin). This illustrates the major principle of cycling as a hobby: if you see something you like, make sure you buy a lifetime supply, because the cycling "industry" is incapable of leaving something that works very well alone.
By the way, the best sweat band ever made is the cotton cycling cap. They're great and I use them when touring in the Alps, where multi-hour climbs are the norm. But they don't work well under helmets and give me a headache if I try to use them in combination. And of course, when touring with my son I can't not wear a helmet if I'm to set a good example.
So now Nashbar only carries two types of sweat bands, the skull cap, or the elastic band which is much thicker than the lycra bands I used to use. I ordered both types. The elastic band looked like it'll die on me after a few rides (elastic does tend to do that), so I tried the SweatVac cap first. It's thin, fits nicely under the helmet, and not too tight.
Unfortunately, a mere 50 minutes of hard riding up a mountain and these immediately fail to keep up with my sweat output. I was once again forced to back off my effort and slow down. Not recommended!
Type "sweat band" into Amazon, and you'll get a collection of terry-cloth bands. These might work if you're a tennis player, soccer player, or basketball player, but any sport where a helmet is essential safety gear rules those out: they puff up your head to the point where a helmet won't fit. Ages ago, I bought a 3-pack of lycra sweat bands that were perfect from Nashbar. They were thin, and absorbed sweat very well. They were also comfortable, because they didn't come with elastic: you tied a knot, which let you adjust the appropriate tension. Their fatal flaw is that they're easy to lose, and this year I lost the last of them and of course, neither Nashbar nor anyone else carries anything similar (they were probably too low profit margin). This illustrates the major principle of cycling as a hobby: if you see something you like, make sure you buy a lifetime supply, because the cycling "industry" is incapable of leaving something that works very well alone.
By the way, the best sweat band ever made is the cotton cycling cap. They're great and I use them when touring in the Alps, where multi-hour climbs are the norm. But they don't work well under helmets and give me a headache if I try to use them in combination. And of course, when touring with my son I can't not wear a helmet if I'm to set a good example.
So now Nashbar only carries two types of sweat bands, the skull cap, or the elastic band which is much thicker than the lycra bands I used to use. I ordered both types. The elastic band looked like it'll die on me after a few rides (elastic does tend to do that), so I tried the SweatVac cap first. It's thin, fits nicely under the helmet, and not too tight.
Unfortunately, a mere 50 minutes of hard riding up a mountain and these immediately fail to keep up with my sweat output. I was once again forced to back off my effort and slow down. Not recommended!
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Review: Transit Metro Trunk Bag
Trunk bags are a strange beast. They don't carry very much (not even the huge ones), and they depend on you having a rack on the back of the bike. Most of the time, if you're going to have a rack, you might as well use panniers, which have much higher storage capacity, and don't weigh very much, considering you already have a rack on the bike.
Pretty much, their primary use is for day rides on a bike where the rack is permanently affixed and/or too much trouble to remove for the occasion. In that case, when you're trying to ride with a club, they're more aerodynamic than panniers, even if they're not much lighter.
Well, actually, the TransIt Metro Trunk Bag is the first trunk bag I found that's actually quite a bit lighter than our panniers. At a 215g weight (which I checked against a postal scale), they're one quarter the weight of one of our Robert Beckman panniers. They're also less than half the weight of the huge Escape DX Trunk bag that it replaced. The Escape also had the problem that it would lean to one side during a ride. That didn't bother me or Bowen, but it bothered a lot of other cyclists we rode with, to the point where at least 5 cyclists would bug us about it during a ride.
So for $25 or so, I got rid of the annoying comments, and have a lighter bike at the same time. That makes this trunk bag recommended.
Pretty much, their primary use is for day rides on a bike where the rack is permanently affixed and/or too much trouble to remove for the occasion. In that case, when you're trying to ride with a club, they're more aerodynamic than panniers, even if they're not much lighter.
