I've noticed that the first stage of attracting followers on Twitter (beyond your actual friends) is that accounts that act like bots start to follow you. Not to name any names, but one of my followers is just reporting random things from Google News, another one is just throwing out facts and observations about dog behavior.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I switched back to Mac on February 28, I've started using much more of my photo library. One of the products of this process is a new Operation Gadget header graphic which shows a series of Serotta road bikes mounted on a roof rack.

I've been using the original photo that from which this header graphic was taken as the desktop background for my MacBook Pro since I set it up. I've got quite a few photos that I like enough to make my desktop background. I think a few of them will eventually become Operation Gagdet header graphics.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I uploaded a favicon for Operation Gadget a little while ago. I used a program called Pixen to make it on my MacBook Pro. Pixen is donationware.

The "Operation Gadget" title on the Alltop Gadgets Page looked naked without a favicon on its left. I felt like I had to step up and get something reasonable in there quickly.

It's hard to create something original and memorable in a 16x16 bitmap. So many of the most obvious gadget designs are taken already.

I have a really good one on CTDATA.com, but that's because CTDATA's logo is professionally designed, and we just scaled it down to fit the favicon image size.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I got an email from Guy Kawasaki last night telling me that Operation Gadget has been added to the Alltop Gadgets page. What a great terrific break for us!

Alltop is the new weblog aggregation site that its owners call "the digital magazine rack" of the Internet. Operation Gadget headlines now appear on the same page with headlines from Engadget, Boing Boing Gadgets, Personal Technology by Walt Mossberg, and a bunch of other a-list gadget blogs.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm trying out MarsEdit, a MacOS X blogging client, for a few posts to see if it improves my productivity. It's been recommended by higher beings in the blogosphere like Andy Abramson and John Gruber-- two people whose blogs I read every day.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fellow Movable Type publishing system consultant Chad Everett pointed out that the Operation Gadget comment mechanism wasn't functioning properly. It took a while to determine what the problem was, but I corrected it.

You are free to leave comments on Operation Gadget again.

Thanks for pointing out the problem Chad.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Operation Gadget has moved to a bigger and faster webserver to serve you better. Sorry for the lack of articles over the past few days. We now return you to your regularly scheduled gadget talk.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy Holidays from Dave, Kathleen, and Jimmy
Aiello: We spent lots of time this Christmas with
family and friends. We also bought a new car.
[  Photo: Scott Aiello ]

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year from your friends at Operation Gadget.

I didn't expect to be away from my keyboard for as long as I was, but Kathleen and I got really busy with the holidays and with car shopping. This is the first real opportunity I've had to wish our readers happy holidays.

This was Jimmy's first Christmas, and he got to see most of his close relatives. We spent Christmas Eve at home with a group of friends and relatives including my father, my brother and sister and their spouses / fiancees and children. My nephew Wes Howson born in early December, so this was his first Christmas as well. Kathleen's parents, her sister, brother John, and her Aunt Jane as well as our friend Jen Colangelo were also here.

On Christmas Day, we opened gifts to each other at home in the morning and then went to Kathleen's parents' house in South Jersey for the afternoon. We met Kathleen's brother Scott and his family there. That was probably the most enjoyable Christmas Day get-together we've had in years.

Over the past week, Kathleen and I spent a lot of time shopping for and buying a new car to replace our trusty old Jeep Grand Cherokee that we put out to pasture in early December. It's amazing how complicated a purchase decision like that is. We are really excited now that it's over.

Hopefully I'll have time to talk more about our car purchase over the next few days.

Over the next few weeks I hope to be able to talk more about the gadgets that friends and relatives got during the holidays, and to talk more about the Nokia N-Series mobile phones that I've been testing during the Fall. I recently got a Nokia N80 Internet Edition phone, and I hope to be able to use it to make VoIP calls using my WiFi network in the next few days.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wes Howson was born on Tuesday at a hospital in
New Jersey. Everyone's very happy. [ Photo:
Kathleen Aiello ]

Wesley Howson was born on Tuesday evening in a nearby hospital. Wes was 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and 21 inches long. My sister Julie and Wes are doing fine. A number of friends and relatives visited over the two days they were in the hospital.

