A nice ride out...

Well it was a hard, Level 3/4 ride of 16.6 miles in an hour and eleven minutes around Denham and Uxbridge. On my return I did two sets of squats with the Buffalo Bar for a total of 36 - I am sure my legs are not going to like me in the morning!!

Having said that it was a nice sunny day and the rides are getting easier on the legs - but the Butt still huts....

Why Me?

Jason being thoughtful towards the end of a family trip to Osterley Park a lovely National Trust house and garden in West London.

Somehow this was all too much fun for Jason, who had to site and contemplate what it all means - while the rest of us just enjoyed ourselves.....

Friday Ride

Things are starting to get easier, today's ride was a nice ten miles in 48 minutes on my Roberts Audax bike. The good news is that I am starting to feel better with my cycling, my pedalling is getting more fluid and I am able to go along at lower heart rates - I am trying to keep to the upper 120s (but am getting into the 140s on even flattish hills). Oh well keep building the volume and I should start to feel better and loose some weight!

Keeping a healthy level of insanity in your life

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. With a serious face, order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Toward The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity ... Send This as an E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile.

It's Called! Therapy.

Beer School Podcast

If you enjoy Beer and learning about Beer, it is well worth spending some time reading the Beer School website and listening to John Foster and Motor discussing various types of beer.

"And the best bit about Beer School is the homework - which is Beer"

Copyright Killed the Internet Radio Star.......

Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,

I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.

I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

BBC Post on the same subject: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6562823.stm

Country or Theme Park???

I am on my way down to South Wales this morning and it strikes me that I am not sure if I am going to a country or a theme park. Wales used to be a centre of heavy industry (the worlds first steam locomotive ran there amongst other things), but since the 1970's this seems to have been replaced with tourism and attactions.

To reinforce this view, the way the Tolls work on the Seven Crossing (old and new) is you pay to get in, but leaving is free - just like LegoLand or Disney World......

What are your thoughts on this?

Cameraphone test

This is a sample pic from the new N95 to test the quality. This picture is straight out of the phone with no edits/changes. Not too bad at all!

Fitness in One Hundred Words

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

• Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.

• Regularly learn and play new sports.

From Crossfit

The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers

This article is taken from Wired: Link here

Editor's note: Some links in this story lead to adult material and are not suitable for viewing at work. All links of this nature will be noted with "NSFW" after them.

- - -

I've read recently that geeks make better lovers because they are so unaccustomed to romance that they will do anything for their mates. Also because geeks don't have the social skills to cheat (wanna bet?).

Yeah, ha ha, let's chuckle at the stereotypes. Might as well add that geeks won't waste valuable relationship time watching football. Or that geeks are clueless and fashion-impaired and have the social skills of a bowl of fruit.

But you know what? Humorous Top-10 lists aside, geeks really do make the best lovers, for reasons that have nothing to do with adolescent ostracism or puppy-like devotion.

It's all about sex-tech. (Tell us what you think below.)

Geeks build it so you will come

Second Life's SexGen animation system, Red Light Center's (NSFW) beautiful sex animations and open-source teledildonics did not simply coalesce out of the mists during a marketing department meeting.

These projects require strong technical know-how along with an open-minded approach to sexual variation. After all, you can't build sex-tech that serves only your own preferences if you expect others to use it. Especially if you want them to buy it.

That geeks have the passion to commit their technical skills to expanding sexual options for everyone is evidence enough of their enthusiasm and dedication as lovers.

Geeks get personal with tech

All engineers may be geeks, but not all geeks are engineers. Doesn't matter. You don't need to know how to build a platform in order to do a half-gainer in full pike with a twist into the river of love.

A geek is more likely to figure out how to customize toys and to design arousing environments for your avatars to play in than a non-geek. And that experience translates into a greater sensitivity to atmosphere and mood during sex -- beyond lighting a candle.

Don't be surprised if your geek lover puts more thought into arranging the boudoir than you do, or if common household items ("pervertibles") soon take on a new dimension. More than one geek has told me that Home Depot is their favorite adult store.

