Will and Nikki's Devil's Tower Adventure

We just got back from a nice 7 day tour of Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming - about 1,750 miles, all on a pair of Honda CBR 250Rs.  More to follow, but here's our rough route map:



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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 3

Basing this leg off a Google Plus page for a motel!  The S and H Motel has fantastic reviews, so why not try it out.  220 miles more or less, all Z to A stops, plus a side trip to the center of the USA at Lebanon, KS!




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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 2

Abilene, KS to Colby, KS vai lots of Z-A stops.  Looks like good mexican for dinner, Motel 6 or a local joint in Colby.

265 miles, about an 8 hour day...



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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 1

Ok, Kentucky isn't in the budget.  So, a little bebop through Northern Kansas.

Day One: KC to Abilene, KS.  200-odd miles, 6 or 7 hours riding time.  Stop at a motor lodge, spend the evening poking around the museums and mansions.

Along the way:
Eudora, KS for the Z to A tour;
Topeka, KS for the Z to A tour;
Ada and Alta Vista KS for the Z to A tour;
The Atomic Cannon at Junction City for the Tour of Honor then over to Grandview Plaza for the Z to A tour.



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Day Three to STAR: Coon Dog Inn and Mammoth Caves

Day three - forcing a longer day to pick up some points, eat breakfast at a place called 'Coon Dog Inn' and at least get a stamp from Mammoth Cave!  Points include:

• Kuttawa, KY 
• Fredonia, KY - home of the Coon Dog Inn
• Salvisa, KY

Added one more stop in Hopkinsville, KY to pick up a Tour of Honor stop at the Peacekeeper Monument in Fort Campbell Memorial Park.

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Day Two to STAR: MO to KY

Updating the route again with stops from the Z to A Grand Tour; can only catch four points on this leg.  We could get five, but it'd route us near and through Paducah, KY.  BTDT, never again.  So - we're hitting a few more in the Bootheel of MO and one in Kentucky:

• Winona, MO
• Zalma, MO
• Delta, MO
• Sedalia, KY

Assuming we make all our stops we're up to 9 points and over half way to Lexington for STAR 2013!

Added one more stop in East Prarie, MO at the Veterans Memorial so Nikki can get her Tour of Honor point.

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Day One to STAR 2013

Updated the first day ride - added about 70 miles and 5 (count em, FIVE) points toward the Z-A Grand Tour!  Still going to West Plains, MO via:

• Osceola, MO
• Urbana, MO
• Niangua, MO
• Ava, MO
• Pomona, MO

Nice - check out the map embed below; zoom out for the whole route:

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Voyager Legend and Microsoft Lync

I use Microsoft Lync extensively in my day job; 6 to 10 hours of calls every day over Lync.  Nearly everything we do is on Lync.

So far I've been tied to a dodgy wired USB headset; it's what was provided with the UC rollout years ago.  Sturdy but a real pain to haul back and forth to the office and back.  Today I picked up a Plantronics Voyager Legend bluetooth headset.  It's the basic $99 version, not the full boat $199 UC version.  So far it works for basic functions with Lync - I get audio in the ear from Lync, and the called party can hear me without difficulty.

On the PC with Lync:

• It does not answer from the headset.
• It does not update the Mute status when you mute on the headset.
• It does not update your presence when you put the headset on or take it off.

That experience is using the built in Bluetooth stack on my HP 8440 laptop under Windows 7.  Very basic functionality, and fair sound quality.  Some static, breakup and digital hash.

It does pair both phone and A2DP audio to my older Motorola Photon.  No caller ID announce though; apparently the Photon doesn't support Address Book profile on Bluetooth.  Need to get a newer phone.  Next month . . .


So, I'd like some more integration - I've got the $50 BT-300-M bluetooth dongle on order to see if that will pair up with Lync and the Voyager Legend headset to tie it all together.  Should be in within a week, so I'll update the post when it arrives.

6-March:

Oddly enough, the best price anywhere for accessories is the Plantronic Shopping site.  Everyone else has markup over their prices.

13 March:

Received the BT-300M Bluetooth Dongle today.  Followed the instructions to pair.  Launched Lync and found that it had autodetected that I had the adapter in and was working perfectly.

Massive improvement in PC phone call quality.  Landline class clarity, no bluetooth breakup or digital hash.  It also fully controls Lync with presence, mute, mute on the PC controls mute on the headset and more.  Fantastic.  Worth every penny if you use Lync.   I only wish I'd bought the bundled setup for $139 to $199 or so.  Indoor range is about 45 feet through multiple walls.  Basically can cover the whole house.

