n_maher

We love Fitz, he loves you, so welcome and congratulations.

Except that there are folks here who would help if you asked.

Ok, I've only watched up to the 3:59 mark but HOLY SHIT! http://www.pinkbike.com/news/SEA-OF-ROCK-video-2012.html

Happy Birthday!!

Vicki, I was thinking the same thing about the DA components. Sweet looking frame, I hope it can be made to fit.

Come on what? I'm glad your hardware is running fine, I know others who aren't feeling the same way about their 3GS. I freely admit that my issues with them are not the norm, nor do I think the love that gets expressed here is entirely unbiased. I'll say again what I've said before, I don't think anyone is making a perfect phone at this point from an OS or hardware pespective and both could learn a few lessons from each other if they weren't so bullheaded in their desire to not be like the other guy. I also don't get why each side feels it's necessary to be so over the top/defensive in their criticism, hell I'm guilty of being that way so I should just shut up. I don't understand why this matters? If the phone has an OS on it that does what the user wants I could care less if it's the latest and greatest. But again, this is something that Google should be working on since it is an issue for some customers, specifically those left laggin way behind on versions of the OS that do have real issues. But this is also an issue for the hardware manufacturers who insist on putting their own little stamp on everything. It's the reason I left Motorolla - the hardware was great, their flavor of the OS was wretched. Samsung is better but if the ecosystem is still the same the next time that I upgrade I'll go with hardware that lets me run an unfiltered version of Android. Ok, now I'm really shutting up.

Way to go, CJ! [edit] and good luck, Jacob!

Happy Day!!!!

Pretty amazing that that bike was made in the early '90s.

Yup, they did the same thing to the 3G. I don't think it's a good assumption at this point that Apple hardware will function particularly well when it's 2 versions removed from current. I don't actually plan on upgrading my iPad 2 from where it is right now for the fear that it'll end up like my iPhone 3G did when IOS 4 (I think that was it) came out and rendered the phone damn near useless.

Happy birthday!!

I'm not sure what you're talking about with this. Are you referring back to your Windows 8 comment or are you still of the impression that all Android phones suck? I'm honestly curious. I have no clue what Windows 8 would have to do with the phone or tablet realm - Windows is almost entirely irrelevent in both. If you still think all Android phones suck I clearly don't agree but know you've got your reasons. I just happen to think that the iPhone/iPad is frustrating for the same reason. Example - I wanted to download a video off of dropbox this morning onto my iPad. From what I've been able to read it's possible but amazingly non-obvious and yes, this was an actual apple file that I wanted to watch not some unsupported file format that would take a 3rd party app to watch. So neither OS has got it perfect at this point but the gulf that existed 2 years ago doesn't exist anymore either. And I really don't get your point about resale or the used market. Who cares? I cover the cost of my phone with 3 or 4 months of what the actual service costs. The idea that people care about what they're paying for a phone just shows how stupid consumers are when it comes to spending money. It's a side benefit for Apple users for sure but not one I'm going to waste time worrying about.

I think the rush was to get out a product to compete (or more likely somewhat crush) the likes of the Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, etc. I think they probably wanted to do a retina display since every other one of their mobile/tablet devices has one and it's a pretty clear step back for the mini to not have one. The laptops are a different game and I they aren't married to the idea of having a retina display on all of those models but I'd wager they're all headed that way as well. But the iPad mini just sticks out like a bit of a sore thumb right now with it's pedestrian pixel count. That said, I've always thought that the whole notion of a retina display was a bit of a double edged sword for Apple. On the one hand it clearly distinguished their display resolution from others. But on the other it probably limited their ability to change screen sizes when they wanted too. I'm shocked that they did what they did with the 5 in making the screen longer but not any wider. I admit that I think the Galaxy S III is probably a bit too big, but it's liveable. I don't think I could live with an iPhone after having a phone with a display as good and as large as the III. Watch a Netflix movie on it and it's game over. It has the pixel count and size to crush the iPhone 4 and I suspect the 5 (I actually haven't had one side by side with the GSIII yet). The #'s don't lie, both Apple and Android are doing very well right now but one wonders if the tide of Apple dominance isn't shifting just a bit as better and better Android phones and tablets come out. The rows of folders/icons is getting old. Everyone's iphone looks pretty much the same. They could solve this really easily, just like they did with the first iPhone that didn't have millions upon millions of apps. Develop a few, critical, in house widgets that you can make fit the graphic/aesthetic profile that you want. Give people a chance to have something other than little squares on their screen. It'd scare the shit out of Android/Google. A bit nuts? Did they, or didn't they, just introduce a newish iPad to replace the iPad that they'd just introduced? What portion of the market that they currently own forced them to do that? And how about when they used to introduce a new iPhone after Xmas every year? I think they only stopped that when competition forced them to care a bit more about timing. As far as Apple upgrading slower, that's a hard argument to track when they only make one real product in each segment. Honestly I do wish that Android would be just a bit more Apple and throw some constraints at the manufacturers when it comes to resolutions, etc. But meh, my GSIII works great as a smartphone. I have no real complaints.

