mobrec

So
My wife and I rode in the WKRP Scooter Rally in Cincinnati last weekend (April 4th). It was our first rally since we starting riding last year. It was a huge amount of fun and an opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of like minded scooter folk.

Two things that seemed to come up in discussions were 1) the setup that we were using to talk to each other while scooting and 2) how to best mount things to the scooter (GPSs being the most popular item). If on the off chance any of the WKRP folks who were curious and wanted more details might somehow find this blog post; well, here are the details:

[Full disclosure: if you buy from the Amazon links that I provide here I make a few pennies off of the sale. It doesn't add any additional cost to the product if you buy via these links.]

For scooter to scooter communication I picked up an inexpensive set of Midland handsets from Amazon (specifically the MIDLAND GXT900VP4 2 Way 22 Channels Radio) These are great little handsets and have the advantage of allowing for 'group codes' so that if more than two people want to be on a sort of party line, they can join in. Another advantage is that they don't skimp on the provided accessories which include rechargeable batteries, charger (both auto and home!) and some cheap over the ear boom mics. You might be able to make those over the ear pieces work in your helmet but experience tells me you won't be satisfied by the results.

For best results grab one of the helmet headset kits from Midland. Be aware that there are two different kits depending on whether you have a full face helmet (Midland AVPH2 Closed Face Helment Headset for Midland GMRS) or an open face/modular helmet (Midland AVPH1 Open Face Helment Headset for Midland GMRS).

One of the advantages over the helmet mounted units I saw at the rally is that the Midland kit gives you a push to talk button that you can velcro attach to the left hand grip so that you don't have to take your hands off the scooter to initiate a call. Granted, this does leave you with a bit of connecting wire that you need to sort out, but typically that isn't a big deal. Another huge advantage is that buying the two radio kit and two helmet kits is much cheaper (~$120USD) than buying one of the helmet mounted units (~$200-300 each). It also leaves you with a pair of handsets you can use while hiking, camping, working in the yard or wherever you don't want to have to shout between.

For mounting GPSs or just about anything else to the scooter, get yourself straight over to the RAM Mounting Systems web site. They have a handy configuration wizard that will guide you through the parts and options necessary to mount whatever you want to your ride. Seriously, if RAM doesn't make a mount for it, then it probably doesn't exist. I have a ball mount on my GTV that I can mount (using the same attachment arm) either a GPS (Garmin nüvi 660) or a camera (via a threaded tripod-type shoe). Both are solid and easy to get on and off.

Hopefully these little tidbits might help someone who is curious about mounts and scooter to scooter communications.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, scootering, wkrp

So
The title of this posting is a reference to a statistic in an article called That Muslim in the White House. It relates to a statistic that is tempting to apply to poll results:

Here is another fact: About 11 percent of adult Americans have an IQ score of 81 or below. This is the region of the IQ distribution curve traditionally labeled “dull” at the top and “defective” or “idiot” at the bottom, with various and variously colorful tabs in between.

What conclusion shall we draw? Some of you are tempted, aren’t you? The proper answer is, None; but in practice how people interpret facts depends heavily on their preexisting attitudes toward and opinions on sundry matters.

There is probably an easier answer: the considerably more than 11% that think that Fox News is news and parrot the right wing hatred coming from Fox and 'shout radio' broadcasts. I am confident that the tempting 11% is well represented in there as well.

Technorati Tags: dubious, ideas, news, statistics

So
The latest Mac Heist Bundle is available for the low, low price of $39USD.

I bought it just for the Kinemac 3D animation software ($300 value) and Wiretap Studio.

Technorati Tags: apple, mac, macheist, software

So
Today is the 20th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web (not to be confused with the Internet). Apparently, today is also the 15th anniversary of Linux. I wonder how pervasive Linux would be had the WWW not preceded it. It seemed it was the world wide interest, adoption and coding that made Linux what it is today. Well, I suppose the same could be said for the Interwebs as well.

In any case, raise your glass for two of technologies finest. And note that Microsuck 'innovation' had nothing to do with either of them.

Technorati Tags: ingenuity, innovation, internet, linux, technology, webdev, webtools

So
The already awesome LibraryThing has recently added Twitter integration making it easy to add books into your online library on the go.

Technorati Tags: books, librarything, mobile, twitter, webtools

So
Some handy twitter hacks for the wordpress blogging software, if you are so inclined.

Technorati Tags: blogging, hacks, twitter, webtools, wordpress

So
A Japanese study shows that riding on two wheels makes you smarter. Thank you Vespa.

It might be telling that the test was conducted with riders in their 40s and 50s. That would tend to screen out the young morons who weave in and out of highway traffic on their ballburners wearing nothing but sunglasses. So either you are smart enough not to do that in the first place and make it to 40 or natural selection cleans things up and you don't make it to 40. That doesn't appear to be part of the study, however.

Technorati Tags: cognition, science, vespa

So
Why would any reputable company put an easily accessible button to delete audit logs from an electronic voting machine? I think I just answered my own question by assuming that they are reputable.

I am fairly certain that this function doesn't exist on the ATM machines that they manufacture. It would seem that Diebold considers cash more important than votes. I guess it also helped the head of Diebold, Walden O'Dell, deliver on his (in)famous promise to “helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president [Bush] next year.”

“Deletion of the records in either log would make it impossible to monitor operator access to GEMS or to reconstruct the sequence of operator access, defeating the purpose of [federal guidelines] that GEMS version 1.18.19 was required to adhere to.”

Under guidelines established by the Federal Election Commission in 1990, tabulation software used in all US elections must automatically create and permanently retain electronic audit logs of important system events while tallying votes. The guidelines state they are intended to provide a “concrete, indestructible archival record of all system activity” and are “essential for public confidence in the accuracy of the tally.”

I think that the proposed truth and reconciliation commission has a lot of work ahead of it.

Technorati Tags: dubious, politics

So
The SOA Social web site fails at the most fundamental level — it's RSS feeds don't actually take you to the item they reference. Rather they take you to a truncated entry on the soa social site itself (presumably to drive up ad revenue; otherwise, just to be incompetent). Annoying and missing the point of having a feed. More FAIL from IBM.

Technorati Tags: dubious, ibm, soa, webtools

So
Dear Republicans: stuff a sock in all of the phony 'outrage' over the economy and the stimulus package. Seriously. Your time for outrage was when 2.3 Trillion dollars went missing from the Pentagon or when $9 or was it 50 BILLION (no one knows for sure) went missing from Iraq or the illegal no-bid contracts to Cheney's henchmen let alone the cost of the war in Iraq itself. Why didn't we hear a peep then? Was it because it was the Republicans who were benefiting at the taxpayers expense?

Once we stop handing out money to the banks so they can pocket it rather than make the loans they committed, we should at least this time around we'll have something to show for the money spent.

If we had a serious press corp in the US they would be asking these follow up questions every time one of the right wing mouthpieces started spouting forth their talking points. I want to hear them answer. They won't because they won't be asked. Oh, an someone please remind the right that saying anything bad about the President is 'treason'.

Technorati Tags: dubious, economy, politics, propaganda