Well, actually, the TransIt Metro Trunk Bag is the first trunk bag I found that's actually quite a bit lighter than our panniers. At a 215g weight (which I checked against a postal scale), they're one quarter the weight of one of our Robert Beckman panniers. They're also less than half the weight of the huge Escape DX Trunk bag that it replaced. The Escape also had the problem that it would lean to one side during a ride. That didn't bother me or Bowen, but it bothered a lot of other cyclists we rode with, to the point where at least 5 cyclists would bug us about it during a ride.
So for $25 or so, I got rid of the annoying comments, and have a lighter bike at the same time. That makes this trunk bag recommended.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Review: The Disappearing Spoon
After The Violinist's Thumb, I decided to see if his other books were any good. All of his books were readily available in ebook format from the local library, so I soon had The Disappearing Spoon on my Kindle.
It's been decades since my high school chemistry classes, so this was a great refresher: it covers the periodic tables and the various elements that form it, as well as going into deep physics. One thing I didn't know, for instance, was that there's active investigation as to whether the fine structure constant is actually a constant.
The various biographies of scientists (some of which never got a Nobel prize despite deserving it) were also great. For instance, I wasn't aware that Marie Curie's daughter Irene Curie, also was a Nobel Prize winner. (Clearly my liberal arts education is missing several spots)
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the selection of topics, and the way Sam Kean covered them. This book is highly recommended and well worth your time.
It's been decades since my high school chemistry classes, so this was a great refresher: it covers the periodic tables and the various elements that form it, as well as going into deep physics. One thing I didn't know, for instance, was that there's active investigation as to whether the fine structure constant is actually a constant.
The various biographies of scientists (some of which never got a Nobel prize despite deserving it) were also great. For instance, I wasn't aware that Marie Curie's daughter Irene Curie, also was a Nobel Prize winner. (Clearly my liberal arts education is missing several spots)
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the selection of topics, and the way Sam Kean covered them. This book is highly recommended and well worth your time.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
First Impressions: Woom 4
Bowen's been asking for a bike with gears forever, ever since he started spinning out his Woom 3 on the way back from school. The logical next bike for him was the Woom 4. The other major competitor, the Benin 20 costs $100 more, and isn't appreciably better (it weighs more, for one!).
The Woom 4 comes with SRAM 8 speed grip shifters and mini-V brakes. Like the Woom 3, the Woom 4's brakes come preadjusted and work correctly out of the box, which is rare to find with V-brakes from any manufacturer, let alone from a kids bike. Out of the box I found several interesting features:
The bike comes with a chain-catcher installed on the inside of the bottom bracket. This is a nice touch! Since there's no front derailleur, it is possible for an aggressive kid to hop the bike and cause the chain to fall off. On the outside, the pant-leg protector would keep it from derailing, so on the inside they put a chain catcher. Both front and rear wheels have quick releases, and the grip shifter has a gear indicator labeled from 1-8. In practice, Bowen looked at it a few times while learning to shift but after that will probably never use it again.
The seat came a little low, but Bowen wanted it even lower, so I removed the rear reflector (I installed a light right away, so the reflector was redundant) and gained another quarter inch to lower the seat. I also removed the front reflector, installed a handlebar bag, and installed a front light. No computer was needed this time, since Bowen's aunt recently upgraded to a Vivoactive 3 and gave Bowen her old Vivoactive.
Well, Bowen got on it and for his first ride rode to the local library and back. Those 20 inch wheels definitely rolled a long quite a bit better, and he exceeded his past speed limit of about 9mph with his new gears. When he was done, he told me that I would like to ride his single to school and back home again from now on. Coming from him, that means the bike is recommended, and I probably shouldn't have put off giving him a bike with gears for as long as I did. I now worry whether he'll end up going too fast on that bike, but a quick calculation indicates that even in top gear he still only has 65 gear inches. At 90rpm that's still less than 20mph, which is still fast but not horribly scary. I'd be much more worried about big descents.
