Swap Blog

With the Dauphne – Libre going on, the Tour of Switzerland starting soon, the Tour De France starting in few weeks (and all the drama that comes with that), and Bernard Kohl coming clean there is a lot to follow and a lot going on in the cycling world, it can be easy to miss other cycling stories.

The cool news is that Velonews has some shots of some hot bikes from the Giro up today. Zabriskie’s rear wheel ROCKS!!

The bad news is an alleged drunk driver (Tausah Borland) killed two amateur cyclists, and seriously injured a third, training near Tulsa. The team is starting a fund in their honor. This story is also at Velonews.

Well as everyone that cares about it knows, two American reporters for Current TV(Laura Ling and Euna Lee) were convicted in N Korea for slipping into the country while reporting on the trafficking of women. They both have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor. This story raises a few issues for me.

First of all, this trail and convictions shows just how wonderful America is. Here we don’t sentence people to 12 years hard labor for sneaking in. In fact, in my view, we are not tough enough on those that slip in to our nation, but 12 years is too harsh by any fair minded person for sneaking into to report on the nation and it citizens. It saddens me greatly to hear over and over from both Americans and the world how cruel America is to it’s people, including illegal aliens, when the standard of fairness only seems applicable to America and no other nation seems to have to be as free and open. No one seems to be pushing for France to make more illegals citizens just because they are there.

Moving on, if these two young ladies actually serve 12 years in N Korea, I guarantee they will never talk about the cruelness of America again. In fact a AP story out today says they will likely not have to serve in the cruelest prisons and their presence will likely be used to negotiate.

My key point here is that this is N. Korea we are talking about. This is one nation that has never been fair or considered even handed. Why would any one (including the two young ladies) expect N Korea and it dictatorial government lead by the megalomaniac midget Kim Jung Il or his son be fair. It is wholly unrealistic to ask for sanity and fairness from a nation that has no desire to be sane or fair.

I feel for these two young ladies, but I think calls by America (be it at the presidential, diplomatic, or social agency level) to get North Korea to adjust it’s actions are no more then screams into a storm at this point. This case, these two American citizens, and this whole situation is exactly the type of thing that drives Kim Jung Il. He, and his nation whether he or his son are running it at the moment, loves to this worldwide press and loves the attention it brings him. He wants to be vilifed by the West. He wants to cause problems and receive concessions, money and food, for acts and promises he will never follow through on. Does anyone remember those nuclear power plants that were just for power (if we paid for them), well now they are making weapons with them. That should not have been a surprise to anyone. N Korea and it’s government are not trust worthy, fair or just. To ask that of it and them is just not logical.

So, in my view the best thing to do is ignore this nation and this case for about six months and then back channel via China get the young ladies freed, or get their sentence reduced, for about 1,000 tons of rice – which would benefit the N. Korean people far more then nuclear weapons and power ever will or did. Based on the AP story it will likey play out like that or in a similar fashion.

Well Astana got some of their bills paid and it looks like they are cleared to ride the Tour De France now. The team also returned to wearing their normal jerseys (which openly show Astana on them). Full story at Velonews here.

Google rolled out it’s Wave development package at a developers conference yesterday. This could mean real apps developed real easy for the web, and pull some users off of Windows (and Mac) based machinces and onto lower powered and more mobile devices like netbooks or smartphones. The big deal here is that it would break the control Microsoft has over many Office users and let them have rich app / web experiances without the expense of Redmond based software. Full bnet coverage here

Carmi Levy of TG Daily had a great post earlier this month and follow up earlier this week with some compelling arguments about how Apple will eventually need to work out some lower cost options if it going to continue to see it’s margins hold and attempt to make it’s OS viable. May favorite line follows –

Apple fans can look down their noses at PC bargain hunters all they want, but the truth is there are a lot more bargain hunters than fanboys with money to burn.

Metropulse has a great post up about Kelly Segars who is tasked with developing a progressive / forward thinking bike plan for Knoxville. As a 30+ year cyclist in E TN I wish her the best and thank her in advance for her work. Any progress is appreciated, though I have to admit I have not had a beer bottle thrown at me for going too slow on Karns back roads for almost 10 years now…ah progress.

