Comments for The London Biker

Comment on Wear a seatbelt by CPA Offers

CPA Offers — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:40:24 +0000

Thank you for this valuable post. It changed my idea.

Comment on Being green, the real cost by Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:34:59 +0000

Nice work with the home servicing Matthew! That’s something anyone should be able to do though – qualified mechanic or not- if anything it helps in keep an eye on the bike in general.

There’s a time factor involved of course however I think you’ve got it spot on with leaving the major stuff to a workshop and taking care of the minor things yourself.

Obviously it depends on the complexity of the machine but even changing filters and plugs saves a packet on the servicing.

Comment on Being green, the real cost by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:33:28 +0000

Very good point there sir and one I’ve considered – I have the XT660 – so a nice 6k interval – but I’m only putting in two garage services (major) per year as the minor services I do myself, that’s the joy of being a qualified mechanic. In theory I could also do (and used to on the CBF) the major services, but I’m trying to be realistic and having 2 services in the bag money wise seems sensible.

So that’s 4 services per year, 2 major, 2 minor allowing for 24k per year – which I think should be enough.

Comment on Being green, the real cost by AndyI

AndyI — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:08:45 +0000

Not sure what bike you’re using, but surprised you’ve budgeted only 2 services a year when you’re going from Bucks to London.

As you know, I’m in St Albans, only just outside London and I do 12k a year – or 3 services. I’m on a Honda which has the pretty standard 4k service interval for bikes. You may have a Yamaha, Triumph or BMW in which case you’re lucky with 6k intervals.

I guess another thing to bear in mind is that every 16k (or so, depending on bike), you’ve got the valve clearance service which generally costs between 350-800 (i.e. significantly more).

Of course, it’s always better to commute by bike anyway!

Comment on I can’t afford to be green. by Being green, the real cost » The London Biker

Being green, the real cost » The London Biker — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:24:30 +0000

[...] week I posted a short note on the cost of travelling into London from Buckinghamshire via public transport vs the motorbike. The difference was startling, I was expecting public [...]

Comment on I can’t afford to be green. by Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:30:35 +0000

I have to agree with you and with the nicer weather around the corner you’d be mad to keep paying out on those fares. It’s shocking when you break the figures down and I bet most people don’t and simply pay for the monthly / annual pass especially if their employer offers interest free loans for it. Shame they don’t do the same for PTW’s…

Comment on I’m moving back to London by Nigel

Nigel — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:48:55 +0000

P.S. Found my next bike while forced to pass time in Elizabeth Street this week (on sale too!):

http://tinyurl.com/nigelsnextbike

Comment on I’m moving back to London by Nigel

Nigel — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:45:10 +0000

Matt – from the moment we first talked on the phone all that time ago, I knew your time in Melbourne was going to be fun. Will greatly miss the techie talk, the gadgets, the motorbike buddy and 9am coffees. You were the incredible shrinking man, and we’re all proud of the things you achieved here. See you in London… hmmmm, motorcycles in the Pyrenees just got a whole lot more feasible… as we kiwis are wont to say…

Comment on I’m moving back to London by Ali

Ali — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:41:15 +0000

What Ed said.

Comment on I’m moving back to London by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:02:49 +0000

No sir… you are

A
W
E
S
O
M
E
(high five)

!
!
!

Comment on I’m moving back to London by Ed

Ed — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:55:00 +0000

YOU ARE…

A
W
E
S
O
M
E

!!!

Comment on Weekend run – the Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne Triangle by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03:22 +0000

Now editing route to take into account these suggestions from my colleagues here at work:

* Yes! You must stop in Daylesford for lunch, or at least sweets. There’s a gorgeous little dessert/coffee café on the main street called Sweet Decadence — my father said it was the best cup of coffee he’d ever had. A walk around little Lake Daylesford is nice if it’s not too hot.

* Going to Ballarat:
Lerderburg state park – dramatic gorges
Blackwood – scenery and nice old pub
Daylesford – very popular weekend retreat with nice lake area

ballarat to bendigo
Gold towns of Creswick, Clunes & Talbot.

