February 8th, 2011
I have found a use case to reliably create a kernel panic in Mac OS X on my early 2010 15″ MacBook Pro. By kernel panic, I mean that the end result is the 50% transparent black windowshade of death. I don’t love it when my Mac crashes, but I do love the way the windowshade scrolls down from the top of the screen…
Step 1: Go to my big company client’s office/campus.
Step 2: Connect to their open guest wifi network.
Step 3: Connect to my small company employer’s OpenVPN. I use Viscosity and a special profile to route all traffic over it, due to big company’s restrictions, e.g. no instant messaging and limited access to their own web-facing Sharepoint!
Step 4: Launch applications (Safari, Mailplane, Skype) and work for a while.
Step 5: Close the lid to sleep the Mac, move to another building (and I expect to another access point on the same guest network).
Step 6: Use some more Safari/Mailplane/Skype, and wait for the windowshade. Don’t worry, it will come.
Step 7: Shut down and restart. This is really the best part. After restart, my Mac will probably crash a coupe more times.
Each time, the Console logs show that the last thing happening is a problem in the Airport/Broadcom wireless driver. After 3 instances of this, I went to the Apple Store Genius Bar today, just to make sure I didn’t have any hardware problems.
I’m happy to respond with more info if you are part of Broadcom, Apple, OpenVPN, or Viscosity and would like to see if you can fix this bug.
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September 27th, 2010
“I really need to adjust the bearing tension on that rear wheel…”
I figured it would take 10 minutes at most to remove the wheel, grab the cone wrenches, loosen, tighten, spin, tighten, put the wheel back on.
Instead I found that the cone/washer assembly had bound itself to the sealed bearing and ripped it apart. Headed to CRC tomorrow for proper care. Fun!
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June 26th, 2010
My hard drive crashed this week, while I was in Atlanta, one thousand miles away from my Time Machine backup. The Apple Store Genius Bar gave me a fresh OS X install. From there I downloaded 1Password and synced it to the database on my iPhone. Using 1Password and email, I was able to recreate my work environment of Terminal, TextMate, Transmit and VMWare Fusion + Linux without my backup. When I got home I restored the rest of my files from Time Machine.
Yes, I know that backing up to the cloud would solve all of this problem. But that’s still a bit expensive, and what I did worked fine. I also found a trick to make it a little better.
I now have a Recovery directory that contains the following soft links
- 1Password.agilekeychain
- LogicBlox.tmbundle
- LogicBloxOpenVPN.config.conf
- Settings.textexpander
- dot_bash_profile
- dot_hgrc
One command can copy the link contents to the SD Memory card I carry on most trips.
cp -RL . /Volumes/DAN_512/
Now I don’t have to suffer without my syntax highlighting and shortcuts.
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June 13th, 2010
Another email from this group, this time with a position statement that sounds pretty reasonable.
A rail corridor must include, but not be limited to the following:
* 75 feet of right of way on each side of the tracks and no more than one grade level crossing per mile.
* Study and approval of ground contamination problems by the EPA.
* Crossing arms that cannot be avoided by drivers.
* Welded rail.
* Bells, not whistles, at intersections.
* Berms along the MN&S to reduce sound pollution.
* Landscaping to discourage people (especially students) from crossing the tracks.
* Sound walls on the BNSF east of the MN&S spur to reduce sound pollution.
* Removal of the switching wye in the Elmwood neighborhood
* A pedestrian bridge crossing the BNSF tracks to connect the either the Birchwood or Lake Forest neighborhood to the “West End” commercial area.
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June 11th, 2010
I received this email via my neighborhood association today. Not sure how I think about it yet.
From: lapray@comcast.net [mailto:lapray@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 8:22 AM
To: SLP Neighborhood Associations
Subject: Safety in the Park
Hello,
As you may have heard there are big potential changes coming to the heart of St. Louis Park. These changes involve the proposed re-routing of heavy freight rail traffic from the east/west Canadian Pacific tracks along Highway 7 to the North/South MN&S tracks that run past St. Louis Park High School and Methodist Hospital.
A grass-roots multi-neighborhood organization called Safety in the Park has been established to ensure the safety, livability and property values of residents in St. Louis Park. Leaders of Safety in the Park have participated in every study, consultancy, meeting, dialogue and task force on this issue for the last 10 years. We are currently working with Hennepin County, the City of St. Louis Park and the State of Minnesota on solutions. We are well informed and well organized. We are not opposed to light rail.
Safety is our greatest goal. To achieve this goal we are encouraging Hennepin County to reevaluate the freight-rail corridor options when planning for the displacement of freight-rail traffic currently running on the Kenilworth corridor. If the Kenilworth corridor is deemed unworkable, we respectfully demand that the MN&S spur-line route, which runs north/south through St. Louis Park, be upgraded to create a rail corridor on par with the Kenilworth and 29th Street corridors.
