Ponder Me This…

“What size of bike do you want?”

Easy question, right? Not so fast. There are a lot of opinions on what size of bike you will eventually need, but I am not a subscriber of “growing into a motorcycle”. An unconscious flick of the wrist on a bike that is too big for you (either in weight or power) can really change your day and might diminish your love of the machine. Conversely, getting too small of a bike gets boring and costly fast. In the days of rising fuel prices, it is also a consideration as to fuel costs; smaller bikes use less fuel until you start hammering on the throttle because it doesn’t have enough power.

“New vs Used?

This is a really interesting question because both are viable ideas. There are many good, used machines with character and modifications already done. Conversely, a new bike comes with a warranty (for what it is worth) and a chance to break in the bike the way you want it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a garage to work on an older bike and would rather ride than wrench at this stage of the game. Normally there would also be a significant price incentive, but for small bikes during a time of supply shortages, that is not proving to be as significant as expected.

“So, what did you get?”

Nothing yet. I am still researching what is available with all of the supply shortages, coming announcements, and understanding on what I want. I know I want a small bike; under 500 cc at least, and likely under 300cc for power and economy. Between getting back into camping last year and watching too much of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman driving around the world, I want a bike that can go most anywhere, but less interest on the major highway side of things. What my research is suggesting though, is that the smaller offerings in the adventure category are … complicated.

Before looking at adventure bikes, I had started looking at the Honda Navi and Grom for just a get-around bike that is small, fun, and easily fits in my parking spot with my car. That leads me to my other considerations; I live in an apartment and don’t have a garage. That means that space is also a consideration and anything electric is out of the question because I don’t have an easy way to charge. It also means that I don’t want anything too expensive and flashy because it will live in a parking lot with a number of curious children.

“So, what is the score thus far?”

Forward

I’m posting again after an incredible leave to make use of the blog, test out some new resources, and add a little creative outlet into my days.  Of course, I’m also learning to write non-technical works again and document my processes and ponders.  I’m pretty rusty, but maybe some of these words will be helpful to someone.

The Beginning – Q&A

So, every story seems to prefer to start at the beginning, so I might as well continue the trend. Spring is coming, and I have that urge again to get a motorcycle. I am getting a decent return from taxes and some other available money that I likely should re-invest, but don’t want to. So, the first part of this adventure starts with looking at motorcycles.

‘But, why don’t you want to re-invest and retire earlier?’

Excellent question. Like many people, I have paid paid for financial mistakes enough that I’d rather not do so again. I am particularly budget conscious now, but there is also an aspect of enjoying life that I haven’t paid enough attention to. I thought it was best to get this out of the way as my attention to value will become obvious soon enough.

‘What kind of riding do you want to do?’

Be ready to have an answer for this question because you will hear it a lot when you start talking to people about getting a motorcycle (that and, “are you crazy?”). This is actually a really important question because ‘a motorcycle’ isn’t just a motorcycle these days. There are many types of bikes out there specifically tuned for whatever kind of riding you are looking to do. Street, naked, sport, cruiser, adventure, dual-sport are just some of the categories that are available, and each has their advantages and disadvantages (which I won’t go in to, but more information here)

This was a really hard question for me because the last time I rode, there were still different types of bikes, but I didn’t have the resources to worry about which I wanted. I had to choose from what was available and “affordable”. Now, I realized what I really wanted to do was go somewhere and try out all the different bike styles because I wanted to do all of the kinds of driving and don’t know which I would do more. Unfortunately, I don’t really have this option; I have been away from driving for so long that I don’t want an audience when I get on at something like a Demo Day. I watch people on YouTube talk about their bikes instead and watch for themes in the reviews.

OK, the title is a little on the link-bait side. I wasn’t so much a fanboy as a dedicated Mac user for two weeks without even looking at a Windows machine. Why would I do such a thing? Simple, I hate Windows 8. I have used every Microsoft operating system since MS DOS 3.3, but I just cannot endure Mr. Sinofski’s design aesthetic since he supported putting that ribbon on MS Office. You are welcome to that design if you like it, but I find it as intuitive and pleasing as a barf salad.

I tried Ubuntu. A great operating system, as are all the Linux flavours, but it just isn’t ready for the mainstream. The absolute inability to take an office document from Windows to Linux to Windows without a formatting nightmare is just a deal breaker at this stage of my careers. Don’t get me wrong; if you are just ‘browsing, Email, and stuff,’ or a nerdy person doing nerdy things, Linux is the OS for you!

So I ran some week-long diagnostics on my Windows machine and became a slave to the Mac. Honestly, it wasn’t really a hard transition at all. Almost anything that a user needs from a Windows machine can be done on a Mac, though possibly a little differently. Being a results oriented kind of guy that doesn’t play enough games, this scored well for me.