Also, after a few connections the contact data did finally port in from my Motorola Photon, giving you the caller ID announcement   "Call From Will England, Answer or Ignore" -- then you speak Answer, and it answers.  Very nice.

Battery life is as advertised; after a full charge, I set it to play music from the Photon.  Each hour I'd check the stated battery level; started out saying '7 Hours', then 6, 5, 4 etc.  At a bit after 7 hours it beeped and shut down for low battery life.  So, 7 hours streaming audio.  Very nice.

Comfort and weight is fine still.  Easy on, easy off.  The large physical tactile buttons are still fantastic.

15 March:

Plugged the BT-300M into my Apple MacBook Pro running Mac OS 10.6.8.  Immediately recognized it as a USB Sound Device.  Since it was already paired from connecting it to the Windows laptop, the headset clicked in immediately.  Fired up Microsoft Lync for Mac version 14.0.4 and found that the default audio device was the BT-300M.  Worked exactly like the Windows version with presence, mute, volume and call control completely working as designed.  The Plantronics Legend headset with BT-300M is fully compatible with Microsoft Lync for Mac!  Great news - and exactly what I was hoping to find!  Now I just move the BT-300M dongle from computer to computer and enjoy full Lync wireless VOIP service on both Mac and Windows!

TL;DR:  Great headset.  Highly recommended. If you use VOIP, get the BT-300 adapter.  300-M for Microsoft Lync integration.

Postscript: If you paired your base headset to the PC before getting the BT-300, remove the pairing before using the 300M.  The headset can get confused and connect to the PC Bluetooth adapter instead of the preferred higher quality 300M.

STAR 2013 Route to Lexington, KY

Assuming we actually get to go, here's my tentative route.

Day 1: KC to West Plains MO.  Nice older motel there with doorside parking.  About 275 miles.


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Day 2: West Plains to Dover, TN Another cool older motor lodge, the Sunset Motor Lodge.  On a hill, overlooks the lake. About another 275 mile day.



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Day 3: Dover, TN to Lexington (via Land Between the Lakes NRA and Mammoth Cave NP) - about 295 miles, long Sunday, but some gorgeous riding and a luxury hotel waiting for us!


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Looks like some fan-tastic riding.  The whole outbound ride on one map:



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Cutting the Cord

Cutting the cord - dropping your landline service to use just a wireless phone.  I was thinking about that today; I was quite an early adopter.  I moved to Wichita in 1994 and didn't spend the money for a Southwestern Bell landline.  But I did have the money to see Blake at Baysingers Police Supply and get an Audiovox Bag Phone.  It had no battery; that was an extra cost addon.  I ran it from a 12V adapter in the car and a battery charger in the house.

Had a 'great' plan - 60 minutes talk time a month!  It was OK for ordering pizza or having a phone for quick calls.  But for long calls I'd drive out to the Airport and use one of their comfortable pay phone kiosks and my MCI calling card.  Ah, oldschool phones.  No text, no data, just 800mHz Analog with a 5 watt peak power radio. No dead spots with that beast!

That lasted till I moved out of the overpriced apartment and across town to an amazing 1 bedroom shack, for $200 a month.  And about that time 'da innernet came along, so I had to have a POTS line for dialup!  Cut the wireless and went all wired again, rockin a pager from Boeing.  A few years later Boeing got with the times and assigned the field support reps (me) Motorola Star Tac phones!  We were stoked - real flip phones with *two* batteries!  You could usually get through a whole 8-hour day on the first battery, then swap when you got home to the spare battery.  Still had the landline -- gotta have that dialup!

Moved to Overland Park in 1999; didn't check the DSLAM locations; over 20,000 wire-feet from the CO (no DSLAMS back then), so no DSL; barely could hold a 56K dialup connection in that townhome -- until Everest came along.  Crazy startup ISP running fresh fiber to the neighborhood and brand new copper coax to the houses, plus clean new twisted pair for a real analog phone line - none of this dodgy VOIP over Cable stuff.

Kept their landline until the 2004 election season - the political calls on the wall phone got to be too much -- I'm paying for this?  Cut the cord again 10 years later.

Point?  Not much.  Just a dive into history.

2012 Riding Map

Great year of riding - all local stuff, nearly 2,000 miles on the new CBR250R!  Got married, my new bride is learning to ride and we have two brand new CBR250R's.  Sold the Ducati and the broke ass BMW.  Lots of local destinations on the USA Grand Tour.

