All posts by Richard

Ski Cam Man is becoming Bike Cam Man

In early August, my son Carl and I will bike the BWCA Superior Tour (our own ride, not part of a larger effort). This bike tour is 350 miles through the Minnesota northwoods including the North Shore of Lake Superior.  It became obvious that I needed to learn how to use my Go Pro Ski Cam in conjunction with my bicycle. While you might think wearing a camera while biking would be simple, the solution was not straight forward. Here is what I learned yesterday before I took these photos this evening.BWCA-Tour

1. A handlebar direct mount of the camera did not work. The camera receives too much vibration from the road. It's amazing how much the body works as a shock absorber without ever realizing it!

2. A helmet mount did not work for the camera. With all the looking around, and checking of side streets it was dizzying to use this setup.

3. The best solution was a chest mounted camera. While one can see my arms in many pictures, if I stand up in the saddle for a video or still photos, I can eliminate the all encompassing arms.

Here is my first test run / photo set. It was part of a 20 mile bike ride. It was actually quite comfortable to wear the camera (i.e. did not restrict my breathing during heavy exercise). Link here for my Ski Cam Man photos.

Fair Use, Hitler and the Google

Fair use of digital content is important. If we don't allow producers to make a reasonable return on their investment, new material will not be generated, but producers need to learn how to use and benefit from the new age media. Learn more about this issue by listening to NPR's interview of Stanford's Professor Larry Lessig.

This morning I learned that all my favorite Adolf Hitler parodies will soon disappear from YouTube. Thanks Google. You're willing to take a stand on Chinese censorship but not fair use of DRM (digital rights management). PC World has a great article about this latest move by Constantin Films and YouTube. In the meantime, enjoy this parody.

Hitler, as "Downfall producer" orders a DMCA takedown from Brad Templeton on Vimeo.

GreatNews RSS Feed Reader

Back in 2006, I reviewed and posted a tutorial I had created about the GreatNews RSS Feed Reader. Well, after a three year hiatus Curio Studio has released a new version of GreatNews which is available without charge. While the user interface, hasn't changed much, it now officially supports Windows 7 and includes other internal improvements. As far as I'm concerned, GreatNews is still one of the best feed readers around, and you can't beat the price! My tutorial is still a great way to learn RSS and start having the filtered web come to you. If you've never utilized RSS (Really Simple Syndication) on your computer, read some of my posts from the RSS Category of this blog.

GreatNews

Carl … of Arabia

Well … maybe Lawrence he is not, but my son Carl is making me remember what it was like to be a young student seeing the world! While on Spring break from his masters studies in Italy, he has been visiting Morocco. While I don't know if he had a gin and tonic at Rick's American Cafe in Casablanca, link to his blog and read some of his other exploits!

And of course Lawrence… and Carl of Arabia! (click to maximize)

 Lawrence_of_Arabia Carl_of_Arabia

Science Fair: Convair 580 Turboprop Engine!

Sometimes it's amazing how data which has been buried in your brain for 40 years suddenly reappears. Most mornings, our company cafeteria posts a question on a bulletin board. People then write their responses on an easel … sort of a physical Twitter or microblog!

  • Today's question: What was your science fair project?
  • My answer (from the 1960's): The Convair 580 turboprop engine!

While 40 years ago, a budding technologist like myself needed to escape to the public library to do research using technical journals and science texts, today I have Google! Thus, here are my favorite links of the day!

Question of the day: What was your science fair project? Leave a comment / link!

(click upon the image to view full sized / resolution)

Cv580

And I flew many miles via North Central …

580-fast