Numerology

I just thought I would link to an article about Numbers, which is part of iWork '08. It really impressed me as a somewhat frustrated spreadsheet user. The minute I started using it, the first thought that popped into my mind was "why haven't spreadsheets always worked this way?".

Macworld's review of Numbers.

That's it, I'm going to clown college!

I got a chance to show off my unicycling yesterday at Kyle's birthday party. (Scott/Elinor's older kid)

Went rather well; didn't break any bones in front of all the little runts.

I really need a new unicycle though. At one point I wasn't really paying attention and got on it backwards, and I could immediately tell because I could feel that the pedals were bent differently from usual.

Earlier over the weekend I managed to get some more practice in, and I'm proud to say I can now free-mount the unicycle with either my left or right foot. Hmm, would that be pedidextrous?

(And a link for good measure: clicky)

Party Time!

The work I've been doing here at Apple this summer has been in relation to iWork '08. Some other folks in the office have been hard at work on iLife '08. Both are pretty awesome, check 'em out!

While you're at it, take a peek at the new iMacs. I sure wish I had one!

(If you hit the links and still see the old products, just hit refresh a few times for the shiny new ones to pop up)

It's a Sign

Last login: Tue Jul 31 13:33:37 on ttys000
I'm just so elleeeet.

Freakishly Large Birds

So this morning I wake up and take a look outside, and there I see my car, sitting there as normal... with a giant white spot on the hood.

I look again and there's no doubt about it. There's a round white spot about the size of a pancake, just on the near side of the hood. I start wondering what kind of giant, mutant bird could drop such a load on my car as I venture out to find...

Well, turns out that it's just a slightly warmer patch on the hood where the dew didn't collect overnight, and so when I looked at it from my window, it reflected the white clouds in the sky, while the rest of the car was matted by the dew and just looked green.

Curse you, physics!

Back in the saddle again

The weather was quite nice this evening so I managed to get some more unicycling in. Turning seems to be coming along well, though it's still a little rough.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I think this unicycle's days are definitely numbered.

Wheelin' It

I'm considering buying a new unicycle. The one I've got now, while basically functional, is leaving a bit to be desired.

First off is the seat. It's basically a piece of stamped steel, covered with a thin (and I do mean thin) layer of padding. This is the cause of some rather uncomfortable bruising on my thighs. Seat technology has come a long way in the past 15-20 years.

Second is the tire. it's not a horrible tire, but it's only rated for 45psi and I prefer running at much higher pressures, like 80-120psi. It's already showing signs of not liking being that overinflated.

Third is the pedals, which aside from being kind of cheap are also somewhat bent, no doubt a result of me falling off all the time.

Fourth is the frame, which is a flawed design that tends to develop stress fractures near the fork ends.

There's not many parts left on a unicycle aside from those, but I should say that the cranks, rim, hub and spokes are doing just peachy!

So, as you can see, it wouldn't be worth while to try to fix all these issues, so I might as well just get a new one.

At the same time, I'll probably also move to a 24 inch wheel rather than the 20 I have right now. A larger wheel is a bit easier rolling, goes further for each pedal rotation, and only sacrifices a bit of weight and maneuverability.

Of course, all this depends on actually having some money to spend at some point.