Adventures of Lidarman

Progress of computers

2009-11-06T23:08:00.011-07:00

I know it's an endless story, but I was reminded of it as I built up a new computer over the last few days. It's amazing to think of the pace of computers has been over the last three decades that I have been using them.

My first computer, circa, 1980 was a zx81. I was a teenager eager to learn how to program a computer. It had 2k of memory and a very slow cassette storage mechanism. But it used a standard audio cassette player. Does anyone even know what that is?

Then I got the color version, sold in the US as a Sinclair 2068. This was the age of the Apple IIe.

Not being able to afford an Apple, I got my hands on a Commodore 64 and had a blast. It had 64 k of memory but a slow 5-1/2 disk drive that stored around 170k of data.

Finally after college, I got a decent PC (1991 or so) that sported Windows 3.1 and a huge drive of 220 MB. I sweated over the details on this one since it was around $3000. All that sweat was rendered obsolete soon after.

The story remains the same; Yesterday, I built up a new computer which has 4GB ram and a 1-Terrabyte hard drive. Yes, 1-Terrabyte = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.

And the scary part is, it's really not a big deal these days.

My first real pc (1991) cost $3000 and had
200 MB Hard Drive
Intel 486 processor running at 20 MHz or something like that
8 MB RAM
cheeseball graphics
Windows 3.1

The computer I built yesterday (A very conservative build) cost less than $600 and has
1 TB Hard Drive
AMD Athlon II 4-core processor running at 2.6 GHz
4GB RAM
High speed 512 MB3D graphics card with two DVI outputs
Windows 7

I also found some interesting things while cleaning up:

Lotus 1-2-3. It pushed the need for computers to go beyond the 640k memory barrier in the 1980's

Mosaic. One of the first ways to browse the web.

Big Snow In Boulder

2009-10-29T17:35:00.005-06:00

Seems every other year the front range of Colorado gets a huge dumping of snow in October. Likewise, another in March.

This one might have come close to breaking--or broke--a record. I think the tally is 22 inches and counting--it's still snowing lightly.

Unfortunately, some trees that are still bearing leaves have felt the carnage. We lost the upper half of a Hawthorne tree that was full of berries.

The broken Hawthorne.

Nala doesn't mind.

Interesting features deep within a collapsed tree.

Thunder Mountain, Utah

2009-10-27T22:03:00.002-06:00

Near Bryce Canyon. A nice easy few miles on a paved path, some up and down in a forest and some amazing hoodoo singletrack. If Alice rode a bike, she would be riding this wonderland.

A short video taste. Music: Massive Attack, Butterfly Caught.

The Machine that Changed the World

2009-10-09T21:42:00.004-06:00

Produced by WGBH Boston, and first aired in 1992 (I recorded it on VHS and actually still have it)--this is an incredible documentary. It's ironic because it was just the tip of the iceberg and profiles the technology that makes this post possible. It's seems so dated now, yet is still so insightful.

Luckily someone put it on Google videos.

I highly recommend watching it--even as long as it is. It not only tells the history of the computer, it kinda implies amazing foresight in the future of the computer that lead the the present internet. It even implies some ideas in the future that we have yet to see.

It's narrated by the famous Frontline narrator, Will Lyman. It's well written and and an amazing educational experience.

Enjoy.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

A Change of Ridestyle

2009-09-23T21:13:00.004-06:00

Sunday, as I was maintaining my Schwinn hardtail bike, I found the rear dropout broken. Yes, It was broken and simply held together by the rear wheel. It's history.

After 20,000 plus miles, it's no more. Sad actually.

I could find a cheap replacement frame--but not yet. I pulled my dusty 1993 Raleigh M500--that I made into a single speed--off the wall. Might as well ride it a little and see if I like it as a singlespeed. If not, I will pull the parts over and build it up with some gears.

The first day sucked. 32-17 gearing is too easy for commuting. So when I got home, I switched out the rear to the smallest I had, 14. Now I have 32-14.

Not too bad today. It was ok on the climbs and not terrible on the down. I might look into 34-14 later but for now, this is a go. My bad knee doesn't particularly like the fast spin on the flats but I can lay off.

