Worcester's "Art in the Park" at Elm Park

so i was riding through Worcester and stopped by Elm Park where a public exhibition of various artworks were on display throughout the park grounds. it's part of the "Art in the Park" presented by the Worcester Cultural Commission, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the City of Worcester. they've been doing this for the past several years.

i decided to stop by and take some pics and videos.

i think there was one other display i may have missed. perhaps if i find my way there again i'll take pics of the remaining exhibits.

enjoy,
@riel

My Car Set-Up

just wanted to quickly share with you my car set-up of both my TomTom and iPhone sipping energon from a Belkin Dual USB charger.

what's really impressive is how fast the Belkin's QuickCharge USB port juices up my iPhone. during the course of a 40 minute drive the charger brought my iPhone's battery from 30% to near 60%.

it comes included with two USB cables; one with an iPod dock connector, the other with a mini USB. the iPod dock cable is of a thicker gauge. i'm guessing this is because the QuickCharge USB port provides a higher amount of current. it's also a fully functioning data cable so you can plug this into your Mac or PC.

the competing charger i almost got was Griffin's PowerJolt Dual Universal. but i much prefer Belkin's design approach with the USB ports off to the side.

now i can operate both devices and keep them charged. though, i am very impressed with my iPhone's GPS functionality, i still prefer the accuracy of my TomTom. also the iPhone currently lacks the ability of multi-tasking with third-party apps like Pandora or Slacker Radio while using Maps. so with this setup i can have both. plus i just found a neat way to integrate my TomTom into my car's dashboard. no worry's; it's only covering up the RPM gauge. besides, who really pays attention to that?

the only thing not pictured here is Griffin's DirectDeck Universal Cassette Adapter which was running within my cassette deck at the time.

peace,
@riel

My New iPhone 3G [S]

well, i finally got one! it's taken Apple three generations to make an iPhone good enough to satisfy what i wanted, but it's here and running great. :)

i ordered my iPhone 3G [S] from an AT&T retail store. the advantage of this was not having to pay a $36 activation fee that apparently one would have to pay at the Apple store. i'm unclear as to why, but there it is. activation from the AT&T is a courtesy.

the downside? i had to wait a week before getting it, and when it did arrive i didn't get the pleasure of opening the jewelry box containing my brand new iPhone. it was a bit of a bummer, but i understood the store associate needed to process the device to activate it.

no matter - i would be spending a great deal of my life with it. at least for the next two years until Apple release a new iteration of it. hopefully something with an 720p HD optic sensor with image stabilization, and an AMOLED screen panel.

since the day i got it i've encased it in a clear plastic case by Case-Mate, applied an anti-glare screen protector by Power Support, and downloaded a number of apps (see my twitter feed filed under "iApps post").

i've taken it out on some local road trips to tried out the 3G internet access, the digital compass, the camera, the maps app (GPS), mail app... pretty much everything it features, but the kitchen sink.

after making use of it of the past several weeks i have to say that i'm very impressed with it.

peace,
@riel

Griffin iTrip & PowerJolt Dual, iPhone 3rd Gen.

thanks to my folks for their recent gift of the TomTom (TT), i find myself having to think of future changes to a few things within my car to accommodate my toys. you see my car only has one 12V outlet. it seems that my iPod, and now my TT will have to fight over this outlet.

or...

thanks to Griffin Technology they have part of the solution that may just be the answer to my trivial dilemma.  the first is Griffin's iTrip. this is an FM transmitter that attaches to the dock connector of all current iPods including the iPod Touch. what's convenient about it - aside from the FM transmitter - is the conversion of the iPod dock into the universally acceptable USB connector for charging.

at this point i can make due using the TT's USB car plug to charge both the TT and iPod/iPhone simply by swapping the cable between the two devices to charge up the battery. however, in the event i find myself needing to charge both simultaneously the second solution is Griffin's PowerJolt Dual Universal, a 12 volt adapter designed to provide two 5 volt USB ports to charge any USB powered devices. one for the TT, and one for the iTrip attached to my iPod.

i have a Motorola RAZR cell, and from time to time i have run out of charge while on the road. however, i don't charge my RAZR in the car, because Motorola requires me to have a proprietary car charger; even though the RAZR is powered via a USB connector. simply connecting any USB charger will result in the RAZR reporting unauthorized charger. Motorola sucks ass. this is why i'm looking forward to dumping the RAZR, and replacing it with an iPhone. that plus the convenience of having both my cell and iPod in one device.

so the other part of the solution to my trivial dilemma is converging my cell with my iPod. hence the iPhone. though, not noted on their site, i suspect that the iTrip will work with an iPhone. this is based on the fact that the iPod Touch and iPhone are (for the most part) identical, and, therefore, should work fine. my desire is to jump on the iPhone bandwagon once the 3rd generation is released; assuming that Apple decides to increase the storage capacity to 32GB. which is more than enough storage for just my favorite tunes, pics, and videos.

in an effort to advise me on further convergence i know that someone can argue, "the iPhone can work as a GPS. no need for the TT." yeah, well, it doesn't. that is to say that it's positioning system does not work with a satellite, but triangulation system dependent on cell phone towers. so it's not that accurate or dependable unless you're in a heavily populated metropolitan area. i don't think it works very well if you go on a road trip across the county.

