the black cat blog

ImageWell & Marsedit

2008-01-16T16:42:00.001-08:00

I am trying this tiny little ImageWell program to quickly create and send images. I tried it for an hour, then decided to buy the license, since these are 20 Canadian Dollars well invested. I liked the ease of use and configure of ImageWell almost immediately.

So here is a picture of my little Luis, made using (1) Photo Booth application that you get with Leopard and created that nice background (2) ImageWell to crop, shadow and resize the original picture.

Nothing fancy, but takes a couple of minutes to create pictures. I'll look more into the additional features provided with the license, and will update this post. By the way, I am also using MarsEdit for my blogs. It's really nice!

I read there's also a blogging plugin with my favorite text editor - TextMate - but I have not been able to figure out yet how it works; so I decided to go ahead and give MarsEdit authors some of my dough. Have you tried?

Awesome Justice League action figures

2008-01-10T17:04:00.001-08:00

These are awesome Justice League action figures! Posting here partly for my kids and myself!! Or myself and my kids?!!

Figures: Steampunk Justice League Modded Action Figures:

Steampunk Justice League Modded Action Figures

Inspired by the comic book, Gotham by Gaslight by Mike Mignola and Brian Augustyn (Batman vs. Jack the Ripper set in the late 19th "

Langster upgrades

2007-03-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

So I have started to ride my Specialized Langster with a new 15-teeth cog from A.C. Racing, I do confirm, it hurts more than the 16-teeth freewheel that I was using earlier. Good thing is, on this Langster hub, since it's a dual hub, I just installed the new freewheel on the other side of the hub, and will be able to flip the wheel to go from 15 to 16 enad vis & versa! How nice!.. Since 15-teeth is quite smaller than 16, the chain is a bit too long, but pulling the rear wheel back one centimeter in its horizontal drops did the trick. So now I am riding a 15-teeth freewheel. Fast on flat, a tad more thighs consuming. Did not really take a chance with any hill so far, since I got injured skiing about three weeks ago, and can't push/pull from one knee at all, following my doctor's order. I tried one freeway overpass and that was too hard. But we'll see once totally recovered. I am hesitating to add a fixie to this Langster. I don't know why yet, it kind of scares me still, although the hilarious and quasi-religious experience described by many is very attractive. Maybe a question of months. Besides, I modified my Langster with a new old handlebar, removing the old original drops and putting a riser instead. Looks quite retro with its original black paint. Sweet townie. Besides, I really enjoy the Continental Gator Skins, which I have also set on my Fuji road bike.

"Dare to be 100"

2006-11-21T06:09:00.000-08:00

While riding the other day around Woodside I happened to see this very old man jogging. His t-shirt was saying, in big thick red letters: "Dare to be 100"..... Wow! This made me think of the man, who obviously didn't look young, BUT was trotting. Rare for a man to reach the 3 digits mark... As of jogging, he must be a a very small circle of a few. Then I thought about my 43 years of age. I wonder what he was doing when he was 43. Was he running? riding bikes?Anyway: yes! dare to be a hundred!! and to run!!! We're all haunted by the thought of death, by the end of the journey. This man went through so many times, so many loves, so many losses. But yet he's still running.

All congrats to this stranger, if he ever reads this. If you know him, tell him! I am his fan!

First century!

2006-11-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday marks a new milestone in my biking; I crossed the 100 kilometers mark, on my Fuji Team V2, and reached the Pacific ocean. This ride carries a few climbs but is mostly an endurance one. I remained on the saddle some 4.5 hours. The exact length(based on what I could get from my GPS, see mishap below) was 108 kilometers, some 67 miles. The overall experience was okay.
Here are the hardest things I noticed:

the buzzing wind in my ears; I need to stuff some cotton in there to limit it
the cold of my feet; I need to buy these special shoe protections
the cold of my legs; they were feeling so stiff, this probably contributed to tiredness on my way back
the lower back pain; I was carrying a Camelback that I lowered a bit during the ride; after a while I felt a lower back pain; I heightened the bag and most of that pain went away
the starting blister on my left palm; had me change hand positions many times. Might look into some more comfortable gloves than the ones I have.
the butt soreness; the Chamois Butt Cream took care of this one; not too bad though.
the handlebars position; I heightened them a bit before the ride and they were very uncomfortable when in the hoods and when using the brakes. I lowered the handlebars an inch when I came back
the Garmin Edge 305 GPS froze; I could have it resume and altogether lost very little data. In order to properly load the ride in MotionBase I had to load the ride first into SportsTrack, and then export it in gpx format. Looks like SportsTrack and MotionBased dont load exactly the same way. I got most data rightm just lost the heart data