UPDATE: The gearing was still too easy. So I put on a 12 tooth, making it 32-12--Very nice. It's good on the flats and makes me stand and use the bars on moderate hills. Not sure I could do any real trail on it but I intend to try Marshall Mesa at some point.

Threw the bell and a speedometer on the sucker tonight. I definitely need the bell with the clueless people on the trails here. Some people almost have to be run over to let them know you could run over them.

Funny Irony

2009-09-20T23:00:00.002-06:00

I get my latest movie from Netflix--'Idiocracy.' Along with it comes a postcard for a free trial offer from Netflix. Delicious. If you have seen the movie, you might find it ironic too.

BMA Sufferfest

2009-09-14T19:03:00.002-06:00

(Originally posted on mtbr.com)

It happened again. Saturday was the second running of the Boulder Mountain Bike
Alliance "Sufferfest" The idea is to have a difficult ride that starts at the South end of
Nederland, heads north and ends up at a party.

This year, the weather couldn't have been any better for suffering. I woke up at 5:00 AM with
it raining at my house. My intentions were to ride to the bus stop, leaving at 6:00 AM,
with all my camping gear so that I wouldn't even involve my car. When I found it raining, I
decided to back off plans and drive to the vanpool spot instead. That meant repacking
my gear, choosing a warmer sleeping bag, and loading up my camelbak instead of my
backpackers pack. But it bought me another hour of decision making.

I arrived at the pick up spot at 6:45 AM with a lot of optimism. It was cloudy up near the
divide but didn't look like it was too threatening. We headed off to Nederland High School
welcomed by huge group of smiling folks all ready to ride. I guess if you are willing to ride
this kind of ride, then the weather isn't going to necessarily change that.

I was among about eight who are bike patrollers and took that roll on the trail. For me, I
helped with a mechanical only two miles into the ride and a couple flats later on.

The riding was excellent with 505 being in really good shape. It starts to sprinkle about
half way up. It was a nice sprinkle and make the climb easier since it was easy to stay
cool.

I recall seeing large snowflakes near the top of Caribou thinking it was stuff falling off the
trees. They were oddly large and very infrequent. I wanted to say they were snow flakes
but convinced myself that is was unlikely.

But as we rode, those flakes came down in more and more frequent numbers. It was
snow alright. That was fine. I rather a light snow than drizzle. We passed aid station 1
with smiles.

Unfortunately that wasn't the problem. On top of Caribou Flats, the temperature had fallen
significantly so when you have a person with wet gloves and shoes going downhill fast,
you get frozen extremities. When I arrived at Rainbow Lakes road, I had to take my
gloves off and thaw out my fingers. That burn was the low point in the ride for me.

However, once I thawed them, they lasted me the rest of the ride. I think some of it was
due to dropping down into a warmer mass of air, and another part was the ride slowed
down dramatically after that with the technical climb on Sourdough.

That was when it really started snowing--winter like snowing conditions with cloud banks.
It was surreal and exciting to ride in. In addition, some of the Aspen were shedding
leaves so it added to the beauty.

Arriving at aid station 2, I noticed the scene was completely different that station 1. There
were visibly suffering folks. They were tired from all the climbing, soaking wet and cold.
Some people were putting plastic bags on their feet.

From there the technical downhill was extra fun with the water and ice on the rocks. It
was even more challenging with cold fingers.

I couldn't have hit the end with worse timing. As I climbed the burned out section of
Sourdough to the Beaver reservoir Road, the lightning peaked and the hail started. I was
sure I was going to get struck. However, the lightning seemed to contain itself withing
the clouds. I never saw a single ground strike.

I arrived at camp with cheers and tasty hot cocoa. It was incredible. I felt great.

There were two bonfires going with Oskar Blues arriving with lots of food and more beer
than could be drank. We had a terrific time.

The next morning, a few of us decided to ride back to Boulder. We took Sourdough back
to the south trailhead and Switzerland trail to Sugarloaf and home. The ride back was so
fun after the moisture. It was a great way to end the event.

I'm not sure I actually suffered when I look back and the great time it was.

BTW, Nobody that I know of did the extra credit Buchanan Pass loop.

(PS: Thanks again to all the hard working volunteers who made this happen).

More Stove Experiments....

2009-08-31T21:24:00.010-06:00

Is there an optimal choice?

