Keefer Madness

Specialized’s New Time Trial Bike for 2010

// June 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Cycling

I was just in my local (andby far favorite) bike shop, The Bicycle Chain the other day picking up those new wheels. It seems with bike sales beating out car sales, the 2009 Specialized line is pretty much sold out across the board. Catalogs for the various bike companies start appearing in early July for the next year’s lineup.

It’s no secret of just how much of a fanboy I am when it comes to American bike manufacturer, Specialized. I was asking about 2010′s lineup — especially their TT bikes, as that line’s been pretty stagnant the past few years. I was told that anyone thinking of getting a Specialized TT bike should wait for 2010.

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How Bandwidth Caps Hurt Your Computer & What Apple Can Do About It

// June 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Apple, Computers, Internet / Web

The article linked below is actually titled, “How Bandwidth Caps Hurt Your Mac & What Apple Can Do About It,” but I don’t see how this isn’t as much of a threat to any computer user, regardless of computer brand or operating system. Bandwidth caps, especially really really low caps that some of these Internet Service Providers are forcing and enforcing (3GB/month?!?!? I’ve got thumb drives that filling them up would hit that cap!)

I am not in that industry whatsover, so I don’t know what real costs are involved in delivering bandwidth to the end user once the network is up and running, but from the outside, it really seems to be price gouging and cable companies protecting their own content, rather than trying to recoup costs of maintenance and delivery of bandwidth to users. In this day and age of 720p and 1080p streaming, video podcasts, high resolution photo sharing, video conferencing, VOIP and hundreds of other applications and data streams, such low (or really any) caps on your broadband connections seem ludicrous and bordering on price gouging.

I do understand the author saying Apple should be at the forefront of battling these caps, but in no way, shape or form, think cause you’re on a Dell, that this isn’t just as much of an issue.

How Bandwidth Caps Hurt Your Mac & What Apple Can Do About It

Rhythm Games: The Five Commandments All Titles Must Follow

// June 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Gaming

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the rhythm game genre on my Xbox 360. I personally own Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica and Rock Band, and this list will only continue to grow (Can we say, Guitar Hero: Van Halen?).

Ars Technica has a great list of five rules all these games and future ones should follow. They’re all pretty simple and make total sense. Activision, Red Octane, Harmonix and everyone else involved in the video game genre need to take these rules as gospel as well.

Rhythm Games: The Five Commandments All Titles Must Follow

Uses for WD-40

// June 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // General Posts, Home Projects

This weekend, Amanda and I got a email forward about the myriad uses for WD-40. It is a very useful compound, though WD-40′s manufacturers whittled down the email forward’s list of recommended uses a bit:

Uses for WD-40

First Impressions of the Shimano RS-80 Wheelset

// June 27th, 2009 // 6 Comments » // Cycling, Cycling Products, Personal Crap, Reviews

So I’ve not been able to log three rides on my new wheelset — the Shimano RS-80 wheels, which were a warranty replacement and upgrade for my Shimano Ultegra wheels that came with my 2009 Specialized Tarmac Expert.

While a full review may come down the road, after some more rides and a few races on them, I wanted to give a first impression review of the Shimano RS-80 clincher wheelset.

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Brews and Bikes: The Best Bike-Related Summer Beers

// June 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cycling, Food & Drink

On the heels of my little post earlier in the week about New Belgium’s Fat Tire and Red Racer Empire IPA — two cycling brews, here’s a whole list of bike-related beers perfect for the summer heat.

Brews and Bikes: The Best Bike-Related Summer Beers

The Most Expensive Drying Rack Around

// June 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cycling, Funny Stuff, Personal Crap

My ’09 Specialized Tarmac Expert, acting as a carbon drying rack near my work desk, after my morning bike commute from home in Durham to downtown Raleigh. Check out that new wheelset!

Free Wheelset Upgrade For Me!

// June 24th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap

So about a month ago, my still fairly new 2009 Specialized Tarmac Expert started acting up. In the big ring, I started getting an occasional click and almost pulsing pull from the chain. It was hard to reproduce on a regular basis, but eventually started to happen more often. It started happening on hard, fast descents, and cornering.

I eventually took the bike back to the shop I got it and they adjusted the front derailleur, but on the next ride, the problem still existing. I rode on for a few more weeks, before finally taking it back to the shop a couple weeks back. On the way over, rolling it out of my office, the pedals were rotating as I rolled it on its back wheel.

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Reminiscing About Kings Dominion, Plus KD to Get Gigacoaster

// June 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // General Posts, Personal Crap, Travels

I was lucky in the roller coaster experience department. My first roller coaster experiences were with my dad at a young and ripe age in a little town in Ohio called Sandusky, known for its great selection of roller coasters at a little ol’ place called Cedar Point. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on the large steel or wooden beasts, its cars barreling over a track at high speed.

I’ve lived several places moving down the U.S. East coast, including Williamsport, PA, Randallstown, MD (Baltimore suburb), Chesapeake, VA (Norfolk/Virginia Beach suburb) and Durham, NC. Ever since we landed in Randallstown, a little place north of Richmond, Virginia as been an amusement park destination for me, friends and family. I’ve seen it go through ownership changes, including Paramount’s stint owning it from 1993-2006. In fact, reading through Wikipedia’s Kings Dominion article, I remember the vast majority of this stuff — some both coming and going. Interestingly enough, Cedar Point’s owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company ended up buying KD and the four other Paramount owned amusement parks (including Carowinds straddling the border of North and South Carolina).

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Lance's Team Split

// June 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Cycling, Sports Stuff

Man, it almost seems like things would have gone better, or at least gotten that much more interesting for the team and the pro peloton had Astana’s Kazakh sponsors not come through with their financial backing in the eleventh hour.

Instead of the Astana squad, we would have seen team Livestrong-Nike in the 2009 Tour de France, with 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, Benjamin Noval, Sergio Paulinho, and Contador’s preferred mechanic and soigneur from Astana all moving to Garmin-Slipstream had Astana defaulted on their contractual obligations.

Will/has all this been distracting for the Astana squad, not to mention the number of high-level riders on the squad. It should be an interesting Tour de France this year!

Lance’s Team Split