Bendigo to melbourne
Fine old gold town of Maldon (with old train to Castlemaine)
Castlemaine and Woodend make nice towns for a stop (Hop into the Holgate microbrewery in Woodend; you might see me there – I live in woodend)
Hanging Rock (detour from Woodend)

There are plenty of off-road opportunities around the Macedon Ranges. The area north of HHergetova Cihelnáanging Rock and west of Kyneton has possibilities.

* The Restorers Barn in Castlemain (129-133 Mostyn Street) is great. It’s a big second-hand shop. No clothes, but with all sorts of other stuff, from the tea cups your nan used to have, to antique bath tubs. Even if you’re not in the market for anything or don’t particularly like shopping, it’s a great place to have a browse.

* Ballarat to home is the most boring part of the trip & you might as well do it at night

* I’m a Maryborough girl originally (just off your route) so know these areas fairly well. I would say definite must sees are Maldon, Clunes is cute too and Castlemaine is lovely.

* Don’t bother with Melton, it’s a ‘satellite city’ and not too pretty! My sister lives there.

* You have to stop at the lolly shop in Maldo. I see you are going through Axedale, which is great, they have some stunning views from the hills up that way. Lake Eppalock may seem like a great idea, however due to the drought there isn’t much water left

* If you pass through Woodend (near Dayelsford area), stop in for a drink at the Holgate brewery. One of my absolute fave tipples.

* Out Heathcote way – the reedsdale tavern would be a lovely lunch stop.

* Have you been to Daylesford before? That would be better than clunes if you haven’t experienced it yet

* L’Espresso, in Sturt St has the best coffee in all of Ballarat (in fact, the best coffee I’ve ever had … ever). And super yummy foodstuffs.

Comment on GovHack, MelHack and Hack Days in Australia by The best of Science Week | Extreme Travels

The best of Science Week | Extreme Travels — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:38:24 +0000

[...] around the globe, consummate innovator Matthew Cashmore ran a series of Hack Days to fashion the pointy end of travel technology. Lonely Planet is already on the iPhone, and [...]

Comment on Costa or Starbucks? An example of a PR backfire by James Clark

James Clark — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:44:54 +0000

I saw that advertisement in London and I was looking for the asterisk with a disclaimer saying “as polled by customers entering Costa Coffee”.

Speaking of Costa Coffee, I’ve been working in Budapest and in the last year they have opened up a few branches here, while Starbucks haven’t even arrived yet. Costa have also opened up branches in Belgrade, so they look like they are beating Starbucks at their own game in Eastern Europe.

At the end of the day though, you can’t beat a coffee from Melbourne.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Alex (in Bretagne)

Alex (in Bretagne) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:40:48 +0000

On the charging front, I believe, at the request (read threatened possible legislation) of the European Community that the major manufacturers have signed up to a universal standard, the idea of course being that we won’t all need hundreds of chargers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/17/universal-mobile-phone-charger

It’s to be based round the mini-usb port, which makes sense, as a number of phones use this not just for data transfer but for charging off your computer’s USB port too.

No doubt in a few years we’ll see little USB sockets in vehicles next to the now almost defunct cigarette lighter, to enable all sorts of charging possibilities.

And Matt, I mean something far smaller than that HUGE great thing in your photo, something with a true phone form-factor, but with the processing power of a netbook (it’ll come I’m sure) .I guess you’d not seen the virtual keyboard, so here’s a link http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/. No, I have no idea how it works either.

