Adventure Most years/times we have gone to the Dells, we rent a cabin a short stint outside of Wisconsin Dells (everyone assumes everything up there is in the Dells, when in reality, most of the big resorts are in the jurisdiction of Lake Delton, not Wisconsin Dells) somewhere along the Wisconsin River. Matt set this up the first time five years ago and although some of us were wondering what the hell we were doing in the podunk Dells, it turned out to be a fantastic trip and a fantastic idea, long term. This year, we thought we would have quite a few more people than normal, so I, as this year's organizer, got a bigger cabin. Well, there were less people than the normal. Not by many, but by enough to have initially made me worry we went overboard. I was wrong. The cabin was much better, more secluded and big enough to accommodate the typical monkey fun that goes on. There will definitely be a next time and it will be at the same place if I have anything to do with it. Although the train rolls by every hour or so, the cabin has a great view and easy to find location.
Josh and I ended up going out for a great and yet miserable ride on Saturday. It took us 20 min. to cover the distance that took 40 min. on the return. Plus, he had to deal with a bum rear derailleur on the Giant TCR he is borrowing from me (for the time being). No rear gear shifting control and 20+ mph headwinds do not make for a comfortable combination. Besides the headwind issue, the ride was unbelievable. Highway O (in that area) is newly paved and we saw all but two cars driving on the 13 mi. ride. I wish I had taken more time to go further, though. It would have definitely been a brutal return, but another 10-15 mi. out would have done the body and spirit good. I'll reserve that for next time, I guess. Ironically, we went out in a light rain and by the time we came back, the weather started to clear and the sun came out.
Saturday evening was much more subdued that Friday night. We went out Friday and stayed in Saturday. No adventure there, other than the ridiculous steak dinner Raj cooked Saturday night. This was far better than the $650 dinner for six we had at Kaminski Bros. Chop House at Chula Vista last year. When you combine expensive with horribly prepared food, it is hard to leave without feeling gutted. The quiet Saturday night is mainly due to the fact that we're all getting two old to go all out two nights in a row. That's a good thing, though. I actually came home awake and with extra energy - not used up and drained down. Adventure is good - in Massen (in moderation).

Interviews One of the most interesting aspects of being on a trip like this is that you have an opportunity to see people in a semi-natural element. What I mean by this is that without the normal inhibitions, people's relaxed nature starts to shine and it gives you better insight into what drives them. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the true person shines in moments like these. Plenty of people give a different face to their coworkers at work than they would ever dream of doing when out with friends. But, this face has an impact, nonetheless, on how a manager can better deal with that person. This is quickly leading to what I've thought most about: finding good people to work for our business. I'm obsessed with building a long-term top notch team for our companies. I am not my father and while I wish I were when it comes to his tenacity, insight, and talent, I am not. I know there are areas where I am severely lacking and if we are going to continue on the path of success he has set before us, we will need extraordinary people to fill the voids he leaves - whenever that is. So, weekends like this give me an opportunity to interview. Yup... interview. Never forget that the best jobs come through knowing or meeting someone... even in the oddest of places like the Dells.
There were two people in particular I had in mind - one of those, maybe someday positions. They have no idea who they are. One would be shocked to even consider it was a possibility because of the circumstances under which we were talking. But, it was. I walked away from both conversations with one of those wow... I woulda' never imagined this is the way things are based upon what I have seen up until this point feelings. Those who are in a position of hiring well paid managers know what I mean - you beg for the time to spend with a person you are thinking of hiring so that all the baggage is laid bare. 'Tis better to know ahead than afterwards. I haven't made up my mind on either, but I was left with this:
Confidence is paramount. Both of you have it. But both of you think I'm someone or was being driven by something that I was not. It was a LOL moment when it hit me. You think I'm talking to you about something that I'm not. In one case, you are misreading my intentions and are definitely missing some real opportunities. In the other case, you were simply oblivious - for reasons I don't quite understand, because you're pretty damn intelligent.
The most interesting aspect of interviewing people who don't know they are being interviewed is that the bigger surprises come from how different their home personality may be from their job personality. Not that this is unusual. I am wired differently at work than I am at home - although, partial to my upbringing, I would argue that I am inclined to act more like I do at work at home than vice versa. Anyone up for a re-interview is fine by me...

More Time with friends has an amazing way of re-energizing you. Most of us have known each other for most of our lives - literally. The ability to relax and interact in a no-pressure environment with people like that is amazing. It never ceases to amaze me how different our lives are, though, than what we thought they would be like. One common thread among the attendees: we never thought we'd still be in contact or even be in the same area that we are today. (Perhaps two or three of us did, but the majority didn't.) It is always interesting how life leads in directions you never imagined.

