Inline Speed Skates Upgrade

I think I am addicted to 'speed'.  For the past month, I have been looking at 100mm to 110mm inline skates for the next level of speed skating... competition speed skates are 110mm.  I got my first pair inline skates (80mm) just a few months ago in Dec 2011 (for learning) and have already worn out the wheels in approximately 2-months. I have also used 90mm skates and like the increase in speed they offer.  I upgraded the bearings, looking at better spacers, and have spent considerable time researching the state of the art in in-line skates.  I bought new wheels in the 80mm size but physically they just no longer provide the speed I want to attain.

Earlier this month I began training with a local speed skating team... The coach last week said I need to try the 100-110mm wheels in order to attain the next level. Ironically, just three months ago I never even owned or thought of ever getting into inline speed skating.

Solar JOOS Orange

While online researching solar power as I have been doing a lot this year, I found another gadget that looks very interesting called the Solar JOOS Orange.  It uses mono-crystalline panels, is waterproof by design (components are encapsulated in urethane), and  contains a user replaceable 24 Wh/5400mAh lithium-ion polymer battery that can be charged in about 12 hours from built-in solar panel or 8 hours from USB according to Why Its the Best page.  The JOOS Orange is a solar panel and power storage system in a an all in one design.  Looks very impressive and cool.  Hmmm...

It even has a a web site and apps (iOS, Android, Windows, Mac) for monitoring and tracking performance and your usage.  This is impressive.

Google+

I haven't posted anything to this blog since July because I have been spending so much time on the big 3 social networks, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter...

Amazon EC2 VM Import is What I Really Want

Amazon Web Services have just released a new capability, EC2 VM Import, which according to the information available will allow me to import existing VMware machines into EC2. Now this is what I really want and need to continue my migration to the cloud. This EC2 option opens up a lot of avenues for my continuing cloud/virtualization research.

Chromebooks appear to be Selling

A month after their official release on 06/15/2011, it appears that Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung are selling respectably according to Amazon and this article, Samsung and Acer, Google Chromebooks still strong on Amazon. As a secondary computer where getting on the web, speed, and security are the focus then Chromebooks are the definitely the right device. The couch-potato and kitchen-tabletop use cases have emerged as the places where I use my Chromebook the most.

Honeycomb Tablets

I got a chance to play with the Asus Transformer and Acer Iconia tablets yesterday. I have to say that these Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets are really nice. I was able to compare them to Android 2.2 tablets (Archos) and have to say that the newest generation of Android tables have hit the sweet spot. The new ones have 1280x800 displays and fast processors that can handle it all. I am impressed. Android tablets have come a long way since last Fall when I started looking at them.

Google Music Beta

Google has activated my Google Music account. Very nice and comparable to the Amazon Cloud Player. I now have two sources of cloud-based music services that work excellently on all my digital web devices.

Google Chromebooks are officially released!

One future vision of computing, web based ChromeOS Chromebook devices, is now available for everyone to try. I have been using my Google Chrome OS Cr-48 notebook since Dec 2010 and the instant on web-only OS has completely replaced my netbook. Cloud services and applications have matured considerably in this timeframe and will continue to evolve for the better.

FitBit working great

I got the FitBit in early April to replace the Omron pedometer. The FitBit is working out great.