From A to Green: How to green your day job

From A to Green: How to green your day job: When you go to work, do you check your green values at the door? A recent survey of U.K. office workers showed that most don’t feel it’s their responsibility to make their workplace greener. But most offices squander massive amounts of energy — and if we worker types don’t change that, who will? Today we offer tips for greening your day job, from the time you clock in until the supper bell rings.[It’s a start…]
Source: Grist Magazine

Uphill Errands

Why is it when I run errands on my bike the profile looks like this:

ride_back_from_honda.png

That’s right… there’s 6 to almost 11% grades. Not long, but steep. It should be noted that I was dropping off my wife’s car for service so the downhill direction was, of course, done in the car. Ain’t that always the way.

Secrets of book publishing (and life!) Secrets of book publishing I wish I had known

Secrets of book publishing I wish I had known: Following up on these overviews of the book industry, I thought I’d share some lessons I learned from publishing Bit Literacy. I originally tried to go through mainstream publishers but eventually self-published it, because of what I learned in the process. I wish I had known everything below before I wrote my book. [I find similarities everywhere here… finding work or a job, finding gigs as a musician, working with local retail outlets, etc., etc. When it comes to people doing stuff, no one is interested in you but you. And if someone is interested (read, seemingly willing to help you), it is a sure sign that they see some way you can make them money, or help them, or generally for them to get something out of whatever they intend to do (see Frank Zappa). I don’t mean to sound so cynical, there’s a lot of cases where this isn’t true, and in fact I see nothing wrong with it. Understanding people’s motives means dealing honestly and openly. Pretending, misleading, or outright lying is far worse. Be up front about what you’re going to get and it’ll work out.]
Source: Good Experience Blog

Laurence Gonzales Everyday Survival: How to Survive (Almost) Anything

How to Survive (Almost) Anything: Take tasks that require no thought and re-invent them so that you have to think. This bears repeating: Survival is not about equipment and training alone. It’s about what’s in your mind and your emotional system. Living in a low-risk environment dulls our abilities. We must make a conscious effort to learn new things, to force ourselves out of our comfort zones. [This applies to so many things… despite our deep desire to create continuity in our lives, it is best for us if things keep changing and we keep learning and adapting. It’s better from almost every view point I can think of (diet, exercise, thought, etc., etc.) It’s the same lesson I learned as a musician years ago. Adaptation is something that can be practiced.]

A man after my own heart…

10 This particular picture warms my heart. Not only his he kissing his daughter, not only has he lost a great deal of weight riding his bike, not only is he a musician, but there’s also a large Coltrane poster and a bike stand juxtaposed in the background. Finest kind! (He also sports the Zero Per Gallon patches. It’s like we’ve jammed somewhere along the line. :~)

Welcome Alltop!

Alltop (a Guy Kawasaki venture) has decided that Turnings is worthy of listing. I’m not sure how this happened, but it’s about time.

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass

I’m in the life section. And BTW, that should be “Further confirmation”…

Almost the end of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test (now with support for cancer research)

The end of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test is near. You can’t rush a taste test, nor can you rush greatness. Put them together… and well things can take a while. That’s the way it goes. Below is Seth’s brief comments on the various flavors.

Pay attention now… because Seth’s really cool. And here’s why: For six years Seth has been riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, raising serious amounts of money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber. Last year (2007) they collectively raised 33,000,000 dollars. Seth himself has raised $23,845.94 to date. Righteous! So go right now and help him raise more money this than ever. I’ll wait…

Click here to raise money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber.

One last thing… the software development community supports Seth’s efforts and gives software which he in turns auctions off. Besides feeling really great about yourself for donating, you can also score some awesome software (scroll down).

Thanks! Now about those Mojo bars, if you need to catch up here’s a reverse chronological list:

The reason the GCBMTT is almost done is simply because I (purposely) never completed my own reviews of the products. Undue influence and all. So that’ll be coming up in the next week or so. Meanwhile, keep reading and get your Mojo on!

The Great Mojo Bars Taste Test: “It’s been a few months since I tried them, and I’d be lying if I said I could remember the names of all of the flavors. Instead, I looked up the names in one of Daniel’s old posts. Once I saw the names, I did at least remember what I thought of the bars.

Mixed Nuts: Eh. About what you’d expect. Tasted like mixed nuts, but in bar shape.

Fruit Nut Crunch: I liked this one.

Mountain Mix: Eh. So-so.

Chocolate Peanut: Very tasty. Two great tastes that taste great together, and I’ve always been a sucker for a Reese’s.

Honey Roasted Peanut: I was expecting (or at least hoping for) the taste of Planter’s honey-roasted peanuts, but it isn’t really like that. It’s more like really sweet peanuts.

Peanut Butter Pretzel: If I remember this one correctly, then it’s one of the four I would buy again. Sweet and salty.

Peanut Butter and Jelly: This had one of the best flavors, but could have a used a touch of salt.

I’m still not a fan of granola bars during bike rides, but I do like to have one at least 30 minutes before heading out. Unfortunately, Mystic Cycle doesn’t carry them, so I need to talk them into picking some up for me if I’m going to make them part of my daily routine.”

Seth, I hope Mystic helps you get your Mojo on! Thanks for taking part.

Karate Monkey build

daniel testing karate monkey build After a weekend with no voice, and the gentle knell of my attempts to clear my throat the predominant sound in the house this weekend, I dropped by the RBC picnic with the as yet untested build of my Karate Monkey. Mostly Deore, a few Ritchey bits, and Avid mechanical brakes, the build is fairly inexpensive and not particularly light. To me that means not worrying about breaking stuff, getting it muddy and wet. I have some bits and pieces in the closet to try, some handlebars, a wheel, etc. and I’ll do that slowly over the next few months… but I’ll talk about them more when I get them on the bike. It is fun to ride even now.

I’d love to try a truly fat tire like an Endomorph on the front to see what that feels like. Maybe someone has a Pugsley or something in the area?

I was dressed casually (even sloppily) for the picnic, which explains the running shoes… but it was really humid and hot out, especially the spot where the picnic was held. When we went for a ride around the lake, it was obvious that there were much cooler spots. The club is raising funds by taking portraits of members with their bikes. I have every intention of doing this, but yesterday was not the day I intended to do it. Between my cold and the heat, the lack of caring about the way I dressed… I was a site. Nonetheless, pictures were taken by David, and naturally I look awful. Awful! No matter. I do enjoy the pictures of my playing photo apprentice and NBA style sweat mopper as seen here for my riding pal Jenni. I can’t wait to do this for real (the picture part, not the apprentice part) with Lisa & Noah.

A few of us who brought bikes decided to loop the lake. I ride a road bike so much of the time nowadays that in trying to navigate around the families that sometimes clog the path, I’m reluctant to run on the dirt. There I am hesitating, checking out the dirt looking to see if it is firm enough when a fat tire angel (or is that fat and tired angel? Whatever… :~) whispers in my ear that to stop looking and just go. Hah! So much for skinny tires.

After one loop the picnic crashed to a close with a thunderstorm and copious amounts of rain. Fun!

Finding A Friendly Cloud

Finding A Friendly Cloud: Jason Hoffman, founder and chief technology officer of a cloud-computing specialist called Joyent, was particularly pointed in warning that Google’s App Engine could represent a lock-in to developers. It is possible to build “a loving cloud,” he argued, that would make it easier to create applications that could be easily moved among different services. Other panelists kept calling Google’s App Engine “proprietary,” which to many techies is equivalent to labeling it both evil and outdated at the same time. [Bring on the loving cloud, people. Bring it on!]