When I was younger the process of resetting clocks was easy. Find the knob, and turn until the minute and hours hands show the correct time. Today, I fear my approach to every device. The users manuals have long since disappeared. So here is my scenario:

• Approach device with trepidation.
• Does the device have one or two switches to set the time?
• Are the switches labeled?
• Start pressing and hope something on the display makes sense.

Now just in case you think this guy is dumb (i.e. me). I've worked at a corporate R&D center for the last 25 years. I'm considered a senior technologist. This stuff should not scare me!

Thus, I issue my challenge. What clock do you fear on this twice annual time change!? I've included a photo below of one clock I did NOT have to change. Why? Last Fall, I gave up and left the clock on daylight savings time. As of Sunday, this clock is now correct again! It's part of a bookshelf stereo system by Boston Acoustic which has great sound, but the clock ...

Click upon the image to view full sized

Amity Creek Waterfall from Rich Hoeg on Vimeo.

1. Betty from "Top Online Engineering Degree" contacts me with her new compiled list of the "Top 100 Engineers On Twitter". After review, I decide ... wow ... this compilation is valuable.
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2. Upon further review, I decide I do not want to "follow" 100 new individuals. Thus, a new Google Custom Search Engine engine is born where the index starting point is Betty's list. If you have individuals or organizations which you believe should be added, please contact me.

Time out ... you may have noticed, I only indexed 96 sites, not 100. There is a simple answer. Four of the top 100 sites are locked Tweets; thus the content would not appear in search engine results. Thus, here is the search engine, and immediately below the list categories and a sample entry.

Format: Category List - Sample Entry (full list)

• Engineering Schools - Stanford Engineering
• Engineering Support - Tektronix
• Engineering News - IEEE Spectrum
• Engineering Associations - The IET (from the United Kingdom)
• Individual Contributors - Chris Gammell (the Analog Life guy!)
• Student Engineers - rsparam (from India)
• Science and Engineering Feeds - Wired Science

I hope you enjoy my photos and video of both the experienced race, and the novice race in which Molly and I competed:

• Novice Skier Biathlon Race: Ski Cam Man (head cam photos)
• Experienced Skier Biathlon Race (regular camera photos)
  and
• A Musical Mashup of the Day's Races (slideshow)

Please also visit my MinnSki (Nordic Skiing in Minnesota Web Portal) where you'll find more head cam photos, a custom built search engine which focuses upon Nordic Skiing in the Northland, and Garmin calculated trail difficulty measurements / ratings. For example, view my Garmin data from this race.

If you prefer, the video embedded below may also be watched on YouTube, but I think this version loads quicker and is of equal quality. It was a fun day!

Minnesota Biathlon from Rich Hoeg on Vimeo.

You might ask ... who cares, or why need I focus upon a given geographic area. Take a look at the two screenshots given below (click to view full sized). In my example, I've focused upon Silicon Valley, and you can see the quality of my result for the keyword "mems".

Realizing that not everyone might be interested in engineering design examples, consider for the moment if you were looking for cross-country ski trails. One could focus the search upon Duluth, Minnesota and find nice trails along the north shore of Lake Superior. You get the idea!

You may also wish to review Google's official announcement of this feature.

• American Birkebeiner Photo Album (Picasa)

And I made it up Bitch Hill (see below ... click to view full sized) where 1/2 the way up the hill a priest with a microphone shouted: "Sinners, you are forgiven for your blasphemes shouted out loud as you climb Bitch Hill!". You'll find more Bitch Hill photos via my Picasa Web Album link. You should also link to Scott Brown's GoPro Camera Videos (unlike my still shots).

Curious how much elevation you gain climbing Bitch Hill and all the other Birkie Hills? Link to my post which gives Garmin data for many of the major ski races in this region.

The Scenario: Yours truly is a decent citizen racer. Over the course of the Winter I compete in many long distance ski races. My preferred event is "classic", which requires matching the wax, which allows the skier to move forward, to the weather and snow conditions. Over the course of long distance races, two things often happen:

1. Wax may wear off due to hard skiing and / or debris on the trail
2. Temperatures may rise or fall which then require different waxes
3. Saturday's race weather forecast has temperatures warming from 17F to 34F
4. The Birkie Trail is likely to have abundant pine needles (rips off wax)

The Concern: The combination of rising temperatures through many wax ranges (Green, Blue, Purple, etc.) and pine needles when coupled with a long distance race makes waxing for this citizen racer very difficult, if not impossible. However, I've been skiing on classic skis and waxing to meet the snow / weather conditions since the late 1960's. I know how to wax, and have "nailed" every waxing job for the four other races in which I've competed this Winter.

The Ego: Many skiers, including myself have always looked down upon waxless skies. Performance over the years has generally been worse than a good waxable ski.

The Decision: Due to a bad waxing experience out on the Birkie Trail during the Birkie Tour, I did some online research and discovered Madshus Terrasonic Zero Waxless Ski. I already knew about Madshus Skis, but not this product. Their waxless ski bottom design incorporates materials on a base where one uses sandpaper to adjust the ski's kick zone! The days of "fishscale" noisy waxless skis are over. (read Madshus waxless skis bottom preparation instructions).

My Pre-Birkie Test: Although I had pretty much decided to go with my new Madshus skis, I still had a nagging concern that it was the wrong decision. Thus, this afternoon I conducted a time trial ... Hoeg vs Hoeg! I drove over to the local ski trails and did a 1.5 km test ski at full speed on both my Atomic Pro Race Classic and Madshus Terrasonic Skis. I skied my Atomic skis first, and measured the results with my Garmin. The difference between the two tests was one second. (test conditions: sunny, 18F and icy older snow)

A Bit More Data: I've skied Atomic Skis for a long time. Thus, Madshus has not only convinced me to try a waxless ski, but to also change brands. For athletes, that is often a big deal.

This ENDS Part #1: I spent $250 to purchase my new skis with bindings (normally more expensive, but I benefited with end of Winter sales). I'll report back after the Birkie and let folks know whether I believe Madshus has achieved innovation ... only 54 kilometers to go!

I also have contacted Madshus. Let's see if I can bring them into this dialogue.

Update on Friday, Feb. 26th: Although I like my new Madshus Skis, I'm wavering in my resolve at the forecast looks colder at the start than expected. I hope to finish in around 4+ hours. I start at 8:40 a.m.

Post Birkie Update: I did use my Atomic ProRace Classis waxable skis for the Birkie. I was concerned that the conditions were too cold for my Madshus skis at the start. At around 44km, I did stop and add purple wax, which was a smart move given how much it warmed up through the morning.

However, I have been very pleased with the performance of my Madshus Terrasonic skis at 25+F.

• Cross-Country Ski Trails Difficulty Comparison Index
• Ski Cam Man (Nordic Skiing from a unique perspectice)

You may also wish to visit my MinnSki Portal (Nordic Skiing in Minnesota)

Okay ... why did we like 12Springs? (get a free account) Quite simply it works, but here are a few reasons:

• Creating a collaborative process flow was easy
• Templates enhanced the ability to easily provide structure
• Team inputs (i.e. individual updates) were easy to filter and follow
• Administrative rights allowed for good security

Thus ... here is my new Northstar Nerd 12 Sprints Tutorial!

In my tutorial I review various 12Sprints features and show some of our network's evaluation. You may also wish to visit SAP's site for some good additional feature set tutorials. (see my other Northstar Nerd Tutorials)

In closing, here is one screen shot from my tutorial (click to maximize)