This is Julie and her husband Robert's second baby. Wes has a big sister Emma who was born in March 2005. Kathleen and I took a lot more photos of Emma than we did of Wes, but the main reason was that we had our own son Jimmy to keep entertained while taking the pictures. That's life in a growing family I guess.

This was the first time we used our new Canon PowerShot A540 to take newborn baby pictures. I still have to compare the images of Wes and his family to the ones we took when Emma was born. The Emma photos were taken with a Canon PowerShot A95 and I thought the pictures taken with the flash supressed came out darker than they looked on the LCD display.

This time we stayed away from the flash-suppressed shots, and it didn't matter as much because Wes slept a lot while we were there. So far the shots from the A540 look great. This is a great use for a point-and-shoot camera like this one.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Attention Operation Gadget Readers: due to a data center migration at our hosting provider, OperationGadget.com will be offline from 11:45pm Central Time on Friday, September 1 to 4:00am on Saturday, September 2.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Sunday, I took out my in-line skates and skated around the industrial complex near our house in Newtown, PA. This was the first time I had been on skates since January 24 when I broke my left fibula while officiating a hockey game. My left ankle was noticeably more swollen than usual that night, but I felt like I could skate again on Monday if I wanted.

Monday was mostly sunny and 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius), so I decided to get my Trek 1500 road bike out for a short ride late in the afternoon. I rode 6.9 miles in 31 minutes and 7 seconds. It was great to get out there and see that I haven't entirely lost the ability to ride, although I've lost a lot of stamina over the past nine weeks.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who have been following my recovery from a broken left fibula, I saw my orthopedist today and I was cleared to resume physical activity. Surprisingly, this includes the opportunity to try skating again as soon as I want.

My wife Kathleen suggested that I find my in-line skates and start by trying to skate on them. I have to find them and see if the ball bearings and wheels are in good condition. If not, I can try going to a "public session" at a local rink or sneak on the ice after some hockey team finishes practicing. We'll see.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I hope that I can get back to doing a bit more writing on Operation Gadget now.

For the past two and a half weeks, I've been working on consulting projects for USA Hockey (at least the part called the Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association Officiating Program) and Spot On. This work is done through my consulting business called Weblog Improvement and doesn't have much to do with this website, except that it probably made it harder for regular readers to find something interesting here.

I got a lot out of the project I did to enhance Spot On. This was the first major php programming project I've done that incorporates content from a Movable Type publishing system. The big effort was the Spot On splash page, which weaves the content of 9 or 10 different blogs into a single web page. The focus of Spot On is quite different from what you read here, but I think the way the page works is pretty neat.

I'm hoping that some of the experience I got working on Chris' splash page makes it over to Operation Gadget one of these days. I can't promise anything at this point because finding the time to do development work on my sites has become more difficult as my consulting business has become busier. We'll see.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday Kathleen and I met with my orthopedist for the first time since my leg was put in a cast. The orthopedist had my cast removed and had my left leg x-rayed again. The x-rays showed that my fibula is healing, but hasn't yet healed 100 percent. The orthopedist decided not to put me in another cast, so I can start physical therapy.

We were all surprised at how swollen my lower leg was after the cast was removed. I knew that my leg was swelling intermittently while I had the cast on it. It's clear that the swelling I was feeling was when my calf was swelling near the top of the cast, and that my ankle and foot may have been swollen much more frequently than I thought.

I need to do two to three sessions of physical therapy per week for the next four weeks, in order to strengthen my leg and regain flexibility. After that, we will meet with the orthopedist again to see the fibula has fully healed and if I can start skating and cycling again.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kathleen and I had a terrific time at Walt Disney World for the past few days. We stayed at Disney's Wilderness Lodge and spent a day each at Disney-MGM Studios, the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot.

The weather was just about as perfect as you can get in January: mostly sunny and 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 27 degrees Celsius) each day.

This trip was about relaxation. I needed a break from writing Operation Gadget, consulting on the design of other websites, and managing servers. Kathleen needed to get away from the office and relax. We achieved our goals.

