Fayetteville, Hopefully the Beginning of a New Cycling Style
The 2022 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas are brought to us by Walmart. And like Walmart, they do not include the top quality racers Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. Nevertheless, many great racers did make it across the pond to the US.
Watching the pre-race coverage on Belgian television, the overall sentiment is that this is a blah-world championship. The parcours is too fast and too wide. It is not technical enough. And the 4-person relay is just a gimmick.
I can appreciate a nice cyclo-cross race, but have never been fanatic about them. The race is too much single track and too much mano-a-mano from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong: mano-a-mano is pure and great in any sport. Yet, I miss the team tactics and group dynamics with unlikely alliances and peloton rivalries. I miss the cat and mouse pursuit.
I am in favor of wider parcours with more opportunity to pass. Harder surface with more gravel will broaden the sport. Gravel bikes are super popular these day, especially in the US. If cyclo-cross can merge with gravel biking, both will win in worldwide appeal. And with worldwide appeal comes more television coverage, more countries participating, and more sponsors.
So yes, Fayetteville may not be your traditional cyclo-cross. However, it may be the beginning of something new. Imagine Overijse meets Belgian Waffle Ride.
January 29, 2022
My Week in Crypto
I started investing in Crypto last year. My investment is peanuts, funny money to many. Yet, we won’t be hurting if this investment goes sideways. Here are a few of my learnings from last week in the world of crypto.
After this week’s bloodbad in Crypto, my investment is down 35%. Ouch! I was getting used to a lot of volatility with swings of +/- 20%. This week was different: this felt like a correction, a reset. Often a down week means a buying opportunity. I decided however not to investment more money in crypto. The true applications are yet to be invented.
I finished reading Ben Mezrich’s book, Bitcoin Billionaires. True to his style, this was a great book. I learned about some of earlier Bitcoin stories, about Charlie Shrem, Roger Ver, and the Winkelvi twins - the first Bitcoin Billionaires.
The crazy part to me how the Winkelvoss brothers distributed their private key in pieces, across deposit box across many banks through the country. Until we make that a bit easier, crypto currencies and applications will remain tricky for many people. I still have to learn about the Crypto world picks and shovels: hardware wallets.
Fred Wilson’s testimony to the Superintendent Lawsky was also interesting: the Five Phases of Bitcoin.
“First, development of the open source community … a geeky, nerdy, crypto-libertarian thing, 2009 to 2010. Second–a vice phase. Silk Road, drug trafficking. Gun running. 2010 to 2011. Third phase, speculation, trading- we are getting to the end of that now–2013, 2014. Next phase is the transac- tional phase–real merchants accepting bitcoin. And the final phase is the phase of programmable money. when money can move via a programmable infrastructure.
Over LunchClub conversations, I learned a bit more about supply chain blockchain applications from Copperwire. A great application is to demonstrate the chain of provenance. This can important to combat counterfeit parts, or organic and socially acceptable origins. For example, how do you now where you coffee beans are sourced from, or whether Uyghurs were exploited in the making of your T-shirt.
Talking to a founder of Weavechain, I got a glimpse into what Web3 can really be. He walked me through their inverstor’s pitch. There were a lot of things I didn’t understand yet. Nevertheless, I could understand one of their killer apps: a truth ledger providing a faster, more direct financial reconcillation mechanism for banks.
Web1 is Read Only Web2 is Read/Write Web3 is Read/Write/Own
A new source to learn more about crypto is CordaCon.
January 23, 2022
I Doubt There Will Be a Us Super App
My Googly wife is the lone Android holdout in the family. Most recently my daughter moved over to the Apple-verse, when she got an iPhone 13.
I have been loving Apple Music, TV+ (Hello Ted Lasso) and Fitness+ during the pandamic years. For a mere $5 per month extra, most of us are now fully Applified with Apple One: Music, News+, TV+, iCloud+, Arcade, and Fitness+.
