Yup, I’m folding. I have no idea when I’ll ever have time to get Template Cascade up and running again even though all it needs is some Copy Write! With a new exciting project (shhhhhh… June 1st) on the horizon I’m not going to be free anytime soon either. So with that in mind I’m just going to start posting a lot of my ramblings that would normally go on my Template Cascade site. These usually differ from the normal ones in that they start with <?PHP and then sometimes I even conclude my thoughts ?>
This is just an explanation post to the one that is going to be posted in 20 minutes. Since this really is void on content I’m going to drop one of the funnier things I’ve seen on the interwebs lately courtesy of pro interweber @alexclemens2.
That's right this wins... Don't pun again... Useless.
As many of you know I’m currently working for Dr. Will Bar. So with that I’d like to say that some of this is my personal opinion and in no way is my opinion the opinion of Dr. Will Bar as a company. Personally, while running their online marketing and sales campaign, using the website itself, Twitter and Facebook one thing that kept coming up over and over again on the ingredients list was Corn Syrup. As these questions arose I had a lingering feeling in the back of my mind that High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup were both corn derived sweeteners but had vastly different health effects. I seem to remember in much of my reading/RSS feed wandering/NPR pod cast listening that there was something about the differences and that Corn Syrup was safe. So I decided as the first part of my research on the bar to tackle this. Mainly so I knew what I was eating but later, after being hired, as a blog post for the Dr. Will Bar site so I could try to clear up some confusion on the two. You can read the article (Corn Syrup vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup) but here I’d just like to say somethings that expand more on the actual debate and tactics used.
Yup, that’s right start making good on all those promises you thought you’d never have to live up to. Because folks, hell has in fact frozen over. Don’t trust me trust twitter. Then, yes, it happened. As predicted by a not so disguised hint Google, the largest server of internet ads ran a super bowl ad. This mainly is interesting to me as I thought TV ads, traditional media, print, are all obsolete, at least you’d get that impression if you get your news by any of those means. Yet the accused destroyer of all known advertising methods turns to them to gain popularity? Are they worried about B.I.N.G. or just increasing awareness? Look for yourself.
Now that would be a true turning point for the brand -- a brand that, for nearly ten years, dismissed brand advertising as a waste of money (“The last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America,” in Eric Schmidt’s words back in 2006), and built its entire fortune on turning the advertising model upside down.
It’s Dec 31st and this day brings to close the first year in which I’ve run my own personal blog. I’ve had a lot of fun and I’ve learned that more people enjoy seeing photos of me in a skin suit riding a bear than doing honest reviews of cycling insoles and energy bars. Truthfully though going around shooting photos of me in a time trial helmet was much more fun that comparing cycling orthotics anyway so I can’t judge. I’d like to share one thing I’ve learned this year that is applicable to those that own or run blogs (who don’t have easy access to stuffed bears) everywhere, in all fields and all topics. That one thing is images, more specifically how easy a blog can be enhanced in a very short amount of time using images. A properly used image can add depth, professionalism and draw a reader into a blog post unlike words will ever be able to do. Using a simple point and shoot camera and Picasa for photo organizing and lighting adjustments I’ve found a system that lets me upload photos in less than ten minutes.
Want to Use Images to their Full Extent?
(the quick and simple way):
Select an appropriate template for your WordPress Blog: I prefer simpler templates for blog in which I’m going to use images as an attention grabber. Templates, especially those in diffused shades, white, black and gray allow the images to stand out and speak for themselves. This blog is actually a good example of that. For several reasons I prefer fixed width blogs. Step #2 is a good example of why.
Bigger is better: Figure out the maximum width you are allowed to use for an image. In this blog it’s 588px including the border for a caption. Crop your images to this and use them proudly at the top of your blog posts.
Don’t go stock: With the methods mentioned below it is very very simple to use your own images.
Find a process and stick with it: I keep a point and shoot camera on me at all times. I never know when a photo opportunity is going to sneak up. With modern cameras it’s easy to keep them in your pocket and shoot away. Next I take a little bit of time to organize them in Picasa so when I’m writing a post I can grab one of my personal “stock” photos. I also use Picasa to quickly edit the photo, adjusting for light balance, sharpness and contrast before I upload.
Details!!! This is my philosophy. And it works, again and again and again… and again. When uploading photos fill in all the fields. Think them over, write a gripping caption. Do not use the default for the Title Field. This value is not visually apparent on the blog so people often times skip over it. I send emails to my clients all the time reminding them to use it. So don’t be like some of my problem children, take my advice and use it! Small things like this will get you better search engine traffic especially from image indexers like images.google.com. If you want to take image indexing a step further you can use the Media Tag plug-in. It’s finicky and sometimes it takes a while for me to get it going but it’s well worth it if your blog is image heavy.
A note on details: They are not the kind of thing that get you a high spike in traffic, they are not the front page of digg. But if you are careful and detail oriented all your blogging and photography efforts become that much more effective. Good posts have a better chance of ranking, getting noticed, linked to, etc. If you rank in a relatively unpopular term can get you 5-10 hits a day. 20 of those articles and you have a good base of readers to build on.
With Picasa the sunset becomes just a touch more vibrant.
Part of launching Oregon Cycling Action included me involving myself as more than just the web master but as the guy who does the cycling product reviews. My first one is the wheel review I’ve been talking about on this blog for a while. I got 5 people from the Oregon area to test a set of wheels. The wheels are a stock set hand built in California. The kinlin rims are laced to DT Swiss 240 hubs using DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. I learned a fair amount from this review. Like if you get 5 people to test wheels you might only get 3 reviews back. Which I don’t think is bad considering the riders weren’t getting paid anything or getting any kick backs. All in all though it went extremely well and I look forward to testing more items.