Microsoft is now arguing that EU restrictions on their OS’s (which may require the inclusion of other browsers with Windows – Opera, Firefox, Chrome, Iron, etc) could do more to locked down Google’s search dominance then help browser competition. Microsoft argues that since Opera, Firefox, and Chrome / Iron default to Google for search that their inclusion in Windows would help Google reinforce it’s search dominance. Story at Reuters UK.

I was a bit late getting to my May edition of Fast Company, but once I got to it I found a great article about the future of landing aircraft. It seems that Honeywell is / has developed a system that can land a airplane – including jumbo jets – via GPS. This will be the first real move away from the 1930’s era radio / radar based system that is currently used. The system is 15 years behind and will likely be 15 more years before it is perfected. When / if it works though it could mean BILLIONS of dollars for airlines. Full story at Fastcompany.

Well the Giro d’Italia, the Tour of Italy, started today with a 20.5 kilometer (about 12.75 miles) Team Time Trail (TTT) stage along the beaches / shores of Venice. American team Columbia High Road (formerly T-mobile) took first and put their sprinter Mark Cavendish in the leaders pink jersey. Second place was taken by America’s Garmin-Slipstream team. Astana (formly USPS and Discovery and possibly soon the Livestrong team) with Lance Armstrong finished third. That is an amazing start for only three teams with strong US ties in Europe. Full story at US Today, AP, Cycling News, and target=”_blank”Velonews

Universal Sports will provide FREE Online and TV coverage daily from 8:30 – Noon EST day.

SuperTouch has pics and a story about Lance Armstrong Giro bikes. Both are one off’s done by artist. The TT bike is cool, and I would like the Yellow and Black one (the daily ride) more if it did not look like a Henai tattoo – more steampunk for me. Post here

The News Tribune has a really great piece discussing why some gadgets catch on (Ipod) and some do not (Segway), but focuses specifically on the Amazon’s Kindle.

CNET has a story up about a potential sub $250 Android based netbook.

Recently a co-worker and I were talking and he told me about his baseball collection. He has some cards that are valued at over $600 each. He also told me about a few cars his father and brother own which they have restored and are valued at over $30,000 each though they themselves only have a few thousand in them. As he concluded he said something very profound though, regarding both the cards and cars, “They are only worth that if you find someone who is willing to pay you that.”

That is so true. The value of something is determined not by what someone says it is worth, but by what someone is willing to pay for it.

If a car is priced at $50,000 it is not worth that unless someone is willing to pay that. If no one paid $50,000 for a car then cars priced at $50,000 cars are not worth that and a lower price is determined. The reverse can be true as well. If a car is priced at $20,000 from the maker, but there is a huge demand for that model then the dealer can charge more for it and they will get it. Popular new model cars regularly sell for above list price.

Another quick example, athletic shoe companies can only get $200 for shoes when people are willing to pay $200 for shoes. The same can be said of fashionable shoes or clothing. When no one buys those items for $200, the shoes and/or clothes are then re-priced until they reach a point that people are willing to pay.
This same process is true for every item which is bought and sold, whether it is soda pop, baseball cards, computers, clothes, shoes or televisions. The price of something is determined not by what someone or some company says it is worth, but by what people are willing to pay for it.

So, value is determined not by the claimed or stated worth but by what someone will pay. That makes God’s sacrifice of His only Son Jesus for our lives even more amazing.

Though some may say they are extremely valuable, the truth is that society has little value for most people. Sure people that are close to us may say we are valuable to them, but the majority of society says that we are / were not worth much. Society as a whole puts little value on most people and their lives. However, God paid for our lives with the most valuable thing He had – His Son. That establishes us, and our lives, as been extremely valuable and precious to God. God’s act of sending Christ to earth to live and die for us establishes what we are truly worth and that is priceless and behind value.

Remember today that God considers you valuable and worthwhile. He loves you deeply and cares about you in amazing ways. He actively wants to be involved with you and your lives, and not just the big things but in everything. Seek Him out today and let Him show and tell you what you are worth.

Free Speech is a dangerous thing. It is dangerous to those that want to dominate and control others, and that is exactly why the founders of our nation were SO set on allowing it. Free speech is a danger to a controlling government. It is a danger to those that want to do harm to others and remain unchallenged. It is a danger to those that want to use the force of law and society to oppress their detractors. Free speech is a danger for all of those reasons and numerous others.