Everything was perfect, sunshine, and rainbows, right? Well there were a few things that I did notice that shocked me, and would prevent me from becoming a true Apple Fanboy. The first of these revelations is that Apple users are very patient; Yosemite is SLOW. Before you get out the torches and pitchforks, try Mac hardware with a spinning drive and it is obvious that an equivalent Windows 7 machine running similar basic software is much faster (compare Apples to apples if you will). Mac used to be faster, but it seems that the battle of the bloat has come to a new winner.

Also, it might have been true that Mac OS was once far more stable than Windows, but it isn’t now; I had more crashes from a clean Mac Mini as my seasoned Windows 7 machine over a comparable 2 week period. And then there is the customizing issue; you can only do what Apple will let you do – period. I researched how to set up for a unique use case and heard, “Why would you do that? You are supposed to do it this way. Macs don’t do that.” That might sound reasonable in print, but actually hearing it sounded like something a Stepford wife might say.

Now I do have to be fair, Apple has a lot of things going for it. Mac’s lack of an obvious registry is something that Microsoft really needs to steal. The included apps are decent enough for anyone to get started doing amazing things (with the exception of iTunes, but that is a monster on any platform). Apple hardware is high quality, power efficient, and is so easy to re-image that one might believe that Apple actually cares about its customer experience. Overall, Mac is a real contender if you don’t like Microsoft’s direction and can tolerate some seemingly arbitrary restrictions. Or we can wait and see if Windows 10 sucks less.

Because most local retailers suck.

I have wanted an ivory linen jacket for years and decided to stop waiting for that ‘someday’. So I went on a walk-about to see what is out there and how it fit (I won’t get into my rant on who they measure men’s clothes on these days). Because of the fit problem, I will gladly spend more at a local shop where I can try on the items and know they will fit when I get them home.

I went to about a dozen shops that might have had what I was looking for. Only 4 of those shops bothered to speak to me, three of which only because they had to and got back to prowling at the first opportunity. You DO NOT get to complain about someone taking a job that you can’t be bothered to do; customer service means that you have to interact with customers, and hiding in the corner doesn’t count.

So did I make the purchase at the final place? No, they didn’t have my size (or anything near large enough). Fair is fair though, that salesman was very good; I would have bought there even though the same jacket was significantly more expensive.

I’m not a Calvin Klein fan per se, but it was the jacket at each place

Story at Owen Sound Sun TImes

Someone has to respond.

First responders witness the horrors of life every single day; the things that common people don’t even want to hear about on the news. You can justify that they get paid well, have great benefits, or don’t work enough, but what they also take home are nightmares, guilt, and depression.

First responders are largely ignored when these horrors get too much. Mental health issues are taboo enough in the general public; they are completely unspoken demons in the realm of emergency services.

One of my crew brought this initiative to my attention. It has been featured on the other social networks, but not a word on Google+. I’m going to try and change that.

There have been 24 known first responder suicides in the last six months in Canada. Police, Firefighters, Paramedics, Search and Rescue, and many volunteer support agencies are all affected and this needs to change. Insurance companies do not recognize clearly diagnosed conditions as essential, and too often find a way not to assist the people affected. The public looks away from a uniformed professional that is obviously overwhelmed. The services don’t want to admit that there are weaklings on their staff. The stigma is everywhere. Can we stop it?

Depression
Burn Out
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Do you support the men and women that suit up to face what the public doesn’t want to see?

#ivegotyourback911
(This is not just a Canada issue. If emergency services don’t support each other, who will?)

I keep meaning to sit down and write a review of some of the products I experiment with. Well, I’m finally sat down with a product that I think is worth talking about. The product is Harry’s, an interesting new angle on shaving and shaving products found at harrys.com. I bought my Harry’s set and have received no incentives for this review.

Tl;dr Summery

If you dread the cuts, rashes, or expense of your current shaving experience, then you should definitely give Harry’s a try . Like any personal grooming product, it might not be for everyone, but the quality for price is hard to match. They even offer free shipping within the United States, and a $6 flat rate shipping to Canada. Also, I was pleasantly surprised when my second order arrived one day after ordering.

Why I Tried Harry’s

I hate shaving. I have a beard that grows in like a crop circle and the whole shaving thing for me is something that only a masochist would enjoy. I tried disposables and multi blade razors as well as different types of electric shavers and never found one that didn’t leave me with massive irritation and the inability to be clean shaven every day for a week. When I heard of Harry’s on a podcast, I thought I might as well give it a try; it couldn’t be worse than the shaves I was getting.

First Impressions

The Truman shaving kit arrived in a nice box and was well presented. It is hard to not have a favourable first impression when a company focuses on a good initial experience. Everything was well packaged and laid out without having to fight with some plastic packaging. The razor was simple but classy in design, which helped me to not think about my previous experiences with multi blade razors that looked cheap or flashy.

This was obviously not a product put out by some unknown factory in China with questionable quality control. I had heard the stories of how the founders were so concerned about quality and shave experience that they bought one of the two premier blade manufacturers in Germany; again, very impressed. I found myself actually looking forward to giving this razor a try.

The Shave

Obviously, the presentation means nothing if the shave isn’t there.  To be totally fair to the product, I read and followed the directions to a tee.  I mention this because I usually have the worst results with shaving right after a shower, or with using hot water.  However, I put my face in their hands and tried what would have usually been disastrous.

