Bit-Shift.Net

This past April I took the plunge that so many young people anticipate, dread and dream about all at the same time. I bought a house. It's a 3 story town house with a single car garage. Not the Taj Mahal by any stretch but my car and bike fit in the garage, I have a place to sit while I eat my meals and I'm totally in love with my next door neighbor (yes she knows and the feelings are mutual). And, the house came pre-wired with CAT5E. Most rooms have two ports, while the others only have one. In total, there are 11 ports throughout the house.

When I first moved in and saw a patch panel in the closest in one of the master bedrooms, the computer geek in my instantly though, "I need a wiring closet!". Unfortunately when you buy a house, you also have to furnish a house. When I moved in I had a bed and dresser to my name (I moved all my worldly possession in under 3 hours and most of that was driving).  But the idea never wandered far from my mind and a few weeks ago I finally got all the necessary hardware together.

For handling all the network connections I chose the Netgear GS116 desktop gigabit switch. It was fairly inexpensive after rebates from Netgear and Paypal, had enough ports to handle the job and had the mounting holes I needed to secure it to the metal plate that covers the patch panel. The router, a D-Link DIR-625,  I have had for almost a year. I bought this router after my Linksys died and my friend Greg gave it a fairly glowing review and I must say I'm 100% satisfied with it.

Up till I finished the install, my wiring closet would probably garner a top ten spot in a worst installation contest. I had the cover of the patch panel off and power cords and CAT5 running up to a shelf where my wireless router sat routing my packets, blissfully unaware of the squalor conditions in which it lived. Every time I walked into my office, I saw the eye sore that was my network installation which motivated me all the more to finish the installation.

Now being an engineer, I couldn't just throw everything together with chewing gum and bailing wire, I needed a plan or a template rather. My plan was to mount the switch and router to the metal plate that covers the patch panel and run the CAT5 wires through the plate to the patch panel. The next major hurdle was how could I layout where everything would be mounted and where the wires would be run in a fashion so that everything would look great and I would drill 50 holes unnecessarily trying to get everything lined up. Back in high school, I took a class on drafting using AutoCAD and thinking back, that seemed like the best option for creating my template as it would allow me to draw with the precision I needed when laying out where all the holes would be drilled.

After about a month of tweaking the templates so that everything lined up just how I wanted it I was ready to drill the holes and mount the hardware. To make sure that all the CAT5 cable lined up in an aesthetically pleasing way, I used zip ties to secure the wires, which meant I had a lot of holes to drill. After drilling, I used a metal file to ground down the rough spots and got the plate ready to install the grommets that will protect all the wiring from sharp edges.

As I suspected, the hardware mounted right up with a minimal amount of coercion. The next time consuming chore was crimping all the CAT5. I had the 11 ports from the switch to the patch panel, a cable connecting the switch to the router and then a final cable connecting the router to the world. Amazingly enough, I only had to re-do one cable. With all the wires run and the hardware mounted, I re-attached the plate to the patch panel and proceeded to surf. I have yet to run any bandwidth tests as I only have one gigabit enabled computer.

So there you have it. I have gigabit running through my home which will come in very handy when I build my home theater PC or buy an Xbox 360, which ever I decide to do. And as an added bonus, since I run a home based business, I can write the switch off as a business expense.

While access to Mt. Hood Meadows remains closed to the public ODOT & Tri-State construction crews worked non-stop to hit their Dec. 15 opening prediction. Meanwhile mother nature didn't get the memo about the road being closed and continues to dump snow like there is no tomorrow at the resort. Snow levels mid-mountain are already 6+ feet with more on the way. This is shaping up to be a really great season...once it starts.

Read about it on Dave Rileys blog.

Dave Riley updated his blog with new news about the HWY 35 road re-construction. So far the results are very promising. While they doubt Mt Hood Meadows will be open by Thanksgiving, they are confident the resort will be open before Christmas! And when it does there will be TONS of fresh powder.

Read about it here.

