« September 2004 | Back to Operation Gadget Main | November 2004 »
October 29, 2004
2005 L'Etape du Tour Offers Opportunities to North Americans
The 13th annual L'Etape du Tour was announced in Paris on Thursday at the same ceremony as the 2005 Tour de France Route Announcement. L'Etape du Tour is a pro-am cycling event that takes place each year and gives recreational riders an opportunity to ride one of the stages of that year's Tour de France a few days before or after the pro peleton does.
This year the ride will take place on July 11, 2005, and cover Stage 16, a 177 kilometer (110 miles) ride from Mourenx to Pau, crossing the Col d'Ichere, Col de Marie-Blanque, Col d'Aubisque, and the Col du Soulor. The ride begins and ends effectively at sea level, but will involve climbing for over 32 km (20 miles) at an average gradient of 7 percent. The Col d'Aubisque is a hellish climb: a 16.5 km (10.25 mile) ascent at a 7 percent gradient to an altitude of 1,677 meters (5,500 feet). In other words, the peak of the Col d'Aubisque is higher than the elevation of Denver International Airport.
Even if you felt up to the challenge and could make the financial and logistical commitment to travel to France to participate, it was virtually impossible for people from North America to successfully register for L'Etape du Tour in previous years. This year, the Amaury Sports Organization has partnered with travel agencies that provide sports experience-related travel to open the ride to residents of the U.S., Canada, and other parts of Europe. The travel agents who are authorized to arrange L'Etape du Tour participation for North Americans include:
If you are interested in trying to paricipate, make sure you visit these companies' websites and get further details as soon as possible. Further information about L'Etape du Tour is on the official website, but that site is mostly written in French, not easy to work with using Google Language Tools.
Bella Dancerella DVD-based Toys More Popular with Our Readers than VHS Alternatives
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Toy Wishes Magazine Hot Dozen list-- toys that their reviewers expect to be top sellers for the 2004 holiday season. I reported that the Bella Dancerella line of products made the list, but I pointed readers to a Bella Dancerella package that includes a VHS tape.
Feedback I've received from several Operation Gadget readers indicates that most of you prefer the Bella Dancerella package that includes a DVD instead. Many people find DVDs provide better sound and pictures, and they're certainly more durable than VHS tapes, so I'm changing the previous article to reflect the consensus of the readers. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out.
Hearing Aids as High-End Digital Electronics
Oticon Syncro hearing aids: When will these products start being
marketed like other high-end digital electronics? [ Photo: Oticon ]
This morning, my father Ernie Aiello and I were catching up with each other on the telephone. He told me that he just received a pair of Oticon Syncro hearing aids from a local hearing aid service provider in North Jersey. I don't think he mentioned getting them before to me, but I wasn't surprised because he's become somewhat hard of hearing recently.
I had never heard of Oticon until this phone call, but I looked at their website and learned that they have been in business for 100 years. I told my father that I the only high end hearing aid manufacturer that I knew of other than Miracle-Ear, which is a ubiquitous advertising presence in certain U.S. publications is Phonak.
For those of you who follow professional cycling, Phonak has become known as the sponsors of the Phonak Professional Cycling Team, lead this year by Tyler Hamilton. I'm sure awareness of their products and services is a big reason why a Swiss company like Phonak would sponsor a major pro cycling team.
My question after spending a bit of time looking at these companies and their products is when will these companies start marketing their products like other high-end digital electronics? I mean these hearing aids are sophisticated, ultra small, digital sound systems. They must be customized to a wearers unique needs by a trained technician. I'm sure this is done by hooking the hearing aids to PCs.
Some Oticon Syncro hearing aids that are visible outside the wearer's ear canal come in different colors, so there is an element of fashion to them. This is a good thing, because hearing aids have had an unfair stigma attached to them for a long time.
I started asking a bunch of questions that I think are relevant now and will be even more relevant in the future:
- How do they work with landline and mobile phones?
- How do they work with iPods?
- How do they work when you are at a stadium or in a theater?
Where do we find information like this that's relevant to people who use digital electonics in their everyday lives? Engadget brought up the Oticon Syncro in an article back in July, but their spin on the product was a bit cynical and mainly provoked humorous comments.