Speech is dangerous and it is powerful. It can condemn, it can inflame, it can agree, it can soothe, it can change things, and it can convince. When I see people who want to use it for their causes, but limit it for the causes of others or for those that oppose them it bothers me, regardless of which side I agree with.

Two current stories sum up my concerns with the free speech debate in the US at the moment.

First you have the Dept Homeland Security issuing a memo about the danger of those who disagree with illegal immigration, want to keep their guns, disagree with gay marriage, and do not like big government. The Thomas More Foundation is suing arguing the civil liberties of such citizens are being infringed on by the memo. Sure some people with those views are extremist, but so are some people that desire to open the borders, outlaw guns, the legalization of gay marriage, and the globalization of all countries under one government.

A suit citing civil liberties violations is the same tact previous taken previously when other groups felt they were being profiled or targeted. We will see if this case is handled or viewed in the same manner as previous ones. I do know that dissent was called patriotic during the Bush administration,, we will see if it is still so now. Regardless of how this suit goes, free speech is good for America, even if I don’t agree with what some are saying.

Continuing to look at this same issue. To paint people with such a broad brush is wrong and to categorize them as extreme for merely holding some common beliefs has a chilling effect on many people. Most people don’t want to be labeled as extreme for simply holding a viewpoint contrary to others. For most, it is simpler then for them to remain silent when they feel their views will be labelled inflammatory solely at the discretion of an authority. Allowing the labeling of people as extreme solely for holding a opposing or dissenting view to those in charge is wrong, regardless of who is in charge. Such broad labels has a chilling effect and reduces speech as fewer and fewer people want to be branded.

To label everyone with a certain view has a extremist is wrong regardless of what the view is. Every Muslim is not a terrorist. Every handgun owner is not a murderer. Every conservative is not a bigot. Every liberal is not a eco-terrorist. Every person for more government programs is not a socialist. Every person for lower taxes is not a person that is going to lead a armed revolt against government. Why we think it is good to oppose the speech of those that disagree with us is beyond me. At some point it is likely that the tables will turn and those attempting to oppress now will be the ones feeling oppressed later.

The other big story showing the nature of free speech in America at this time is the current fervor over Miss Califorinia (Carrie Prejean) telling Perez Hilton that she did not agree with gay marriage, though she began by saying she was glad she lived in a country where you could choose. It is largely assumed she lost the crown of Miss America for this answer. After the show, Mr Hilton called her names, has ranted, and such, has called her stupid, says she should have ducked the question, etc.

Yet he does not seem to understand that the very right of speech and opinion he is using to attack her is the same one she used to share her views. She has the right to not agree with gay marriage. It is not his place to determine her views. I am sure he would not want someone else telling him his views or calling him stupid for sharing his opinions, yet he seems to believe it is his right to control her views / actions.

What would Perez Hilton do if a conservative minister ask him if gay marriage should be legalized? He would say it should be legal. That is his view, his opinion and his right. If the conservative minister then went online and said Mr Hilton was stupid for his opinion, that he should have ducked the question because his view was not the view of the person asking the question and that he was simple minded then he would be outraged, and rightfully so.

Miss Prejean has not backed down and has not recanted her views. Maybe that is what is so different about her. She has not changed her stance to quieten her detractors. I respect that. I respect that when someone I disagree with does that as well, but when you start telling people how they should think and act I have a problem. If one side does not want their actions and views controlled they should not expect to control the actions and views of those that differ with them.

At the end of the day, I am for free speech because I am for freedom and liberty even if some use those things in ways I personally do not like. I know a few things for sure. First, Jesus loves us all. Secondly, that God has a plan in all of this. Third, God corrects those He loves, and fourth, that He lets us speak freely about His love and His way for everyone to hear. That does not mean that everyone will listen or even like what they hear when they listen. That is what makes free speech so vital. It is not about finding people that say what you like, but allowing those that differ in their views from you to speak as well.

As I said above, God loves everyone, but He also corrects. That is tough to hear at times when emotions (like politics, sexuality, etc) are involved. People tend to get caught up in the emotion of issues far more then the facts and the reality of situations.

Personally, I am for lower taxes, smaller government, controlled spending, and lots of individual freedoms (i.e. liberty and responsiblity). That does not mean I think every that differs with me is a pea brained automoton sent from the central government to control my every action and thought, though there may be some out there like that. Because I disagree with someone or some thought does not mean I want that person banished or that thought squashed. Debate, disagreement, and determined action is what shapes the future of any great nation or movement.