A friend of mine sent me some pictures of the flood damage to HWY 35. Reading Dave's blog gave you an idea of the damage but these pictures really hit it home just how bad things are up there.

See them here courtesy of KGW news.

Due to heavy rains on the glacier, massive amounts of dirt and debris have blocked HWY 35 access to Mt. Hood Meadows. ODOT, the US Forest Service and other governmental agencies are working hard to get the roads open in time for the snowboard season.

Dave Riley, President & COO of Mt. Hood Meadows keeps his blog updated with the latest news and progress.

Read the latest post here.

As I mentioned here, back in October I recieved my motorcycle endorsement. I had the helmet, jacket, gloves and the M on my license. All I needed was a bike. Well after much deliberation I have made my purchase. I'm the proud owner of a 2005 CBR 600 F4i. Let the good times roll

Microsofts Automotive Business Unit announced the release of Windows Automotive 5.0 at The Microsoft Windows Automotive Conference 2005.

From the press release, "Windows Automotive 5.0 provides the automotive industry with a powerful, flexible software platform to create an array of cutting-edge in-vehicle solutions."

The system touts such features as an enhanced user interface toolkit and expanded virtual memory support for the creation of complex 3-D graphics and advanced navigational displays. Also mentioned are enhanced power management and faster cold boot times for increased performance.

"Based on the robust, real-time embedded operating system Windows CE 5.0, Windows Automotive 5.0 contains the building blocks necessary to integrate with off-board services, including those offering real-time traffic updates, directions to the cheapest gas in town, turn-by-turn navigation and more." And with support for 802.11, Bluetooth, USB and other common standards the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Being a software engineer and an auto enthusiast, designing an in-car system to play music, movies and other media all while making calls on my phone via bluetooth and following google maps directions to a car event, etc... has always been something I've wanted to do. Now with the new version of Windows Automotive and its ease of use I may finally be able to find the time to do just that.

Microsoft has release a few videos to demonstrate some of the possibilties. Watch them here.

This past week has been a busy one. Thursday my boss was nice enough to give a co-worker, Philippe, and myself the afternoon off to enjoy some night skiing/snowboarding at Mt. Hood Meadows. Thanks Greg! When we arrived there was a light fog settled on the mountain and I experiened one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I wish I had a picture, but if you can imagine a scene with clouds hovering in the valleys and Mt Bachelor above it all as clear as crystal, with the setting sun reflecting off the snow covered slopes. Absolutely Gorgeous!

Saturday I awoke at 5:15am to head up to the mountain, as the mountain gets busier you have to show up earlier and earlier to get a good parking spot. My roommate, Dan, and I arrived at the main parking lot around 7:30, by 8am the main lot was nearly full. My group and I jumped on our first lift ride at 8:45am. It was a beautiful day. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and thanks to the temperature inversion around 70 degrees. We rode until the sun started to set, about 4:30pm, when the snow conditions turned to sheets of ice and the temperature dropped to the low 30's. So our party headed home for some warmth and dinner. Nothing quite like grilled cheese and tomatoe soup after a long day at the mountain.

Sunday has been a day off, so to speak. I finally got around to washing my car after about a month. For those that don't know, I drive an 2001 Audi A6. When I first bought it, I washed it with religious conviction, so to go for this long without washing the car was almost painful. But this winter season it is usually dark by the time I get off work and I spend weekends snowboarding. To give you an idea of how dirty it was, it took almost an hour just to get the wheels clean. After a few other household chores I am enjoying dinner and a movie before this weekend comes to an end.

Snowboard Trips To Date: 11

Lessons Learned:

• Verizon has terrible converage at Mt Hood. Your better off with a service like Cingular or T-Mobile.
• Take time to enjoy the simple things in life.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

This past Saturday was amazing at the mountain. A few friends and I arrived around 9AM and both the main and annex parking lots were full and we were forced to park in the HRM (Hood River Meadows) lot. It actually worked out really well for my friends and I since we all had season passes and could avoid the incredibly long line to buy lift tickets.

