My very first exercise bike

Simeri Crichi, Italy, early 80's.

In the late 1970's through the early 1980's I was COCO's Assistant (Coordinator Of Chain Operations)/Chain Communications Petty Officer for the Coast Guard Mediterranean Sea LORAN-C (LOng Range Aids to Navigation - a precursor of GPS) chain, at the Master Station located outside of Sellia Marina, Italy.

Google Maps view of Sellia Marina, Italy

This being southern Italy, it tended to get quite hot during the summer.  Luckily, in addition to some cars, I also owned two motorcycles (mostly just buying vehicles from people ending their tours and heading back to the states). I used the bikes quite often, since I'm not really a big fan of hot climates.

A view of the station from Google Earth.

On one of these 100+ F (about 38+ C) days I took my Laverda GTL 750 out to enjoy the twisty-turney roads available throughout the mountainous foothills of the Catanzaro Region. At about 2:00 in the afternoon, I decided to take a break, stretch my legs, and enjoy the scenic views.  Finding a suitable location on a somewhat safe curve in the road which had a grand vista due to an abrupt (though relatively gentle, considering) drop-off, I stopped the bike, put it on the side stand and went off on a walk to stretch my legs and explore a bit.

Well darn, I should have seen that coming

I'm sure you see where this is leading.  Black asphalt.... 104 degree Fahrenheit sunshine.... 750cc motorcycle on a skinny little side-stand.... 150 minutes later, after finally having manhandled the bike back up the 80 foot, 60 degree slope - with numerous zig zags and loopbacks, all I could think of was how happy I was that I hadn't decided to take my 1200cc BMW.

The Model I had -- a 1974 Laverda 750 GTL-S

Do you love house rabbits?

Do bunnies rule your family?

If you have bunnies as part of your family and would like to get some cute house rabbit related tees, you should check out my wife's shop on Etsy.  In addition to running my own shop, I am also the screen printing golem for my wife's items,  which can be found at http://laseraphincreations.Etsy.com. This shop is strictly hers, and the proceeds are hers to do with as she pleases.

Here are some examples of her tees

With more coming all of the time.

Big Buns House Rabbit Shirt

Ask me about my bunny shirt

Bunny 500 Racing House Rabbit Shirt

The One Who Thumps House Rabbit Shirt

My Heart Has Joined The Thousand House Rabbit Shirt

Rabbit Facts House Rabbit Shirt

Visit her shop at http://laseraphincreations.etsy.com

Learn to adapt

Do you adapt to change?

Learn to Adapt (with 45RPM adapter) tee

I'm trying to push this particular tee in January. I'd like to start the year out knowing that people are out there using their brains and listening to and taking opposing viewpoints into consideration.  I'm sometimes guilty of confirmation bias myself, so I know that I'll be making a more active effort to obtain as much relevant information as possible and modifying my stance on issues as appropriate.

I'm hoping to see at least fifteen sales of this particular tee before the end of the month. With that in mind, I'm reducing the price to $11.99 for the rest of the month. I doubt that it will get the fifteen sales, but a person needs to dream.

Learn to Adapt (with 45RPM adapter)

It doesn't have to be black on yellow.

You can request custom color combinations.  I mostly used yellow because the majority of the 45RPM adapters were yellow.  As shown in the first photo, the shirt I just did up for myself used grey for the design/shadows and black for the text.

I've also increased the size of the 45RPM adapter in relation to the shirt, and darkened it up some.  That will be the new format for them.

Now available at both stores.

On sale for $11.99 through the end of January.

The shirt is now available at both of the shops. You can get it at the online store (the preferred choice, for me) - or at the Etsy shop.

Get the shirt here

New shirt for the IT types and neighborhood 'computer experts.'

Have you tried flinging poo at it? tee

This shirt has an IT department chimp on the phone - reminiscent of Roy and Moss with their classic "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" - but with a decidedly simian perspective.  

Stop by and check it out at The Wits' End

Not-So-Great moments in my computing history.

January, 1981. My first full-fledged computer game programming effort comes to a successful fruition. I had, of course, "programmed" games before that; however, they were either laboriously entered from magazines like COMPUTE!, ANTIC, or A.N.A.L.O.G. or they were simple things done up in the vein of that type of program (not to imply that the magazine programs were simple, just that my efforts were.).

January saw me complete a program that I was quite proud of. It was in Atari 8K BASIC, but it incorporated machine language routines loaded dynamically into Page 6 as needed, display list interrupts, Player Missile graphics (known as "sprites" on other systems), original graphics, "music" and sound effects.

I no longer have the program, so I can't give any screen shots or anything, but it was basically a variation of Space Invaders. The name of this awesome first programming effort?

Save Your Sister From the Alien Sperm!

I am simultaneously proud and shamed.

13149 days ago, I purchased my first computer.

This is four days old now, so technically, it was 13153 days ago.

Physicists mimic quantum entanglement with laser pointer to double data speeds