The Woom 4 comes with SRAM 8 speed grip shifters and mini-V brakes. Like the Woom 3, the Woom 4's brakes come preadjusted and work correctly out of the box, which is rare to find with V-brakes from any manufacturer, let alone from a kids bike. Out of the box I found several interesting features:
Well, Bowen got on it and for his first ride rode to the local library and back. Those 20 inch wheels definitely rolled a long quite a bit better, and he exceeded his past speed limit of about 9mph with his new gears. When he was done, he told me that I would like to ride his single to school and back home again from now on. Coming from him, that means the bike is recommended, and I probably shouldn't have put off giving him a bike with gears for as long as I did. I now worry whether he'll end up going too fast on that bike, but a quick calculation indicates that even in top gear he still only has 65 gear inches. At 90rpm that's still less than 20mph, which is still fast but not horribly scary. I'd be much more worried about big descents.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Review: Rab Windveil Jacket
Having your son as a stoker means that you can't ride with worn out bedraggled clothing any more. When he was just 4 years old, Bowen poked his finger in the hole in my bike shorts. Then during the winter bike tour, he told me that my jacket now had holes in it. That jacket, the Pearl Izumi Zephyr, is now out of production, having been replaced by an exceedingly expensive Pearl Izum Elite Barrier. Here's the thing: nice as the Pearl Izumi was, it had several issues: it wasn't waterproof, and it didn't pack into its own little pocket (I had to replace it once because it fell out of my jersey pocket), and now it's expensive too?! Forget it. I decided to broaden my horizons and look for stuff that wasn't necessarily cycling specific.
The Rab Windveil came with exceedingly good reviews, including claims that it was waterproof! The specific model is now out of production, but a coupon code net me free shipping and a sub Pearl Izumi price on campsaver.
On arrival, the material seems much thicker than the Pearl Izumi Zephyr was. It also weighed more, coming in at 136g instead of the 76g the Zephyr weighed. It comes with a hood and zippered pockets, which the Zephyr does not have. The hood would catch wind when cycling, but it also had a little bucket that could be used to roll it up and tuck it away. (In practice, this failed and the hood would catch wind anyway!)
I used it on Saturday's LDT ride. On top of Patterson pass, with strong wind blowing against us, I put it on and rolled down the hill exceeding 37mph. It was fast and when we turned I immediately warmed up, which told me that the jacket did a good job of warmth retention, but I wanted to push it and so kept it on in the sun to see how breathable it was, and almost made it all the way up to the 580 intersection before I got warm enough to stop to shed it.
The zippers and outside pocket don't seem to be very useful for cycling, but I could see using it for hiking/backpacking. The same goes for the hood. I've retired the Pearl Izumi to my clothes drawer as a backup and switched to carrying the Windveil in my handlebar bag, which is an implicit recommendation. It's not ideal by any means, but if it truly is waterproof I think it's a real winner.
The Rab Windveil came with exceedingly good reviews, including claims that it was waterproof! The specific model is now out of production, but a coupon code net me free shipping and a sub Pearl Izumi price on campsaver.
On arrival, the material seems much thicker than the Pearl Izumi Zephyr was. It also weighed more, coming in at 136g instead of the 76g the Zephyr weighed. It comes with a hood and zippered pockets, which the Zephyr does not have. The hood would catch wind when cycling, but it also had a little bucket that could be used to roll it up and tuck it away. (In practice, this failed and the hood would catch wind anyway!)
I used it on Saturday's LDT ride. On top of Patterson pass, with strong wind blowing against us, I put it on and rolled down the hill exceeding 37mph. It was fast and when we turned I immediately warmed up, which told me that the jacket did a good job of warmth retention, but I wanted to push it and so kept it on in the sun to see how breathable it was, and almost made it all the way up to the 580 intersection before I got warm enough to stop to shed it.
The zippers and outside pocket don't seem to be very useful for cycling, but I could see using it for hiking/backpacking. The same goes for the hood. I've retired the Pearl Izumi to my clothes drawer as a backup and switched to carrying the Windveil in my handlebar bag, which is an implicit recommendation. It's not ideal by any means, but if it truly is waterproof I think it's a real winner.
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Review: Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience
I got Brain Myths Exploded off an Audible sale, despite it probably covering many topics I'd previously read or heard about. These included Brain Rules, Thinking Fast and Slow, and of course, Predictably Irrational. Indeed, most of the lecture series was like that: Viskontas would start on a topic and I'd immediately check off some item I'd read about elsewhere. What kept me going was that she's a great lecturer, and very personable, frequently bringing in lessons from her day to day life.