The conditions could not have been better. It had been snowing for the past few days at the rate of two inches per hour and the ground was covered with the lightest powder I've ever experienced. On my first run down HRM, Geoff, one of guys I was with, decided to venture off the groomed path. About 10 feet off the path I got a bit too far forward on my board and fell face first into the snow. Normally this isn't a problem except when hard ground is two feet down. After a short hike back to the groomed I was on my way again. It was going to be a great day.

The fun part about the whole day was that the people I was boarding with had all been boarding for many years more than me, so it was a lot of fun trying to keep up with them over some terrain I have never been over before.

The worst part of the whole day was trying to board back to our car. To get back to the HRM lot you have to build up enough speed to make it past a long flat section of trail. Unfortunately we were on our way in that direction when ski patrol decided to close that route. After they stopped us, they said as long as we avoided going to the shooting star lift we could go in that direction. Nice, we had lost all our speed and had a long hike to the next hill. As if this wasn't bad enough, the snow had been heavily tracked and was ripe with mogals; it was going to be a rough ride down.

All things considered, I had an amazing day. I can't wait until next weekend, hopefully there will be some sunshine in the future. I had a disposable camera with me and took lots of pictures. When I get them developed and scanned I'll post them.

First off, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

In my pursuit to get in at least 50 days of snowboarding this season I started my day off at six am, picked up my friends Meghann and Geoff and headed up toward the mountain. I had checked the weather forecast the day before and the Mt Hood Meadows condition report but none of it would prepare me for the horrors that lay ahead. On the way up, we were greeted by what looked like fresh snow. "Awesome!" we all said. But it was just an illusion. The temperature inversion mentioned previously was playing tricks. We arrived at the mountain around 8:30, suited up and waited for the lifts to start shuttling people.

We took our first run on the new Vista Express lift. What greeted us was mix of frozen snow where the staff had groomed, sheets of ice where they hadn't, and an assortment of obstacles like rocks, stumps, grass/dirt, etc... We took off, un-abated by the conditions that lay ahead, steadfast in our belief that all would be well. While all this was happening some pretty nasty looking clouds started to roll in blocking all glimpses of the sun, which means, nothing to melt the frozen wasteland.

We were scheduled to leave the mountain around 1PM so we could all make it on time to our respective dinner engagements. By noon we had all had enough of the ice and were getting pretty hungry. Bring on the turkey!

I arrived home, got cleaned up and proceeded to feast. Its now been raining for the past five or so hours with sub-freezing temperatures on the mountain. All signs point to fresh powder. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a good day.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

I decided today while chatting with a friend on IM that I'm going to try and go snowboarding 50 times this season. I arrived at this conclusion by figuring I've got about five months left before the snow is all gone X eight weekend days in a month, plus miscellaneous holidays and random days off. A lofty goal I know, and one I may not meet due to injury and/or death, but I will try come rain, snow, sleet or ice.

This weekend was days four and five of my new goal and they were excellent days. Even though there was no new snow, what snow there was had been chewed up enough and warmed up by a weather inversion that it created the effect of fresh powder. I spent both days working on launching from jumps (aka 'kickers') and the associated landings, which I'm getting pretty good at.

I awoke Sunday morning to the weather man forecasting rain and a freezing level of 7000 feet (the top of the tallest run at Meadows is 7,300 feet). When my part arrived at the mountain we were greeted with the same torrential down pour I experienced Friday, things were not looking well, but we were here so we suited up and off we went.

By the top of butter cup I was drenched and my fingers were starting to get numb. Went down buttercup with our fledgling boarders once and then went off to a more challenging run (easy rider). I decided that this would be the last run of the day. This run required a great deal more speed due to the number of hills you had to make it over, or be forced to hike...not fun! I made it over the first hill just fine, but on my way down the I leaned forward just a touch too far and got a build up of wet snow on the nose of the board, at which point I started to cart-wheel down the hill, 5 in all I think, it was pretty spectacular! I got up collected my scattered gear, took a bow and high tailed it to my car.