Personally I am not for gay marriage, but I don’t hate gays. I disagree with their lifestyle, but that does not mean I hate them. I assume they probably disagree with mine as well, but I assume they don’t hate me for it. To disagree with someone or something is not to hate them. I disagree with my wife, my family, my friends regularly, but I hate none of them.

So, as you go about your day think about what you are seeing and hearing both from those that agree and disagree with you and then think about if those people are actively trying to limit those that disagree with them. If they are they are doing a far greater disservice to themselves and their movement then they may even realize.

I overheard some people talking about President Obama and his administration so far. One person said that the others should be quiet where they would not be labelled racist. When did it become a race issue to simply disagree with the politics of a president? I guess when the president is of a different race then the speaker, but that never seemed to be true in the past when African Americans, Latino’s, or Asians disagreed with former Presidents (be they Republican or Democrat).

I personally have voted for people of several races for political office, including an African American 3 times in presidential primaries. None of those votes were because they were or were not a specific race. I don’t think politics and political offices are / should be allocated by what race a person is or is not. Political power should be determined by the votes of citizens for who they want to lead / represent them.

Every president is, does and will be disagreed with. Personally, I have not been in favor of many of Obama’s policies, but guess what I was not in favor of many of Bush’s either. To disagree with a political leader who is of a different race then yourself does not make it racism or you a racist. I never thought when African American Reps and Senators disagreed with Presidents Reagan or Bush it was because they were white. I always assumed that they disagreed with them because they did not like / agree with their policies. Maybe the African American Reps and Senators were racially motivated, but I personally didn’t / don’t believe it and it had never crossed my mind until now. In my mind, if it is not a racial thing for a African American citizen to disagree with a white president, nor is it is a racial thing for a white citizen to disagrees with Obama. Maybe I am simple minded, but that is how I see it.

In fact, I was glad to see that the majority of Americans had come far enough to vote for a African American for president, even if I personally did not agree with President Obama’s politics. I viewed it as a huge battle won in a long fought war.

So, I ask you to consider both the nature of politics and to know the real content of a person before calling or charging them with racism as it only the fair thing to do.

2004 Olympic TT Medalist in cycling, current US road champion and member of Rock Racing, and long time hope of American cycling fans to place high in European races, Tyler Hamilton admitted to taking a OTC dietary supplement which contained DHEA (which can have a steroidly effect) for two days during the Tour of California this year. Hamilton retired officially after admitting to taking the supplement.

Hamilton claims that he took the DHEA to help deal with depression, not for performance advantages. He admitted he knew it was banned and that it was a stupid mistake. Instead of going through the trial process, which will likely lead to a lifetime ban anyway, Hamilton retired from cycling. The trial will still move forward though and a 8 yr to lifetime ban will be placed on Hamilton regardless. Hamilton was previous banned for 2 years for having a positive blood doping result in the 2004 Vuelta. At one point Hamilton was considered the possible heir to Lance Armstrong’s role as the top US cyclist in the world.

For more info check out the following stories:

Velonews
ESPN has a great time line & story
New York Times story
AP Story
Reuter’s story
UPI Story
BBC Story

Tim Barjin of PC Mag.com has an really interesting article up on what he thinks it will take for Google’s Android OS (currently just on smart phones and rumored to be coming to netbooks soon) to become a viable competitor to Microsoft’s Windows or even Apple’s OS. Bajarin does a great job looking at what advantages Android has and what hurdles it must have to be a real competitor. He also ask a very vital question at the end of his piece –

In the end, do we trust Microsoft, Apple, or Google to own us or our eyeballs in the future?

[H/T to Milton Stanley at Transforming Sermons for this one]

John Schroeder of Blogotional has a excellent piece up regarding how God will and does provide. THAT IS A EXCELLENT POINT TO REMEMBER IN THIS TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES.

Additionally, John begins his post by including a excellent argument AGAINST church’s taking government funds for social ministry due to the government strings that can / may come with the funds. That is a point I have been making for years in both regards to social ministries and private schools receiving government school dollars.

The four founders / creators of Pirate Bay have been found guilty in a Swedish court of assisting in copyright infringement. Each faces 1 yr in prison and a fine of about 900,000 USD. It appears as if they will appeal.

