Oh yeah, and the hosts of this site, HaulBikes.com, wants you to like them on Facebook for a chance to win a free copy of Imagination Studio video editing software.
Anybody got tips and recommedations for mounting, filming, editing, software? There must be a motorcyclists resource guide to filming out there somewhere....
National Geographic released their trail map app today, which makes me happy because I love hiking and sometimes I like to explore and I often get a little lost. Mt. Tam is familiar but the trails are twisty and it's easy to get turned around. Is that Alpine Lake or Bon Tempe? Uh oh... does this trail lead back to Lake Phoenix where I left my bicycle or am I headed to Fairfax? I am hoping this app will get me out of these predicaments.
Hikers, mountain bikers, dirt and dual sport motorcycle riders, and 4x4 drivers should also appreciate this app. Despite my love of technology, I have not been an early adopter of GPS units, preferring my instincts and a paper map when motorcycling here and abroad. But the iPhone is so handy and, after all, I can tweet from it, too.
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I like that it uses AAA batteries, which are available everywhere in the world. And it works with iPod (Classic and 5th generation) and iPod nano (2nd or 3rd generation) , iPod Touch, iPhone 3G and 1st Generation with Optional Pro Track Adaptor .
Alesis PROTRACK Handheld Stereo Digital Recorder for iPod at BSWUSA.comI got my Canon Powershot G10 yesterday and today took a few experimental photos - after a short tutorial over-the-phone with my friend Brent Miller, who has had his for a few weeks now. It's a very nice, compact body and lightweight, yet the controls feel substantial - I mean, when I click, I can feel it click, which isn't the case with many new digital cameras that feel too light and plastic-y. That's it for my review! For the technical details I defer to Brent's review on Sojourn Chronicles. Here are three photos I liked from the batch I took today. I love taking macro and sweeping photos - this camera seems to do both quite well. (And this is the camera I'll be taking with me for my motorcycle trip from Vienna to Marrakesh, so stay tuned to this blog for more.)
The Richmond Bridge connects Marin to the East Bay
Protea flowers in my neighbor's garden
In my garden
Okay, it's time to admit it. I'm addicted to twitter. Why? Reason number 1 is for communication: blogging sometimes just takes too much time, especially if I want to communicate just a simple comment about a product, or a point folks to a good article or blog entry.
Number 2 is for information: I subscribe other motorcyclist's (and company's) twitter feeds that keep me updated on what's going on in their lives and the lives of their industries. So some of that might bring attention to stuff I might actually blog about. (If they start to twitter about what they had for dinner or reply to too many friends unrelated comments then I unsubscribe very quickly.)
And number 3 is because it feeds into other social media apps: I've got it set up so that tweets (twitter feeds), feed into my weblog page -- if you go to my blog page you'll see my latest tweets in the right-hand side of the page. If you're my friend on facebook you'll see my tweets as updates, just as if I had put it in my "What are you doing right now?" box. There are probably more places on the web I could propagate my tweets, but I'll try to stave off my addiction for now and just keep it to those two. Find out how to add your twitter feed to your blog or facebook or, in this article, to any web page at all. It's simple!)
But why twitter, TOO!? you ask? Because twitter is "micro"blogging, and twitter only lets you put 140 characters (yes, characters) into the box - and microblogging can easily be done (and read) on mobile devices. It's great when you're at, say, a political rally, riot, race, if you're arranging a frat party, or if you just feel compelled to tell everyone who subscribes to your tweets that you're really enjoying the fries at Absinthe or the chase scene at a new action movie. (But if your phone is lit up in front of my face at the theater you're going to get whopped upside the head. Don't say I didn't warn you.)
But I'm not a tween or a teen or a GenXer, so I don't use mobile devices to send out my tweets - yet. So you won't be getting tweets from my phone, but you can get them on your phone, or your computer - or you can just read them on the twitter site:
I may send in tweets from my trip in Europe and Morocco this spring, but more likely I'll blog or even do it the old fashioned way and build web pages on the fly. Who knows how things will be linked up by then! But be sure to subscribe to my twitter feed, and be my friend on facebook, and I'll keep you updated!
Maintaining the correct air pressure in your motorcycle tires is one of the most important things you need to do for safety (first!), proper handling and, of course, mileage. There's a good number of compact air compressors on the market, for example, Rider magazine favorably reviewed the $25 Airman Sparrow last June. But here's an article on how to make your own for about $10 (by ripping out the guts of an air pump), for you do-it-yourselfers, or those of with more time than money in the current economy.
Whitehorse Gear has a great new gadget: a grill that packs down to the size of a flute! Ultimately portable, you can enjoy a good steak on the grill, or shrimp on the barby, or for us vegetarians, a skewer of seitan or a tofu-kabob. Made of rugged, easy-to-clean stainless steel, it rolls out to a grilling area that measures 9 by 10 inches. The Grilliput Stainless Steel Compact Barbeque Grill is $29.99
Do you love it or hate it? Harley-Davidson MotorClothes has developed a (patent pending) helmet designed just for women, because we have unique ergonomic needs, it seems. The helmet has "a deeper cavity with a lower profile, interlocking liner to allow for a
customized fit, anti-static liner to reduce helmet hair, and pony-tail
cut out fixed lining..." Now, I've just got to wonder how many women are going to be running to the HD store to buy this thing. And I wonder how many men would like to protect their hairdos, too? I'd like to know -- do you love it or hate it? If you're a guy (with hair), do you want an anti-static liner and a pony-tail cut-out fixed lining, too? What do you think?
Carla King is a motorcycle adventure travel writer.
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