Lets start with the goal. A light compact stove that can boil water for a few-day bike camping trip. Looking at it as a package, the stove, fuel and boiling pot should be light and compact as possible.

I apologize in advance for using both ounces and grams. I should have stuck with grams. Weights of stoves do not include fuel or fuel containers. That will be discussed later.

First up. Jetboil:

What a great stove. Boils water in 2 minutes (in normal conditions), has a nice neoprene koozie for insulation and it self starts. It's said it can boil 10 liters of water per 100 grams of fuel--I believe it. It's a winner in all regards except that it weighs a lot. Even a minimal configuration with foil as a cover weighs 14.4 ounces (408 grams).

Next, Jim Wood's "Super Cat" Ethanol Stove:

After fussing with penny alcohol stoves of different designs, I made a simple stove that worked well using a Redbull can. Then I discovered a robust version called a "supercat". It's a quasi-pressurized stove that is as simple as it gets, a can with holes. It serves at a pot stand and is one single piece.

The idea is that the pot itself seals the stove and helps pressurize it. It works better than any alcohol stove I built. Using a beer can pot, the entire package sans fuel--but including windscreen--weighs barely 1.5 ounces (or 43 grams). It's an elegant system.

However, there are two issues, fuel and control. One has to learn from experience to determine the amount of fuel to use and once it's going, it's hard to control. But this is not that much of an issue. The other problem is the fuel efficiency. It takes about an ounce of Ethanol to boil two cups of water. That turns out to be about 23 grams of fuel to boil two cups. In contrast, the Propane/Isobutane mix uses only 5-8 grams of fuel to boil the same amount of water.

Finally, A balance in this is the Brunton stove using the canister and beer can pot. Total weight is 4.9 ounces (139 grams) before fuel. It's the compromise--Light weight with control.

The Brunton in action on a Fosters lager can pot.

It seems to come down to the fuel package weight, thus trip duration or number of people using the stove--or total boils per trip. A full canister of Propane/Isobutane weighs 200 grams( 100 grams of fuel in a 100 gram container), but can boil water for many boils (about 10 quarts), whereas 100 grams of Alcohol can only boil 2 quarts. A long trip or many users go with canister, short trip, alcohol.

As great as the jetboil is though, it gets beaten by the Brunton/Beer pot combo. The Jetboil is super slick and convenient but has a half-pound penalty over the cheaper and lighter Brunton...and that is when you strip it down.

That said, the Jetboil is plug and play while the Brunton is hacker rolled.

To summarize, here are the weights, neglecting ease of use.

Jetboil: 608 grams = 20-2 cup boils
Brunton: 339 grams = 20-2 cup boils
Super Cat: 43 grams + 23 grams per 2-cup boil.

I assume 4-2 cup boils per person day camping. That means the super cat can do 12, 2 cup boils for the same weight as the Brunton--or 3 full days. You can camp for 6 days with the Super Cat when you match the weight of the Jetboil.

That translates to using the Brunton if the camp will be three days or more, or if shared, at or more than 1.5 days.

Oddly enough, a propane/isobutane stove is cheaper per boil than alcohol.

PS: An amazing thing I learned when making the Super Cat stove (while acquring cans) is that potted meat for humans is half to one-third the price of cat food in those three ounce cans. Think about that for a minute. This is Boulder prices at King Soopers.

Ultra light Camp Stove Experiment

2009-07-09T21:43:00.004-06:00

As I suddenly ponder the idea of ultra-light self-supported bike-camping--or just ultralight backcountry camping, I decided to mess around with a home-built alcohol powered stove.

Two beer cans, some ethanol, some foil and a light can boil a cup of water in a few minutes. It weights so little and costs so little, It's not even worth noting.

It worked so well on first try, it's almost hard to make it better. But after messing with it, I will--especially in regards to stability.

Bike to Work Day

2009-06-24T11:39:00.004-06:00

The day is here again.

The feed line was long at places. This was one of the best spots. Vitamin Cottage.

I wound up with a generous supply of swag.

Tobacco Warnings

2009-06-21T15:00:00.007-06:00

If you think the surgeons general warning on cigarettes is blunt in the U.S., look at what is on the packs in Canada.

I saw these within two miles from each other. Makes me think their litter policies should be as aggressive.