As we get older, quite a few of us who don't use hearing aids may need them. I don't think this type of analysis will become a focus of Operation Gadget, but somebody could do a service to the worldwide Internet community by talking about these practical issues.
If I find any useful information, I'll point it out.
2005 Tour de France Route Announced in Paris
2005 Tour de France Route: From
Fromentine to the Champs-Elysees
in 23 days.
[ Image: Societe du Tour de France ]
The Amaury Sports Organization announced the route of the 2005 Tour de France on Thursday in Paris. In 2005, the Tour will proceed clockwise around France, beginning with a 19-kilometer individual time trial on July 2 from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile in the Vendee region of Western France. This stage is not considered a prologue because it is longer than eight kilometers.
Breckenridge Cartwright, an American correspondent in Paris for PezCycling, provides an excellent first-hand account of the route announcement including photos. Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich were conspicuous in their absense from the event. Cyclingnews reports that Johan Bruyneel gave odds of 50-50 to Armstrong's participation in this year's Tour.
Some analysts say that this race suits Lance Armstrong, if he chooses to participate. John Wilcockson of Velonews cites the inclusion of a longer opening time trial and a 66-kilometer Team Time Trial three days later as places Armstrong could establish an early lead. Although there are fewer mountain top finishes this year, Stage 10 to Courchevel, Stage 14 to Ax-3 Domaines and Stage 15 to Pla d'Adet, the race gets into the mountains earlier this year than last, beginning on the ninth day of the race.
One aspect of the race that I think might motivate Armstrong to participate is the inclusion of the Col du Portet d'Aspet, 85 kilometers into Stage 15. Jean-Marie Leblanc pointed out that this will be the 10th anniversary of the death of Fabio Casartelli, Lance's close friend, on the decent of that mountain.
Finally, I should point out that Alpe d'Huez is not featured in the Tour this year. I suggested that leaving Alpe d'Huez out of the Tour in 2005 might be in the long term interest of the race and a number of readers who follow the race as closely as I do agreed with me. I'm pleased to see that the race organizers are going in this direction.
October 28, 2004
Tour of Hope DC Fund-Raising Ride and Finale Raise $800,000 for Clinical Trials
About 10 days ago, I got the following email from Michael Craig Cox, a fellow participant in the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride:
First off, kudos for your Tour of Hope coverage on Operation Gadget. I, too, completed the ride last week, after raising more than $1000. My question is, have you heard, or seen, any final numbers for the total amount raised? I am sending out a final thank-you to my supporters and wanted to include this information, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
In response, I wrote:
Thanks for emailing me. I read my mail continuously, but, due to a server migration I wasn't able to access some email messages until this week. I'm just going through that mail now.
I got an email the other day from the Lance Armstrong Foundation saying that they raised almost $800,000 through the DC Fund-raising Ride and the Finale. That's a good number considering the minimum donation for each of the 900 riders would only have brought in $450,000....
I realized that Operation Gadget readers would probably want to know this information as well, and wouldn't have gotten the email unless they participated.
Remember that money raised by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope will benefit cancer research and encourage adults who have cancer to participate in cancer drug clinical trials. This is truly important work, because I believe it will lead to better therapies and cures for many different types of cancer. Lots of us will benefit from these innovations in years to come.
Photos Added to the Tour of Hope Broken Pedal Story
Posing with Dr. Sharpe and the Fixed Bike:
Thanks to Dr. Steven Sharpe and his friend
Greg Millett, I was able to finish the ride.
[ photo: Greg Millett ]
A couple of weeks ago, I published an article called Good Samaritans Helped Me Finish the Tour of Hope After Mechanical Breakdown. It tells the story of how one of the pedals broke on my bicycle during the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride, how I met Dr. Steven Sharpe and Greg Millett by chance, and how they repaired my bike and helped me finish.
I knew that I wanted to write an article about getting the pedal replaced, but it would be a lot more compelling with photos. Lucky for me, Greg Millett had a camera with him at the time and I had a supply of my business cards in my jersey pocket. I had no way of knowing when or even if Greg would send me the photos, so I went ahead and published the story without them.