I know, this seems like a long list; but altogether this was not that bad at all. Now I can start considering longer distances, and figure some wider loops.

Carbon and satellites

2006-11-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

As I was saying in my last post, there would be big news (at least for me), and in fact a couple of them! I purchased last month a carbon fiber road bike: a FUJI TEAM V2 2006 bike. 18 pounds, 20 speeds, Ultegra rear derailleur, and 105 shifters, front detailleur. That's been quite a story since the original bike I bought (out of the box) had a chainstay that was cracked... My buddies at Performance Bikes took it back and I could get a replacement in a week's time - thumbs up to Performance Bikes Mountain View! So here I was, bringing my 4th ride in our little appartment. The purchase was totally spontaneous. A classic chain of events; walked in the store with a friend at lunchtime, discovered the sweet ride at an amazing price, took a test ride, was told it was avalaible now, and bought it. What a thrill!

Once home, the real adventure started: the rides! Here in the Bay Area there are many possibilities to test both bikes and bikers: plenty of rolling hills and also tough climbs towards Skyline Blvd. The Fuji Team V2 is up to it, very responsive , supple and still stiff. Great complement to the Specialized Langster that I still ride very often and love. Riding that road bike after my singlespeed showed me one thing at least: keeping momentum isn't a cake walk, and dialing the right gear needs experimentation. Showed me another thing: singlespeed bikes are great ways to get fit.

After this purchase and some research, I also invested in a Garmin Edge 305, the top of the line in bikes GPS. Awesome tool for training, and fun too! I have taken the HR+ package to get both cadence/speed and heart monitor as well; in fact I have even bought another set for my Langster so I can complete my data. Not only the Garmin has already educated me more than the 100's of "blind" rides I was doing w/ more rudimentary devices, but it makes my training more challenging than ever. I am of course using motionbased.com website to load and track my data, and the Garmin PC program "Training Center", mediocre but still functional. Waiting for the announced Mac version of this one. I have discovered a great and free Windows program, for the time being: the already excellent SportTracks. This program loads my rides and associated data (HR, calories, cadence..) and pulls all kinds of graphs and statistics in a very neat and well thought interface. What ST doesn't do and TC does, is define routes out of existing rides, to later be reloaded to the GPS device.

Ride!

Bigger rides

2006-10-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't write much all these last months. What have I done? Yes yes yes! I have biked more, and more, and more. First of all, I have commuted almost constantly, and the Langster has made me stronger. It is a great bike, very predictable, and not that tough. My second motivation has been friends. With my buddy Daniel and his new Giant TCR1 bike, we've been riding the hills of the Bay Area peninsula, from here in Palo Alto to Milbrae, at the limits of San Francisco. Our greatest so far has been 53 miles (85 kms!) on very nice stretches of asphalt. Discovered new landscapes, and discovered... my strengths!!! Singlespeeding across Sandhill, Portola Valley climbs, Wiskhey Rd, and many others. Steady motion, staying sit. I was surprised of the good performance of the Langster compared to fancier bikes.

Through the summer, I have lost a bunch of weight - now I am somewhere above 77 kilos.... This brings us to my next post -- another BIG surprise in my biking adventures.

Fixed Langster

2006-06-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

I will go for a fixed gear very soon. Decided to do it myself.

Since my Langster drivetrain is a 3/32" I'll keep that. Opting for a EAI Deluxe Steel Track Cog 15 teeth mounted with a lockring, which I didn't choose yet - Shimano Ultra if compatible, not sure yet.

Did you ever try the same?