Grape flavored? Definitely a teen-smoke. This reminds me of the anti-meth campaign photos here in the states.

Wild Flowers are in Bloom

2009-06-12T19:15:00.002-06:00

Hall Ranch, CO. It's Amazing the diversity. Here is a sample.

Goodbye Yeti

2009-06-02T19:08:00.003-06:00

October 22, 1995 - June 2, 2009.

Undersea Science 1000 Feet Above the Water

2009-05-22T17:09:00.004-06:00

Photos from todays flight above East Sound, WA. Looking for plankton. We ran about 20 tracks up and down the sound, profiling the water to about 15 meters depth. Two flights today for a total of 3 hours in the air and 250 miles of distance covered. Most plankton are in layers between 8 and 12 meters deep.

There are many jellie blooms in the sound. This is understandable given the abundant plankton in the are. It's a spectacular sight from a plane.

Pilot Jay and myself on taxi.

Looking across the islands at the south end of the sound.

At work.

Jellies in a bloom.

Yummy

2009-05-21T20:55:00.002-06:00

I like articles like this. This is one of my favorite sauces--since 1995.

Sriracha

Seeking Plankton

2009-05-21T17:55:00.004-06:00

East Sound, WA.

East Sound and Orcas Island. (google maps)

It's an aquatic laboratory with the narrow sound on Orcas Island having the essence of the open ocean with a slower changing environment. Excellent for studying ocean life.

Looking south down the sound from the town of Eastsound.

Thus we come here with our lidar that detects scattering in shallow waters to study the plankton dynamics and compare it to in situ observations by biologists sampling and profiling the waters from a boat. It's an exciting study. It's a beautiful place.

The idea is to get ground proof that a lidar can detect and profile plankton remotely using aircraft in a short period of time. Not only mapping the area, but completely enough that the dynamics of the biology can be observed and tracked.

Our lidar (light detection and ranging) system fits nicely in a Cessna Cardinal.

Testing of the lidar before flight.

A little cramped for the operator but it works.

The plankton detecting lidar as seen from the operator.

We have a boat of biologists making measurements of the water where we see layers of stuff from the lidar.

Boat where in situ verification is performed.

Scientists recover an ocean profiler

A microscopic view of a critter in the sound.

Goobye Anthony

2009-05-12T00:13:00.008-06:00

1970 - 2009. You've lived many lives with yours.

Anthony's experiences

My dedication ride Slideshow

Sweet bike helmet

2009-05-08T00:07:00.001-06:00

Nice choice.

The last moment of a life

2009-04-29T21:04:00.006-06:00

Yes, this might be disturbing. It's the imprint left on the dirty window of a bird that might have thought the window reflecting the sky was a clear path.

It's an image that is disturbing and fascinating at the same time. It's shows the futile effort of the bird trying to flare it's wings to stop itself.

Renee's New Scooter

2009-04-28T21:38:00.003-06:00

A beautiful Yeti ARC bike. She scored it on Craigs list. It's got some really nice parts on it. I drooled over it and wow, does it ride nice.

Might be best urban biking ever

2009-04-20T22:27:00.001-06:00

Making the rounds on the websites. I figure I would help.

2009-04-14T20:45:00.001-06:00

Twitter has nothing over blogspot. . . But please add photos capability. . . Sent from my cell phone

Same old Moon

2009-04-07T23:03:00.000-06:00

Different clouds.

Looks like the same old moon anyway.

A Fantastic Pizza

2009-04-07T22:22:00.007-06:00

Ok here are the goodies.

-a crust...duh
-sauce...duh again...chose what you like. I like spicy.
-ground beef grilled
-black olives sliced
-sliced tomatoes
-green chile. (New Mexico roasted are the best)
-cheese. Of course
-Spinach--the key visual and texture ingredient. This is the secret.
-feta cheese sprinkled on top.

Enjoy!

Directions: put everything on but the spinach and feta. Then toss them on and bake till good at 450 F.

If you are vegetarian, you know what to substitute....I would just eliminate.

Airline Rap

2009-04-05T20:13:00.005-06:00

Here I am helping making it viral. But given I was a fan of the Sugar Hill Gang; Rappers delight, and have flown plenty of times on Southwest Airlines--and also hate the usual dull airline gig--I appreciate this.