And yet, I observe that the youngsters could care less. They live in the Snapchat-Instagram-TikTok-Spotify-verse. Their friends live the SITS-verse. SITS+Venmo is our WeChat, our super-combo. Yet, a super-combo is not a super-app.
Tech pundits have been talking about the race for a US-based super-app. I am not convinced there will ever be one.
Apple has a full house: Apple Pay, AppStore, Music, iMessage, and TV+. Yet, their poker table is restricted to those with Apple devices, and limited to the affluent adults. With the billions in an Irish bank, Apple would be smart to acquire Spotify or Snapchat to keep a connection with the youngsters.
Facebook/Meta is sputtering to build one. Yet, with Instagram and WhatsApp, they hold important aces. If Facebook’s reputation wasn’t in tatters, they had a great opportunity to buy and assemble a super app. Yet, their brand is tainted. Few companies will want to hitch their wagon onto the meta-train. Also consumers will be very wary to give Zuckerberg more than we already provided him. Payment information? No thank you!
Google isn’t that hot among the kids. They all use Google applications for school or university. Yet, in the app space, I don’t hear them talk about Google Photos. Yes, YouTube remains hot.
Snapchat, Twitter, Square, and Spotify are all superb on their own. They are all puzzle pieces, yet, none of them match a WeChat.
Perhaps a Square-Twitter-Spotify combo has potential in the near term. With Twitter stock trading this low, it is ripe to be acquired.
Yet, I don’t see a US-version of WeChat easily being assembled, at least not one that will be popular among the youngsters. We’ll keep using a number of individual applications.
Given the concerns around Facebook or the size of Apple and Amazon, the focus should therefore shift towards interoperability and portability.
Congress could mandate a level of interoperability or portability between applications: allow different messaging applications to communicate, allow different music stores to exchange playlists, etc.
In a world of many-great-apps, at least we can move more easily between different apps. This will create more competition among applications, away from having to buy into a platform or super app.
January 4, 2022
Top Three 2021 Moments in Sport
When reflecting on the best moments in sports this year, the following three stick out to me.
I am typically not a big fan of the Olympic Games. I find them overhyped, and merely providing a backdrop for drawn-out soapy backdrop stories. I did pick two Olympic moments:
- Dutch marathoner Abdi Nageeye spurs on his friend, Belgian’s Bashir Abdi to sprint to the Olympic silver and bronze medals.
- Italian Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Bashim of Qatar agree to split the gold in the Olympic high jump. “Can we have two gold?”
- Wout van Aert wins on the Mont Ventoux.
There were plenty others to pick from:
- The Belgian men hockey team wins Olympic Gold.
- Argentina wins the Copa America.
- Messi is in tears in Barcelona.
- Max Verstappen wins the F1 championship.
- Wout Van Aert wins and keeps winning.
- Mark Cavendish’s comeback in the Tour de France.
- Mathieu Vanderpoel hands a young supporter his bidon.
- Italy booked incredible successes winning the Euros final from England (“It’s coming Rome”), and on the bicycle with Ganna (World Champion Time trial), Colbrelli (European Champion and Paris-Roubaix), Elisa Balsamo (World Champion women) to name few.
December 29, 2021
Home Alone Is a Lot Like Die Hard
It was cold and rainy this Christmas. We all were ready to snuggle under a blanket in front of the television. Yet, we were stuck. What shall we watch?
Let’s watch again the best Christmas movie ever!
The rest of the family rolled their eyes at the hint of Die Hard. I suggested it in jest, yet I didn’t want to search for the perfect movie forever (especially when we already knew the answer). Let’s just pick a movie that peeked our interest and explore.
A few nights prior, we committed to Gotti, with John Travolta. That was a mistake and a horrible movie. We rated it zero stars out of five. Yet, we committed and agreed on a movie.
This Christmas we settled on two headliners: first the new Disney movie, Encanto, and then a classic, Home Alone. Today, we crescendoed with Die Hard.
I realize that Home Alone and Die Hard have a lot in common:
- Both movies start with the protagonist being less than enthusiast to their Christmas Eve travel plans. Kevin McCallister obviously is left behind from the family trip to Paris in Home Alone. John McClane isn’t the fan of having to cross the country to California. “Pfft, California!”
