Maybe Toast

Brisket Bytes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Dragging a palm across his sweaty forehead, Mort gave the console a satisfied grin. Having spent the last sixteen hours modifying the firmware for the deli's auto-chef, he stamped out his cigarette and watched as the filthy monochrome screen flickered updates on the compiler's progress. "This is going to be one hell of a sandwich," he said.

#End

What are those wooden things.... BIKES?!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:35:00 +0000

I have a tendency to save images I find online of cool biking related things. I was going through a few folders today to do a little almost-spring-cleaning, and thought people would enjoy a look at some really fun and artistic designs of wooden bicycles.

First up: a wooden motorcycle. Bad ass!

Next, we have a very utilitarian wooden hauler-bike.

Pretty sure this one is just for show. I could imagine a cave man riding one.

A really well made wooden commuter bike!

A sleek wooden frame for roadies.

This wooden chopper is for serious business.

I'm not much for recumbents, but this one looks pretty great.

A wooden luxury recumbent!
This frame is made from a composite of bamboo and what i'd assume is plastics or resin. Apparently the frame was too flexible for riding use, but they're working on improving it.

I want one of these!

An artsy wood cruiser.

There's a ton more out there. There are even companies that make them to sell! I was pleased to find that we actually index a few wood products, one which I found to be particularly awesome. An all-wood wall rack!

7 Essential Winter Biking Gear Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:11:00 +0000

It seems that in the last several years, more and more people have become interested in exploring riding their bicycle in the winter, either for commuting or for fun on ice and snow-packed trails. I've been doing this type of riding off and on for the last four years or so now, and I'd like to share a few tips from my own experience with aspiring ice-riders!

Carbide Steel-Tipped Tires: These are definitely the essential component to riding your bike on any kind of ice. Normal tires do fine if you are heading straight and perfectly balanced, but when you go down (and you will!) you will go down fast and hard. Save yourself a hospital bill and trashed bike, and invest early in some good tires. I refer my friends to Nokians, as they are very high quality, and have lasted me for years now.
Eye Protection: Depending on the temperature and wether I am wearing a standard bike helmet, or a full-face helmet for video-cam and heavy duty riding, I wear sunglasses or ski goggles. If it's around 30 degrees or below, any kind of riding above a few miles per hour is going to make it extremely hard to see if you aren't wearing any. I picked up a cheap pair of ski goggles a few years ago, and they've been great. I would suggest anything with an orange lens, to help you pick out contours on trails covered in snow or ice.
Use the Cold: This is something I recently read about, and it makes perfect sense. If you can, keep your bike in the garage or on your porch in the winter to keep it at a temperature that matches the outdoors. A room-temperature bicycle can generate a lot of extra ice buildup on gears and things as snow and slush collects on it.
Lube it: Don't neglect maintenance on your bike, especially in the winter. You can really get hurt if your bike breaks while you're riding it, and you don't want to get stranded miles from home if it's freezing outside!
Wear Layers: It's winter. You're going to be experiencing the full effects of windchill as you ride, so dress like a veteran Minnesotan with layers! I recommend some kind of thin, wicking thermal layer (long underwear), a slightly thicker mid layer, and a windproof outer layer to absorb the bulk of the cold hitting you. Plan on sweating just as much as you do in the summertime after you get warmed up, make sure your clothes wick the moisture away fromy our body!
Illumination: Unless you're riding to work or on a weekend jaunt, you're probably riding in the evening during the winter, which means it's probably pretty dark out. Be smart, get some reflective tape or clothing on you and your ride, and don't skim on some durable lights that have a decent battery life!
Hydration: It doesn't matter if it is freezing out or scorching, your body needs water when you're burning energy! If you are going to be riding long enough to build up a good sweat, you need to plan ahead and bring some appropriate hydration gear. Bottles aren't a great plan in winter, as they easily freeze shut and are a pain to use as you ride. Keep your temp up with a hydration pack so you can take sips while you spin!

There's a lot more to share about riding in the winter, but this should be a great start for people needing suggestions and ideas for gear. Post your thoughts or additions in the comments, and we'll keep this list going!