I'm not sorry that I missed most of CES, Macworld, or the Alito hearings. I didn't turn on the TV after the NFL games ended on Sunday. This was the right way for me to relax this time, and I'm going to try to remember this approach for our next vacation.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife and I are on a trip to Florida for some rest and relaxation. I probably won't have much to say here on Operation Gadget until Thursday or Friday.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What a week this has been around the Home Office! I thought that having Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah fall on a Sunday (and on the same day) would have made things easier for everyone, but if my experience is typical, the schedule was a bit harder than it has been in other years.

I guess I brought some of this on myself. Christmas Eve was sunny and an unusually warm 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celcius). How could I pass up the opportunity for a half hour ride on my new Trek 1500? I haven't had time to write a review, but Kathleen's verdict is in. After a ride down the driveway she said, "Oh it's so smooth!"

Fourteen people spent the evening in our living room in Newtown, PA last night. The Christmas Eve get-together for our families has become a tradition since Kathleen and I got married. This year there were two regular digital cameras and a Nokia N90 in use, so we almost ought to start our own Flickr Photo Pool. Maybe I'll have time to post a few photos of the festivities tomorrow, but we're at another family party today-- there won't be time now.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all Operation Gadget readers and to my friends and family. Now that we've done most of our gving to others, I hope you all get something you really want from someone special.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since Operation Gadget has a strong relationship with Amazon.com, I think it's important to point out that today is the last day for Free Super Saver Shipping for Amazon.com. According to Amazon.com's Holiday Order Deadlines for U.S. Shipments, if you place your order by today for items from Amazon.com that are marked Usually ships in 24 hours, delivery before Christmas and the First Day of Hanukkah is guaranteed.

If you place an order with Amazon.com today, read the shipment options page carefully. An order that I placed last night said that I would receive all of the items that I ordered by December 23.

There are other shipping options for products ordered after today, so fear not.

Technorati Tags: Amazon.com, Super Saver Shipping, Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is an advisory message to readers of Operation Gadget who maintain their own headline feed readers. As part of our site upgrade that began yesterday, we are automatically redirecting requests for our old RSS feed to our new Atom feed. If you experience any problems, you can edit your Operation Gadget headline feed subscription to choose one of the following feeds:

• Atom 1.0: http://www.operationgadget.com/atom.xml
• RSS 2.0: http://www.operationgadget.com/index.xml

If you still have questions, please email me at daiello [at] operationgadget.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is Operation Gadget's second birthday, and we're celebrating with a bit of a site design and infrastructure update. Over the next few weeks we hope to roll out services that will make Operation Gadget an even better resource for fans of electronic gadgets and the technology used in sports.

Thank you to the thousands of readers who've made a habit of visiting Operation Gadget. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions by posting them here, or by emailing me at daiello [at] operationgadget.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Kathleen and I have been in New Jersey for most of the day, and I didn't bring a laptop with me. I'm posting this article from my Treo 650.

I'll be back in the office on Tuesday, so look for more on Operation Gadget then.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Operation Gadget will turn two years old in a couple of weeks. Overall, it's done really well, and we've established an audience in several different niches:

• electronic gadgets,
• technology used in sports,
• Lance Armstrong Foundation-related and Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope fundraising,
• professional cycling

All of these are worthwhile topics for a weblog, but Operation Gadget's coverage has been a bit inconsistent because I've tended to focus on a specific topic at different times of the year. For instance during July, coverage on Operation Gadget focused on The Tour de France. I was hesitant to go off topic at that time to talk about an electronic gadget even if the story would have been very topical.

I'm not announcing any new weblogs right now, but I want to say that I expect that Operation Gadget will become two or more weblogs by the Spring 2006.

If you have any thoughts on this, feel free to post them or email me at daiello [at] operationgadget.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the third week of September 2005. 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:

September 15

• Runner's World Publishes Guide to Picking an MP3 Player
  
• Fios Favorably Reviewed by Walter Mossberg
  
• Getting My Motorola HS850 Bluetooth Headset Working With a Treo 650
  

September 14

• Alternatives to Staying in Washington, DC for 50-mile DC Fundraising Riders
  

September 13

• Map of 2005 Tour of Hope 50-Mile DC Fundraising Ride
  
• Deadline for Raising $500 Minimum for Tour of Hope DC Fundraising Ride is Monday, September 19 at Midnight
  

September 12

• Steripen Water Purifier Makes Sense for Travelers to Developing Countries, Campers
  