Pathetiques

2006-05-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

Il y a beaucoup de choses que j'aime aux Etats Unis, mais il y a certaines choses qui sont toujours difficiles a avaler pourtant, apres huit ans de residence.

Voice quelques rencontres a ecrite avant d'oublier:
- cet homme plutot age qui me demande d'enlever mes oreillettes a la bibliotheque publique, pour me dire que ma musique est trop forte
- cette vieille dame en voiture qui me passe au raz des fesses sur le passage cloute, ne m'ayant evidemment pas vu juste devant d'elle
- les collegues hypocrites et mielleux (trop nombreux a nommer)
- le voisinage et les relations amicales, qui n'echangent surtout que des questions sur votre job, oubliant que les conversations peuvent couvrir un spectre beaucoup plus large
- etc.

Spinning with the Langster

2006-05-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

My first comments after a couple of rides on my new Langster (been a week already):

- on downhills, this freewheel 48T/16T really makes me spin my heart off! Shall I change the chainring for a bigger one?
- sharp turns at slow speed (i.e. turning the handlebars) make me touch the front wheel (700 is a big wheel for a mountain biker) with my shoe sometimes. Anything I can do about it... [thinking]
- slightly tuned the seat height and pulled the saddle a bit backward, for a better comfort
- the bike is overall fast, it's a great purchase. When I rode my HardRock MTB the other day, it felt very heavy. But mountain bikes are fun, they move in 3 dimensions; besides one bunny hop with clips, the Langster doesn't.
- the bike is overall very quiet
- I got used to hold the drops when starting the bike, the bent ain't that bad.
- the question "why a singlespeed?" IS annoying
- my commute dropped of a handful of minutes

The king of pain

2006-05-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

So now I have that 2006 Langster, since a couple of days. I had read so many things about single speed bikes (both the hype and also the pain) that I was expecting the WORST! Like I'd be unable to move my legs at all, and likely bleed through all my openings.

It's not that bad at all, the 48T/16T combination is pretty forgiving in fact.... Of course since it's mounted as a freewheel that's okay, I still can coast a bit and breathe at the top of my hills. This will change when I'll add a fixed gear on that same hub (note it accepts both, you just flip the wheel - how convenient).

Overall feeling on this bike is great, light, good traction, fast . Great looks too. It's a really sexy bike, as simple and raw as it gets. "Why did you buy a single speed?" is the main question that I'll have to hear over and over again.

Brakes are definitely not the greatest, the handlebar is a bit too far for me (unless I slide the saddle a bit backwards, didn't try yet) and the braking from the bottom section of the handlebar is really low - a lot of bent. I am glad I could try that size (a 56) before purchase, which is definitly the way to go. I changed the pedals for some SPD 545 (paltform SPDs) which look great; never clipped in yet.

Langster upgrades? Besides the fixed gear that I'll add sometimes soon, I don't know yet. I read in the press that the handlebar, seatpost, saddle, rims needed to be changed. I'll see; nothing really seems bad. I don't know about that stock Sugino crankset. I think it's fine.

Oh - almost forgot: good news is, all components are bolted, so this beauty won't get a lot of attentions from bike robbers!

Singlespeed!!!

2006-05-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

J'ai longtemps hesite puis enfin j'y suis. C'est comme une lente maturation, une evolution, une revolution, un tour de pneu qui vous elargit les mirettes. Mais de quoi parle-t-il?

Apres le Mountain Biking (velo tout terrain) je me tourne vers le macadam, mais le brutal, pas le pedalage de velours a pignons encephales. Non. Le "SingleSpeed", pas de derailleur, pas de levier de vitesse, rien qu'un petit pignon comme sure le velo de mon fils, avec une ENORME couronne pour le devant. Voila.

Ca fait peur, et aujourd'hui j'ai fait somme toute le plus facile, sortir la carte de credit, zebrer rapidement un recu a peine lu, voila tout. Maintenant je dois attendre le coup de fil, la prise en main, la douleur.