There are two bigger issues here then Pirate Bay as I see it.

#1 – Holding people responsible for how others use what they create. Pirate bay did not / does not have any files on their system. Their torrent tracking system just acted as a connection point between people desiring to share files – both copyrighted and not copyrighted.

I am not naive enough to believe that the creators did not know copyrighted material was and would be shared, but they themselves and their site did not transmit or retain those files. I have to ask myself how different is this then a designer of a firearm. The weapon could be used for both random violence or valid defense. SO, is the designer / creator of a tool responsible for it’s use. If so, to that degree and where are those lines? Those are interesting questions in my mind.

#2 – Assuming the conviction and imprisonment of these four (and even the closing of Pirate bay) hold up, this will not stop file sharing. In fact, it will likely not even dent file sharing much. The sharing / torrents will shift to other places. The jurisdicition of p2p sharing sites will move, and the amount of sharing will increase as it always does as more and more people get online and both transmit and receive files daily.

Understand that is not my justifying theft of copyrighted materials, but it makes me wonder if such cases really do much other then get headlines for the various copyright organizations and scare a few people for a few days. Stopping or prosecuting these four is a big deal news wise, but it is not a huge deal in the overall scheme of sharing I feel. I have to wonder if such cases really achieve their purpose or are really designed more for fear.

One could argue that the convictions of these four helps protect copyrights / brands like the court wins for Red Bull last year against establishments who claimed to be using Red Bull in their drinks, but were instead using other “inferior” energy drinks. Red Bull did not sue every bar that they thought was substituting other products for there, but a few larger ones. The convictions of these larger bars were designed to scare smaller establishments into not substituting energy drinks. So, maybe taking down the big sharing site will scare smaller sites into shutting down. I just don’t think that occurs in this case though as stopping file sharing is more about protecting intellectual / artist property not a brand or a specific product. File sharing is also far easier to move, thus harder to track, then tangible product substitutions like in the Red Bull case.

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Added Later

>The Guardian has a article up that adds some interesting points to this case regarding how this case impacts innovation as well as making some of the same points as I did above.

The New York Times Online thinks this conviciton is of no deterrent at all. Again, basically one of the points I made above.

Once again Lance Armstrong has fooled me. I never thought he would make it to the start line of the Giro after breaking his collarbone a few weeks back in Spain. As of last night though, he is confirmed to be on the starting line of the second biggest stage race in the world, the Tour of Italy (Giro De Italia) which starts in Venice on May 9th. Full details at Velonews, BBC, and LA Times

A few things to consider about this story –
# 1 starting the Giro is not finishing the Giro. Armstrong may start, but finishing his first (and only) Giro may not occur. This is a new race for Armstrong and he will not be 100% so he may not finish.

#2 – even finishing or completing the Giro does not mean Armstrong will be there to win or compete to win it. Armstrong’s purpose may be no more then a HARD training ride. He will likely be in / at the Giro attempting to help Alberto Contador win his second Giro in two years and to keep some team tension down.

and

#3 Armstrong in the Giro puts more pressure on the ASO to let him ride in France in July. Time will tell on that but a resilient and fit Armstrong in Europe is harder to keep out then one staying let me ride while sitting in a chair on this side of the Atlantic.

ABC News (via the Spegal staff) has a really interesting story up dealing with how Germany is pursuing aging Nazi war criminals and not just focusing on John Demjanjuk. German officials are currently zeroing in on several other potential war criminals currently living in the US (Ivan Kalymon, Johann Breyer, and Josias Kumpf specifically). They are also focusing on some potential war criminals that already live within German jurisdicition. The piece is well written and informative, give it a read.

Harry McCracken from PCWorld had a nice piece up about two weeks back about the ten worst product NAMES (not products but NAMES) of Microsoft products over the years. This one has a bit of nostalgia for me as I remember all of these products, but few of them fondly.

If the story had been about the worst Microsoft products (and there have been some bad ones) really all you would have to do is nominate Vista and BOB and let everyone argue over which is the worst. All the others bad ones look great compared to those two.

The New York Times has a VERY interesting piece up about a big corporate law firm (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom) which is allowing it’s associates, but not it’s partner, a year off at 1/3 of the their pay to avoid cut backs and layoff’s. In the case of 36 year old Heather Eisenlord that is 80,000 for 2009 to travel the world and work on / with the things she is passionate about.