Happily, Greg just emailed me the photos he took at the time. I added a couple of them to the original story and put the rest of them in the 2004 Tour of Hope Photo Archive. Check them out. [ Thanks, Greg ]
October 27, 2004
Congratulations Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, winning their first World Championship since 1918. In spite of the fact that I've been a Yankee fan since I was a kid, no team and no city deserved this victory more.
Vending Machines at Hong Kong Transit Stations Sell Rechargeable SIM Cards
SIM Card Vending Machine
in Hong Kong.
[ Photo: PenguinSix.com ]
Andrew Leyden has published an article about a vending machine selling pay-as-you-go SIM cards in the Tsim Sha Tsui subway station on the Mass Transit Railway in Hong Kong. Andrew said:
Over here getting a SIM card (GSM or CDMA) is as easy as buying a stick of gum. What a nice life in a world without locked mobile phones.
Anyone who has read the mobile phone handset unlocking article series on Operation Gadget should realize that I'm in favor of the freedom to use different SIM cards whenever and wherever necessary, but, I don't think that purchase of pay-as-you-go SIMs necessarily ought to be this anonymous. Earlier this year, we also reported on the apprehension of al Qaeda operatives who used rechargeable SIM cards purchased in countries that do not require identification. Switzerland banned this sales practice about the time that the apprehensions occurred.
I realize the post-handover Hong Kong is still a pretty freewheeling place. (I was last there in 1996.) Yet, I would not have expected that their government would allow this.
Cyclingnews Publishes Interview with Lance Armstrong
Cyclingnews published an excellent interview with Lance Armstrong that took place on October 26 in Austin. Among other things discussed are the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope, the eight anniversary of the day he was declared cancer free, the LiveStrong program recent major races that he didn't participate in, Tyler Hamilton's situation, and the on-going judicial investigation in Italy.
The interview covers a lot of ground. I think they spent about the right amount of time on each issue, considering that some cycling fans weren't as exposed to the Tour of Hope as regular readers of Operation Gadget were.
The most surprising part of the interview for me is when Lance puts the legal and political situation in Italy as it relates to pro cycling into context by casting doubt about his participation in the Giro d'Italia. When you think about it, doesn't it seem unlikely that Lance will participate in the Giro as long as magistrates keep pursuing investigations tangential to the Dr. Michele Ferrari case?
Blackberry 7230 Excels as a Mobile Email Platform
I had my first real opportunity to use a Blackberry 7230 in lieu of a laptop on my trip to San Francisco last week. I realized pretty quickly that this device's mobile email capability is second to none. The Blackberry Web Client (a service for individual Blackberry users who are not clients to a Blackberry Enterprise Server) provides excellent relaying between the Blackberry and the Operation Gadget mail server.
The 7230 needs a better browser. The one installed by default works best with WAP sites. It doesn't seem to deal well with Movable Type's back end or other sites that use password protection driven by cookies. Reportedly, the browser developed by Reqwireless dramatically improves this situation. If there are other solutions, I will point them out.
I used a Blackberry regularly back before I bought my Treo 180. Back then, Blackberrys primarily ran on Mobitex. It was impractical and expensive to forward all of my normal email to a handheld those devices, so I only used my original Blackberry for urgent email communication.
Today's Blackberrys have cheaper service plans and faster data rates, thanks to their support of GPRS. T-Mobile's service was available anywhere I needed it in the Bay Area, at the airports in Los Angeles and Phoenix, and all the way to and from the Philadelphia International Airport.
Most of the problems I had dealing with email turned out to be related to the way I use my primary email account. Here are a few lessons learned:
- Make sure the email accounts going to your Blackberry are spam filtered.
- Split the following types of messages off from your regular email account in some manner:
- mail list subscriptions,
- server status messages, and
- other email alerts.
- Spend at least one hour the day before you leave on your first business trip with your Blackberry reviewing all aspects of your email configuration. Decide which of your email accounts should be part of the mail stream for the trip. Subscribe and unsubscribe from mailing lists as necessary.
- Know your Blackberry Web Client storage quota, if you have one. Purge it if there is any possibility that you are going to run out of space. It is difficult or impossible to do this during a trip without access to a PC.
- Ensure that you bring the charging cable for your Blackberry on the trip. The battery life on the 7230 is generally excellent, but power consumption doesn't always seem constant to me. Be prepared for an unexpected need to recharge.