And I’m wondering why people want hard-drives in their phone. They’re prone to damage, use a lot of power, and take up a lot of space within. Solid State Drives are the way to go, look at how cheap SD cards have become.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Steve Caddy

Steve Caddy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:07:56 +0000

I agree with a lot of stuff here, but I have to say that as soon as I saw “grippy sides” I thought of the Homer Car.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:01:03 +0000

Some great suggestions coming in from other sources – The ThornTree over on Lonely Planet has a few that I’ve added above – read the thread

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?newPost=true&messageID=16295544�

also Simon over on Facebook has this to say:

——————
Simon Thompson

Built in PLB/Spot device. Waterproof. Small d-ring to attach it to your person. DGPS. Sunlight viewable or e-ink. Dual SIM to allow overseas cheap SIM use. Decent mapping i.e. OS not google. Ability to run/charge on consumer batteries, 110/230v 50/60 Hz and unregulated 12v dc supplies. Internet and email + Skype + WiFi. Ability to turn cruft off to maintain battery.Oh and the Iphone Navionics app.
——————

I’m going to pull all of these together this morning, do one more drawing and then I think the next step is to create a survey asking the questions raised by Frank + what people think of / rate the tech and the design.

My gut feeling at the moment is that we’re heading to a range of devices rather than just one.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:22:31 +0000

I find it easier to come up with solutions when I understand the problem. However, I’m unclear what’s meant by “traveller” here, and what their needs are. So, here are some questions to help me understand what you’re thinking about.

When you say “traveller”, do you mean “eager tourist” or “adventurer”?

Does this thing need to be waterproof? Would it help if it floated? Should it be driving dust proof? Being-sat-on proof? Being-in-a-bag-of-tourist-goodies proof?

I presume you’re not advocating a touch-screen, given the buttons. But should it be usable with big gloves on? In sub-zero conditions? In 100% humidity?

Should the display be readable through Polaroid or other sunglasses?

Should it work across North America (given their bizarre diversity of networks)?

Should it be field-repairable (like a Land Rover)?

Should it be able to act like a walkie-talkie with other handsets (i.e., no network required)?

Should it work on the high seas? At 35,000 feet?

Should it have anti-theft features?

Should it be rechargeable without access to mains power or shops selling batteries?

Should it support machine translation?

Should it support remote traceability?

Should it support aerial boosters?

Should it look too crappy to be worth stealing, even in Congo or Detroit?

Should it boot and acquire signals quickly?

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:45:41 +0000

Craig – definitely waterproof!

Wonder if it needs a touch screen?

I see where you’re going on the multiple charger options – wonder what the most popular charger is? Perhaps it’s the Nokia? So a mini USB and the standard Nokia?

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:40:16 +0000

okay that lot updated in the post – really starting to get some good broad ideas now.

Pete – as much as I love my iPhone it’s no-where near the perfect traveling phone, it’s not tough enough, it drinks battery and doesn’t have anywhere near good enough signal reception – unfortunately… I do love my iPhone :-/

Alex – yes I see where you’re going. I took the Samsung Q1 with me to Morocco on the bike (http://www.flickr.com/photos/journeytomorocco/1350935637/) and it was spot on for the tech I needed to write and keep in touch – but it was a little too big to get out all the time and a little too flashy, I wasn’t comfortable getting it out in a lot of places – so in this case I think we’re looking for a traditional phone format with more than your usual abilities – love the sat phone idea though – I wonder what circuits would be required….

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Pete

Pete — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:22:33 +0000

You can’t be serious can you?
Are you going to reintroduce stone tablet writing while your at it.
Sorry but just seems so obvious with everyone who has bought an iPhone (or smart phone) – it’s already here, confirmed with No. people forking out their cash for the real deal, and will already have a new and improved version before you lot reach the bronze age.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Alex (in Bretagne)

Alex (in Bretagne) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:09:32 +0000

Matt, interesting idea, although a bit behind the times mate, I was sat there reading your list thinking my phone already does all of these things. It’s an HTC Touch Diamond.

OS = Windows Mobile, but easily hackable, people have been doing it for years.
App Store = OK, not so easy to go to just one place, but Google for almost any app and you find loads for FREE.
GPS = Built in
Wifi/Bluetooth = already there
Big touch screen = yup

I’d like to stretch my ideal traveller’s phone a bit further. I’d like full PC functionality in a tiny box. They’re getting close, but so far no-one seems to have built everything into one single phone.

So, in my ideal travellers phone what else would I like to see?

Software:

OS: Full PC OS, not bothered which really.

Hardware:

Built in pico projector; how good would it be to project what’s on your screen onto any surface, great for showing photos, planning routes, you name it.