The last lecture in the series was great, taking a very contrarian approach to much of the current hand-wringing over screen time, computers making us dumber, or even social networks being moved into the internet. Her thinking is that most people are actually pretty good at shifting cognitive loads over the computers and search engines, but the research told you that you weren't going to be able to use a computer to find something in the future, people would pay more attention and still be able to remember what they needed to remember.
Similarly, social network unhappiness leads to people using fewer social networks or using them in ways that don't make them unhappy. I wonder if she feels the same way about how we know now that social networks and Google played a big role in the last election.
In any case, if you haven't done as much reading as I have on neuroscience, this would be a great introduction. Even in my case, I learned a few things here and there, and found it entertaining and well presented.
The last lecture in the series was great, taking a very contrarian approach to much of the current hand-wringing over screen time, computers making us dumber, or even social networks being moved into the internet. Her thinking is that most people are actually pretty good at shifting cognitive loads over the computers and search engines, but the research told you that you weren't going to be able to use a computer to find something in the future, people would pay more attention and still be able to remember what they needed to remember.
Similarly, social network unhappiness leads to people using fewer social networks or using them in ways that don't make them unhappy. I wonder if she feels the same way about how we know now that social networks and Google played a big role in the last election.
In any case, if you haven't done as much reading as I have on neuroscience, this would be a great introduction. Even in my case, I learned a few things here and there, and found it entertaining and well presented.
Wednesday, February 07, 2018
Review: Amazon Echo (2nd Generation)
We returned our first Echo because the technology just wasn't there yet, instead opting for an Echo dot. But Xiaoqin wanted a speaker in the dining area, and the dot just wasn't any good if you didn't hook it up to a pair of real speakers, so we ended up with a second generation Echo during the holiday sales.
The Amazon Echo is a triumph of product management over engineering. The voice recognition and search isn't nearly as good as Google's. Yet despite me having uploaded my entire music collection to Google Music, we ended up with an Amazon Echo. There were several reasons for this:
The Amazon Echo is a triumph of product management over engineering. The voice recognition and search isn't nearly as good as Google's. Yet despite me having uploaded my entire music collection to Google Music, we ended up with an Amazon Echo. There were several reasons for this:
- At the time when we bought the product, not only did Google Home not support Audible audio books, it didn't support audio books of any kind without you having to pair your phone to the speaker and treat it like a Bluetooth speaker. Google now supports audio books, but of course, my entire audio book collection is on Audible, and Google's prices are abysmal compared to Audible's frequent sales and 2-for-1 deals.
- None of the Google Home products have an audio output jack, which would enable you to plug your Google Home product into a decent set of speaker systems and use the nice speakers you paid for. This is a huge product management issue: if you read Steve Yegge's rant about Google's lack of innovation carefully, you'll realize that Yegge isn't complaining about Google's actual lack of technical leadership, but it's inability to actually listen to customers and make something they want. Hence, Google has built expensive phones that can't keep up with their competition and smart speakers that work well only if you think that smart speakers are only good for doing voice search.
- Amazon Echo's priced much better than Google Home. Not only is Amazon now reaping economies of scale in the smart speaker market, they're also much more used to the low margins found in consumer electronics, so the Amazon Echo will remain the price leader for some time to come.
The speaker's sound quality is as good as you can expect from a single cylindrical tube. You're not getting high quality sound, but if you bought this for sound quality you don't have high expectations anyway. It's loud enough that I can set a timer from the kitchen and hear the response from the dining room, which is good enough.
Bowen has learned to talk to the Echo. In particular, he learned very quickly that if he got Alex to play the Paw Patrol Theme Song, his brother would be engaged with the speaker and not bother him, then he could get out his tablet and watch Paw Patrol without his brother fighting for it. I haven't hooked up any smart home devices to the Echo yet, and I don't expect to. We don't use it for huge amounts, but for what we use it for, it works well enough that we held on to it past the return period.
I'm still not sure I'd recommend it for anyone, but it's yet another example of Amazon executing very well despite having less great technology than the competition. Consider me impressed.
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