Geeks dig consensual role playing

Geek lovers combine a well-developed and oft-exercised erotic imagination with their physical technique. It isn't a big leap from "I'm a level-13 thief, evil-aligned" to "I'm the prison warden and you're the new detainee." Scientists and therapists alike claim that the brain is the most critical sexual organ; a geek's familiarity with fantasy arouses your mind even as the handcuffs -- or the bag of loot -- bring your body to attention.

Geeks interact

A technophobe mostly talks to you in person, but a geek is happy to be with you by texting your phone, flirting with you in a chat room, Skyping you, Twittering just in case you're on your vibrating couch (NSFW), sending funny cell-phone snapshots to your e-mail, playing online games, commenting on your blog, Digging articles that interest you, seducing you by instant message….

Geeks get things done

Geeks know all the shortcuts. They research your interests, send you surprise gifts, plan your perfect vacation, get the bills and grocery shopping out of the way, write to their mothers, and tease you mercilessly, all while pretending to work. And when you ask them to set up your home Wi-Fi or install a home theater, it's done quickly, expertly and without complaint.

In other words, geeks know how to get everything else out of the way so there's more time for lovemaking.

Geeks are hot …

… and wear the coolest glasses.

Geeks don't shock easily

Geeks have seen all the porn you can imagine and then some, priming them to be open to your sexual peccadilloes. They are not only less likely to be shocked by your exotic requests -- they might not even realize that other people think your turn-ons are exotic.

Conversely, your geek lover might be relieved that your wildest fantasy involves only two other people, five utensils and a trapeze.

Geeks know kinky people

Geeks haven't just seen a variety of positions, kinks and fetishes in blue movies. They know (or are) people who enjoy those things, so they don't dismiss entire categories of sexual interests as the sole province of a bunch of weirdos in San Francisco.

It's hard to sustain prejudice and bias against an abstract group when you develop relationships with individuals and discover they're just like you. It doesn't matter if they dress up like ponies, or refuse to conform to a societal idea of gender norms, or eat pancakes for dinner. Geek lovers know better than to try to impose their sexual preferences or standards on others -- including your friends -- and are more likely to love and let love.

Geeks understand multi-dimensional relationships

Geeks connect with their online buddies in several guises, often getting to know the person behind the avatar as friendships deepen and move from adult communities to personal IM.

A geek can flow seamlessly between conversation about a friend's partner and kids in one window and an elaborate group sex scene in another, without feeling any discontinuity between the personas. Even if the friend is a 43-year-old father of two in IM, and a 22-year-old dominatrix in the group.

With all that going on, a geek has no problem accepting that sometimes you want mocha ripple cherry fudge chunk swirl with almonds and a waffle and sometimes you want vanilla lite.

Geeks aren't threatened by new tech or "the future of sex"

Geeks have read the science fiction. They know the dire predictions of a world in which the sticky press of flesh is replaced by neural nets and sex robots that also do housework (or is that house robots that also do sex work?).

Geeks have imagined more sexual dystopias than the average person and are the first to see the technological developments that could lead us down dark paths. Which only makes sense, considering who develops those technologies in the first place.

At the same time, geeks know better than anyone that something always goes wrong when you lean on machines for your social fulfillment. A geek doesn't mind if you bring home the iiErotoTrix 5000 v3 -- as long as you share it.

Literacy and the printing press did not replace sex; neither did photography, automobiles, video, online porn or 3-D escort services. Geek lovers spend enough time with technology to appreciate the unique wondrousness of human touch.

See you next Friday, Regina Lynn

New Tech!

The last few days have been busy on the tech front with a new black MacBook and a Nokia N95 arriving at the house. The MacBook is now setup and works sweetly (much faster than my old PowerBook G4 - even if I seem to have lost 4" of screen somewhere in the house). I have all of the software configured and working (so can return to Blogger!).

Much of the time has been spent working with BootCamp and Parallels - it is nice to be able to run Windows XP & Vista on the machine alongside OS/X. Makes learning Vista for the Microsoft Exams so much simpler! I am still having some fun getting some applications (Polar USB sync!) working - but what would life be without challenges.....