Their shave cream is exceptionally good with excellent lather and comfortable feel, it even smelled nice.  The razor was very sharp and glided over my stubble without any hesitation or pulling.  The handle was comfortable in my hand and allowed me to forget about it and focus on the shave, which is important considering that I used an electric shaver for the past decade.

When everything was done, I was clean shaven and impressed.  The real surprise was that there wasn’t any rash or irritation.  That was possibly my first ever shave in over two decades that didn’t leave me with some amount of grief.

My next shave was much the same, feeling very little difference from the first.  The third shave was against beard grade scruff and still worked like a charm.  In fact, the only “bad” shave I’ve had in the month of using Harry’s razors was trying to get one more shave out of a razor I knew should have been changed (stupid user effect).  Even under that circumstance, I still didn’t rash or have any irritation.

Overall

I am really impressed with my Harry’s razor.  If I could find any fault in the shaving system, it is that the blades can get clogged up pretty easily.  I really can’t count that as a criticism though because that is a trait of any multi blade razor.  Spending a little extra time and attention to cleaning the blade is a small concern when the razor refuses to irritate my skin into an ingrown whisker based rash.  Thanks to Harry’s, I almost look forward to having a good shave, though daily shaving still hasn’t become a thing for me.

Remembrance Day

Standing in the snow and rain at the cenotaph, I thought what it would was to be a soldier. I knew that they would not be the ones to complain about the weather, just as none dared do so today. I thought of my stepbrother that served so recently, the stories he told, and the ones he did not. I remember him talking about how he learned too well how unfriendly friendly fire could be.

He told me of his apathy as to why politicians sent him to a far off land, but rather the importance of the sentiments of the people recently oppressed.

He spoke of the horrors of the day shrapnel tore his flesh but would not allow any ill.  He was a soldier.  He fought as hard against lingering hatred as he fought for the freedom of a people he would never know.will to the one who brought it.

He taught me that every soldier’s decisions were immediate actions that could never be forgotten. Finally, he taught me that soldiers are meant to be forgotten on every peaceful day save one.

Remove your hats and bias for that one day; honour the veterans that gave you the freedom to forget the need for soldiers on this, one day.

There is a very recent threat on the Internet that is being referred to as a crypto-locker attack. You may be familiar with terms like ad-ware and spyware but this is a new type of malware threat known as ransom-ware, which infects your computer and offers you a chance to buy software to “clean” the malware.

According to security expert Steve Gibson (host of Security Now!), this is a new threat uses strong encryption to encrypt the files on your hard drive. Normally, encryption is a great security measure IF YOU HAVE THE KEYS. This software encrypts your files and demands up to $300 for the keys to get your files back. Please note that people that would write this type of software are not likely to honour any deals.

This attack has already made the authors A LOT OF MONEY. Steve Gibson warns that this might be the beginning of a new family of threats from copy-cats.

If your computer gets this malware, your files are gone.

There is no way to recover your files. Also, because the scam tricks the user into installing the software, there is no antivirus protection from the threat at this time. This threat only affects Windows based PCs for now but is a very successful attack.

The attack tricks people into installing the software by directing users to a website that looks very similar to a site that you actually use or offers a download (usually through Email). The actual download will (at this time) appear to be a PDF file but will actually be an executable (possibly ending with “.exe”). Once this file is run, there is no getting your files back.

What You Can Do

• Follow the common advice to never install software that you were not explicitly meaning to install
• Do not follow links in Emails. If your bank contacts you, go directly to the bank’s website to log in as you would normally (as an example)
• Always have a BACKUP OF YOUR IMPORTANT FILES THAT IS NOT ON YOUR COMPUTER
• Be cautious of suspicious Emails or attachments. These people know how to cause fear, which leads to mistakes
• Practice general safe computing – prevention is your best cure

It has been too long since I posted much of anything here, much less some ponders.  Life had just got busy enough to deny me the opportunity or want to sit back and waste a bit of time pondering, but I have one today.

If you could conduct a scientific study (don’t worry so much about what specific tests you would do), what question would you like to find the answer?  Let’s put a practical limit on a 1 year time frame and a team of 5 or less (no, you can’t cure any diseases in that much time).

I was thinking about how I would like to study a crazy little theory of mine, specifically regarding emergency vehicles and their lights.  Pausing at the thought, “That’s nuts, I couldn’t take a year to do that,” I thought about how much citizen science could be done with a little training.  Imagine the innovations (and failures) that could be produced from such a thing if only there was a way.

No matter what you think of police in general, nobody should die in the line of their work.  An unfortunate accident last week ended the life of 26 year old Officer Jennifer Kovach.  This broke a streak of no officers dying in the line of duty in the Guelph, Ontario area since 1964.  All the flags in the small city are at half mast as the public and services join together to grieve one of their own.  To all those who have donned a uniform in the name of serving the public, remember the most important thing is to come home safe.