(nearly ran out of Google Maps pins - you can only do 21 destinations on a map!)



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2011 Riding Map

Got a 'new' 1994 BMW K1100LT in preparation for a multi-thousand mile ride to Nelson BC, Canada this year.  Check ride to Arkansas came out great!  Then 45 miles out of KC near St. Joe MO the rear main seal went out oiling the clutch.  Turned around and got the Subaru to finish the Canada trip.  But miles on the motorcycle were down - just over 800 for the year.  Riding also got put on the back burner - I met my now wife!



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2010 Riding Map

2010 - a bit busy.  Burned out on riding.  Or something.  Went to a lot of baseball games with the boy.  And Cub Scout camps.  But I did get out a bit (1600 miles)



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Career Advice from CEO's at CES

My VP got (had?) to go to CES and took some notes from a CEO panel.

From panel with Marissa Mayer (CEO Yahoo) and Laura Desmond (CEO Starcom MediaVest) 

Marissa:

1.       Don't let the urgent drown out the important (I love this one)

2.       Work with smart people

3.       Do things you're not ready to do (push yourself, don't get comfortable)

4.       Find comfortable work environments (culture, peers/boss, etc.)

Laura:

1.       Talent is the most important thing (similar to Marisa's 2 - surround yourself with it and nourish your own - to managers nurture and foster culture to embrace it)

2.       Shadow technologists (follow tech, be smart, understand how things work even if you're a marketer or whatever)

3.       Go live in China (kind of like Marisa's #3 but better)

First week of 2013

First full week of 2013 is in the books. Good week. Scouts. Karate. Cub Scout Recharter went far smoother than expected. We even got the gold Excellence Award for our pack. Kids kicked off youth group with a timely session on bullying. Friday night was dress up and photo fun with my wife. She is learning new makeup and hair techniques,  and we're both learning photography skills.

Weather is changeable; grey and warm one day, clear and cold the next. Snow later Saturday.  I think the grey and short days are wearing us down. We're having great times, doing amazing things, but just not feeling it all the time. Hmm. Waiting for summer.

Summer - riding season. New Grand Tour announced ; the Z to A tour. Ride to and photograph towns starting with Z or ending with A. Good times! Cannot wait. Even Nikki is getting excited about riding again. I think I may have burned her out a bit on the BS Rally ride. :-/  500 miles in 2 days, on 250's.

This also marks the first full calendar year Nikki and I have been together. We're getting better at this and having far fewer problems than expected. I credit Nikkis forgiveness and both of our flexibility. The kids have been amazing, blending together without any real problems.

Enough for now, posting mobile on the phone...

-w

Car Camping Tips

I love to travel.  And I've got a great station wagon for camping.  Been reading up on some tips for setting the car up as a mini RV.  Particularly helpful on the slog out to the mountains and back; just hit up the back of a truck stop for a parking spot, set up the car and you're in business.  Also great if it just gets too cold out in the tent, especially if you have insulation for the windows.  Or at Bluegrass festivals where you have either room for the car, OR a tent.

Ideally I'd have a VW Vanagon Westfalia, but failing that, lets see how we can set up the Subaru for in-car camping.

The list, in no particular order:

• Solar tinting for the back half to cut down on heat loss / intake.
• Blackout curtains or shades.  Harder in a wagon, easier in a conversion van.
• For ventilation without bugs, use fairly heavy screen spline to hold the top and sides of the fine mesh plastic window screen material in the groove the glass rolls up in and  tape the bottom.
• LED lighting is power efficient and no risk.
• For winter, cut foil backed foam to shape to fit in the window openings.  Cover with neutral colored fabric so you don't look like a trash can.
• Keep everything clean, neat and put away while parked or traveling.  Avoid looking like a ragamuffin.
• Toilet?  If you're doing dispersed camping (boondocking) a 5 gallon bucket, a toilet seat lid, several odor proof trashbags and some cat litter make a great under $20 portable toilet.  Using the trash bags keeps cleanup easy and you can store other supplies in the bucket while traveling.
• A couple gallons of gas; if you have to run the engine overnight for heating (or cooling) you may find you're low on fuel.  Can also be used in your Coleman Dual Fuel lantern and stove.
• Well maintained car.  Ensure exhaust, cooling and lubricants are in good shape.
• Small portable 12-volt DC powered ATSC (digital over the air) TV for weather and local information
• Small portable AM / FM radio. No need to power up the whole car to listen to news, weather or music.
• Solar panel to trickle charge the battery and / or charge gadgets.
• 500w power inverter to charge AC items.
• Battery or 12V DC powered fan. 

