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This is so good it’s a shame it lies forgotten in an old issue of DirtRag.

Source: DirtRag issue 145, october 2009.

A 1945 video on Raleigh bicycles, worth watching for historical reasons but also for something that the speaker says towards the end of the movie (around the 16'45" mark):

[…] There are bicycles for all purposes, suitable for men, women boys and girls. A bycicle is a comfortable and cheap way of getting about, a great boon to men, ideal for shopping, easy to park […] A faithful friend ever ready to take tired workers back home and after work to bring relaxation, health and happiness.

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I used to love macstories.

It’s edited by a fellow italian who writes excellent english (unlike the rest of us), and it was a place to read reasoned commentaries that I enjoyed.

But lately, like most of the other tech blogs, it has changed to a collection of commentaries on brainless apps, such as: twitter clients, calendar and reminder apps, plain-text editors. I’m the first one to acknowledge the importance of simple apps to make our everyday life easier, and in fact I’ve been using Simplenote and NValt for ages. But come on, do we really need to read and review shitloads of stupid apps to keep track of menial tasks? To write using fucking Helvetica? Yet another app to see what the hell I’m supposed to do today or to share crappily filtered photos?

And so I have waited a long time for a new macmini to replace my old one¹. Apple did have something for me in the store, which was the 2011 server version with Intel Core i7, but it was definitely too expensive (€1000 with 4Gb of ram and not even an SSD or a GPU?).

The reason why I wanted a faster computer? Mainly because of Aperture – too damned slow (and the Nikon D7000’s 16Mp files didn’t help either). Having a snappier machine to do some iMovie editing was an added bonus, but apart from that I must say that everyday tasks² are still handled perfectly by my even slower Macbook Air 1.4ghz – a proof that a computer ‘feels’ fast not because of the cpu but because you replaced that clunky old drive with an SSD.

If you have love of photography and are a dreamy nerd enamored of Asimov’s books, you really need to read this; it’s an account by a NASA astronaut about the daily experiences of shooting photographs in space:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/locations/photography_in_space.shtml

So true:

Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps.

Ann Patchett, from yesterday’s New York Times.

I’m a believer now: with an iPhone (4S) and a nice cool application such as Snapseed, you can really get good shots. I hesitate to call them ‘artistic’ even if other people may do so. That’s not art to replicate the look of a heavily pushed Kodak Tri-X, but they are cool nonetheless.

I should write something more about Snapseed, how this approach to photo editing is perfect for an iPhone. I was one of those nerds who like to endlessly play with Curves, so my philosophy has always been that you need to work hard to improve a shot, and the idea of applying an automatic adjuster-thingy was never considered.

Yesterday evening I had the idea of taking a few shots during this special edition of Critical Mass Milano (special because it was the 10th year anniversary). It’s carnival time too so I figured there would have been good photo opportunities.

But I have a huge backlog of photos to check, catalog and process, so the last thing I wanted was to have another batch of photos waiting to be checked, catalogued and processed.

Guido gave me the idea with a link to this video by the Fleet Foxes. Giulia and I spent a weekend in the mountains and I quickly put together this little edit to show what we’ve been doing; walking in the snow, skiing and snowboarding, eating, breathing in fresh air.

And our daughter will arrive in five months.

As promised before, here’s episode 2 of the miniseries “Winter Riding Milano”.

It was shot with Masatomo on Monte Canto, another beatiful riding spot close to Milan with lots of natural trails. What is shown here is a classic one: starting from Sotto il Monte we cycled up to the top and then down on the Kompressor trail.

Again it was such great fun (and again we were incredibly lucky with the weather, doesn’t really look like it’s winter!) that at the end we cycled back up and then came down again – but this time with no stops for shooting video, only a clean and fun ride down the mountains!

Last October I’ve spent a great weekend riding and racing (and eating!) in Finale Ligure with Phil, Will and Fiona. I’ve collected all photos on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aadm/sets/72157629004495851/with/6751815233/

Burj Khalifa in Dubai, tallest building in the world (828m!).

And this is a little video shot between Milano, Munich and Dubai, 5x5 vimeo-style (i.e., 5 sec clips put together with no background musico or other editing; the original project was called 5x5 because at the end you get a 25 secs movie, but what I did here is something slightly longer, around the minute mark).

I moved my tumblr log to calepin.

The reasons for doing it ? I like the idea of having finally all my posts under control and not having to resort to a web interface. It’s faster and cleaner. I might do the same with my other blog, aadm.wordpress.com, where I keep longer and more articulated posts.

I also like the interface, simple and pure; you can’t mess with so little nor you have the tentation to do so. You are kind of forced to stick to words and photos. What I don’t like: that all Calepin blogs look the same (but hey, also books look the same, all black words on white paper); that there’s no possibility to put photos into the abstracts; that there’s no next/previous buttons to navigate between posts.

So I’ve been busy shooting some videos with a friend and what I discovered is this: it’s a lot of work to ride hunting for location and constantly stop to shoot a five seconds clip !

Anyway, the idea was to show in 3 episodes the kind of riding you can do around Milano; it’s not Liguria, it’s not mediterranean rocky trails, but it’s close and it’s fun.

There’s lots to improve, like for example the shaky camera; I’ve used for 90% of the shots a monopod which is light and easy to setup, but doesn’t give you steady shots – and this has some impact on the final perceived quality of the video.

“Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he had voted “present” (instead of “yea” or “nay”) 130 times, sometimes dodging difficult issues.”