• 2nd Week of September 2005 Workouts
  
• Ebay Completes Deal to Buy Skype for $2.6 Billion in Cash and Stock
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the second week of September 2005. 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:

September 9

• DC Fundraising Ride Start Locations
  
• M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Newsletter Highlights Relationship Between Tour of Hope and Clinical Trials
  
• PalmSource to Be Acquired by the Developer of the NetFront Browser
  

September 8

• Apple Announces iPod nano to Replace iPod mini
  
• Skype May Be Acquired by EBay According to WSJ
  

September 7

• Choosing the Motorola HS850 as My First Bluetooth Headset
  

September 6

• Getting the Word Out to Friends and Family About the Tour of Hope
  

September 5

• 1st Week of September 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the first week of September 2005. 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:

September 2

• Stop Blaming Each Other Over the Response to Hurricane Katrina
  
• How Out of Market VoIP Numbers Can Save Your Family Money
  

September 1

• "Treo Essentials" Debuts at Amazon.com, Offers Treo 650-Specific Tips
  
• Giant Provided Amateur Cyclists Opportunities to Ride the Courses of the Tour of Germany
  
• Donated to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund for Hurricane Katrina
  

August 31

• Thanks, Judge Bissell
  

August 30

• Mapping Race Courses with a GPS and Google Maps
  

August 29

• I'm Tired of Getting Ripped Off by Splogs
  
• LSU Professor Maintaining Hurricane Katrina Blog
  
• 4th Week of August 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the last two days, it's become clear that the damage done by Hurricane Katrina to the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast region is one of the most serious disasters in American history. I told Kathleen yesterday that I think the destruction in New Orleans will have a more lasting impact on the United States than the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. There are many reasons for this, but the key reasons are:

1. The transportation infrastructure of the lower Mississippi River is critical to delivery of food and energy throughout the United States.
2. The damage due to the direct impact of the hurricane and the flooding that occurred afterward is widespread and affects both commercial and residential areas.
3. The people displaced by the hurricane are likely to become refugees for weeks or months before they are able to return to their home areas.

All Americans will be economically affected by this disaster, but people in coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have been displaced and lost many of their belongings. These people need our help and we should all step up and make some sort of donation.

I just made a small donation on behalf of OperationGadget.com and CTDATA to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. The Red Cross has proven over the years to be effective at directing financial contributions to where they're most needed.

If you are interested in making a contribution in this time of need, you can visit the Red Cross' Donate Now! page at: http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the fourth week of August 2005. 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:

August 27

• Where I'm Looking for Bluetooth Headset Reviews
  
• Treonauts Backs Off on Strong Cardo Scala 500 Rating
  
• No Need for Bluetooth 1.2 Compatibility When Connecting an Accessory to the Treo 650
  

August 26

• WSJ Article on VoIP Focuses on Embedded Voice in Applications
  
• Busy Working on a Client's New Blog
  

August 25

• Armstrong to Appear on Larry King Live to Address Doping Allegations
  
• Dine with the Pros and Support the Phinney Foundation in San Francisco on September 2
  
• TVPredictions Discusses the Features of the New DirecTV Plus DVR
  

August 24

• PhoneGnome Straddles Regular Phone Line and Broadband Connection to Provide a Hybrid Phone Experience
  
• VeloACE Is Ideal for Palm Zealots Who Want a Bike Computer
  
• Lyon, France's Rent-a-Bike System Loaded with Technology
  

August 23

• Study Says Handheld Communicators Help Doctors Respond Faster than Pagers
  
• R-Driver II USB 2.0 to IDE Cable Is Ideal for Copying Data from Hard Drives Being Replaced
  
• No Good Will Come from Retroactive Drug Testing in Pro Cycling
  
• Developing a Workout Plan to Simulate the Effort of Other Athletic Performances
  

August 22

• Replacing the APC Uninterruptible Power Supply Battery Protecting Our VoIP Lines
  
• Mavic Crossland Mountain Wheels Take a Year of Riding with No Problems
  
• Installed Performance Topo FasTracs on My Mountain Bike
  
• 3rd Week of August 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the third week of August 2005. 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:

August 21

• Finally Got Back on the Ice
  

August 19

• NHL Signs U.S. Media Deal with OLN
  

August 18

• Mini Version of Opera Browser Reportedly Working on Treo 650
  
• Fossil Reportedly Exiting Smart Watch Market
  

August 16

• Mobile Phone Users Want to Receive Email from Family on Handsets
  
• Treonauts Discusses Mobile RSS Readers for the Treo 650
  

August 15

• How Not to Discolor Your Baseball Caps in the Dishwasher
  
• 2nd Week of August 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the second week of August 2005. 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:

August 13

• How to Find Your Tour of Hope Rider's Donation ID Number
  

August 12

• Help Me Ride the 2005 Tour of Hope Fundraising Ride in Washington DC
  
• Replacing My Mountain Bike Tires with Performance Topo FasTracs
  
• Official Tour de France Replica Yellow Jersey Offered by Discovery Channel Store
  

August 11

• Trying Del.icio.us and Del.icio.us Direc.tor to Get Control of My Web Bookmarks
  

August 10

• Polar and Adidas Planning a Line of Apparel and Shoes with Built-in Fitness Measurement
  

August 8

• 1st Week of August 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the first week of August 2005. 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:

August 5

• Unpacking My CanoScan LiDE 500F
  
• No Getting Around the DMV
  

August 3

• Sales at Performance Bike on Electronics, Clothing, and Wheel-Related Products
  
• A Worthy List of Treo 650 Add-on Software for the Productivity Minded User
  
• Trying SplashID on My Treo to Keep Track of Passwords
  
• Measuring the Steepness of Hills on Cycling Routes
  
• First Sign of Campagnolo Bike Technology for 2006
  
• Leaving a Browser Window Open to an Interesting Web Page Can Be a Productivity Killer
  

August 2

• Fitness-Related Applications Popping Up for Google Maps
  
• Deal on Cardo Scala 500 Bluetooth Headset at Amazon.com
  
• Ftech Solar 7 Bluetooth GPS Receiver Reviewed by Ubergizmo
  

August 1

• Important Update for Cingular Version of Treo 650 Released Recently
  
• 4th Week of July 2005 Workouts
  
• Polar Precision Performance Software Update Provides New Features and Calendar Themes
  
• Bush Called "Most Fit" President in History
  
• I Need to Stop Sweating the Small Stuff
  
• Freshness Interviews Mark Smith on Lance Armstrong Iconography
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the problems I had during the month when Operation Gadget focused on the 2005 Tour de France is that writing became a really intense process for me. This was an outgrowth of an email exchange I had with Frank Steele of TDFblog.com at the beginning of July in which we agreed that so many more people were blogging the Tour de France this year than had previously that we both felt we had to focus on what differentitated our sites from others.

I tried to put an emphasis on quality over quantity and stay away from reporting stage results. This was successful in several ways, such as the three articles I got out of my opportunity to interview Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen:

• Liggett and Sherwen Think that Lance Will Not Have a Second Act as a Triathlete
• Leblanc Made the Tour de France a Top International Television Event
• Liggett on the Saint-Etienne Time Trial Course

I looked back on my productivity in the week following the Tour, however, and saw that I was still in that mode in spite of the fact that I should be moving on.

I started thinking about this because I found myself abandoning stories that may have been interesting to you because I was having difficulty expressing my thoughts on the matter. When this happens to me it's generally an indication that my blogging process has become overwrought.

I'm going to try to correct this by publishing shorter, less reflective articles. I hope that I'll be able to produce more interesting content in less time.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, you can post them here or email me at daiello [at] operationgadget.com. Thanks for reading.

Technorati Tags: Tour de France, Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Operation Gadget weekly summary for the fourth week of July 2005. 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:

July 30

• Replacing a Fax Line and Fax Machine with a Fax Service and a Scanner
  
• Replacing POTS with VoIP for the Home Office
  

July 28

• Jeff Tredup Profiled in Local New Jersey Newspaper
  

July 27

• Comcast Considers Building Up OLN to Compete with ESPN
  
• 1.7 Million Watch Lance on the Champs-Elysees
  

July 25

• The Tour de France is Over, But the Race Goes On
  
• 3rd Week of July 2005 Workouts
  

Does a weekly summary work for you? Is it a waste of time? Let me know by posting a comment. Thanks....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)