Multiple USB ports; Bluetooth is fine for connectivity, but it saps power, for plenty of things wires are fine.

Solar panel; new transparent panels mean it could be on the front, where it’d see the sun most.

Sat phone capability; just lug in an antenna, and voila.

So really, it’s a tiny PC with add-ons.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Craig

Craig — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:30:43 +0000

Really solid rubber is the way to go.

I’ve only used the Apple store, so have no idea about the economics of development that effect the other two.

The reason I posit multiple chargers is so you can scab power off anyone if you conveniently lighten your luggage by forgetting a charger.

Wifi/bluetooth controls in software, for certs.

Screen = bigger? Probably. But maybe I’m just in love with my iPod touch.

And … can it be waterproof? That’s what’s killed two of my last three phones.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by celine

celine — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:12:08 +0000

How about listening to some music and watching some videos for when you’re bored at the airport.
It should also have a lot of memory to include all you travel guides so that you don’t have to carry yhose heavy books with you anymore.
I’ve done the exercise of imagining the best outdoor/travel apps that would make your iPhone perfect for it. Here is it :
http://blog.zeoutdoor.com/2009/09/les-15-meilleures-applications-iphone.html

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:16:43 +0000

Got it – yes that makes a lot of sense – I wonder if it should be a rubber cover over the plastic? Or perhaps that really solid rubber stuff?

LED torch – definitely.

App store compatibility – perhaps the OS should be Android or the new version of Symbian meaning it could work with both the Google Store and the Ovi store? Which would be better?

Wi-fi/bluetooth – easy to turn that on/off from the hardware rather than software?

Two power inlets – what about just using miniUSB as a standard?

Screen – perhaps it needs to be bigger as well as anti-glare?

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Jax

Jax — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:58:43 +0000

def. some sort of app store compatability – good for use with a translator/pronunciation application.

maybe also a little led torch?

Skype is a MUST too… call costs whilst travelling round different countries are ridiculous. Currently my no.1 barrier to using a mobile on my travels.

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Tweets that mention The ideal Travellers Phone » The London Biker -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention The ideal Travellers Phone » The London Biker -- Topsy.com — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:50:33 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matthew Cashmore and Venessa Paech. Venessa Paech said: RT @matthewcashmore Help me design the ideal phone for Travellers – http://bit.ly/Gi6TC #lp [...]

Comment on The ideal Travellers Phone by Craig

Craig — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:48:06 +0000

I like it, but feel the need to add in a:
* screen suitable for guidebooks/reading (thinking light/glare as well as pixels for kerning/comfort)
* maybe rubber rather than plastic? (Like a “rugged” phone)
* wifi / bluetooth that can be turned off
* two or more power inlets from different manufacturers

And preferably it’ll have a hackable OS, or one that connects to an app store of some description.

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by andy

andy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:09:52 +0000

Have recently bought a S1 pro and combined with earplugs it is spookily quite. rode the other day in strong cross winds and compared to my previous shoei it was amazing.
aslo like the sun visor which is very easy to use with the position of the switch being on the bottom left of the helmet.
Having said that, the slightest open venton the visor creates a dramatic increase in noise – almost as much as my Arai enduro helment which is open face. So its great for longer journeys when the top vents do the trick but a bit rubbish in traffic

Comment on Losing the weight… by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:14:07 +0000

Hello old love!

How are you? The chart was a very basic attempt at tracking the weight loss and ’seeing’ progress – that seems to be the hardest thing :-/

15kg to date – 28 to go.

Comment on Losing the weight… by Dale Larson

Dale Larson — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:09:16 +0000

Happy late birthday and congrats on the fantastic progress to date. (Smart move to just plot it on Google Spreadsheet to share here — I’ve actually been working on an app to do slighly more tracking but still keep it simple…)

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:28:58 +0000

Sorry to hear that Father Ted – but as you say in your own post most people rate it very highly for noise – myself included. I tested the lid by running it down to Morocco and back and used it for a year on and off commuting into Central London.