More on this later

Sunday Ride

Well after a few days off the bike due to having a life, I went for a nice longer ride today - 15.58 miles and 1 hour 11 minutes. Bits of this hurt like hell as somebody put some hills in the way. I am starting to feel fitter - but I will pay for this later!!

A Green Car with style!

Flower Power as a response to the environment and need to go FAST

When thinking about supercars, one of the last things that spring to mind are their environmental friendliness.

Even though the very low and exclusive production volume of Koenigsegg can hardly be considered to have a measurable impact on the Co2 problem that global society is facing, it is an impressive statement that even a small and extreme company like Koenigsegg can afford to develop environmentally focussed solutions.

By following conscientious and forward thinking strategies, Koenigsegg has managed to create the Bio Fuel Powered CCXR - environmentally friendly 1200 with even more spectacular performance than the standard CCX.

These two almost conflicting results are made possible due to the simple fact that the ethanol in biofuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power. Due to the fact that the biofuel has higher octane and cooling characteristics, the power has gone up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm and the torque to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

It is natural to expect a substantial gain in power when optimizing the engine for E85(biofuel) instead of Petrol. Still the actual gain obtained even surprised the enthusiastic engineers at Koenigsegg.

Following the long term strategy of Koenigsegg, all previous CCXs will have the possibility to be converted by the factory to accept the biofuel option and reap the performance and environmental benefi ts of this wonderful and eco friendly fuel.

The CCXR Biofuel upgrade has been developed in-house on the factory's engine dyno by the skilled technicians at Koenigsegg, led by Christian Koenigsegg, Marco Garver and Anders Hoglund from the Koenigsegg partner company Cargine Engineering.

Curiously enough the CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1000 BHP.

Here are some statistics for those of you who are thinking of selling your Toyota Prius because it’s to slow and to boring to drive, but still want a Green car to avoid the London Congestion charge:

Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0–62 mph)
3.2 seconds. 0 - 200 km/h 8,5 seconds
Top speed: 400+ km/h (250+ mph)
Torque: 1200Nm (885ft lb)

Getting my stuff done....

Gotta Get My Stuff Done Funny animation about procrastination.

This little cartoon is so funny if you have lots of "stuff" that fills up your day and gets in the way of work! I enjoyed it and hope you do too.

Monday's ride...

Another nice day in West London (given that it is a Bank Holiday) for a bike ride! well todays effort was 10.51 miles in 47.54 minutes with an average heart rate of 134. I am starting to feel better on the bike and can start to build up on the distance and time - but still keeping the intensity low.

Times Past.....

A nice momento from my old unit that I was given at our dinner night a couple of weeks ago. The best thing is that you have to earn these - you cannot just buy one!

Easter Fun

Well the boys had fun looking for Easter eggs hidden in the garden - a good number were found, even though Jason did not really feel up to the task!

More bike fun....

Well today has been busy - I sold my old Klein Adoit mountain bike as part of our general clear out, (did a couple of miles on it, mostly uphill on the way to the sale). Walked a couple of miles home!

This afternoon I have been out on the Racer (6.93 miles, 33.13 minutes. Ave Heart Rate 132) with my old Polar HRM dusted off - it is hard work going slow. I am starting to get my exercise equipment sorted. Once I get my new MacBook I can install the Polar software under XP/Parallels and get some real info! I am currently using the Garmin training software on the Mac - very nice, but limited analysis.

Friday fun!

A busy day on the exercise front:

Bike: 6.69 Miles// 34 minutes
Power walk along the canal with Thomas: 2.5 miles/ 40 minutes

Lots of fun, but my muscles ache - oh well a bath will fix that!

Easter Boy

Jason is a happy boy today as he won a prize for his hat at the school Easter Parade - the egg did not last long!!

Another ride out

Well a second trip out on the bike for this week. Only 20 minutes today - but I need to get consistent, before I can get long/fast!!

I want to ride my Bicycle.....

much more often. Today was the first time I have ridden my bike for months (there seems to be a theme to my life at the moment) and it was GREAT - well okay I am out of breath and my muscles hurt after only 25 minutes/5.6 miles, but it is a start. Rather than the current fad for Fatblogging, maybe I can start one for BikeBlogging!

Well that's all for now, I will be back later with more........