It's entirely different and I enjoy both.

Simple solution to that Dinny - pickup a castoff 3rd gen at a discount and wait 6 months for the Retina mini. I think Apple rushed slightly to get this mini out in time for Xmas and that they'll be higher-spec version before long. They've shown they don't give a shit about pissing off customers with untimely upgrades or better put, the sheep don't mind the buggering, so just get something to take the edge off for a little while.

So Ian and I got back out to Fort Rock today for a little cold weather ride through the woods. Much fun was had with one exception. We saw a hunter on the trail actively hunting. Not cool. While I don't wear brown when I ride I don't (or didn't) wear blaze orange either. You have to understand, much of what we're riding here is within a mile of one major highway and several residential areas and major secondary roads. From where we saw the guy you could see traffic on the highway through the trees. WTF? Anyway, something bright and orange will be procured. Other than that the bike performed very well. If I hadn't had a minor off causing me to put a foot down in a puddle during mile one I'd have loved the whole day. As it was my foot was fairly frozen after the loop despite wringing my sock out before proceeding. We also tried a new section of trail called HIllzilla on the southern side of the loop. It was pretty freaken crazy. Much walking was done as there was no way I (or Ian) was going to try riding some of this stuff. We both agreed that a video of the loop needs to be taken at some point. We also agreed that next spring is going to be a lot of fun. Ride Data Screen cap from the short video that Ian shot of me acting like a 10yr old. The vid isn't that impressive but holy shit this section of the trail is a lot of fun. [edit]Wow, Raffy, those were some sweet bikes to take a spin on. Not sure I'd want to do that for the pain of knowing what could be.

Nice, Haj!

Happy Birthday!

I'd go road bike, Mike. Sell the Gunnar when the other is done and use the proceeds for the MTB. I'm with pak in that I wouldn't want a custom MTB but not dueto resale. The mtb is probably going to see a lot more abuse and if I'd paid even retail for my bikeiydbe hard to chuck it around and have real fun on it.

Congrats (belated) on 10 years, pretty scary how close I'm getting to that mark. Eek, @ Shelly. At least the bullet wasn't aimed at you. Bummer, Vicki, but try to keep the long term in mind and not suffer the day to day to much. Me - time to do a little grocery shopping with Lily.

I lust after firefly and IF bikes but for me the Roubaix is probably a forever bike. In Jekyll news I bled the rear shock last night and redid the setup process. The clunk appears to be gone but I want to give it a quick spin around the yard later to make sure. Here's to hoping.

^^ Nice. It's looking like I'll have time to get out for a good ride on Sunday. Need to try adjusting the shock air pressures before that to see if I can cure the clunk.

I'd say that it's likely that someone will buy the rights to most of the popular brands and production will resume at some point after the liquidation. I can't help but read stuff like this along with the stuff like the USPS losing $16B last year as a result of pension/benefit issues and think that a national overhaul of entire industries (starting with the healthcare,insurance,litigation debacle) isn't coming sooner than any of us think.

Anyone in my league want Eli?