I read that Clayton Christensen warned Microsoft that they should buy Research in Motion to prevent applications from migrating from the PC (a platform they control) to Blackberrys and other mobile devices (that they don't control). This is an extremely insightful comment.
I don't think that the Blackberry platform is quite ready to take over PC and laptop tasks, but I think my perspective is heavily influenced by the industry in which I work. From the perspective of other vertical markets, the Blackberry may have already achieved the maturity it needs. YMMV.
October 26, 2004
LiveStrong Program Discussed in The Washington Post
Julie Howson pointed out that The Washington Post published an excellent article called Wrist and Recuperation [ registration required ] that summarizes the LiveStrong program for people who are wondering what it's all about. There is also some good information in the article for people who are actively supporting the cause, including:
- 20 million wristbands sold since May 17,
- $6 million initial fund-raising goal was meant to correspond with Lance's then-anticipated sixth Tour de France victory, and
- 20 or more couples purchased wristbands in bulk to give away as favors for guests at their weddings.
Many readers know that my wife, Kathleen, is a third year pediatric resident at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. She works in the pediatric hem-onc (hematology-oncology) unit periodically. Parents and grandparents of patients in this unit are major purchasers of LiveStrong wristbands as well.
The Washington Post says that the wristbands "show support for those battling cancer, and create an instant bond among the wearers." I've given them to survivors and members of their families, the families of victims, and people who donated to support me in the Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride. Those are exactly the reasons why I've been sending giving away the wristbands.
October 25, 2004
Treo 650 Finally Announced by palmOne
The palmOne Treo 650:
Expected to be released in
the United States before
the end of 2004, and
in other countries, early
in the new year.
[ Photo courtesy of palmOne. ]
In one of the more anti-climactic announcements in recent gadget history, palmOne announced the Treo 650, an update on the critically-acclaimed Treo 600 integrated communicator. The 650 adds a number of sought after features, including:
- significantly improved display,
- expanded Multimedia Capabilities,
- Bluetooth,
- non volatile memory like that of the Tungsten T5, and
- removable battery.
The announcement was made to correspond with the opening of the CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment Expo 2004 in San Francisco. This is a relatively small but critically important conference where a lot of device manufacturers announce products that they hope will be supported by all of the U.S. mobile phone carriers and widely adopted.
Some people following the Treo 650 rumors had hoped for more aggresive additions to the feature set. Things like a signifcantly larger base memory and WiFi support would have been welcomed by the extreme geek community.
Ed Anuff told me that Bluetooth support would determine whether he would be interested in the Treo 650, so he got his wish.
The strangest part of this announcement is the lack of coordination that palmOne demonstrated with U.S. mobile carriers. They basically said, we have GSM and CDMA versions just about ready, carriers will announce their price, availability, and service plans themselves. This could mean that they are going to encourage vendor competition in releasing the new model-- a welcomed change from the Treo 600 rollout where some carriers didn't make that handset available for quite a while after its initial release.
I know I said that I wondered whether the Treo 650 would be worth the price carriers would charge for it. After spending a weekend in San Francisco with a properly configured Blackberry 7230, I'm thinking that full email integration on a handheld may be a feature whose time has come.
I've been partial to PalmOS devices since the days when I owned a Palm V. I didn't want to give up on my Treo 180; It gave up on me. I'm going to have to watch, wait, and see what the standard configurations, upgrade prices, and service offered for the Treo 650 will be. It may come down to deciding to get one only if carriers don't impair some of the most advanced features of the new Treo.
Discovery Channel Stores are a Second Good Source for LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands
LiveStrong wristbands are now available
at Discovery Channel Stores (on-line
and off-line) and www.laf-store.org.
Several Operation Gadget readers have reported that Discovery Channel Stores are now selling LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands. The stores are going out of there way to minimize hoarding by limiting purchases to 20 wristbands per person.
You can use the Discovery Channel Store Locator to find the nearest store to you. It appears that stores are located in 38 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
In addition, the Discovery Channel On-Line Store has made LiveStrong Yellow Wristbands available. The unique twist on their site is that orders can be placed for youth or adult wristbands in quantities as small as one. There is still a limit of 20 wristbands per customer, but their order policy is a great deal more flexible than that of the Lance Armstrong Foundation On-Line Store at the moment.