I purchased the Leopard Family Pack installation DVD about a week after Leopard came out. I really had no intention of using it on my main machine (right now a 17" MacBook Pro - still running 10.4/Tiger), but I wanted a chance to try out some of the "improvements" on one of my workstations that I use as a backup to the MBP. A few weeks later, I got around to installing it on a Mac Pro and it worked like a charm. (I'm not overly enthused with the performance of Leopard on any of the machines I have had a chance to install it on, but I like certain software features, like Time Machine and the improvements in Apple Mail, that it has made sense to install it on a few coworker's machines. I have had nothing but problems, however, installing it on PowerPC based machines. We have three identical 17" iMac G5's that were purchased at the same time. The installer crashed every single time in every imaginable way on all three machines. The only way I eventually got Leopard installed on the machines is by installing using Target Disk Mode on a PowerMac that we use as a backup and test server. I read somewhere in the Apple Support Discussions that others had experienced similar problems with Leopard 10.5.0 install media and that they had been able to get Apple to swap their install discs. In my case, I didn't want to waste the time dealing with AppleCare on the phone, so I put up with the problem. That was until this weekend, when I tried to do a fresh install on a PowerBook G4 (1 GHz), the installer crashed (again) in every single imaginable fashion - i.e. I tried a dozen times in a dozen different ways to get it to work, and it didn't. Write me if you want the details. It would take far too much time to explain it here. Suffice it to say, I really did try everything - except installing via Target Disk Mode.

Yesterday, I bit the bullet and called AppleCare/Apple Support and went through the process with a tech. An hour later, we ended the conversation with, "Steve... please take the PowerBook and install media to the Apple Store and get them to replace the media..." Nice. 60 miles (one way) and over $20 in gas and 3 hours of my time (which on the low end, equates to a total trip cost of $160 plus the waste of me driving a vehicle because somehow my problem - which we all agree is with the media - cannot be solved by them sending me another copy of the software). What a friggin' waste. Today, however, I had the chance to make it to the Apple Store in Milwaukee (Mayfair) because I had to go to Milwaukee for business anyway and the 20 min. extra drive would be worth it. I made an appointment and went through the motions with the Apple Genius dude - who was extremely helpful and pleasant, by the way - to get the media replaced. After explaining my experiences, showing anyone who would listen an example of said experiences, everyone we have talked to agreed that the install media was the problem and it needed to be replaced.

Read that last sentence again.

Instead of shipping me a package in a very efficient manner - via UPS/FedEx/DHL - I drove 120 mi. and wasted 3 hours to replace a 8 oz. package that has a DVD that was defective. 120 miles... round-trip. for a dvd.

This is the type of waste that companies promote because people don't use their brains - or aren't allowed to. Now... I don't think I had one tiny minute impact on the environment, etc. Sorry, I don't play that game or buy into that religion. But, I do believe that the over-all impact to me and society was negative. It was a waste of time and energy; time and energy that could have been applied to something productive. Shame on Apple and shame on businesses that promote waste and laziness because their policies and systems don't let people make decisions that simply make sense.

Had to update the link... Vimeo deleted the video for some or other reason that I ... I really don't care why. I can't stand the poor quality of YouTube videos, but I don't want to delete this post, so taking Kottke's lead - again - here it is on YouTube.

Ryan publishes a report every year; it is a type of report card on the government. While overly simplistic, it is a poignant statement of how our federal government spends money like drunken... whatever. Monkeys. That would make for a good caricature. The second page of the report details spending and revenue changes. It is staggering. Our federal (remember, this is not including state and local governments) has spent $3.136 TRILLION in fiscal year 2007. Trillion. Not Trillian, but Trillion...* A rounding error could easily be cause for $100 million more being spent than intended. I could do a lot with $100 million and I'm sure many others could. This is absolutely insane.

Take a look (click on image to see larger version):

LINK to original

*Tech buffs should get this one... hopefully.

I couldn't get the Vista (Business) machine to access an SMB/Windows share on my Mac Pro. For some reason, it simply wouldn't accept my username and password combination. The answer is actually quite simple. In the Username field of the dialogue box on the Vista machine, you need to type in DOMAIN\yourusername instead of simply yourusername. Leave DOMAIN as just that. Worked like a charm. Click on the image above for a higher resolution view or simply click on the link to the MacTalk Form thread where I found the solution. Thank you to MacTalk Babysitter.

