I remember how I used to have time to blog.....

This week sees me return to a week of works travel away from home and I remembered why I used to have time to blog..... Flight time....

It's one of the few times that I'm disconnected from the intertubes leaving me time to just thing and blurt out useless post like this.... The constant connection especially armed with an iPhone and iPad with push notifications there's rarely a few minutes that goes by without a notification or similar distraction. Also having two little ones around (even one of them is only 3 weeks old)means there's always play time to be had because lets face it I'm little more than a kid myself.

The not so little one turned 3 on the weekend and I think I enjoyed his loot stash nearly as much as he did. It's been almost a couple of decades is since I've rattled through a box of Lego (even if it was Duplo) and I'd be lying if I said it was anything but a lot of fun. I can see the will be a lot of Lego purchases in our future.

So..... I guess there should be a bit of a tech update in here as well.... To be honest there hasn't been a lot of tech change recently. The last big change was more a cross/down grade than an upgraded dropping my projector and jamo thx system for a 54" plasma and mission flat panel setup, most of this was driven by the constraints of a child friendly house. The additions to the iOS features for streaming and updates to iTunes has meant that with the existing tech (even an aging G4 cube) can run a streaming environment into every room of the house with ease. The other reason is the tech fund has also seen some other priorities with the ramp up of the cycling.... obsession (it probably is the best description, really) with silicon replaced with carbon fibre as the bulk of the purchases. 

This is probably going to change in the future as I'm really at bike saturation with a carbon road bike and a townie commuter (although this might see a replacement due to logistical child seat issues) and I've missed having the speakers that started the whole home theatre / stereo shopping - the wharfedale floor standing speakers. I'm not saying that I don't want another bike, because a quick look at my eBay watch list would suggest otherwise.. I just can't work out WHY I want another bike and why I want a fixie as well but there is probably a whole post in there somewhere. Back to the audio, the tivoli model two that became my dedicated music setup streaming from an airport express and running the turntable does a beautiful job but I still miss having a pair of big speakers around. Fortunately there is a new stereo store (who specializes in apple streaming) has open around the corner stocking all the brands I love. The tivoli won't be completely retired, the move to the bigger house for the additional little one and to accommodate the semi permanent house guests means I have plenty of spaces that are musicless...

That's about it for this flight although I'm sure I'll fit in another post or two while I'm away.... I'd also forgotten how many people I used to catch up with on flights... Ran into someone I used to do musicals with 5 years ago on the flight this morning.... Weird

Sent from my iPad

New Wheels.... yay...

I agonised over upgrading the wheels on my Kestrel for weeks... after much deliberation and a lot of spreadsheet comparison I decided it wasn't worth the upgrade.

Of course the irony was just after I decided I didn't need new wheels I had an incident and then needed new wheels (along with a few other things). I went for Aluminium wheels as a bit of a compromise over performance, weight and durability becasue I didn't want to have to change my wheels for everyday riding.

I picked a set of SRAM S30 AL Race wheels after a pretty good deal from the bike shop. The downside it took almost three weeks for them to turn up and to be fitted so they haven't had much of a ride but they do look good.

Their big test will come this weekend with the Brisbane to Ipswich Challenge... I'm sure there will be a post review after

EyeTV Netstream DTT: A first look

With my parents moving into the house there have been some rethinks around how my media is distributed around the house (something I've talked about at length here over and over and over again).

The biggest thing was trying to get commercial TV everywhere (not that I really watch that much) with only one antenna point in our master bedroom. With so many iDevices and two AppleTVs in the house the logical solution looked like the EyeTV Netstream DTT.

In reality is hasn't been so perfect though. The setup was quite easy although it failed to work on my G5 iMac (not a show stopper I know but a little annoying) and the installer disk didn't actually work with the Netstream, you had to download a different EyeTV app from the web. Once those hurdles were done though it wasn't all smooth sailing.

I've had nothing but reception issues with the unit. First off I must say that my current Panasonic plasma is running on a $5 set of bunnies ears without a hiccup. The Netstream by contrast can't seem to get more than about 29% even plugged into an external antenna.

One thing that has helped was moving it a long way from my time-capsule with which it doesn't seem to have a good working relationship.

To be fair when I can get enough reception to get a picture it works brilliantly streaming wonderfully to my iPhone/iPad and laptops. I can even airplay it to the AppleTV and the ability to convert to iTunes is very handy. With that said though, with so many receptions issues I'd have some serious second thoughts about adding this as a DVR solution.

Training for a ride?? When did this happen

The weekend gone saw me go on a training ride for the Brissie to the Bay event. This is a first for me... I'm not a big one for training... I guess some where along the way I became a cyclist and this is the sort of thing they do.

It was kinda fun having never cycled that far before, the ride next weekend should be a bit of fun!

I managed to reach my goal so after a call from MS Events I've doubled my current total to see if I could make it before the weekend.... (you can donate here if you feel so inclined)

A big move!

After 6 years in the same place we have packed up and moved (all be it only one floor). I found it pretty sad to move out of our old place. I surprised myself with how emotionally attached I'd become to our old house. Even now I still have no real logical explanation for why, but it made it quite hard (and sometimes stressful) event.

A big thanks though to those who helped me lug all my gear around. It would have been impossible to get it all done without everyone (especially as we didn't have any movers)

Now to the important stuff... all the Tech....

Probably the nicest thing (well for me) is there is now a study to get all the Mac gear setup (including the very nice house warming gift of a G4 Cube).

And the arcade table has it's own dedicated nook which is probably best placement it's had since I'd got it. (Although it does have to share it with the new bike as well, jury is still out as to whether it gets cycloc'd to the wall)

The biggest question at the moment is what to do about rear speakers, the current thought is a wireless solution. The two best options I've found so far have been from JBL and KEF. The JBL one is the current pick (mainly because of price). The JBL WEM-1 looks like it would do the job perfectly but it's still an expensive solution vs tripping over wires.

The other option is to go for a sound bar (and the obvious choice there is the B&W Panorama) but there is a big expense in swapping out all the existing gear I have dedicated for surround sound.

Time will tell...

Pimp My Ride

So I've had my new bike for a little while now (a bit over a month) and I've done almost 500km on it and started the pimping process already.

First of all I managed to track down some Kestrel branded water bottles and holders (which are actually in the shape of the logo).

I then swapped out the tyres because the Slicks made me nervous especially if there was any water around and as the Water bottles and Tyres were red highlighted I continued the trend and added a new Fi'zi:k Antares Saddle in Red with matching handle bar tape to finish off the carbon/red look.

Taking the bike from this

to this

Signed up for a ride and some fund raising thrown in

This year I've signed up to do the Brissie to the Bay ride to support MS. Like a fun run though this fun ride is about raising money.

So if you feel so inclined my donations page is here http://www.msqldevents.org.au/Enerflex-MS-Brissie-to-the-Bay-Bike-Ride-2011/CAMDS

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The end of an era?

Could it be? The end of the nespresso? Our Nespresso has started to play up and seems like it's on it's last legs. The odd flashes of the lights warming up doesn't look like a good sign.

It's given us many long years of service (I think maybe 6? And I'd hate to think how many coffees) but maybe it's time to upgrade to one of the Pixie models.
http://www.nespresso.com/pixie/

Sent from my iPhone