anyway, this is just me being a gadgeteer. i just love how this stuff works together.

peace,
@riel

A TomTom for my Birthday. Thanks Mom and Dad.

my parents are full of surprises. in recent years for Christmas or on my birthday they have always asked what i would like as a gift. i never ask for much except for their company, and (of course) food. but my folks being who they are (my folks) always came up with some gift to give me such as socks. this past Christmas they got me some after-shave splash by Adidas. my folks are modest people with little means to get me anything impressive for these occasions. i always accept their gifts with full thanksgiving along with their blessings. but this year my folks went way above expectations for my birthday. they almost convinced me that i was getting more after-shave, but after the first tearing the wrapping paper i began to sense some deception.

in my hands - after fully disrobing the box of its festive paper - was a TomTom XL 340-S navigation device. i was so stoked! first of all that my parent would ever get this kind of gift. they explained to me that it would be good for me to have one of my own instead of having to ask my brother the use of his Garmin. second the fact they they got me the top model from the XL 300 series. it just goes to show how much they know me.

this thing is so cool. 4.5" touch screen, voice assisted navigation... it does pretty much what most navi-gps's do. it takes on a simplistic look with nothing more than the USB connection for power and data transfer when connected to a PC to update the map. the absence of useless "bells and whistles" are fine by me; i don't care much for some models that utilizes SD card slots for MP3 or video playback. kinda defeats the purpose of what a navi-gps was devised to do.

there's a Windows app i'm, supposed to install in order to update the maps stored within the unit. i've yet to do that, but i will soon enough. my dad was a little concerned that the map installed wouldn't cover Puerto Rico (PR). on the box it clearly states US, Canada, Mexico. apparently some of the units at the store make the point to specify coverage over the tiny island; not this one. but after checking out the map my dad was pleased to see that PR was well covered.

my only concern is the power requirements to run this thing. i'm already using the 12V plug to operate my iPod's Kensington charger/FM transmitter. i have figured out a solution - i'll reveal it later - but until the need arises i'll simply keep the 340-S tucked away. besides, it has a built-in battery that will run for 3 hours according to the specs, and i doubt i have anywhere to go that requires more than a three hour round trip.

thanks Mom and Dad, i love you both very much.

peace,
@riel

Weapon Of Choice! - Extended Edition

GT was one of those BMX companies during the 1980's that always captivated my attention because of the unique design they pioneered starting from a practical need. two icons of the BMX world, Bob Morales and Eddie Fiola are credited with the design of the original 1984 GT Performer, the first freestyle BMX by GT. Eddie wanted to mount the front caliper brakes behind the forks and to spin the handlebar a full 360 without obstruction from the front brakes. thus came the famous Performer's down-tube bend from the neck that allow enough clearing to do just that. this unique design did not stop there with GT.

the next iteration of the GT Performer was the Pro Freetyle Tour (a.k.a. Pro Performer). the 1987 design was more sophisticated than before featuring a second bend on the down-tube, and a "pass-through" channel through the down-tube for the rear break line. also was the fatter, bolder top-tube freestyle platform. the frame design was years ahead of itself, and , i feel, is more attractive than today's BMX bikes. it was ridden by my favorite and most influential professional freestyle factory rider Martin Aparijo. this was the bike i wanted back then, and still want to this day.

the closest i came to owning one was after purchasing the 1990 GT Agressor. it featured the double bend down-tube, but it was missing the freestyle platform to make way for a bash guard. it was a beautiful bike, and i regret ever selling it. however it wasn't as stylish as the Pro Freestyle Tour, and it lacked some of the pro-level features such as the 990 mounts for both the front and rear breaks.

today i am a proud owner of the long distant cousin to the Pro Freetyle Tour. my 1999 GT Tour 2 is a heavy beast with fat 4130 chrome-moly steel tubing running from the neck of the frame to the rear drop-outs. also made from chrome-moly are the forks, handlebars, crank arm, seat post, and axle extenders. it's gotta be at least 40lbs. it's among the last of it's kind built in the USA out of Santa Ana, California. it's 10 years old and it rides like it came right off the shelf from the bike shop where i got it, and - as if history couldn't repeat itself - it's design rivals that of today's BMX bikes.

here are some detailed photos i took of my GT Tour 2; a complete factory original with exceptions to the bar-ends and the GT Airbag tires. i do have them; i just just didn't want to damage the GT bar-ends any further, and the tires were pretty much worn.


so long as i'm allowed ride i hope to never part from it.


peace,
@riel

I'mma Rock Climbing!

here's a video of my indoor rocking experience.



direct link to video here.

this was taken last year (2007-04-28) at Metro Rock located in Everret, MA. i was there with my friend sarita and company.



now i know i look pathetic only making it less than half way up, but in my defense the video was shot by the end of the day there. i had already climbed several times by then. so i was pretty tired and my forearms were feeling very much worn out.

hope to do it again real soon.

this video and photos were shot using a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 with a wide angle lens and a Sandisk 1GB Duo.

peace,
@riel