Most folks in the business world could care less about the terms I use to describe the different pieces of my profession. I have a vocabulary that is different. And it doesn’t matter what the topic is. Movies, photography, development, even cycling. My world can get very small when it comes to describing things in it. Not because I am smarter than anyone, I just have a different vocabulary.

And the funny thing is I know and work with people who have yet again another vocabulary. When they are talking I just laugh because I have no idea what they are saying. I recently told my students at A3 that if you can translate between the geeks and the designers you will always find work. Because you will be the one that can bridge the gap and enable communication.

We were sitting in a meeting recently and I was asked a question. I gave an insightful answer. The client looked at me a little bewildered. My partner Luke, sensing the confusion, looked at the client and said “No”. We had a good laugh.

This morning I was watching a Scoble Show with John Nack from Adobe about Photoshop CS3. He started to talk in jargon and Scoble called him on it. John cited this video as an example of what he was doing.

I am glad I have translators in my life. Now if someone could just explain to me what my wife is saying!

I have been watching the ScobleShow a great deal lately. I love the vodcast. Well, with one exception, see below.

When I saw this, I knew I needed to give it a try. The Google Coop API is extremely easy. I was able to build a custom search engine in minutes.

The first project is called Oregon Biking Search. There is a ton of biking in Oregon. It is a wonderful place for that. But I can’t always find what I need. So I started by doing some Google searches and then began building my index.

I have sent some messages to different groups to see if I can encourage some volunteers to help out. Yeah, you can have other users collaborate with you on the engine. It is a really sweet tool. So I will be launching more projects in the coming weeks. We’ll see how it works out.

A note for Mr. Scoble. Watch your mike levels. When you use the area mic., I turn up the volume to hear the interviewee. However, when you suddenly laugh RIGHT NEXT TO THE MIC, I think my eardrums are going to explode. Get a Sennheiser Lav. mic. here. It is simple, and easy to use, and works really well.

Otherwise, VERY well done.

10. Oops, Sorry.
9. Oops, Sorry.
8. Oops, Sorry.
7. I didn’t see you there. ☺
6. Nothing… Just a glare.
5. Ahhhhhh!
4. Crap. Sorry.
3. I didn’t see you. ☹
2. I didn’t see you, you were hidden by the glare.
1. Fuck You.

It is the last one that makes me laugh the most. I do not believe that car drivers are evil. I have two cars. I do believe that if you can, you should ride. Not just because of the environmental impact, but because of the following:

• You support the local economy (your bike shop)
• You promote fitness, Riding at 18mph for 1 hour burns 700 calories
• Exercise releases endorphins = makes you happy

So when a driver screams the f-bomb at me, I am not really sure what to do. I learned a long time ago that I can not win against a car. The laws of physics prevent me from doing any real damage.

It is kind of like swearing at an ant. It is an ant. It is tiny, you are large. You are being stupid.

I suppose if you analyze the psychology, it would make sense that a driver would swear at you when they cut you off. You scared them. They don’t like being scared for whatever reason, and that makes them angry.

I do see one way swearing at an ant would make sense. When the ants are eating away at your house and they are ruining it from the inside out.

So, if we grew a critical mass of bicycle commuters and folks stopped driving it would raise the price of gas, making it more expensive to drive a supped up F350. Then you can say Fuck You all you want. After all, bicyclists, like ants, are rotting away your way of life. But that isn’t going to happen. A fella can always dream.

I guess it will still be funny.

…or the top ten dumbest Dave Merwin crashes.

10 – 6. Pretty much any crash before 20.
5. I was riding my first mountain bike home from the shop. I took a trail home and half way home the grip flew off. I crashed hard and still have a scar on my chin.
4. Slipping on ice during a morning commute 100’ from my office. Oh yeah, it was a bike company.
3. The infamous Why Pass endo. I have no idea how I ended up in the bushes. But there I was, upside down, still holding my bike. Still clipped in. Aliens.
2. While showing my son how to ride a wheelie (which I don’t know how to do) I went right over backwards and landed on my back. I knocked the wind out of myself. My son rode up and said, “Dad, I don’t think I’m gonna do that.”
1. This morning.

It was a beautiful sunny Oregon morning. I have been up late workign on the next version of this.

Said goodbye to the kids, kissed my wife, turned on Radio head and peddled off. Went around the corner and put my hands in my pockets and looked forward to a lazy morning ride. Came around the corner and… there is a car. On the road. Right in front of me. There is never a car there.

So I swerve left, directly into a parked car and I swerve left again directly into the curb. Over the handle bars I go.

What makes this really dumb is that I did it all with no hands. The poor guy driving the car was obviously trying not to laugh and be concerned at the same time. I apologized, and then tried to ride off. Bike is ok. I was freaked out about my laptop though. Looks like it is time to get one of these. (in Spark!)

Handle bars get really slippery when they have blood all over them

On Pain and Cycling, by Jeffrey Veen

This is why I love cycling. The post is 3 years old, but still true.

OLN - Tour de France

The Tour De France starts on Saturday. Where does the time go.

This is probably the only televised sporting event that I wish that I could watch. There is something amazing about a human climbing mountains and going uphill faster that I can go on flat ground! Freakishly cool.

Only problem is that this year there is a hug doping scandal. And Ulrich, an amazing rider with T-Mobile , has been sent home. Ulrich was a contender for winning the tour.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the doping issue.

OLN has some cool videos on the site about the Tour.

I am making a short film called Commute. It compares the difference between driving and cycling to work.

The driving portion went off without a hitch really. This morning I started filming the bike portion. Got everything ready to go… Got on my bike… started capturing great footage.

Beautiful sweeping shots of the rode, steep lean angles for turns. It was turning out cool.

Then I hit a bump.

Camera goes dead. A message starts displaying…. “Please Hit Reset Button”. What reset button? I’ve never seen a reset button. Oh, there it is. A tiny little reset button. The kind you poke with a paper clip. Except I don’t have a paper clip. I’m on my bike.

The 8mm jack from my iShuffle might work, and when I try it it does.

Camera Resets, and I try recording again.

Rolls for a few seconds and… “Please Hit Reset Button”. Uh, Oh. I’ve horked my camera. Good/Bad thing it is a work camera. (Pure Blue – Not AGI)

When I get to work and look it up… the manual says the following:

PUSH THE RESET SWITCH
An irregularity in the equipment has been detected. Pres the [RESET] button (.II.). This may solve the problem.

“MAY” solve the problem. Turns out, the camera is now eating tapes. Something about that bump messed up the loader and now the camera eats tapes.

So, time to contact the Panasonic rep and see what they can do. Guess I shoulda taken my Mtn. Bike, what with the suspension and all.