I have been meaning to report on the limited availability of LiveStrong wristbands at Discovery Channel Stores since I heard the news at the Tour of Hope Finale. However, I've been so busy since we got back from Washington, DC that I haven't had time to do it.
"The Great Catch-Up" Begins
Kathleen and I have been on vacation for the last two weeks. Unlike other recent vacations, we decided to do three short trips during each of the weekends, rather than a single, longer trip. The trips were:
- Washington, DC for the Tour of Hope Finale,
- Buffalo, NY for the Buffalo Bills - Miami Dolphins Game, and
- San Francisco, CA for Ed Anuff and Mary Jane Mona's wedding.
Each of the trips was coordinated with visits with family or close friends. We had a wonderful time everywhere we went, but article writing, bike riding, hockey officiating, and lawn mowing suffered.
We're back now, reluctantly. I'm trying to catch up. There's a ton going on, including the long-awaited Treo 650 announcement. I finally have enough experience with the Blackberry 7230 to write a meaningful review. Look for that later this week. I'm planning to post photos of a couple of my cycling training routes. Maybe I'll get around to re-theming the new Operation Gadget Photo Gallery.
Seems like I've outlined more than a week's worth of work already....
October 18 - 24, 2004 Weekly Summary
This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the third week of October 2004. I'm experimenting with a weekly summary so that readers who want to receive a periodic email with Operation Gadget headlines can receive the links to all of the articles published each week. I will post a mechanism for readers to sign up for this service when I work out the details.
The headlines:
October 20
October 19
- Many More Tour of Hope Finale Photos Posted
- Fox TV Season One DVD Sets on Sale at Amazon.com in Time for the Holidays
Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....
October 20, 2004
Tungsten T5 is Not What "Palm OS Enthusiasts" Expected
Brighthand does a wonderful job of reviewing the palmOne Tungsten T5-- the company's latest pure Personal Digital Assistant. Although there are several innovations in this device, including the incorporation of internal flash memory and a virtual disk capability that allows you to use 160 Megabytes of the built-in memory as a flash disk, the Tungsten T5 is criticized for not being an improvement over the Tungsten T3 in all areas. Brighthand rightly points out that this PDA is could more correctly be characterized as a second-generation Tungsten E.
It's helpful to compare the features of the palmOne PDAs in order to see where each is positioned. The Tungsten E looks like a killer deal for a lot of pure PDA applications. The biggest holes in its feature set are an expansion card slot and Bluetooth capability, which were never considered core PDA features anyway. For the people who need expandability and a relatively inexpensive wireless data option, the Zire 72 has an expansion slot, Bluetooth, and throws in a digital camera for about $50 less than the T3. You can combine that with a low cost Bluetooth mobile phone.
I should point out that I'm thinking about which Palm to buy because I need to replace my Treo 180. The Treo 600 is looking expensive to me, and I'm wondering whether the Treo 650 will seem like a better deal to me when it's formally announced. I've definitely been waiting to see what the 650 pricing will be, and how much the price of the 600 will be lowered. I can't sit on the sideline forever, because I'm carrying around a printed version of my calendar from Ximian Evolution, which represents a measurable personal productivity loss.
I agree with Brighthand, that the Tungsten T5 is a solid handheld that takes a step toward the future of the stand-alone PDA by adding flash memory drive capability. I'm hoping that palmOne steps up with firmware changes to isolate the content of the internal flash memory drive so that it isn't affected by a hard reset. I also hope that they come out with another PDA that Tungsten T3 users can call a complete upgrade.
Over $2,000 Donated to the Tour of Hope
It's been about two weeks since I rode the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride and donations from friends, family, and readers continue to come in to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm pleased to report that the total donated at my request has now exceeded $2,000. This is a wonderful tribute to my friend Peter Frank and to many others whose lives have been touched by cancer.
A number of people who sponsored my participation in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope asked me to ride for a friend or family member whose life was changed by a cancer diagnosis. I was glad to do it. I carried a list of these people in my jersey pocket during the ride, as did many of my fellow riders. We talked about the people on our lists as we rode. It's amazing how many cancer victims each of the 900 riders represented.