BikeDex Reborn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:28:00 +0000

We've relaunched BikeDex with our new design! Eric really did a great job with the layout and color. We've added a ton of cool new features, with many more that are in the wings, but needing a little refinement before we bring them onto the live site. One cool new feature, our recently viewed products area, is a real-time feed of what products our users have most recently been looking at! Our product browsing system is nearly complete, and we've overhauled it from the ground up to be as useful and simple as possible.

We are going to be doing a contest soon, once our re-launch is totally finished and perefected, so stay tuned!

Amazing Bike Furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:22:00 +0000

An article over at Inhabitat, one of my favorite green-oriented blogs gives a great overview of Andy Gregg's fantastic furniture creations, built with repurposed bicycle parts. I think this is a really cool idea. It promotes cycling in a way, and links cycling to being green!

Here's one from the front page of BikeFurniture that really caught my eye. Awesome!

They have a ton of other really cool pieces, and some interesting details about where the idea behind all this came from. Check it out!

77% of Americans Drive Alone to Work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:37:00 +0000

According to the 2005 census (click here for the press release) 77% of Americans still drive to work alone. On top of that, 87.7% of workers prefer driving to work over alternative modes of transportation.

Top ten cities, ranked by percentage of bicycling commuters:

City - Percentage

Portland - 3.5
Minneapolis - 2.4
Seattle - 2.3
Tucson - 2.2
San Francisco - 1.8
Sacramento - 1.8
Washington DC - 1.7
Oakland - 1.5
Honolulu - 1.4
Denver - 1.4

It will be interesting to see what the next census says. I'm going to guess that these percentages go up, by just a little. An interesting fact: The national average according to the census is 0.4%. The lowest ranking city is Kansas City, MO with 0.0%. Apparently there's a ripe market in KC for selling some bicycles!

Urban Commuter Cycling: Save the planet and get in shape!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:57:00 +0000

Here in the icy lands of the north, known by many as Minneapolis, Minnesota, we are blessed with one of the highest cyclist-per-capita ratios in the United States. Every day, rain or shine or snow, I see people spinning to unknown destinations.

Put simply, it's a great thing. I'm becoming more and more of an advocate for the environment, and have been making efforts to curtail my own daily resource consumption. To my dismay, most days I still need to drive the 1 mile to work, because I need to transport myself between offices.

Recently, a massive walk bridge has been installed that completely alleviates the inconvenience of crossing the busiest intersection in the neighborhood. Now, trails permeate the entire suburb, and I look forward to seeing even more cycling going on.

This led me to thinking, "What is the main factor limiting people to cycling for fun, and not for a commute?" It's not for lack of bike trails and lanes. It's not crowding, either! I know for some people, planning the extra time in the morning and after work for a cycle commute seems like a major inconvenience. But, with all the additions to the trails, walk bridges and tunnels should reduce many people's commutes, as the only time you generally stop on your bicycle is at an intersection. So, if time really isn't that big of a difference, what is it? For some, it is most likely the effort needed to get the bike to move. But I would still say that it's mainly due to the huge amount of buildup around driving a car, and all the conveniences it can provide you with. Now, what they don't illuminate quite as well are the huge inconveniences that also accompanies owning a car.

Let's look at a few: (Commenters, please feel free to provide ideas to add to this list!)

-High maintenance cost (My average repair bill has stayed around $400 for my vehicle!)
-High insurance cost (You don't need insurance to ride your bicycle!)
-High infrastructure cost (This correlates with a high cost to the environment, and burdening every state's meager budget with yearly upkeep and employment costs)
-Environmental impact (Your car still kills the planet, even if it runs on batteries and sunlight. If not while operating, certainly while being constructed.)

I still forsee a large amount of growth in the USA for the cycling industry. As gas prices are still on the rise, environmental concerns are becoming a reality that can't be overlooked or refuted by shoddy journalism, and people are more concerned about maintaining their health with exercise, more and more people will turn to cycling, a fun and environmentally concious mode of transportation. Don't forget to wear your helmets!

Inching towards completion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:33:00 +0000

Well, I've recently returned from my first visit to Las Vegas, NV, and Bikedex, our start-up price comparison site for cycling enthusiasts is ever closer to completion. The test site, http://www.bikedex.com/, has been in operation for over a year now (yay!) and appears to have a few repeat users, even though traffic is very small. We're exciting to release the new design and features, but we want to wait until everything is functional and fully tested so that our users will get a high quality experience.