Le velo dont je parle ici est un Specialized Langster, un mono speed, un track bike pour les velodromes. Mais avec peinture Urban Squad. Un machin squelettique et rebelle. Un velo cruel qui transformera ma silhouette vaque en un bloc de chair anguleux et dur. Et mes joies de biker en cris rauques. Les collines obligees, les rues alentours, attendent deja mon approche.

Douloureuse affaire. A suivre.

2006-05-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Le mois de mai est favorable au velo ici aux States. L'initiative "Bike to work week" est pour bientot, alors RIDE!!! Ou que vous soyez!

Netflix - DVD a domicile

2006-04-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

L'une des choses les plus addictives aux U.S. sinon deja en France: un abonnement a un service de location de DVD en ligne!

La formule? paiement automatique mensuel, et un nombre maximum de DVD a recevoir a la fois. Par exemple nous optons pour un maximum de 2 DVDs a la fois. Ils sont expedies dans une enveloppe individuelle reversible, a renvoyer dans la meme enveloppe. Fourchette entre un envoi et la reception du suivant: 2 jours. Ca nous fait une moyenne de 4 DVD par semaine, 16 par mois, pour 16 dollars!

Site web: http://netflix.com

2006-04-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

Un excellent restaurant downtown Mountain View: "Chez TJ". Nous y avons celebre nos 5 ans de mariage. Repas degustation, vraiment tres bon. "Wine pairings", majoritairement des blancs, pour accompagner le tout.

A partager avec quelqu'un de special.

Children Museum in San Jose, CA

2006-02-27T23:04:00.000-08:00

We went with my wife and two boys to the Children Museum downtown San Jose, California. An amazing time off for me and our family; the Museum offers many activities for kids and parents, to appeal to their curiosity and senses. A beautiful way to surprise all. Avoid the crowd by going early, or, like us, on a weekday. Also a great way to retrospect and project ourselves in our own youth.

I don't want to really emphasize on the place itself (although, again, its great), but on the time, as a parent, we need to spend with our little ones; and on the time we do spend with them as active adults.

Ever wanted to slow down?

2005-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Read this from Eknath Easwaran. Timeless suggestions. I used to read from this guy, had almost forgotten, then I come back to this page and am still impressed by so much simplicity, yet greatness. Enjoy!

Getting Things Done With “Delete”

2005-09-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Loved this post. One conclusion I reached as well, quite similar to the 80/20 theory. Most of what we have and do, is disposable. Let's focus on the little part that REALLY makes us happy and drop the rest! Let's unclutter our space and give simple and powerful attention to what really matters.

Why Do You Work So Hard?

2005-07-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Read that webpage from the depth of your cubicle. This might bring that slight little change that you need before the big boost!....

SuperGo is awesome

2005-06-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

I want to post this in order to encourage their business. Since it's been so many times that I was totally satisfied with these guys!

I am talking about the guys at SuperGo bike store on El Camino Real in Mountain View, CA. True I am a good shopper there, but nowadays spending dollars in a shop isn't the guarantee of a good service, of that little spark that makes you hooked to a store like a kid. Well, at SuperGo, even if you don't spend much, these guys will help. It's beyond money, it's about biking! Yes there's maybe that underlying biker attitude, that screen, the slight feeling of being an outsider when you approach them. Like trying to enter a fraternity of some sort. The tattoo culture!... But hey they love their job that's all, and they know their stuff.... The success of the store is their success too. Since I shop there for either upgrades of my two mountain bikes - Specialized Hardrock w/ slicks to commute, and my Epic for the trails - or for tools or gear, they always helped.

There are two instances that I want to mention:

- after I cracked the frame of my Epic 2003 under the seatpost, I got it replaced w/o discussion, although that bike wasn't purchased there. I know, this was taken care by Specialized staff itself, but still, no greed. I was even granted an upgrade to the 2004 frame at no cost.

- and last night, since I couldn't finalize the setting of a stem and handlebar because of a dead screw that couldn't be removed in the steering tube. I biked there around 6:00PM, and was provided with assistance and on-the-spot fix with their top wrench...... Merely paid anything....

