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July 2005 Archive

Printtroll

posted by DL Byron on July 25, 2005

Printtroll is a book making and print collaborative with Robroy Chalmers and his former student, Brett Groves. Robroy goes way back with Textura Design, to the net.art of old, like still_motion (12M QT), a piece that was included in the Liverpool Biennial with words written by Zeldman. Robroy also publishes Sikwenshel, his personal site.

We visited Robroy and family when we were in NYC earlier this year and saw the books his new site is about. They're fascinating.


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Vive Le Tour

posted by DL Byron on July 25, 2005

I watched the last stage of the tour 3 different times yesterday. Live at the crack o’ dawn, the end again, and the beginning. I got a bit teary each time I listened to Lance’s unprecedented speech from the podium. As he noted, it was a dream podium for 3 great champions. The reports on Lance often talk about what he means to millions. Here's what he meant to me, during those seven years and more

  • I’d think about his training when I felt too tired or burned out to ride my bike
  • I rode technology that he helped develop with Trek
  • I wore a wristband for the two women with breast cancer I know and for my grandfather that died of stomach cancer
  • Lance mainstreamed a sport I love

Velo Images I’ve also been a fan of Jan, before Lance, TDFblog once quipped, “you’re rolling with the T-Mos.” In OLN’s behind the podium coverage, you could see the emotions, the utmost respect, and love between the competitors. Jan is critized much, when compared to Lance, but he makes no excuses, never quits, and rode his way next to Lance on the podium. I cheered him the whole way and thought the podium should each up just as it did.

In his final words about the 2005 Tour, OLN’s Paul Sherwin said, “It’s sad to close a book,” and Phil Ligget added, “except when it’s a good book.” Following the storybook theme, George Vecsey wrote Champagne on Champs-Elysees Sends Armstrong Off to Act III.

In their coverage, USATODAY writes about Lance’s next mission and this quote from one of Lance’s doctors stuck with me

“There’s this ancient Chinese belief that when a person is held in the hearts and minds and souls of so many other people, they can do better.”

After David Zabrieskie fell, CSC’s Team Director Bjarne Riis, exclaimed, “Lance has all the luck.” And he did, tour after tour. “I have to think so because this race is too hard to win once: too many obstacles, too many problems, accidents, illnesses, other guys get better, you get lazy, you have a bad day — I’ve just never had too many bad days — and perhaps that’s because I’ve got this army behind me.” Lance had an army of fans, survivors, and their hearts, minds, and souls behind him.

As for racing, Lance’s legacy can be seen in the Tour results: 3 Americans in the top ten. Be it Basso Jan or someone else, Vive Le Tour with a new champion and memories of the greatest one.

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Pre-book Sabbatical

posted by DL Byron on July 22, 2005

I posted about the book on Blog Business Summit today and how we were going to crack open the Nutella snack, finally got the title, and we’re going to “echo less &Write more.”

Before Monday, I'll take 2 days and do no blogging, no nothing, bike riding, and chilling.

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Born Magazine : Summer 2005 Release

posted by DL Byron on July 22, 2005

Born Magazine's Summer 2005 issue is up at: www.bornmagazine.org. Lots of great stuff in this issue.


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Time Sport's Blog

posted by DL Byron on July 20, 2005

For another look at the Tour, from a cycling equipment manufacturer, check Time Sport International's blog.

So, I needed to get caugh up this morning, didn't turn the tour on and even more drama with the Team Classification!

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Web Design World & Stratoblog

posted by DL Byron on July 19, 2005

I speak this morning about blog design at Web Design World Seattle and then will join my fellow bloggers on the Stratoblog for the Blogging the Stratosphere event. The event is an exclusive flight onboard Connexion One, a Boeing 737-400 used to demonstrate the Connexion by Boeing signature high-speed in-flight Internet service.


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T-Mobile Team & Hincapie

posted by DL Byron on July 18, 2005

For another view of the tour, check T-Mobile's Team site. It includes english translations of Jan Ullrich's blog, tons of resources and reports.

The watercooler topic being discussed today by Tour fans everywhere is Hincapie's big win or big wheelsuck. Ce'st le Tour! A win is a win, but he did say he'd work and didn't. You can't blame Pereiro for being upset about it. George said he couldn't come around because of the crowds. On the other hand, Pereiro should know what happens when you drag a sprinter to a sprint.