Everything is moving along smoothly, albeit some issues with our affiliated merchants, some of which are great to work with, others.. not so much. Answer your email, people!

Sneak peek: www.bikedex.com/beta

Ramping it up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:12:00 +0000

Well, it's been a long, mostly unproductive summer, but we're finally about ready to reveal a fully operational BikeDex site. Our prototype site has given us a few insights into some great enhancements, and we're confident that people will find our price comparison tools really useful.

We also just redesigned the coupon area - check it out!

http://www.bikedex.com/beta/coupons.php

BikeDex 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 14:42:00 +0000

We're working on a new interface for the BikeDex site. So far, I really like it. It's much more "Web 2.0" and allows us better formatting and flexibility. I'm alot better at the back-end stuff, so I've enlisted the help of an old friend and trustworthy partner, Eric Hanson. Our combined efforts should really help BikeDex come to fruition sooner!

Check out a sneak peek of the new layout: BikeDex 2.0

Also, we have a classifieds section up and running! I'm not sure exactly how we'll arrange things, but hopefully we can get some people to utilize it. It's free, and heavily monitored by BikeDex staffers (chuckle) to keep things kosher.

Drop me a line if you have any suggestions on the project!

Floyd Landis: Cheater!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 21:57:00 +0000

Like I so sarcastically hinted at yesterday, it turns out that Floyd is highly suspect as the unknown doping culprit from this year's Tour De France. His A sample blood test came back positive for abnormally high levels of testosterone. He has stated that he's doubtful that the B sample will test differently from the A sample. "Hey, I'm a realist!"

Tour De France Doping

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:40:00 +0000

From Reuters: "PARIS (Reuters) - A rider on this year's Tour de France failed a dope test during the race, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Wednesday.
"The UCI received today a report from the anti-doping laboratory in Paris stating (there was) an adverse analytical finding following an anti-doping test carried out at the Tour de France 2006," the sport's governing body said in a statement.
Details of the rider were not released and the UCI said their anti-doping rules did not allow them to make his name public at this time, although they added his team and national federation had been informed of the test result.
"The adverse analytical finding received this morning relates to the first analysis, and will have to be confirmed either by a counter-analysis required by the rider, or by the fact that the rider renounces (his right) to that counter-analysis," the statement read.
The test was conducted at a specialised anti-doping lab in Chatenay-Malabry, outside Paris, from a sample taken during the Tour.
Tour de France organisers were unavailable for immediate comment.
American Floyd Landis won the race in Paris on Sunday.
This year's Tour was hit by a doping scandal on the eve of the prologue when pre-race favourites Ivan Basso of Italy and German Jan Ullrich were forced to pull out and were suspended after being implicated in a doping investigation in Spain."

Doping up to win a race clearly doesn't work, fellas- just ask Floyd, this year's winner. Go USA!

New features at BikeDex

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 16:58:00 +0000

Well, things are going smoothly so far. BikeDex now has a Classifieds section, where users can post their own new/used goods for sale! It's a pretty slick setup. You can paypal the seller to make the purchase right off the bat, there's a built-in ebay like feedback system so users will get ratings from either good or poor performance after the sale is completed. I hope it interests people, because I know a lot of bike enthusiasts have a bunch of old spare parts lying around, that they probably could convert into some cash.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Announcing BikeDex.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 05:30:00 +0000

Well, after about 200 hours of coding and re-coding things, www.BikeDex.com is now live. Check it out and don't forget to click on ads so I can pay the bills!

That's just the way it is.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 15:54:00 +0000

While listening to the musical selections constantly being played over the building's sound system, I pondered the concept of becoming desensitized to music. If you can become mentally conditioned to have little or no reaction towards images of violence, could you condition your musical tastes along the same lines? If you are forced to listen to selections of dull, uninventive and overplayed tunes for eight hours a day, seven days a week could it affect your judgement of what is good music, and what is bad music?

Enter services like Muzak - the Holy Grail of the corporate world - protecting our antisocial tendencies from uncomfortable silence, especially in cafeterias and restrooms! While being able to listen to 'music' while you work may seem like a benefit to some, it may actually be a burden. Does playing the same Phil Collins and Dave Matthews Band songs twice daily improve workflow and efficiency? Does it make you like your job more? It may improve your desk tapping and foot drumming skills, but that's about it.