Other great ideas that won't work in the Subaru:

• Long, heavy duty drawer runners from a scrap yard used in hearses or ambulances make great full length drawer slides.  You can install a 6" deep drawer on the floor of a van or Suburban, slide it out 6 or 8 feet and have compartments for everything.  Saw a guy in Montana with this setup; he had over 20 cubic feet of hidden storage in the 'floor' of his Suburban.

Add your ideas for camping in your car in the comments!

Interesting point of view on full capacity magazines

Used to be all in the gun rights issues.  Now reading both sides of the aisle.  I still have my opinions, but I tend to keep them to myself.

Found this quote from Massad Ayoob:

The cops are the experts on the current criminal trends. If they have determined that a “high capacity” semiautomatic pistol and a .223 semiautomatic rifle with 30-round magazines are the best firearms for them to use to protect people like me and my family, they are obviously the best things for us to use to protect ourselves and our families .

Interesting point - I have noticed every patrol car in our white-bread suburban non-crime-ridden neighborhood has an M4 clone AR-15 clipped to the dash.  And every officer has a 12 to 17 round magazine in their semi-automatic pistol.

Thoughts?

GOODING "Crash" Live

One of my favorite bands out of Wichita (now LA) has a new video out from their last tour.  Wish we could have caught them!  Next best thing, eh?

What Would Help?

In Connecticut, the following gun laws applied to the crazy bastard that shot up a school:

• Permit to purchase handgun
• FBI and State background check
• Training course
• Fingerprints
• and a high licence fee
• 14 day waiting period to purchase handgun
• Permit required to transport handgun, even to the range
• Guns must be stored unloaded in a locked container 
• All transfers, even private party sales, are subject to having a permit and are registered and tracked through a state database
• All 'assault weapons' are registered since 1993.
• Cosmetic features and some functional features are banned (bayonet, pistol grip, etc) since 1993.
• Allowed police seizure of weapons with sworn warrant of 'danger to others'.

My question - which of these laws prevented this crazy person to obtain firearms?  What law, regulation, training requirement, etc. will prevent future crazy people from obtaining guns and doing bad things?

"Easy - outlaw private possession of firearms!"

OK - would the billions of dollars it will take to register, sieze and destroy some or all private firearms be better spent on expanding and improving mental health programs so people can actually get the help they need?  

Your comments?

Softbank and the Long Now

My director at work brought up a 30 (or 300) year plan from Softbank in todays Ops review.  For the impatient, you can find the slides or a 2-hour video of Masayoshi Son presenting his 30 year vision.
http://www.softbank.co.jp/en/info/vision/next30/

What's this all about?  It's a long term vision - not quite on the 10,000 year scale of the Long Now Foundation but far more forward thinking than the typical quarter by quarter lurching of modern Fortune 500 publicly traded companies.  What is the vision all about?  Not profits, income or OIBIDA, but human knowledge and satisfaction with life.

Personally I've always worked toward making Wireless better for people.  Not selling phones, not checking boxes on spreadsheets, but making the whole wireless experience better for humans.  Helping people communiate with other people.  Do that right and you'll get the sales, the retention and the trust that makes a company profitalble. 

SOFTBANK works to make people happy
through information revolution.

The presentation starts out starkly - death, lonlieness, suicide and despair, quickly moving to what makes people happy - reaching directly into Maslow's Hirearchy of Needs, speaking to connecting with people and self actualization. After a quick comple slides on the company past and metrics, they jump right into some rather unique goals for a corporate entity:

Endeavoring to benefit society and
the economy and maximize enterprise value
by fostering the sharing of
wisdom and knowledge
gained through the IT revolution.

After a brief review of the past 300 years, they dive right into the Singularity.  Softbank forecasts our computational power will exceed the human brain in just 6 years; far faster than Ray Kurzwiel or Vernor Vinge or other futurists are predicting.  Softbank doesn't mince words - they simply state that one of their goals is to bring the brain / computer to life.  Son and Softbank aren't just futurists or tinkerers like Kurzweil; they are directly working to bring the future to life with cloud computing, instant speed networks and unlimited bandwidth.

They close out with this from Albert Einstein:

We exist for our fellow-men
- in the first place
for those on whose smiles and welfare
all our happiness depends,
and next for all those unknown to us
personally with whose destinies
we are bound up by the tie of sympathy.
-Albert Einstein

Originally published on the Sprint Community in our internal group.