I want to thank my friends, family, and the readers of Operation Gadget who supported me by making a donation. This is probably the most rewarding charitable event I've ever participated in. I hope to be able to participate in meaningful events like the Tour of Hope again in the future.
October 19, 2004
Many More Tour of Hope Finale Photos Posted
As promised, I posted more 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride and Tour of Hope Finale photos. There are a total of 45 Tour of Hope photos posted now, including a pretty good one I took of Lance Armstrong riding with the Tour of Hope National Team through the corridor of spectators and cancer survivors.
Fox TV Season One DVD Sets on Sale at Amazon.com in Time for the Holidays
Buffy the Vampire Slayer--
The Complete First Season is on
sale for $14.99 at Amazon.com.
A number of other first season DVD
series for Fox shows are on sale
as well.
Slickdeals.net reported that Amazon.com has Fox "Season One" DVD Series on Sale for $14.99. The DVD sets on sale include:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season
- Angel - Season One
- 24 - Season One
- Roswell - The Complete First Season
- Futurama, Volume 1
- The Simpsons - The Complete First Season
- King of the Hill - The Complete First Season
- M*A*S*H - Season One (Collector's Edition)
A couple of my friends and family members are big fans of these Fox series, so I took the time to check the price on each of them. Slicknet is right about most of the prices they mention, but a few of them, including In Living Color- Season One and Millennium - The Complete First Season are not currently priced at $14.99. The other DVD series I linked to in this article are priced at $14.99 at the moment.
I have no idea idea how long this sale will last, so stock up if these DVDs fit a loved one's wishlist. By buying two or more of these products, you can also qualify for free shipping.
October 18, 2004
October 11 - 17, 2004 Weekly Summary
This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the second week of October 2004. I'm experimenting with a weekly summary so that readers who want to receive a periodic email with Operation Gadget headlines can receive the links to all of the articles published each week. I will post a mechanism for readers to sign up for this service when I work out the details.
The headlines:
October 17
October 16
October 15
October 14
October 13
- Good Samaritans Helped Me Finish the Tour of Hope After Mechanical Breakdown
- How I Generated a Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride Map
October 11
- "Victory at 12 Miles Per Hour" Captures the Attitude of the Tour of Hope Riders
- Pink Breast Cancer Wristbands Available from Target.com and Amazon.com
Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....
October 17, 2004
Google SMS Provides Mobile Access to Some Useful Information
Late last week, Google announced its Google SMS Service which allows you to send a text message containing a query to the mobile number 46645 (that spells GOOGL on most phone keypads). Google will respond with one or more of SMS messages that hopefully provide useful information.
Examples of valid queries include:
- Local business listings
- pizza 08520
- pizza troy ny
- mighty taco williamsville ny
- barnes and noble princeton nj
- Residential phone listings
- first_name last_name city state
- [ I'd rather not subject anyone with a listed phone number to abuse by using them as an example. ]
- Product prices from Froogle
- Price ipod 20gb
- Price Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Word definitions
- D aspirate
- D longitude
- Calculations
- 27 + 3 / 4
- Area code and Zip Code lookups for the United States
- 716
- 95014
I tried all of these queries and they returned mostly good information, although there were a few confusing circumstances. "Barnes and noble princeton nj" returned a couple of Barnes and Noble distribution centers out by the New Jersey Turnpike, in addition to the Barnes and Noble store at Princeton Market Fair on U.S. 1.
Sometimes area code and Zip Code queries returned both geographic locations and product prices from Froogle. For instance, I didn't know that there was a 14" Gold Pan with model number 95014. Querying Froogle for "Jeep grand cherokee limited" returned prices for Jeep-branded baby carriages, rather than SUVs.
On the other hand, the calculator function worked extremely well; It provided correct order of operation, so that "27 + 3 / 4" became "27 + (3 / 4)" which equals 27.75.
Google SMS is a handy service, no matter how limited it seems at first glance. Address and phone number information for local businesses is a killer app by itself-- it's going to impact a siginifcant revenue stream for U.S. mobile carriers. Google SMS is a good reason for Americans to get the text message habit that swept Europe and Asia a long time ago.