There are still some really cool cats! I can compare with other shops - hmmmm let me see.... the OffRamp for instance! - which are on the Dark Side of biking. I often think of the Frank Zappa song "Flakes" when I think of customer service! Exceptions exist, go SuperGo!

Planning a trip to France?

2005-06-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

So finally after 7 years of escape and many life transformations, I could leave San Francisco and go back to France. This was a great trip, mostly improvised, set as a tapas menu: a little bite into many things. I nicknamed this trip "NO REGRETS" since we decided to eat all we wanted, drink all we wanted, buy all we wanted, and go wherever we felt like.

Here's our Tour de France without bicycles:

Paris (quais de Seine by car, ND, Trocadero/Tour Eiffel, Chatelet/Beaubourg, Montmartre/Barbes, Montparnasse/St Germain/Republique/Pere Lachaise, Arc de Triomphe/Champs Elysees/Concorde/Louvre/Bourse, Buttes Chaumont) and suburbs (Versailles, Thoiry, St Germain en Laye, Rueil)
Burgundy (Auxerre/Avallon)
Hautes Alpes (Gap, Serre Poncon, Col D'Allos)
Cote d'Azur (Nice, Monaco, Cannes, St Tropez, Camargue) and a bit of Provence (Aix en Provence, Arles, Nimes, Avignon)
Toulouse and Carcassonne
Pyrenees (col d'Aspin)
Landes (de Biarritz a Mimizan)
Bordelais (St Emilion)
Perigord (Sarlat, Brive)
Loire (Tours and Chenonceaux, Amboise, Chambord castles)

My first comment: France is a great place to go! Suggestions:

in Paris don't use a car (unless someone else's) - chances are you'll be towed away (happened to us near the Buttes Chaumont) - or you'll go crazy with traffic and parking. Use public transportation system: RER trains, subway, buses. One trip is something like 1 Euro! Buy your ticket by 10 in either subway stations or "bar tabacs". You can also walk a lot in Paris when weather allows - great source of surprises and enjoyment! Now Paris has many bike lanes as well so if you feel like pedaling, go for it! Great!!!!
if you plan to travel across France a rental car is great. Gives more freedom than the train system. We picked Avis Agency as a cheap one and were very happy with the car. Diesel gasoline was very welcome since prices are pretty expensive out there. About hotels, since we improvised a lot, we picked Etap Hotels, which cost around 30 Euros a night. Very convenient, usually well located, they do set expectations: cleanliness, quietness, comfort, facilities, sometimes private parking.... Breakfasts are cheap and good too. You can book rooms even after hours using their outside booth. Do request a non-smoker room if you don't smoke - French are still smokers overall although the situation is getting better - or you'll spit your lungs out.

Choosing off-season as we did (mid-May to mid-June in our case) is best: you will avoid the very crowded situations and won't struggle in your trip. The weather was really great and the countryside beautiful.

Talking about the plane tickets, surprisingly at these dates, the best prices were not at Orbitz.com or Travelocity.com, but directly at Air France website! To our great surprise the fares were the cheapest and the flight was direct. Other flights found would necessitate either a stop on the East Coast, or in Europe - for a higher price. Air France service was very decent, with special attention to the young kids. Food was not bad as on other flights these days.

I am posting reviews about our French restaurants/hotels experiences at we8there.com for those who are interested.

Bon Voyage!

Restaurants and hotels reviews at www.we8there.com

2005-04-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post about a great website where you can post great reviews or rave about restaurants and hotels around the USA and overseas. Please visit www.we8there.com! Let the world know about the best and the worst you could find!!!

And here's Technocrati's listing of restaurant reviews related blogs. Posters, please come many to we8there.com, the best site of restaurants and hotels reviews on the internet!

Self promotion of a self-employed consultant

2005-01-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

Great little piece of advice I came across today. Stuff to put in practice:

Boing Boing - Motherlode of century-old postcards

2004-08-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Boing Boing, here's a great link to Motherlode of century-old postcards. Opened window to the early XXth century. Some hours in the attic of humanity. Sentimental reasons led me to Veracruz...

Funny they don't have any picture of old France! A quick search pointed me to this site.