Motorway and city alike I find the lid to be the quietest I’ve ever used. To give you some perspective I have a Shoei Hornet, a Caberg V2R, a Lazer LZ6 and now a AGV S4 – none of them particularly shoddy… the Hornet is noisy as hell the V2 is not bad the Lazer pretty good, the the AGV about average – the S1 leaves them all behind though.

I tested on a CBF600 with both the standard screen and the Givi aftermarket touring screen.

But as ever with people’s own reviews and opinions… your millage may vary – and I’m sorry this time it didn’t work out for you – thanks for coming back and leaving your comment – this way people get to see a bigger picture.

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by Father Ted

Father Ted — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:09:20 +0000

I bought the S1 Pro based on reviews from this form,Hein G and others. This, I must say, was the biggest waste of money I have made. My old Shoei XR1000 is quieter. I`m currently in dispute with HG over the helmet. I`ve tried it on other bikes, different screens, mates have tried it on their bikes and all say it is crap in the noise department.I strongly advise if fancy a Schuberth to try a mates one first because they are not what they are cracked up to be, anybody who says different must of had a crap helmet before.

Comment on TomTom Rider Review by joe

joe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:13:57 +0000

Not sure if you’ve come across “Tripmaster”. You can google it to find the website. It’s a nice bit of free software that has the capability of recording your tracks on the TomTom. With a bit of fiddling you can use the files to get really detailed stats of your journey.

My recommendation though is to buy a cheap data logger, such as the royaltek rgm-3800. I’ve managed to scribble over most of Europe in Google Maps with my data tracks over the past year using it, and you can also use it with your digital camera to plot where your photos were taken. LOCR.com will even automatically link the location of the photo to Wikipedia and tell you all about the location…

Comment on TomTom Rider Review by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:12:27 +0000

Hi Nigel – yes Tyre (http://www.janboersma.nl/gett/index.php) is fantastic – I’ve used it since it came out to great success. It wasn’t around when I wrote this review – perhaps it’s time for an update?

I get the Garmin 660 in a couple of weeks so will be able to do a side-by-side review of both units. I love the Tom Tom – it’s been a constant companion on the bike ever since I got hold of it, and now the mount / bluetooth issues seem to be sorted in V2, and of course with Tyre… I have nothing to complain about

Comment on TomTom Rider Review by nigel

nigel — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:57:51 +0000

If you want to plan routes off line, download Tyre (just google it). It allows you to plan a route on google maps (or earth) and then download it to the tomtom

Comment on Losing the weight… by Jay Adair

Jay Adair — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:02:51 +0000

That’s a commendable statement Matt. Have the best of times with it.. It’s a lot easier than you might imagine, so just keep up the hard work

Comment on Losing the weight… by Paola Kathuria

Paola Kathuria — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:37:07 +0000

I'm so pleased. You are welcome to join the Food Confessional (I have a back-log of diaries to post). See Da Roolz. Paola

Comment on Losing the weight… by Travo

Travo — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:13:24 +0000

Go Cashmore – you can do it!

Comment on The Coffee Post by Francisco Rodriguez

Francisco Rodriguez — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:48:21 +0000

I am from Puerto Rico and got my Handpresso through Coffee World Puerto Rico: http://www.coffeeworldpuertorico.ecrater.com I received my Handpresso about a week ago. The first expression is that this Handpresso is just nicely built, as well as the case. Making espresso is very easy, and it takes a minute or so to make a cup. I was impressed with the coffee. Believe me for a portable machine, coffee was great. Now my Handpresso substituted my Krups machine. I use Island Joe’s ESE pods,Lavazza Grand Crema AND PORTO RICO ESE PODS FROM PUERTO RICO. A good hint is: to make sure the espresso has an ok temperature, I heat up my cup as well as the water container adding the boiling water and then adding the water to make the coffee. I always fill a bit more water (a few drops more) so the ESE pods gets soaked before extraction. And it really takes about 30-38 pumps, no big deal. With this I get a great espresso and crema too. I recommend buying ESE pods buy bulks of 100 or 150, it gets cheaper. The unit works best with the standard 7g E.S.E pod.

