Buying Cheap Lightning Cables, So Not Worth It!

For the record, I've always had success avoiding the Verizon and Apple tax on accessories by ordering from eBay. For at least 10 years this has served me more than very well and I've ordered very nice chargers, cases, etc. not only for myself, but for friends and family.

But I have been having a bad case of fragile or DOA lightning cables ever since getting my iPhone 5S.

Mind you, I've had genuine Apple, Belkin MFi certified, and generic knock-offs from eBay. The generic ones are the worst, being non-certified, several of them were DOA.

I just ordered a metallic reinforced cable from i-Blason on Amazon.com for $15. Will update this post with my experience.

Here's an interesting article on another guy's experience with cheapo cables
http://www.cnet.com/news/why-im-done-buying-cheap-lightning-cables/

Dinner conversation about the end game for wealth inequality and revolution

I think our civilization needs to look back at what happens when tremendous amounts of wealth are concentrated into the hands of the few. Yes, in an aspirational society that is the ultimate outcome. But can we avoid catastrophe or revolution by being cognizant of the "endgame?" Can the elite be convinced that we need to find a better way?

In a capitalistic society, the clever will always find a way to escalate and there will always be that segment that dwells at the bottom, living off of the generosity of the middle and rich. But extreme disparity is just wrong.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dalearcher/2013/09/04/could-americas-wealth-gap-lead-to-a-revolt/

Jared Diamond: Why do societies collapse?
http://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse/transcript?language=en

Garmin File Won't Upload to Garmin Connect ---->The Easy Solution!

I did a short trainer ride this morning and synched my Garmin 910XT right afterwards as usual. But for some reason that particular file wouldn't upload to Garmin Connect. I could see it on my device, but it wouldn't upload! I even checked the local file directory to see if maybe the .fit file was stuck on my pc. I then deleted and re-installed Garmin Express to no avail.

After a few frustrating hours of synching unsuccessfully, I found a possible solution on a forum. There is a function on the 910XT device to manually "force" an upload of all of the files on the device:

Mode--->History--->Tranfer All

To my delight and surprise, upon synching again one final time my file finally appeared as if nothing was wrong in the world. Whew!

Don't give up

I wrecked my bike last week and got a concussion that has given me double vision. I fully believe I will he'll be back on my bike sometime down the road I don't know when but someday.

Over the last week more than one person has question why I keep bike riding at the age of 48. You have so much to lose they tell me. Sure I question it myself but if I wasn't able to swim bike and run and challenge myself i'm not sure what I would do. It's not that I'm any good at it I frequently finish in the middle or upper third of my age group if I'm lucky. But coming from someone without an athletic background I'm just so proud of being able to do these events at all that they have become a huge part of my personality and my life.

Carolina Half Ironman 2014 vs 2013 Splits

Yesterday was the second, or the first, Carolina Half Ironman distance race, depending on how you look at it. I did much better in 2014 than 2013 and I wanted to understand where because, frankly, I didn't feel as ready as I did in 2013. This is a quick comparative analysis of my splits.

In 2013, the race was produced by Setup Events and took place in September. Benji Jones, who was with Setup Events, left to form Jones Racing Company in late 2013 and took several events with him, including the Carolina Half. For 2014, the race was moved to May 4th, which worked out better for the planners and town. 

The swim was 100% the same but the bike and run courses were modified slightly. In 2013 the bike course featured too many turns and short legs; this was corrected for the 2014 event resulting in a much faster course. The run course originally was a one lap out and back which included the cross country course at Davidson College. The 2014 course was changed to mainly streets and paved greenways but still featured some pretty tough hills. 

In 2013, I did not strip my wetsuit off fully until I got to my bike, which was a mistake because the swim to bike run is about a quarter-mile! So in 2014 I made sure to take my suit off completely at the water exit. There is a large concrete driveway at the swim exit so plenty of room to strip. So the best way to see if I improved at all from 2013 to 2014 is to look at both my swim plus T1 times together:

2013: 42:53 vs 2014: 44:01

So I actually lost 1:08 in the 2014 race which makes sense because it felt a little slower. I didn't draft as many people as I did in 2013. I also struggled to get my suit off...did not bring any cooking spray!

In conclusion, most of the difference was on the bike and probably due to the more straight course. However, I think my run strength has also improved. So, I'd attribute half of the better time to the course and take credit for the other half :)

The Rule of 3

There are too many experts publishing advice lists that are just too long.

What good is a list of the top 12 things you can do to be happier, or the top 21.5 questions you should ask a prospective customer, if you can only remember the first handful?

Life is too busy and hectic to be able to truly focus on more than a few things at a time!

You can make consistent, measurable, progress just by focusing on a few things at a time. Do a few things every day, or even several times a day, and you will accomplish a lot more in less time!

Follow the rule of 3! Make a list of the 3 most important things you want to do right now. Fight the urge to make a longer list. Get those 3 things done as fast as you can...then think about making a new list of three. I guarantee you will feel a greater sense of accomplishment than you would by making a list of 20, 30, or 100 urgent things and only getting 1 or 2 of them done.

For example, if you really want to get healthy, remember this list of 3 at restaurants (that is, if you have to eat out at a restaurant).

The 3 things I should eat:
1. Vegetables
2. Fruits
3. Lean meats (substitute if you are a vegetarian/vegan.)

Clear out the distractions! Keep your lists simple! Get more done!

Gmail Contacts Sync to iOS7 Device Problems and Solution

I wasted the better part of yesterday afternoon and evening in frustration. My 2200 or so odd Google GMail contacts stopped updating on my iPhone 5S and iPad (both on iOS7.)

First, let me just state that I have multiple email accounts on my devices. Second, let me state that I've set them up myself. Third, I'm not a programmer, just a middle aged engineer and mobile aficionado with pretty good technical skills, but not an expert at IP lingo and software configuration.

The accounts on my phone are:

• Personal GMail
• Work GMail
• iCloud
• Side business iMap email

I was using my personal GMail to manage all my contacts. I decided to go this route due mainly to GMail's ability to find and merge duplicates. On my work PC, I use Outlook to access my work GMail and it created a separate Contact database...another source of frustration causing some duplicate contacts.

Long story short, let's focus on the problem and solution. My GMail contacts weren't synching. I tried deleting and adding my GMail account multiple times following the instructions on Google's page: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2753077?hl=en  

Here's what I didn't realize until about 10pm that night - My work GMail was not set up correctly. 

I set it up as a Google type of Account under Settings>Mail,Contacts, Calendars>Add Account

What I should have done is set it up as an Exchange Account using these instructions: 

https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/138740?hl=en

To my surprise, once I set up my work GMail account as an Exchange Account rather than as a Google Account, my personal GMail contacts started synching properly.

No, I don't understand why. I assume there was some kind of conflict inside my devices as a result of having two differently configured GMail accounts set up as Google accounts. All I know is when I fixed the work account, then my personal contacts started synching again. Perhaps the order in which the accounts were added was part of the problem as well. 

Hope this helps!