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Riding with asp.net

posted by DL Byron on July 14, 2005

I meet Eilon, an asp.net developer, on a bike ride yesterday. Funny sometimes how small this world is. I flatted and he stopped to help. We started talking and waddya know, it lead to Internet Explorer, Web Standards, WaSP, tabbed browsing, and geek talk. I've been chatting and meeting with his bosses to collaborate with Microsoft to promote web standards.

Nice guy and good to continue the goodwill with Microsoft. I also noted, how he we stayed wheel to wheel, up the climbs and on the trail.

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Space oddity

posted by DL Byron on July 12, 2005

I sang Ashes to Ashes with the kids this morning in the car. They liked the synth flourishes, and the, "I'm happy, hope you're happy too" lyrics. I was about to explain to them the importance of David Bowie, when I heard, "ashes to ashes, funk to funky, we know major tom's a junky," and thought about Space Oddity. That album and the hit title song were Bowie's first reinvention of himself. As I thought about it more, I realized the parallel with Discovery's mission to restore confidence in shuttle program. NASA is reinventing itself and about to fly. As I posted on the Clip-n-Seal blog, while we're thrilled to be a very small part of the shuttle program, we also realize the emotions and passions the Shuttle is carrying with it into flight.

If it's on board, we hope Clip-n-Seals work well and wish the crew good luck.

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Pugatatat

posted by DL Byron on July 12, 2005

The Pug Blog Pugcast: Ratatat Remix Edition is out and it’s all:

“When you hear dat … bark, sniff, snort, snot bark
When you hear dat … snort, snuff, bark, honk, lick, bark
When you hear dat … ”

Cap’n barks, snorts, snots, and sniffs along to a Ratatat Remix Mixtape that features Buddha Monk and Brooklyn Zoo.


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Stratoblog

posted by DL Byron on July 11, 2005

Anticipating the Blogging the Stratosphere event next week, I updated the Stratoblog with participants, Technorati Tags, and a trackback ping page. The event is an exclusive flight onboard Connexion One, a Boeing 737-400 used to demonstrate the Connexion by Boeing signature high-speed in-flight Internet service.


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The Charge of the Blog Brigade

posted by DL Byron on July 11, 2005

The embrace and extend term didn’t go unmentioned when Microsoft announced its support for RSS. While you didn’t hear much of it from the RSS Lovefest that was Gnomedex, it was quickly added to the WikiPedia, moved up in Google, and the Register. Today, the PI reports on how MS employees are creating podcasts and calling them blogcasts to avoid mentioning Apple’s iPod.

When Wired published Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill , you could read about an MS culture clash, lead, in part, by Scoble who responded to the Wired article by proclaiming, “I’m not supposed to have an iPod? Hogwash!” In that post, Scoble says, “I think it’s a positive thing to study your competitors and figure out what they’ve done well and look at what you aren’t doing well and improve it.” Exactly and that follows the changes in communication that Scoble and Shel are writing about in Naked Conversations. Then how does renaming pop technoculture, or creating a nonApple umbrella brand called Plays for Sure (everything but Apple), to suit your business do that? It doesn’t.

Eric Rice chatted with me about this topic today and said that, if given an opportunity to start over with a name, he’d call it “spacecasting.” On Pug Blog, we call it “pugcasting,” as a dog joke and on the Stratoblog we’ll call it “stratocasting.” Unfortunately, it’s too late for a better name for “podcasting and when Microsoft bloggers do it, just to not mention iPods, they’re bullying the blogosphere. Embrace and extend is their own blog burden to bear and they should know that.

While Scoble leads the charge of the blog brigade at Microsoft, it’s apparent there’s dissension in the troops and an underlying idignant “not invented here.” Is Microsoft listening to Scoble or just to themselves? Scoble and more Microsoft bloggers will be at the next Blog Business Summit and this topic is sure to come up.


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McEwen Diss ad

posted by DL Byron on July 07, 2005

McEwen I read this report on a L’Equipe ad dissing Robbie McEwen. Checked around and found a scan of it.

“Well rested?” says the caption pointing to Boonen, while, next to him, McEwen’s head lay horizontal on O’Grady’s shoulder underneath a second caption: “Tired?”