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:21:42 +0000

Thanks everyone for all your help…. I’ve created a google my map that everyone can edit as I start to plan the route in full detail – http://www.thelondonbiker.com/blog/2009/06/help-me-map-this-thing-out-australia-road-trip/

please help!

Comment on San Francisco – your thoughts. by Shannon Clark

Shannon Clark — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:01:24 +0000

I moved to SF in 2006, I enjoy a lot about living here but there are some drawbacks. For one, though the weather should support it – the city is not a very late night city – most places close by 10, bars/nightclubs by 2am, limited 24hr options. The food selection is quite fantastic & the locally owned shops great (fantastic bookstores, specialty retail). That said, I don’t see myself living here forever, the allure of big, 24hr cities such as London or NYC is too great.

Comment on San Francisco – your thoughts. by bryan

bryan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:46:10 +0000

GREAT place to live. Wouldn’t live anywhere else. You have to get used to it being a bit cool, never really that warm… but its nice.

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by Alex Richards

Alex Richards — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:57:57 +0000

Mate, you defo have to get out to Broken Hill and Silverton – I wonder if the artist who paints in Vegemite still lives there? If you decide to go there, I’ll get you to look up a reli for me, should be easy, he’s in the graveyard. And Wilpena Pound’s a must too like everyone says. Mind you what do I know it’s 22 years since I was there.

Oh and I’ll give my cousin a ring in Adelaide too, I’m sure he’d give you a place to crash and a good night or two out on the town.

Comment on Kitty in her new bed by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:52:48 +0000

Yeah! New kitten is doing very very well – photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcashmore/sets/72157617894251256/ totally loving having her here How’s life on the road!? Oh yes… back in SF in a couple of weeks.

Comment on Kitty in her new bed by Cherie

Cherie — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:50:05 +0000

You’re back in Australia.. right? How’s the newly adopted kitten??

Comment on Help find me a new camera by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:35:36 +0000

Very very nice photos... yesterday I went for it and bought the G1 at John Lewis. Enjoying it so far - first pic I took is up on my flickr stream. I have the weekend to play with it and remind myself of all those interesting things like depth of field and shutter speeds!

Comment on Help find me a new camera by Happy Hotelier

Happy Hotelier — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:23:16 +0000

Matt
Check out the Lumix DMC-TZ5 10X Zoom and Leica Lens. Always in my pocket. You can also check my photostream at Flickr All pictures with a P in it are from this camera.

Success!

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by Stephen Chapman

Stephen Chapman — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:01:08 +0000

Looks like an awesome trip Matthew. Reccommend picking up a meat pie from Braidwood Bakery. Detour to Pebbly Beach before you hit Bateman's Bay...unsealed road a bit of the way down through the trees to the coast, but great little beach always full of kangaroos. Fantastic fish and chips to be had at O'Brien's Boatshed at Tuross Heads. Reccommend a short stop in Tilba Tilba on the way south past Tuross Heads. Great Ocean road is brilliant on a bike. Definitely take a ride out to Silverton from Broken Hill. Probably worth keeping an eye on distances and fuel stations, particularly in and out of Broken Hill. Look forward to reading about it.

Comment on The Coffee Post by James Clark

James Clark — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:33:04 +0000

…expensive shipping, welcome to Australia. When buying online in Australia you have to do it in cycles. That is when the AUD is near parity to USD shop up, then the AUD drops to about half of a USD again.

There is a shop in Carlisle St Balaclava that sells all sorts of coffee contraptions as well as coffee beans from all over the world. I’m out of town though for a month or so so will check then as well.

Comment on The Coffee Post by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:46:23 +0000

I think I’m going to order one when I get to the UK… shipping to Oz seemed rather expensive – although I’m sure I’ll find a local dealer if I looked hard enough. Either way… I’ll do a full review and video when I get it

Comment on The Coffee Post by James Clark

James Clark — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:04:13 +0000

Hey Matthew, glad to hear that you have become a fellow Melbournian and become a coffee snob.