October 16, 2004
First Set of Tour of Hope Pictures Posted
The first set of photos from the 2004 Tour of Hope Finale Event are now posted our new photo gallery server.
I spent much of the middle of the day yesterday setting up the photo gallery and uploading the first set of photos. The photo gallery server is currently running a default theme, so it doesn't look the rest of the pages on Operation Gadget. I'm going to work on that next week.
I have more Tour of Hope photos to post, including photos of the arrival of the Tour of Hope National Team. I will probably get to posting them on Monday evening or Tuesday.
Please let me know if you have any comments about the introduction of a photo gallery on Operation Gadget. Hopefully, we will have many more photos to post in the near future.
October 15, 2004
Migration to the New Server is Complete
This article is being posted on the new Operation Gadget server. I moved all of the files from the old server to the new server between 5:00 and 8:00pm Eastern Time on Thursday night. It took me a little while after that to resolve problems with the Movable Type configuration because the location of many files on the new server is different from that of the old server.
The unresolved issues that I see right now are primarily administative. I am still testing programs being run with cron (scheduled tasks under the Linux operating system). I just added the Apache redirect for the Help Me Ride the Final Stage of the 2004 Tour of Hope article. The short URL for that page got passed along to hundreds of people, so it shouldn't be allowed to break.
I'd appreciate hearing from you if you notice a problem with the site that you think may be related to the configuration of the new server. Please email problem reports to tips@operationgadget.com. Thanks.
October 14, 2004
Operation Gadget Is Relocating to a New Server
I'm in the process of moving the Operation Gadget website from one server to another. As a result, you may see some glitches over the next couple of days. I appreciate your understanding.
October 13, 2004
Good Samaritans Helped Me Finish the Tour of Hope After Mechanical Breakdown
2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride:
Map includes labels of places where events
in this story took place. Data came from my
Garmin Forerunner 201,
and was mapped by GPS Visualizer.
Click on the image for a larger map.
I had a mechanical incident during the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride-- one of the pedals on my Marin Bear Valley SE mountain bike broke off the crank on a steep hill about 8 miles into the ride. Support was supposed to be available on the course, but I didn't see a course marshall or a support vehicle near the place where I broke down.
I found that I could keep the broken pedal on the pedal axle bolt by pointing my toe inward while pedaling. I decided to continue riding until I found a support vehicle or until I reached the restaging area at the Irish Inn in Glen Echo, MD. The Irish Inn was about 10 miles beyond where my pedal broke. I didn't find a support vehicle before reaching the Irish Inn.
When I got to the restaging area, I saw my friend Cecil Ledesma almost immediately. I told him about my problem, and he suggested that I go to the announcers table and find a bike mechanic immediately. For the next 10 minutes, I waited for a bike mechanic to be located. Finally, the people at the announcers table told me that the Mavic Support Vehicle was parked a couple of hundred feet past the Irish Inn on the side of the road. They told me to walk my bike to the Mavic car and they would help me.
I found the Mavic car, but it was locked and there were no technicians around. I found another marshall with a race radio, and he told me that the drivers had gone to use the mens' room and would be back in a few minutes. I went back to the Mavic car to wait.
Thi s time, two men and a young boy were standing next to the Mavic car, admiring it. The kid asked me something like, "Do you work for Mavic?" I said, "No, I just need help." One of the men asked me what was wrong. I showed him the broken pedal in my hand. He said that he could fix this at the bike shop he keeps in his basement at home, a couple of miles from here. If I came with him, he would replace my pedal in 10 minutes or so, and get me back on the road in time to meet the peleton when they leave the Irish Inn. I said, "OK, let's go."
We threw my bike in the back of his pickup truck and took off down the road to his house. The man introduced himself as Dr. Steven Sharpe, an Emergency Medicine doctor at a DC-area hospital. We were riding back to his house with his friend Greg Millett and a son of one of them, whose name I didn't write down.
Sharpe Attaching New Pedal: Dr. Steven
Sharpe attaching a new right pedal to my
mountain bike, helping me finish the 2004
Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride.
[ photo: Greg Millett ]
More photos of the Tour of Hope.