Why am I having a beer at 7:30 am on a Friday? You might be comforted by the fact that it’s at least a Friday, but the 7:30 AM? Am I in Mexico? Nope… and it’s not even coffee beer. I’m just celebrating, a little bit excited. After a long stretch, Oregon Cycling Action finally has a new home, a new look and a new set of features. Now the real work is going to begin. Keeping the bar high, and pushing it higher. Finding advertisers, marketing, publishing, etc. I’m excited and Pat is a great guy to work with. This site, despite the two goons running it, hopefully will be another contribution to the already great cycling related publishing community in Oregon. The new features are:
Well, that’s not it either. We have cards down our sleeves yet. Nothing official and there’s no way I’m leaking any news yet but there’s always more to be done, and there’s always more to be imagined. We’re working hard and I’m excited!
Interbike is descending upon me quickly. And I’m already going to start updating my Interbike section. I’m stuck at home typing frantically while the “peons” are out setting up the booth. Then I’ll get to fly in Wed. afternoon (think American Calvary), watch the ‘cross race and then enjoy an evening of _____ before starting in earnest on Thursday. Where I’ll be racing one of those go fast turny races. Part of frantically typing on the computer is checking up on the Fairwheel Bikes foruminterbike 2009 thread. And this is where I came across this little gem. It’s discussing a carbon disc brake rotor on our Electron Di2 Mountain bike build. That’s right I said it, we got together with some Electrical Engineers and re-wired a Di2 build into a mountain bike configuration, 2 X 10 baby!
And with the CF rotor…..how does the braking compare to a regular SS rotor? Is there anyone making cast iron rotors? In racing I found that cast iron rotors increase braking mojo by a factor of at least one shitload. I would think a heavily drilled/machined iron rotor wouldn’t weigh too much. Also what’s the wear rate like on the CF?
Via @fairwheel "Into every life a little rain, or broken glass, must fall"
Also while I’m at it, sitting on my high horse, being pretentious and elitist because I’m too lazy to do any of the heavy lifting I’d like to pass along a “way to go boys” (see attached picture of broken display case) to those “peons” at the show.
AX-Lightness 161 Gram Rim; The lightest bike rims?
I’ve been working hard lately, mainly on projects that are for now best left until the beginning of Inter-bike on Wednesday. But little bits and piece are starting to come to light. This photo, of a new AX-Lightness Rim (161 grams!?!?!?!?) was “leaked” by my boss @fairwheel. It just got laced to a set of hubs that will make for a wheel set that… well, like I said, wait for Interbike. But this picture, aside from the rim holds clue to one more project and another hint for this one. Although the bike this rim is going on is going to be light, very very light, it’s not the main focus of the bike. If your interested in more, it seems as though @erichsanders has some information and posted it on his twitter account.
After the first coat
More on the personal front, I did take a break last night to go run and get some wood to start building a bike rack in the living room. It’s going to be two rows of bike one higher than the other to fit more into the space. Rubber coated hooks into two pieces hanging at the top. And then in order to keep things cleaner there are going to be two 1 x 6s at the bottom for the rear wheel to rest on. All together, 10 bikes ten feet long taking up a good portion of one wall in the living room. I’m pretty excited to get some bikes hanging. Plans are also in the works for some hooks to hang shoes off of, a set per bike. A fan might be in store for the winter when shoes start coming home wet.
Matt touching up the wheels after a long day on Saltzman
You know the second one is going to suck when the first one leaves you this sweaty.
It’s been a long day. Lots going on in the part of my life that involves working on the interwebs… I did manage to head over to Saltzman to do some intervals that I needed to do on Wednsday not Friday, but hey what’s a few days to a training program. It’s not like this is scientific or anything, right? So I brought the flashy new wheels with me while I rode Saltzman, twice, from 30 to Skyline. I love that little stretch of road. The main reason I like that road so much, is we have nothing like it in Tucson. The sun down there is always shinning down on you… Always! It’s nice to get in the shade on a hot day. Plus it’s my kind of ride, hard packed gravel always breaks up the monotony of a road ride.
Afterward I went to Sellwood to see what happened to the wheels. As I’m not being the good scientific reviewer that I should be I didn’t make sure they were straight before I rode, so they did need a few turns here and there but they’re new and that’s probably just initial spoke stretch and nipples settling in. Another thing to note while I’m on the subject of Sellwood turning my nipples, see those little shiny tires in the picture? If you’re commuting, go down there and get those! I had a great experience with them. Flat resistant, safe, and well… Shiny. Schwalbe, reflective sidewalls.
My BH with white wheels! Kinlin Rims, DT swiss 240 Hubs, DT Swiss Aerolite Spokes
As part of my work with Fairwheel Bikes, I’m going to be putting together a review of one of our newer wheel set offerings: This hand built wheel set is eight hundred dollars, weighs in at 1423 grams, and is available in Black, Gold, Silver, Red, or White XR-270 Kinlin rims. I currently have the wheels sitting at my house and need to put together a review for them. Rather than ride them myself (which I have done) and then post a review, I’m going to take a different approach this time. I’d like to find around five people in the Portland area that are willing to take the wheels out for a few rides and write a review of them. I will then compile the reviews and rider experience into an article to be published. I feel that this will give a more honest and rounded perception of the wheel set.
A few things to Note:
Your name, and if applicable, team name will be published, you might get yourself and team a little exposure.
You will not be held responsible for damage to the wheels, but please treat them with respect, to test wheels you don’t need to do anything different than you do with your own.
If you’re interested please post a comment on this posting, or contact me.