I’d be interested to find some reviews on the handpresso. The video on their site shows a freshly made espresso with a nice looking crema on top but the proof ultimately is in the tasting.

Comment on Oscar by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:40:12 +0000

oh! Kitty! I love you too!

Comment on Oscar by Kitty

Kitty — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:35:17 +0000

What about Meow?

Comment on Help find me a new camera by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:49:11 +0000

Nope, you’re not wrong to dismiss the Ricoh because you can’t change the lens, but the cost of that is not being able to find a camera that fits into a BSI-standard fag packet (which the Ricoh does, with room to spare).

The Ricoh’s lens is roughly equivalent to a 28-200mm zoom on a 35mm camera, and it’s not one of those water-droplet lenses either, but a decent diameter for a small camera (about an inch at the objective).

Re: CHDK, I’m only slightly disappointed that it doesn’t yet support some of the more recent dirt-cheap Canons (such as the A470, which is available at retail in the UK for about £50 at present), but I guess that’s the cost of having to wait for generous geeks to reverse-engineer the camera.

Comment on Help find me a new camera by Rain

Rain — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:53:08 +0000

If I was a looking for a new camera, I’d want it to be a hybrid of my Canon G7 and Sanyo Xacti HD1000 cam. This is because I love having the huge selection of settings on the G7 (tho I want to do a CHDK hack so I can have RAW) and with the Xacti I <3 recording video straight to MP4 as I can top, tail and upload in a jiffy

Comment on Help find me a new camera by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:31:53 +0000

Thanks guys- Mark LOVE the G1 – looks like a stunning entry – I shall be researching it in much more depth. Frank – how very interesting! Who knew? Ricoh – is it wrong I’ve dismissed it purely because I can’t change the lens?

Comment on Help find me a new camera by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:44:18 +0000

If you’re going to consider a Canon camera, consider getting one that this hack can be applied to — it adds lots of useful features, and (if I remember correctly) also lets you program your own:

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

I can also offer a thumbs-up for the Ricoh Caplio R6 (and presumably later models); it’s clearly been designed by people who want to make taking interesting pictures easy. It also has a fab 7x optical zoom, and a macro mode that’s almost like a pocket microscope (you can focus down to within 1cm of the lens).

Comment on Help find me a new camera by mark

mark — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:43:19 +0000

If you are after a DSLR, then I have always been a big Canon fan, but you might want to consider the Panasonic G1 if size is a big priority. DP Review have a typically comprehensive review here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcg1/

Comment on Oscar by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:20:38 +0000

That sounds about right to me… miss the little boy far too much.

Comment on Help find me a new camera by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:57:02 +0000

Cool – thanks Jack… I wonder if I should go for something in the SLR range so I can play with interchangeable lenses?

Comment on Help find me a new camera by Jack

Jack — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:38:48 +0000

I really like the Canon IXUS range, the new 970 looks great and does video, has image stabilization, and does SD cards. Connectors are mini-USB and you can charge through the USB as well. I have a 3 year old IXUS 55 that's still going strong and giving me nice photos like this photo of Pigeon Point lighthouse in California.

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:51:04 +0000

Cheers John – fantastic advice there.

A few people have suggested the Wilpena Pound and it doesn’t seem that much of a diversion really – so I think that’s now in the plan.

I’m only going to Bourke so I can say I’ve been to the back of Bourke

Thanks for the tips on the EPIRB – I definitely think I should be investing in a sat phone if I intend doing more riding in the big country. I want something that would work all over the world though as the plan is to ride home to the UK in 5 years.

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by John Diamond

John Diamond — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:26:17 +0000

Looks like an awesome trip.

If you are going to make it all the way up to Hawker, I would really recommend going a few hundred extra kms to Wilpena Pound. It is one of the most incredible places you will ever see – a natural pount about 15kms across and 1km high around – like a meteor hit it. It’s in the Flinders Ranges which is a must see – the real outback Australia. You can do a circuit up to Wilpena Pound and around via Blinman and Parachilna. If you’re game you can go on a bit further to Arkaroola in the Gammon Ranges – apparently the former edge of Gondwana land and unchanged for billions of years. The fossil people are really into it. Great wildlife, stars, views from a peak over Lake Frome, etc etc.