I'm loving it, though. It makes photo editing and simple drawing oh-so-easy. Like most things, I'll write a more detailed review when I've had much more one-on-one time. For now, if you're on the edge and aren't sure if it really is better than their normal tablets, it is. Hands down.

* No, not your doodle-because-you're-bored drawing, but real, landscape, animal, people drawing. I would love to think it is art, but it isn't... not yet. Maybe with practice.

I still have philosophical issues with the Amazon Kindle Terms of Service. In relation to the paper version of a book, my user rights are severely restricted with the Kindle. I can't rip, cut, copy, paste, modify, extend, remix, etc. much of anything. If Amazon ceases to exist or the Kindle becomes a defunct product, I lose access to the device and product I paid for. I feel I am personally taking a gamble with Amazon on a number of fronts. A) I believe they will eventually use their clout to rid the Kindle of DRM so that we can access purchased content on whatever device we wish as long as it is capable of reading the Kindle formatted text. B) I believe, especially with Amazon Web Services, that Amazon will be around for some time to come. They are not only a provider of discounted products (it is ironic; I purchase more electronic gadgets from Amazon than I do books), but also utility style computing/data services. C) There is nothing that I have the time to do that would void my agreement with Amazon's Kindle Terms of Service, so I am fairly secure in thinking that Amazon will not terminate its agreement with me (thereby disallowing use of the Kindle) because I have done anything against the Terms. Reason 'c' is pragmatic and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I really shouldn't enter into agreements with which I have serious reservations. I often do so, however, because I want to have access to something that I otherwise could not live without (read: sarcasm). This is regrettable, but not entirely senseless.

All of the limitations are meaningless from where I sit today - i.e. I love device and use it almost every day. After a good six solid weeks of use, 16 downloaded books (six of which have been completely read and the others in process), and various trips, long and short, I can't live without it. I wish there were more books available because I would read that much more. I find myself reading more varied because I can easily carry so many topics with me. As I write this, I'm on a plane to Sacramento, CA. Throughout this trip, I've spent the better part of three hours reading two books and the Wall Street Journal. One is James Patterson novel and the other a book on Wikinomics. I'm also slowly moving through some old Hume writings. I didn't think I would find value in having the WSJ delivered to me on the Kindle, but it has turned out to be convenient and reminiscent of the way I used to read the Journal in its paper format. (I haven't had a paper subscription to the WSJ for over six years; only electronic.)

The most significant difference between the Kindle and my previous I'm going to use a laptop to read from now on is the simple fact that the device is light (enough) and very easy on the eyes. It reads like paper (as marketed) and does, indeed, come close to the feel of actually reading a book. The test that proves whether or not something is going to work in the long run for reading in all types of situations (i.e. office, plane, bed, couch, car, etc.) is how well the device sits in your hands. There were comments by people that the iPhone really represents the best of all worlds and would make a better book reader. This is simply not true. The iPhone, while amazing in every respect concerned with internet usage (other than AT&T's lamentable EDGE network - which performs horribly on so many levels I could write a book about it), does not really make a good book because it is actually too small. I've thought about whether or not my opinion is driven by the fact that I grew up with paper books and am simply unused to the manner of reading required when using an iPhone. In other words, does a newer generation of people who don't know books (a stretch statement) find the iPhone or like device an easy reading device? I think that just as in human interface design, there are simply good and bad designs that are decided by our biological functions/capabilities. It seems to me that the iPhone and like screens are simply too small to focus on for long periods of time (for the general population). The typical paperback book has met the needs of economics in not being too big to publish and distribute and not be too small that people don't like reading of its pages. So, in this respect, the Kindle (and Sony Portable Reader) really hit a sweet spot. I would heartily agree with other users that some buttons are misplaced and the design reminds me of an 80's style laptop. It really is a frumpy looking device. In use, however, it really performs well and it is for this reason only that I have found it so enjoyable to use.

Last night, as I was moving onto my seventh book, I thought a little more about the Kindle's design and what last words I would have. I know by now that this will be a gadget that will be a long-term companion. It just works for what it was designed for. There are a few items I hope will be dealt with over the long run:

- I hope Amazon rids this device of DRM. It is frustrating on so many levels because it prohibits me from using the content the way I am allowed in respect to a real book.

- I hope the e-ink technology advances enough to bring color and a light backlight to the device. I do not want to sacrifice battery life nor readability for this, but in thinking that some situations require a backlight and color would be nice for pictures, etc, it is a development I see happening over the long-run.