Bicycles

2004-08-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

Re-used the same service of freecycle.org, looking this time for a trunk bike rack to increase the range of the trails I can go biking on. Looks like this was the right choice as I could very well get a rack very soon. I reshaped my old Schwinn as I need to go back to work tomorrow after 2 months working in-house. I was surprised by the smoothness of this bike, despite the weight and the spider webs. Changed the saddle with the one I kept from my Specialized. I ride the neighbourhood whenever I can! The simple activity of basic maintenance is a pleasure. Gets me into the mood of the very present time, the pleasure of the time well spent, the concentration on little things. The goals matter less than the space and time in between!....

I had the same thought while brooming the balcony yesterday, quiet sweeping, getting things done, simply. I feel I slowly disconnect from the race for money and things. Little things matter!

Changing the world one gift at a time.

2004-08-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

I gave a try to freecycle.org this week. In fact I was looking for a used baby carrier for my second boy - did not want to buy one as the greatest are much expensive - and I was also looking for a replacement to my Nokia cell phone, lost yesterday while biking to the library: it's for company use, and the company in question doesn't want to replace it. So I went to use freecycle.org (Palo Alto branch) to see if I could get something, at least an idea of the service. Guess what? IT WORKED! In a very short time (a bunch of hours) I got nice replies and have to pick up both items tomorrow. They sound like being in mint condition, and both of good quality: Bjorn for the carrier, Sony for the phone!

I have been so surprised and pleased by these already good news, that I suddenly put my old Apple iMac (beautiful lime model) at the disposal of whoever would pick it up and fix it today - and it was GONE in one hour! Instead of sending things straight to the trash this website gives a beautiful alternative to give and take in your very community!

Here's the description from their website:

The worldwide (!) Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your city by clicking on the region on the right. It will generate a automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you an response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the webpage for your city's group by clicking on your city's link on the left. Can't find your city? It takes about ten minutes to start your own (click on "Start your own" for instructions). Have fun and keep on Freecyclin'!

I got the items at the best I could expect! I have been really amazed about PEOPLE on this one! Recycling is green, makes so much sense in this society of abundance - it's not ALL about money after all.

Midlife crisis!

2004-08-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

This comic is where I am now - eh no, seriously....

Why Do We Blog?

2004-08-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

WOLves: Why Do We Blog? is an interesting and crucial post about the sport of blogging. This activity endorsed by individuals like me, who write down their thoughts on almost a daily basis, or simply give parrot content - links to other contents as called in the post - this activity is great. I didn't raise the question at this point, so here it is: why do I blog?

Well, I don't have a serious plan about it. To make it straight, I use it right now because it's free, fun, technically interesting, and because it can carry many references to activities, things and events that matter to me. A lot of what I do can be logged, mainly as text, and my blog can also be used to promote my work. It's no loss, and can't be a failure as it doesn't have a goal to reach. But hopefully it will bring things to light and carry interest. Please post comments whenever you visit, this will bring orientation and traction to this web place. Thank you.

2004-08-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

The work of gapingvoid and many other readings inspired me this quick little drawing. Like in mountain biking, the fluidity in the effort is important, the way through creation needs to know no block. The rule of the 80% crap / 20% good work needs to be well acknowledged so we can create free, shameless and abundant.

Post on creativity

2004-08-05T23:33:00.000-07:00

gapingvoid had a great post about how to be creative.... Very inspirational. Besides, this guy's blog is also parsed with little cartoons, full of lucidity. Great!!

2004-08-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Finished "Maus", excellent comics book from Art Spiegelman that received a Pulitzer Prize more than 15 years ago.

Powder Keg

2004-08-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

This is the black cat's blog. Blogging is something I have somehow been doing since years, without knowing, through homemade posts on the black cat dot org website, through a little MySQL/php rudimentary tool! I am I think nothing of a writer, and English isn't my mother's tongue - but hey we will see! But since I discovered that this web was made of concrete threads and discovered myself reading avidly from perfect strangers I started realizing that this could be a wonderful way for me to express myself and reflect on me, my work, and on all things....

Long Live The Blac Cat & its Blog!!!!