I spent the rest of the day playing board games and getting dry. All things considered it was a good day.

Lessons learned:

• Water Resistant does not equal waterproof.
• A good friend can make even the most miserable experiences fun.

The difference between the snow conditions on Friday and those on Saturday redefine "Night and Day". As I was leaving the mountain friday afternoon it was just starting to snow. As I decended in elevation towards sandy the light snow fall turned into a torrential down-pour. Any normal person would have grumbled about the lousy weather, etc... but all I could think of was how much snow was fallling on the mountain. And snow it did.

When I arrived early saturday morning there was about a foot of fresh powder waiting at the base of the meadows ski runs. There were four in my group (me included). Two who had, for all intents, never snowboarded before, and two experienced, one of which being yours truly. For the first part of the morning the other experienced boarder and myself helped the newbies get aquainted with the hill and how to ride the lifts. After which my friend Meghann and I struck out to explore this winter paradise.

Mt Hood Meadows had just opened a new high speed quad lift, Vista Express, and it was still unfamiliar to many. As such, the lift lines were considerably shorter. I learned in a few minutes that the weather at the top of Vista was approaching gale force winds, but it didn't matter, there was fresh, untracked powder and good company.

After about four or five runs down Vista I was beginning to run out of steam and decided to call it a day (mountain was closing in 45min anyway).

I was in high spirits and looked forward to day three. Little did I know what awaited me the next day.

Arrived at the mountain around 15 minutes before opening. Perfect! Suited up and grabbed my board. Took one step on the snow pack and thought, this is going to be a painful day. It was all ice. Not to worry, I'll just take it easy. Right...

Second run of the day I was straight lining a run (going very fast) and went to carve around a corner and slid out on a icy spot. Bounced on my backside a few times. Got up and continued, no worse for wear. Wash, rinse repeat about eight more times. At this point its around 1pm. The lift lines are getting ridiculously long, due to people getting familiar with riding lifts and lift operation problems. Combine this with a biting wind and fingers that are going numb and I think its time to call it a day.

The car handled amazingly with the new snow tires (Dunlop Winter Sport M3). Executed a few hard braking stops without a hint of the ABS assisting and went around corners with no assistance from the traction control.

Final Conclusion: It was a good day. Can't wait for day two.

Mt Hood Meadows opens Friday, November 11th and I will be there. Theres 34" at the base and its only going to get better. Its been several years since I've been snowboarding and I can't wait to get back into the sport. I'll be spending the new few days preparing to spend as close as possible to 72 hours on the mountain this coming weekend.

I just hope I don't break anything first time out...

Warren Miller has been producing snow inspired films since 1949. This year was my first year going to one of Warren Millers shows. If you've never had the oppurtunity to experience a Warren Miller show and have any interest in skiing or snowboarding, you're missing out big time!

The locations around the world that these people get to experience are enough to make even more than the most dedicated employee think of turning in the desk job for cheap motels and long days on the slopes. From making fresh tracks in deep country Alaska via helicopter to exploring the big cliffs of Switzerland, these guys are all over some of the most beautiful country around the world.

If you have a chance, check out the show. No telling how many more shows there will be... don't miss out. You'll regret it.

You can find out information about Warren Miller and his productions here.

For those wanting to get a season pass to Mt Hood Meadows and have been living under a rock for the past few months, Meadows is running a deal on season passes. Get three friends together and buy all your passes at once and you get them for $425 a piece. Now all we need is about 6 feet of snow...

A while back some friends and I participated in an event at the Oregon Coast Aquarium where we were allowed to SCUBA dive in the exhibit tanks trying out various SCUBA equipment. This was a really cool oppurtunity to see things from the fishes perspective. One of the things we got to do was use their underwater digital cameras to take pictures. Well, the organizers of the event have finally posted some of the better pictures taken on their website. The pictures can be viewed here.

There are plans of inviting some of the divers back to participate in a volunteer tank cleaning program. Hey, its a dirty job but someone has to do it and any day underwater is a good day.