- Both leading characters are stuck in a building for Christmas Eve. Kevin is alone at home. John in the now infamous Nakatomi building in Los Angeles.
- The entire plot is about fending of the bad guys lead by Harry Lime (Joe Pesci) in Home Alone and Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) in Die Hard.
- Both are outmatched against the bad guys. They both are a good shot and have to be inventive to fight back.
- There is also the sweet romantic side story: Kevin’s neighbor reconnects with his estranged son, and John and Holy are back the McClanes.
- Both movies defined the career of their lead actors. Before Die Hard, Bruce Willis was known opposite Sybille Shepherd in he ABC comedy-drama Moonlighting. That was from the strong action hero we know him as today. If not catcalled, he must hear daily “Yipikaye Motherfucker!” Macaulay Culkin will always be known as Kevin, (and friend of Michael Jackson). I had to look up another big movie Culkin was part of: My Girl.
So next year, when the uninevitable Christmas movie question arises, be content that it really doesn’t matter. They are the same story in a different package. … and enjoy Die Hard.
December 26, 2021
Het Schelde Peloton
Watching a professional cycling race on television is like listening to a reading of a great novel. It is a slowly enfolding tale full of drama, surprise, and heroics. The cycling commentators are therefore master story tellers. When they get a chance to make a cycling documentary, you can be assured an awesome story.
Het Schelde Peloton doesn’t disappoint. It tells the story of five friends, who loved cycling, who wanted to become professionals, and who would train along the banks of the river Schelde in Belgium: Iljo Keisse, Wouter Weylandt, Bert De Backer, Kurt Hovelinck, and Dimitri De Fauw.
The groups trains hard, parties hard. Some win and some lose. They fall down and get up. They fall down and some stay down. Only three of them are still alive. Dimitri De Fauw committed suicide as he suffered from ongoing depression in the aftermath of a collision and the death of a fellow track racer Isaac Galvez. Wouter Weylandt died during the third stage of the 2011 Giro d’Italia.
I hope there is an English version of this Flemish television series. It is so well done. I can assure you it will be difficult not to shed a tear.
December 25, 2021
San Jose Mid-Covid Is Apocalyptic
Christmas in the Park is back this year in downtown San Jose. However, it feels much different. Many of the traditional displays are not there, with exception of the Caribbean Frogs and the ice ring. The experience is a light version of the typical San Jose Christmas celebration. Nevertheless, it is great to be out there, bundled up and to continue the tradition since the kids were small.
What struck me a lot more was the carnage the pandemic left downtown. Many businesses have closed. Storefronts are boarded up. Establishments are emptied out. The downtown Safeway is gone. And shocker, the iconic Fairmont hotel has been closed. Wowzie! Downtown is empty and a bit scary.
Add to this the tents from the many homeless people, people living in their vans on many street corners, and the camperville near the San Jose airport and it looks quite apocalyptic.
If the capital of Silicon Valley is going through such a rough time, imagine how many other places must be fairing. San Jose isn’t a typical tourist destination. This is all tech business. San Jose businesses and hotels depend a lot on business travel and conventions. That has been on hold for more over two years.
Omicron is delaying the hoisting of the “We’re back!” banner a bit longer. If there is some solace in the prolonged pandemic it is that early results show that this variant, while more contagious, is less potent and lethal. Hope gives life, no? I am looking forward to a bustling and happening downtown San Jose again.
December 22, 2021
The Formula 1 season was exciting to the end, with two great teams and two top racers, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Unfortunately, it was the rules that decided the winner: Max Verstappen.
Both racers shared the same number of points in the world championship ranking heading into the final race in Abu Dhabi. The dominant driver in the final grandprix was clearly Lewis Hamilton. Yet, because of a crash by Nicolas Latifi with five laps to go, and how the rules were applied, everything changed. Lewis lost all the advantage he had built up over the course of 50 laps. Not only did all drivers bunch up again, also the order in which they were driving was adjusted. This resulted in Lewis in position #1 and Verstappen in position #2, yet Max with brand new fast tires. After the safety car left, there remained one lap and one lap only to decide the winner. Max showed his skills and overtook Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen won the race and the F1 world championship.