When we arrived at Dr. Sharpe's house, we went into his basement, where he had hundreds of pieces of sports equipment including road and mountain bikes and ice hockey skates. He did find a right-footed pedal that was about the size and shape of the one that had broken. He quickly installed it on my bike and figured out how to get my toe clip assembly to attach to the new pedal. I was thanking them and posing for pictures only 15 or 20 minutes after we arrived.
They pointed me in the direction of Macarthur Boulevard and said that I can meet the riders there. I followed there instructions and came to an intersection where a number of spectators were waiting. I asked, "Which way are the riders going?" Most of the spectators pointed to the right. I started riding in that direction, thinking that the peleton had passed a while ago, when one spectator said, "But they haven't passed by here yet."
I turned around and rode northwest a short distance on Macarthur before I found the police escorts and the other lead vehicles for the peleton. I pulled off to the side of the road and waited, looking for my friend Cecil. I hopped on my bike when I saw him, caught up, and told him and a few other nearby riders about the adventure. I finished the ride with the rest of the field, under my own power.
Posing with Dr. Sharpe and the Fixed Bike:
Thanks to Dr. Steven Sharpe and his friend
Greg Millett, I was able to finish the ride.
[ photo: Greg Millett ]
Needless to say that I am indebted to Steven Sharpe and Greg Millett for their help. What they did is in the spirit of the entire Tour of Hope-- they helped someone who had no expectation of being helped. I just hoped to be able to finish the ride to honor the memory of my friend Peter Frank and to meet my friends and family.
Greg took a few photos of us while the repairs were underway. Hopefully, he will send those along in the next few days. If he does, I will add them to this story.
Update 10/28/2004: Greg Millett sent me his photos this morning, so I added a couple of them to this story. The rest can be found in the Tour of Hope Photo Archive. [ Thanks, Greg ]
How I Generated a Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride Map
2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride:
You are free to use this map on your website,
provided you include the label
"www.OperationGadget.com" as shown in the
image. Click on the image for a larger version.
I prepared map of the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride using data from my Garmin Forerunner 201, a handle-bar-mounted Global Positioning System device that captures a variety of cycling or running statistics. I fed the output of the Forerunner 201 into the GPS Visualizer website, which generates maps of the routes you take while using a GPS.
The route changes color according to the elevation recorded on my Garmin Forerunner. This is one of the options that GPS Visualizer allows you to control.
Further information on how to do this yourself is in an article called Toolkit for Turning Garmin Forerunner 201 Data into Overlay Maps, published on Operation Gadget back in August.
Participants in the Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride are welcome to use this map on their websites, provided that the image used includes the caption "www.operationgadget.com" as shown. If you choose to use the map, please download it and put it directly on your website, rather than pointing to it on our server. [ Small Version | Large Version ]
October 11, 2004
"Victory at 12 Miles Per Hour" Captures the Attitude of the Tour of Hope Riders
Greg Taylor wrote an article for CyclingNews.com called Victory at 12 Miles Per Hour that really captures what the riders in the Tour of Hope DC Fund-raising Ride were feeling on Saturday. Taylor wrote:
... riding along Macarthur Boulevard on a sunny Saturday morning, the serious and sometimes sad business of fighting or surviving cancer was transformed into something different, something altogether joyful. As the riders slowly rolled along through the city with their police escort, the image of {Bill Cusmano, one of the top fund-raisers} and his fellow riders truly lived up to the name Tour of Hope. For the outside observer, it was a brilliantly endless parade of bicyclists, smiles, laughter, and the color yellow, in honor of Lance. For a few hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon, all of the hard work, dedication, hopes, and dreams of millions who have been touched by cancer found their expression and release in the simple joy of riding a bike.
I rode with a number of people wearing replica Tour de France yellow jerseys, including my friend Cecil Ledesma. I have always said that I won't wear a cycling jersey that represents a championship or a leadership position that I haven't earned myself, although I don't begrudge others doing so. I hadn't realized that in this context, it might be considered a way to honor Lance Armstrong.
Pink Breast Cancer Wristbands Available from Target.com and Amazon.com
Pink Breast Cancer Wristband
imprinted with Share Beauty.
Spread Hope. were available from
Target.com and Amazon.com in
2004.
Pink Breast Cancer Charm Bracelets
were available in 200