Endopolis

Somehow I got roped into doing a 5k "fun run" at Yahoo yesterday. I signed up weeks ago, so have spent a little time -- very little -- getting ready to run over three miles without stopping.

I am in decent shape overall, but nothing like the pre-kid days of a couple of years ago when any week would consist of playing soccer twice, doing spinning classes and hitting the gym 4x a week, plus surfing, hiking, etc. on weekends. Now I just cling to any exercise I can get, whenever I can get it: A couple days in the gym during lunchtime per week plus some weekend warrior activity (surfing, golf, biking, etc).

I have never been a runner. I hate running, despite playing many running-based sports over the years (football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse). I  don't find the singular act of running fun at all. I'd rather do any other exercise than run any distance more than a mile or two. I find it totally boring, it hurts my body, and generally just don't get the point. Mix running in with something else (like kicking a ball) and then you've got something I'm interested in.

Did I mention that I hate running?

So there were over 180 Yahoos signed up for this run yesterday, and I ended up running with a couple guys, Carlos and Ryan. Carlos is a runner -- he spends time doing it and is running the San Francisco (half) Marathon this weekend. That is hardcore. We started out jogging, and about 2/3 of the way through Ryan decided to take off, so he did. Me and Carlos built up some speed along the way and finished together (strong, I might add).

Carlos also had a Garmin GPS watch, which output our stats. That was cool to see:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/452886

• Total distance: 3.39 mi
• Time 32:35
• Avg pace: 9:36 min/mi
• Fastest pace: 7:02 min/mi (we turned it on for the last half mile or so)

Seeing our stats and graphs is neat, and I can imagine having access to this data being addictive to runners. Yesterday's run was actually pretty fun, in that it was an accomplishment (albeit a small one). And, I got a commemorative t-shirt and snacks.

Still, I am not a runner, and probably never will be. See you on the stairmaster.

Posted by senders at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I went to the 10th anniversary/reunion party for TechTV, in San Francisco at CNET's HQ. TechTV has been defunct for about four years (it's now part of Comcast as G4TV). I left for Yahoo News in 2004, right after the acquisition with Comcast was announced. And from time to time, I've seen ex-TechTVers around town, at conferences and mixers, on TV, on their own web shows, etc. 

But I also see a lot of them on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc. So last night when I walked into the party and saw quite a few faces I hadn't seen in a few years, despite not having seen them in a few years, I knew exactly what they had been up to.

Sure, there were some blanks to fill in, but for those I've kept in touch with via social networking, there were few surprises. There were others I hadn't seen or heard from in a while, all the conversation was good and the party was fun. But the "catching up" part of any normal conversation you'd have after not having seen a person for a few years had already been done online. I knew where people worked, where they lived, how many kids (or dogs and cats) they've had, and where they've been on vacation.

Anyway, it was all a bit weird. The same has happened with colleagues I work with in Santa Monica, but there's always plenty of work conversation to fill any void. Still, as I drove home last night I wondered if we'll come to a point in time where people won't get together anymore -- they'll just hang out at home and tweet to each other. I guess we're already doing just that.

Posted by senders at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Great stuff from VH1's Rock Honors 2008 (honoring The Who).

Pearl Jam:

Foo Fighters:

Posted by senders at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day I was all set to install 2GB of new RAM in my (old but still good) 17" PowerBook G4. I was excited about this, so after getting the RAM shipment in the mail I quickly flipped my Mac over, popped the battery out, and discovered that I needed a really small screwdriver that I didn't own. So, I clicked the battery back in, plugged in the computer and started it... up.  Wait a second... it didn't start. I get a blue screen with a cursor, but it won't do anything. It never boots. It's like the dreaded blue screen of death normally associated with PCs. Nothing. Not even a sad Mac face or a question mark looking for the system folder.

WTF?

After a lot of forum-reading with my dad who was in town, we couldn't get the thing going. We tried just about every diagnostic/repair trick in the book (short of sticking it in the freezer). Apparently this blue screen is somewhat notorious to PowerBooks, and I'm not the first person to encounter this sorry state. I don't have Apple Care, the computer is not under warranty, and I'm faced with taking it into an Apple store for advice, which no doubt will be packed with iPhone shoppers (or angry iPhone shoppers looking for support).

I'm afraid this problem, in the end, is going to cost me money. In short, I'm hosed.

Meanwhile, my HP laptop for work is dying -- it freezes and crashes, won't start sometimes, and is generally totally unstable. I cleared out a lot of temp folders and defragged the hard drive last night. That seems to have helped today, but who knows. Yahoo says they're out of replacement computers, so I'm stuck.

If you own a PC, probably best to stay away from me for awhile. I'm a walking blue screen of death.

Posted by senders at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night I flew up the coast from LAX to SJC. On these flights I like to sit on the ocean-side of the plane so I can try to spot all my favorite landmarks on the way: Santa Barbara, SLO, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Monterey and Santa Cruz. I couldn't see much yesterday because the coast south of Pt. Conception was shrouded in fog, while north of the point was covered in smoke and haze.

When we started our descent, I could make out the Monterey Bay to the northwest, and then just out to the west was Big Sur. Once I was able to focus through the hazy sky, I could see the smoke bellowing up from the Santa Lucia Mountains below. It appeared the whole range was on fire -- smoke was coming up from seemingly everywhere. I was shocked by how expansive the fires were.

Here's what it looks like from space today: 

We normally visit Big Sur over the July 4th holiday. This year we opted to go in the Fall instead. That turned out to be a good choice, since the whole area was evacuated and shut down during the holiday. I just hope there's something to go back to in September. Cooler air is supposed to come back this weekend, so hopefully it'll help. I understand that burning is often good for nature, but seeing the all that smoke hurt. I can't imagine what life is like for those who've been evacuated from Big Sur, not to mention all the other fires burning in the state.

Last night, I threw together a collection of my favorite photos of Big Sur from flickr -- better and happier times from my favorite place on earth. 

Posted by senders at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)