For the McEwen hater, it rules. Of course, he won the next day, so that was a counter diss to the ad diss, but the ad still rules.



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Sketchy Guy

posted by DL Byron on July 07, 2005

Every race scene has their Sketchy Guy. The guy they call sketchy, cause he's all over the road, doesn't hold his line, chops your wheel, is in the way, and is just generally, "sketchy." In a Procycling article today, Saunier Duvall - Prodir Team Director discusses Tour de France racer Nicolas Fritsch sketchiness and said, "I think that he has got some problem with balance or to do with vertigo." A team mate said that riding behind him is "like shaving in the dark," and the Team Director continued, "We're going to take him to a specialist. It's not normal. When he's in the peloton he's always got his head up, looking ahead, lacking in confidence." It is normal. He's the sketchy guy of the tour!

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Pottery Barn Spam

posted by DL Byron on July 07, 2005

The Pottery Barn spams me. Like everyone else, I get spam everyday. The difference with Pottery Barn is I wondered why a company that wins awards for their branding is spamming me and why don't they stop.

The number one bullet item on the next Brand and Position PowerPoint presentation Pottery Barn executives see from their PR firm should be, "don't spam" and then "check yourself on Google." Why? See Dell, Travelocity, and more who discover (or are clueless) that their customers hate them.

What annoyed me the most is that I went as far as calling Customer Care and said, "take me off your list." I'm sure customer care lady just said yes and it ended there. I also "unsubscribed" just to see what that would do and nothing, just more summer glassware sale emails.


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Antarctica blogs

posted by DL Byron on July 06, 2005

With the Clip-n-Seal Cold Mondo en route to Antarctica, for the British Antarctic Survey, I googled Antarctica Blogs and found 75 Degrees South, a blog written by Simon Coggins. Simon is a BAS researcher, "who left England in November 2003 to work for the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica." BAS offers the fascinating Antarctic Diaries - Life Behind the Science and there's an Technorati tag and one for Flikr. I also found the older Iceblog.

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Webvisions 2005

posted by DL Byron on July 05, 2005

Webvisions 2005 is next week and I'll be speaking about blogging and convergence and digital devices, which is the theme of the event

Join the giants of the Web world to explore the future of design, content creation, technology and business strategy. From podcasting to universal usability, you'll discover how the Web is interacting with digital devices to change the way we communicate, access information and do business.

Webvisions rocked last year, with huge crowds, a good vibe, and a stellar lineup.


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WaSP to Collaborate with Microsoft to Promote Web Standards

posted by DL Byron on July 05, 2005

WaSP formally announced a collaboration with Microsoft to promote Web standards and help developers build standards conformant Web applications. WaSP’s goal is to provide technical guidance and advice as the company increases Web standards support in its products including Microsoft Visual Studio and ASP.NET. There’s an official press release and Molly is accepting comments and trackbacks on her blog.

Devil dancin’

As a member of WaSP and the Task Force, I can say much work has gone into the announcement and there’s more to come. The Task Force and our new relationship with Microsoft came out of SXSW, as blogged by Scoble. At SXSW, Scoble felt snubbed (he wasn’t), excluded and surprised by the Acid Test, and from there we emailed, flamed, posted, argued, calmed down and then starting talking productively. I had lunch a few weeks ago with members of the IE team and can say that as passionate as WaSP is, if Microsoft wasn’t serious and genuine, we wouldn’t be talking and working together. They are, we are, and it’s going to make a difference in developing standards conformant Web applications.

As we’ve seen with blogging applications, the real growth in Standards-based design, besides all of us that toil by hand, is in the tools.


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Le Tour is on

posted by DL Byron on July 02, 2005

Each year, the hype builds and Le Tour delivers. OLN’s coverage keeps getting better, and I’ll watch it everyday. I’ll also follow it online

And listen to the Lance podcast. Check the Lance Armstrong Infographic for more on the tour. As Lance said, in a recent episode of Chasing Lance, “it’s a marathon, chess, and a Nascar race.” I’ve been into cycling for 12 years and watching Lance in HD was amazing, especially the behind-the-scenes with the team mechanics.

My favorite to win is Jan Ullrich and T-Mobile. As the great champions have done before him, Lance will crack, finish valiantly, and a new winner will ride into Paris.

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