If we are unsuccessful in changing the plans of Hennepin County and unsuccessful in getting the mitigation needed, the entire face of St. Louis Park will change. The trains that currently parallel to Highway 7 with two grade level crossings will go through the heart of St. Louis Park on the MN&S spur, mostly on tracks that are within a few feet of resident backyards and within feet of the high school. On this rail line the trains will have 14 grade level crossing (Excelsior Blvd. just west of Hwy 100 and Dakota Ave. near the High School are the most prominent) making travel around St. Louis Park dangerous whether one is in a car, on foot or on a bicycle. Because there are so many crossings so close together, emergency vehicles will be hampered.
Although your neighborhood is not directly affected by these changes, those of us nearest the tracks fear not only for the safety of the community first (especially the High School Students,) but we are also saddened by the thought of reduced livability and property values for all residents of St Louis Park.
We need Hennepin County to know that St. Louis Park is not split on this issue. Therefore, we need your help. Please consider joining Safety in the Park. Help us make everyone in SLP safe.
If you have questions about the rail issue or about Safety in the Park, please feel free to contact either of us.
Best regards,
Jami LaPray, lapray@comcast.net and Thom Miller, thom@two-rivers.com
Co-Chairs of Safety in the Park. Visit our Facebook page at “Safety in the Park”.
Tags: impact, light rail, minneapolis, mn, st. louis park
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May 20th, 2010
I bought my own trio of Camelbak Podium 24oz bottles for my Almanzo 100 kit. They’re perfect. They don’t leak and I like the “jet valve” for drinking.
The best bottles are the ones you get for free or find on the trail full of cold beer. But if you have to buy some bottles, pay a bit extra and get these, I think.
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May 16th, 2010
Notes from my first century:
* about 9 hrs 15 min, averaged 12.5 mph when the bike was moving
* 39 x 19 gearing was perfect
* why is the best track through the gravel always on the left?
* first mistake: using an untested mix in water bottles
* second mistake: riding the first 20 miles too hard
* at mile 25 I was overheated, dehydrated, and imagining a DNF
* guzzled my one bottle of straight water in the next 10 miles and felt much better
* drank 3 x 24 oz bottles of plain water over 20 miles from Preston to Forestville
* climbs out of Forestville were long walks for me
* 183rd Ave, northbound, into the wind will give me nightmares for months to come
* on Nature Road I started to have fun and enjoy the scenery
* thanks to Mark for the training rides and waiting
* thanks to Craig for pics and Surly at the finish
* thanks to Chris for a super event
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February 14th, 2010
I love these headphones. Bought them 5 months ago in August ’09 at REI. I think they are a great value for good sound and the all-important iPhone button that lets you answer calls, pause, and fast-forward. I could do without the volume control.
I just replaced them using the REI 100% satisfaction guarantee, because the original pair developed a short-circuit near the jack, in the button circuit. When carrying the phone in a loose jacket pocket, the pause and fast-forward functions were out of control.
I hope this new pair lasts better, because I really like them. I might even buy a short extension cable, just so I can limit the short-circuit to that easily replaceable jack.
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/asym-black-red-micd.html
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February 10th, 2010
Yesterday I got out at 4:30pm for another “training” ride on the Handsome Devil. ~8 miles in ~1 hour. Included some gravel simulation — ice covered with thin layers of slush or crunchy snow.
I’m having problems with my left foot & ankle. Last week I was sure it was planar fasciitis, but last night it felt like achilles tendonitis. How do I pile on the base miles but rest that?
Tags: almanzo, bike
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January 25th, 2010
Took my new Handsome Devil out for a shakedown cruise this morning in the fresh snow and aging ice fields of Minneapolis. Visited Hurl at CRC & Jesse at Handsome to show off.
Initial ride impression: This bike is smooth. Like my old Falcon. I like it. My track bike was so twitchy, which I realize now was not ideal.
The build was easy as follows:
* Handsome Devil frame and fork via CRC
* According to Jesse, I am the first customer to own the Handsome branded seat collar :-D
* Origin 8 headset installed at CRC
* Shimano UN-53 bottom bracket from old bike (110mm spindle length)
* Shimano 105 square taper cranks from eBay
* Time ATAC Alium (newer style) pedals from old bike
* Surly fixed-fixed hubset, originally 120mm spaced out to 130 (chain line looks good on inside ring)
* Nitto Moustache Bar w/ cheap stem from old bike
* Brooks B-17 w/ cheap post from old bike
* Fenders from my parts bin
* Assorted stainless fasteners from my local hardware store. I’m especially pleased with the 5mm long set screws used to plug the shifter boss and fork rack threads.
The build was difficult in two ways:
* The drive side dropout was too tight for the hub axle. It looked slightly squished which may have happened in transit or in my garage. I spaced it out a bit using gentle pressure on a pry bar.
* The bottom bracket threads were very clean, but I needed a 5 x 0.8 tap to clean out the threads on all the bosses.
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