- I really hope they re-design the thing to not only look better but also fit even better into your hands. I think they've done a decent job. It could be better, though.

I hope I was able to answer questions that some may have had about real world usability. I know that I was concerned that it somehow would come up short in the areas where it matters most. It doesn't. In fact, it does better than anything else I've seen or used.

"The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

* Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.
* You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
* For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
* Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!"

Yet on other pages, the rules are very unclear as to what these gram equivalents actually mean. I travel with four spare Nikon EN-EL3e batteries, two extra batteries for my MacBook Pro and an extra battery for the second laptop I always travel with. Even before I was into [digital] photography, I always have three or so laptop batteries with - especially for those long trips. I don't understand how the TSA and flight carry-on rules could get any more convoluted. If I understand the watt-hour equivalent rules, I actually am still under the threshold of allowable batteries with two MacBook Pro (17") batteries and four Nikon EN-EL3e batteries by calculating the approximate watt-hour capacity of the batteries (the MacBook Pro batteries actually have their watt-hour equivalence written on them - 68 Wh). Yet, the language refers back to carrying two spare batteries... For what??? Two spare batteries for each device that uses them (in that case, I would fall perfectly within the rules) or two spare batteries, period? I'm going to print out all of the rule material I can find and hang my hat on the above language that allows me to circumvent all of these different calculations. Here's how it works (in my opinion):

The two additional MacBook Pro batteries would fall under the category of having less than 25 grams of lithium (if the way of calculating lithium content is accurate in that 100 watt-hours is equivalent to eight grams or less of lithium). The second bullet point goes on to say that "You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold." (emphasis mine) All of the AA and Nikon batteries I carry are below the 8-gram threshold and the wording reads that in addition to any...

The language on the referenced site and above still make no sense and are very difficult to understand. Even if you weren't like me and travel with decent amount of electronic gear, you could be over this limit if a TSA employee were to interpret the rules to mean that you can only have two rechargeable AA batteries with. Of course, this would completely ignore the rules that apply to the total grams of Lithium or the total Watt-hours your batteries add up to, but TSA are (rightfully) given latitude in determining what those rules are. I say rightfully because I think TSA's rules require a bit of intelligence on the part of the employee and interpretation to some extent is ok. In this case, though, I don't even know where to start because the language open to interpretation is so bewildering.

If someone has an explanation as to how to clearly calculate whether or not you fall within the rules, please write me. This rule effects anyone who flies with extra power for anything from cell phones to laptops and is clear as mud.

Link to pdf of page at safetravel.dot.gov.

Today, I stumbled across a blog I hadn't visited for quite some time; jayallen.org, or more accurately, jay.vox.com. Jay linked to a hilarious video on YouTube that was a clip from Saturday Night Live's PUNCHED! bit. This is a screenshot of what I encountered:

Of course, this is not Jay's fault. How could he know that the video would be removed from YouTube? I encountered this all too often, though, when linking to articles, etc. If a website owner chooses to change their url style (which has undergone major shifts across the internet in blogging) - i.e. going from something like archive/category/000010.php to archive/url_now_is_readable_instead_of_cryptic - they break all of the links that were made to their website at one time. One solution I thought of is that instead of linking to specific urls, I should just link to a Google search term that will likely bring about the current url of the link I want people to access. The problem with this is the same as the problem with visual or audio content; what if Google disappears? Who would have thought in 1996 that Google was going to be a search giant monster and AltaVista would be nothing?

This is why I find it so important to host my own content. I hate it when things break. I don't understand why you would design a blog (or anything you put a lot of effort into) around a method that will naturally break as the years go on. If all you do is provide links to other stuff, then it is likely that some day, the content you worked to create will become meaningless. I like to have historical reference to who I am and what I do. Without working links, I can't. (This is my purpose, however, and I'm sure it does not match other's.) I limit what I put here even on the basis of whether or not I can quote or copy to embed someone else's content. I feel safe embedding the above screenshot because it is what I saw when I visited Jay's site and I'm not trying to blatantly steal his creativity. The line of stealing someone else's work becomes thinner, though, when you want to embed their complete thoughts and or creative works on your site. It is something one needs to be wary of. It is also the reason why the images I host on Flickr are there with the Creative Commons license of Share-Share Alike-Non Commercial (so is all the content I put on the web). I want people to feel comfortable taking and redistributing my works, as long as I am give credit and they do not use my works to make money. Why the last part? Because, I want to control making money with my content that I've worked hard to produce. It's that simple.