Even though I am a Max supporter, something feels off. If it wasn’t for the crash, and how the rules were applied, Lewis would have been the clear winner of it all. While the crash is unfortunate and unpredictable, the rules shouldn’t have impacted the race outcome this much. The rules should preserve fairness and correctness in racing. This didn’t feel like either.
It is true that in other races, Lewis probably benefited from the rules as well. Verstappen’s “Finally a bit of luck of me” comment captures that best.
There are many winners today:
- Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff for being fierce competitors.
- Max Verstappen for his racing style and making the sport exciting again.
- The biggest winner may be Netflix, as season 4 of the F1 documentary Drive to Survive will be amazing.
- Latifi, as he will be energized for life!
December 12, 2021
Kindle Notes Needs a Blood Infusion
The Kindle is an amazing product. Yet Amazon failed to build out great note, snippet and book recommendation applications.
Goodreads hasn’t changed much since Amazon bought the company in 2013. The Kindle-Goodreads integration is meager: it allows you to update % complete and whether your finish the book.
Amazon only offers basic Kindle notes and highlights functionality. You can access and search them through https://read.amazon.com/notebook or export a portion of them as an html file from the Kindle iPad application. The book publisher sets a limit on the amount of highlights you can export. Using the highlights outside of the notebook site is cumbersome. There are a few utilities out there, such as http://kindle-formatter.vercel.app/ to convert the Kindle html file to Markdown and Roam formats.
Amazon could have built a great set of products, combining GoodReads and Notes, that
- Allow for easy and pretty sharing of quotes and highlights on Twitter.
- Allow for sharing and discovering highlights from other readers you follow. Bookclubs can see each other’s highlights. Or you can quickly gather what avid readers and curators have highlighted in a book.
- Allow you to save all your highlights in a portable text format. My highlights are mine. I prefer to save my book summaries and highlights locally. I want to copy/paste them easily into a Google Doc, an email, or a blogpost.
- Allow for easy integration with various notebook applications, such as Notion or Evernote.
Readwise solves many of these problems. It brings highlights from several sources together and integrates them with popular notebook applications. You can also share quotes easily on Twitter in a pretty format.
However, at $5/month, Readwise joins my subscription hell.
Amazon should have built a number of these features into Kindle Notes from the get-go.
Matter, a new and great reader application for newsletters and articles, does a great job at this, and avoids “integration” applications. Matter provides snippet sharing, and allows you to export the highlights to Notion. You can also export all highlights in an article in Markdown format.
Amazon is great at logistics, package distribution, and Kindle devices. They are great at infrastructure software (AWS) and Alexa. I wonder if they have the same passion for consumer software.
November 26, 2021
The Times Are Really Good
One of the great Christmas presents I received in recent years was a subscription to the New York Times. Since last month, I am now also subscribed to the Los Angeles Times, after my son wanted it for this twentieth birthday. It also brings a California perspective to the US news.
I’ve been truly impressed by both newspapers, both about its content and how it is delivered. The New York Times iOS application is beautiful and functional. The story telling through the digital exposes are superb. The website becomes more than just a digital version of the print paper.
I read the LA Times ePaper daily on my iPad. I looks like just a photo of the print paper. However, it gives you a sense of reading the physical paper, and allows you click into the articles and share them with one click. Also the LA Times iOS application is well done.
One feature I am missing in both applications is the ability to highlight sentences. Therefore, I share interesting articles to Matter, where I can mark them up, save them for later, or share quotes on Twitter.
Both Times set themselves apart from our local newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News, and from many other newspapers.
I don’t know how many people subscribe to the New York and LA Times, or how expensive their staff is. Hopefully, they can make the books balance and demonstrate there is life for the newspaper industry after all.
November 24, 2021