Broken toe = no exercise. Was told my Dr. Cashin to keep off my foot for a while. Hoping i can get back to it in a couple of weeks.

So i’ve been training pretty hard for a couple of Triathlons and some cycling events for the past few months. After hundreds on kilometers on the bike, thousands of yards in the pool and a few miles running (i dislike running), I’m pretty hooked.

Ive decided that since i dont use this website much for tech stuff…or anything else for that matter, im going to start posting workout and training updates instead.

With that in mind…i think its time i used some of my excellent coding skills to redesign the blog with a more sporty theme.

Ill aim to get it live by the end of the month…but im already making excuses in my head as to why I wont hit that.

Anyway…hope you are all well.

C

My friend Tommy Humphreys wrote an excellent piece on his BC Business blog about personal brand websites (you can read it here). I was honoured to be included in the post along with Frank Chimero, Jason Zimdars, and Jim Carrey.

This site was setup in, I kid you not, 1 hour. The theme is from Theme Forest and everything else you see was done while half watching a movie. It doesn’t take much for you to set up your own website and stake your claim on a small chunk of the internet. Wordpress is a great tool and easy for those who aren’t super tekkie!

If you need help, I would more than happy to help over email or grab a coffee and show you how. Drop me an email – chrisonhismac@gmail.com

Thanks

This has been on my brain now for a couple of weeks and I cant make my mind up. Do i keep the bike i have (which is a good bike) or buy a new one?

Ive been doing more road biking and looking for something a little more streamlined/lightweight/nimble. HOWEVER…Caitlin and I are planning a 4 month ride next year through Europe and also a Portland trip at some point. I dont have cash or storage for 2 bikes so im looking for a bike that will give me good everyday riding abilities but also hold up with rack/panniers/sleeping bag etc on it couple of times a year.

Here is what im looking at so far. Im still researching.

Trek 1.5 Triple – This years model come with provisions for front and rear racks. Aluminum frame, Carbon seat post and fork. Tiagra shifters and Derailleur. Has a weight limit of 275lbs (im 200lbs).

Masi Randonneur – Chromoly steel, Tiagra Shifters, 105 Derailleur (10 speed). At this price i can afford new wheels and rubber so i would have a touring set and a road set. Obviously remove the fenders when not touring.

Specialized Allez – 105 Shifters and Derailleur. Rear rack only. Carbon sear post and fork. Crappy colour scheme.

Any input you may have would be appreciated.

I am so excited right now!

Caitlin asked if I wanted to listen to a 3 hour podcast on climate change. I didn’t have any cyanide on me at the time so agreed (kidding…It did sound interesting). Now a lot of the information I already knew but it was the hypothetical scenarios they played out which interested me. The podcast was called Climate Wars.

In 2045, southern France will have to invade northern France to get water. Spain will be arming themselves with nuclear weapons to threaten countries like Canada who have been less effected by climate change and therefore have more food. Most of the rice fields in Asia which feed billions of people no longer exist due to the sea levels rising. Rice cannot be grown in salt water!

These were all worst case scenarios and did not take into account any of the technological advances we will make between now and then but its a scary prospect. The podcast had ex military talking about how the government has been planning for the worst for some time and how they will deal with the potential fall out.

I think the biggest source of concern is the methane released from the Permafrost. Here is a video showing the effects of the Permafrost melting which came up when I googled for more information. If it’s already melting, is there a way we can collect the gasses and turn it into a source of fuel? Just a thought.

You can listen to all 3 podcasts on the CBC site here – http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/climate-wars/index.html. I will be fine…but the children of my children are f*&%@d.

If you have an iPhone 3G which is on the latest 3.1.3 OS then you can jailbreak and unlock in most cases. If you have a 3GS…you are totally hooped at this time.

I had to find a solution when Caitlin upgraded her phone by accident and her Rogers iPhone 3GS wouldn’t work with her Fido SIM card. The only way to do it was with my older 3G so we had to switch handsets until further notice (great deal for me!). Im on a Mac but will try and provide alternatives for silly Windows users. These are not tested by me.

Step 1 – Plug your phone into your computer and open iTunes

Step 2 – Right click (cmd-click on Mac) on the iPhone within iTunes and select Backup. This may take a few minutes but make sure it completes or you may lose data when you restore the phone

Step 3 – Download Pwnage Tool for Mac (link) or BlackRa1n for Windows (link). Rather than rewrite them all, you can follow instructions on the links i provided on how to create a Jailbroken IPSW (this is the software that iTunes uses when installing software on the iPhone) and how to restore your phone.

Step 5 – You should now have a clean iPhone which is Jailbroken. It should have the Cydia store on the 2nd screen of apps.

Step 6 – Open Cydia and once it has updated, search for Fuzzyband. This software with down grade the Baseband allowing you to unlock the phone. Install this software.

Step 7 – Press the ‘home’ button and you should see a new icon for Fuzzyband. Open this and follow the instructions. The app will tell you if you can downgrade or not. If you can…good. If you cant…you’ve had it. Nothing to do but wait until the Dev team release their next update.

Step 8 – Now that you have a downgraded baseband, restart the phone.

Step 9 – open up Cydia again and follow these instructions to install Ultrasn0w. Once installed…restart the phone and you should be unlocked.

Feel free to leave me a comment about your experiences. These steps worked for me and ill try my best to help you out.

I love the feeling I get when a big brand manages to amaze me in a positive way. We are so used to hearing negative things about the way large corporations treat their consumers that any of the good they do tends to get drowned out. It’s easier (and more fun) to rip into large brands for everyone of their faults. Im guilty of it more than most.

Black and Decker surprised me tonight. Its quite a boring story but I guess I’ll tell it anyway.

My girlfriend and I own one of those little dust buster vacuum cleaners. It comes in handy now and again especially on wooden floors. I lost one of the attachments that comes in quit handy with rugs etc and decided I wanted to try and get a replacement. I lost it about 6 months ago and the only thing stopping me was the daunting prospect of having to call their call centre, hoping that someone knew what the hell I was talking about that maybe…maybe…they sold such a tiny accessory separately at a reasonable cost. Tonight I bit the bullet and decided to do it.

A 10 second google search revealed this:

Black and Decker have an amazing website listing parts and manuals for everyone of their products. Using the product code from the bottom the vacuum I was presented with a list of every part of the device WITH THE OPTION TO BUY! The part ive been holding off contacting them about for 6 months took me about 2 minutes to find and costs $0.85! (Not including shipping and handling)

Good for you Black and Decker. Give the consumer the tools to get what they want and at the same time reduce  your call centre and training costs.

Am I crazy for being so surprised but this? I love it! My next vacuum, iron, power tool may well be made by Black & Decker for this reason alone.

You can have a look at the site yourself here

Follow Black & Decker on Twitter – @Black_DeckerUS