So, if you have any concern about the longevity of the work you do, it helps to think about these things. I'm certain that even since I became aware of this conundrum, there are plenty of items here that are broken. Every week, I search a bit for them and try to fix them. Since I don't want to be forced to do this for eternity (fixing past content every time I decide to change something or someone decides to remove what they have done), I'm going to be more cautious about what I post here and how I post it. And, I'm going to continue hosting my own content so I can retain this control.

I did a quick search via Google of the A2DP profile in 10.5 and found mention of Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource in a forum (I can't find the forum right now). I downloaded the app and had my problem solved in 30 seconds - literally. SoundSource is very good at showing sources and outputs for audio (the headset I'm using doesn't show up as well on their menu as in the Sound menu in System Preferences, but it is more intuitive). Just select and change source or output on the fly. It is that simple. To top it off, since it is free, there isn't a reason not to try it.

Screenshot:

The key to each business's success will be innovation. There is nothing that says this innovation needs to be life-changing. In fact, the concept I have is that the innovation will be decidedly non-life-changing - i.e. we will remain who we are but modify what we actually do and say. It will be simple steps in the direction of improving how we conduct ourselves and communicate with our customers. A few of the change we need to make are not without much work and dedication towards modifying how we do certain things.

At some later point, I hope to delve into one of the details and to talk about what my thoughts are, but to keep this short, I wanted to add only this: The idea that innovation in simple steps will be necessary and bring about positive results came to me when I was looking at a website of a competitor. In reality, we wouldn't dare compete against them because they really do a much better job than us in being good at a large number of items that we don't have the staffing or equipment to handle. Plus, they have the resources to take on much larger projects than we could hope for. We are comparable to them in terms of pricing and personalized service. While we win in pricing, we fail miserably in personalized service/support. We also fail horribly at collecting on payments owed to us. Both of these items are 100% our fault. We have continually over-promised and under-delivered. We have not taken the necessary steps to guarantee payment (as much as anything can be guaranteed) either. Both of these items should be easily resolved. We need to ask customers whose service we cannot hope to manage to find another vendor and we need to make sure that those we keep and those we add are within our sphere of capabilities. When this requires growth, then we have to bite the bullet and grow.

The above is just a short version of what we need to change about what we are doing. To top it off, if we look at reality and ask the question about whether or not we are even capable of providing the services we promise, we can't. Not with how we are currently conducting the business. We will need to innovate what and how we do things to meet these needs and fulfill our obligations. The innovation I have in mind is not revolutionary, it is evolutionary, and without burden of not having to create a new paradigm, we can take the slow, measured steps needed to be inventive and improve. And, we will improve and we will succeed.

So, the key to our success is innovation. The reason for our disappointments has been failure to do so.

This morning, I am trying to install Windows XP on a new iMac I purchased for our Secretary/Order Administrator. I have gone through the Bootcamp procedure of creating a partition on the Mac in question and install Windows XP like normal. Seems easy enough given that it has always worked under Bootcamp Beta on Tiger (aka 10.4.x). I start the installation and eventually get to the point where I need to reboot. I reboot and the following pops up:

"Disk error

Press any key to restart

No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"

None of the above works. I've tried starting the installation from scratch and get the same error. So, I go to trusty ol' Google and search using the last line of the error. I come across the following note in this discussion:

"Ok. Still a problem. No luck on the last answer. I think my computer just plain hates me -.- I tried both my Leopard disk and my Tiger disk. Luckily, I'm not mad enough to rip my phone book in half." (emphasis mine)

I love it. At least the guy retains humor in a frustrating situation. It made me decide not to get mad and simply go on and figure out the problem.

Update 11:07 -600GMT: There is an Apple Info Article on this very topic (Article 306504) and gives a very, very simple solution. In the Windows installer, reformat the partition you have just created and do NOT leave the current file system intact. I don't quite understand why this solves the problem, but it does.

Multiple identities in one account with Apple Mail.app (link)

I work with an average of five different email accounts to separate work from personal from junk. Essentially, all of the email addresses I use pour into one single account except for those associated with email lists (because of the sheer bulk of messages I would receive and can't process). The problem is that I thought Apple's Mail.app didn't have an easy way of sending from these "identities" unless you added the identity as another mail account. Not true. If you follow the instructions in the above link, all you have to do is take the one account you wish to change and add every email address (i.e. identity) you want to send from in a comma separated list in the Email Address field where you set up your account. I know this works on OS X 10.4 (aka Tiger) and will test on 10.5 (aka Leopard) later. Props to Jonathan for finding this very simple solution.