Bret and Courtney's party [s]

The lovely couple hosted an engagement party. Excellent food, excellent company. Lots of people doing their best to look goofy for the camera (on account of the copious giggle-water).

Potato and The General caused some shenanigans, and the out-of-context quote of the weekend goes to Bret:
'Courtney, are you going to take this bear back?'


This is one of Laura's.

Someone's sick idea of fun [s]

A couple of stills from the videos.






The size and frame rate compression doesn't do much for the videos. Just imagine full res and smooth framerate.







Afterthoughts:

• Film totally outperforms digital here.
• There's a very slim margin between having a visible flash on the subject and being so close there is massive blur.
• A dark background would make for a much clearer image of the subject.
• Head/tail/signal lights should be blacked out.
• Try for an anterior or posterior camera setup.
• Surround the led puck (for focusing) with an oil moat full of crocodiles to all but extinguish the subject's temptation.
  

Nightsurfing, part quatre [r]

Another nasty, windy day. Nothin' doin'.

El jollo loco [i]

1. Tomorrow is Sun God. Hmm.
2. My colleague apparently has a Ralph Wiggum quote generator.
3. Connie and Jon went to the cove:
   

Drivetrain IV [i]

Done.

Don't swipe that card! [i]

I still hear 'my laptop dies after five minutes' quite often, but even more I'm getting 'my computer is slow'.

My computer is slow.
Nah. Computers don't get slow. That's the beauty of electronics. They don't wear out. And they only die because of failed mechanical components (fans, hard drives).

Well then why does it take five minutes for Word to start up?
Simply? Because Windows has become bloated and slow.

Der! That's what I meant by 'my computer is slow'.
Yeah but it costs you $800 to replace your computer, it costs you $0 to replace Windows. That sleeve of ten discs that came with your computer is pure gold.

What, like replace XP with Vista?
Oh hell no. There's a huge difference between Windows on those discs and Windows on your computer. Windows on those discs is pure as snow, Windows on your computer has for several years managed your documents, photos, spyware, music, internet settings, installed applications, etc.

Okay so I want to replace the dirty old Windows on my computer with the pure Windows on the discs. How?

1. Burn all your important stuff onto cd/dvd - a very good habit to get into anyway.
2. Pop the system discs that came with your computer in.
3. Follow all the instructions for doing a reinstall.
   

Or just ask someone.

But technology changes so fast, isn't my computer out of date anyway?
Maybe five years after it was built. No sooner. Think of how fast everything was when you just bought the computer. Well the computer is still the same, the copy of Windows on the cd is still the same, the only thing different is that ugly copy of Windows on your computer.

Okay so the cd copy of Windows hasn't changed in two years, but what about Winamp, Excel, and Firefox?
They'd lose a lot of customers if their applications required cutting edge technology.

How often do I have to do this reinstall thing?
Less often than you have to change your oil. There are many factors that accellerate or inhibit Windows' demise:

• How many apps you've installed.
• Any heavyweight programs like antivirus software or something made by Real.
  
• Spyware/viruses.
• If it's a laptop.
  
• Windows features like automatic backups and file indexing.

I keep my computer squeaky clean, but every 12 months or so Windows just starts sucking. You know, when you click on 'Start' and have to wait a measurable time for the menu to pop up.

Why would Microsoft do this? Doesn't it hurt their business?
Explanation 1: Their programmers just aren't very good.
Explanation 2: It's a great business model. Joe Consumer's 'computer gets slow' so he buys a new one. Clearly he is not faulting Microsoft because he's going to Dell or IBM for the replacement. And with that replacement comes another copy of Windows. Cha-ching.

Is it bad that I didn't know this?
Nope. I know quite a few programmers and computer science professors who buy new computers on a regular basis for this very reason. I dread the day I have to ask IT at my company for a reinstall disc.

Drivetrain III [i]

Rotors are here, the Cel can finally go back together. Side by side...


Old: Raybestos STS rotors.
New: Nopi silver cadmium-plated rotors.


Old: Raybestos STS pads.
New: Brembos.


Old: Modern Sniper 15's.
New: Motegi DV5 17's.


Old: Toyo touring tires.
New: Kumho Ecstas.

I get more phone numbers rollin this than I ever did on the bus [i]

17" Motegis.

Corral Canyon [s]

What do you buy for the spoiled little brother who gets everything? Road rash, of course. So I put together a dirt biking excursion to Corral Canyon. We rented a CRF230, TRX250, and XR400 from Califorina Motorsport. They were pretty good to rent from.

The timing and location was great:

• The weather was clear and cool.
• It wasn't too far from San Diego proper.
• There was a good variety of roads, trails, and jumps.
• It wasn't crowded at all, which was especially good considering the low-visibility corners.
  

The atv turned out to be the most popular, indeed it drifted like a champ. It did, however, have a propensity for rolling as Connie and Ray discovered. The 230 enjoyed almost as much demand and claimed the epidermi of Ty and Ted. The 400 was only mounted by bold and bucked Erik as, mid-jump, he received a fateful call from Matthew (see video).

And I think a record was set for the longest string of coherent 'that's what she said's when we loaded the vehicles back on the trailer.

Check Connie's and my photos.


People.


Jon jumping.


Connie and Ted chase Jon.


Erik then Ted hit the jump.


Ray - I got both wheels off the ground.


Erik - Yeah but my phone's ringing.


Connie on the atv, Jon on the crf.

Nightsurfing, Part Trois [r]

And I thought studio photography was tricky. Pretty much everything has to be in perfect concert for these night shots to work out. This time I had the right equipment and personnel. But alas 20kt winds kicked up and destroyed the early evening surf. We postponed a few hours and though it was better, the break was still trashy.

The water was warm and the lighting setup made focusing easy. But there just weren't any good opportunities to snag good shots. The only other slight complication was not adequately communicating to the flasher which side the slave sensor was on - but that was moot.

It's pretty clear from the shots: plenty of light and no focus issues. But nothing more than ugly whitewater.

It was however strange to get back from a surf session at 1 am.

Drivetrain II [i]

The drive shafts came out with the aid of a prying bar.



It looked like someone had dooked in my cv joints, but I'm pretty sure that's not actually the case.



I picked up a couple reman shafts from Kragen. They looked to match up perfectly save four a couple missing dust shields. The investigation continues.



And while the spindles are out, why not replace the bearings? Well there are a couple reasons but I decided to anyway.

They require a few special tools and a lot of hassle so I defaulted to outsourcing. Firestone nearby wouldn't do 'em without the rest of the car, which would present a logistical difficulty. Pepboys all the way down in Clairemont replaced them for $35/side.

Now I'm waiting on rims and tires, pads and rotors.

This adventure brought to you by the letter E and the number 10.

GRE analysis problem test prep [i]

Here's an excerpt from a BBC article discussing a war funding bill that carried a deadline to pull out of Iraq. The dems timed it so the inevitable veto would happen on the fourth anniversary of 'Mission Accomplished.'

Speaking before the signing of the bill, White House spokeswoman
Dana Perino accused the Democrats of cynically delaying the move
so it would coincide with the anniversary for political gain.

"It's very disturbing to think that they possibly held up this money
for the troops and the troops' families and the resources they need
to try some PR stunt on this day," Ms Perino said.

What? The White House is criticizing Congress for delaying a bill that it vetoed. If holding up the money the troops need is 'very disturbing', how do you describe denying it altogether?

For sure it's nothing more than a trife potshot at an opposing party; yet another attempt to capitalize on the country's wartime emotion. But if any politician can be so blatantly illogical, for all the 24 hour news services we have, we aren't very well informed.

Did you catch it?