Long run from West of Broken Hill through to Bourke. Big country out there. Broken Hill is interesting – Wilcannnia and Bourke a bit disappointing unfortunately.

You’ll love the Great Ocean rd, Robe, and the Sapphire coast (southern NSW).

You won’t get much mobile reception in central SA or Western NSW. I’d recommend buying an EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Beacon). If you come off your bike in a dirt track, you can press the help button, and someone will be on their way. The other option is a satellite phone.

Comment on Westminster Council Parking Fees… is wrong by Josef

Josef — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:07:09 +0000

Sorry one other thing!

You may also be interested in watching our latest protest against Westminster where over 500+ motorcyclists and scooterists were out on the streets, oh and forced their way in to Westminster City Hall.

WATCH HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjP6vZVBPaw

Comment on Westminster Council Parking Fees… is wrong by Josef

Josef — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:03:48 +0000

Hello,

Totally with you on this one and latest figures from Westminster council are as follows:

http://forum.notobikeparkingfees.com/discussion/207/westminsters-motorbike-parking-charges-rake-in-over-7-times-more-than-the-cost/

AND BACK TO CLAMPING, LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE STILL AT IT!

http://www.notobikeparkingfees.com/2008/12/16/dont-pay-the-experimental-parking-tax-this-is-what-happens/

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:05:08 +0000

Thanks Amanda – I’ll be blogging about it here – looks a really good run.

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by Amanda Kendle

Amanda Kendle — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:41:00 +0000

I’m afraid I don’t have any tips because I’m a west coast girl, but I’m keen hear how you enjoy that bit up from Port Augusta to Quorn and around there, planning a trip out there in May ourselves …

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:55:54 +0000

nice one – thanks Ross – I’ve done the Great Ocean Road in the car – can’t wait to slide those bends on a bike. Geelong – seems very popular with the in crowd at the moment!

Comment on Planning the first ‘medium’ sized trip in Australia by Ross Hill

Ross Hill — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:39:09 +0000

I live down in Geelong and can safely say the ride along the great ocean road will be awesome! Have fun!

Comment on Oscar by Briantist

Briantist — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:19:32 +0000

Don’t worry: dogs have owners, cats have staff.

Comment on Quick review of the Asus by Timothy Minger

Timothy Minger — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:15:42 +0000

Build quality – fantastic, very sturdy little machine, been thrown in and out of my bag all week with no visible abuse – comes with a handy little neoprene bag to keep it’s beautiful baby blue cover nice and pristine – no use on the motorbike yet.

nice blog

Regards
Timothy

http://amcexams.com

Comment on When research goes bad by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:50:24 +0000

Dork #2: Microsoft? So, it’s easy to use?

Yeah, tuneless boy, which is how come we never seem to see any useful shots of what looks like a ventilation grille of controls and drop-downs and sliders and scrolling icons and other GUI nonsense.

Also, what’s with the sitting in cafes and singing? Does Songsmith also magically filter out the sounds of everyone around you, laughing?

Still, if you have no musical talent of any kind, while somehow possessing the ability to extemporize in horribly awkward rhyming phrases, and it’s your heartfeltiest dream to sing truly banal songs that wouldn’t even get you into the X-Factor rejects pile, then I guess you’re part of the bizarre, fantasy market that this product was developed for.

You could even use it to write advertising jingles for your Microsoft Surface (also known as the world’s largest USB cable). They’ll probably be the best that anyone has ever heard, at least in their wing of the mental hospital.

Comment on Happy New Year by Joshua Samuel Brown

Joshua Samuel Brown — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:14:28 +0000

Ah, another opportunity to prove that I’m a person and not a spam script, raising that age old philosophical question of just what constitutes the “I” anyway. Lovely picture of the Eye. I must say that I’m envious of your new gig in Melbourne, mostly because it’ll give you the chance to ride your new motorcycle out to Alice Springs.

Seriously, the one thing I loved about living in Texas – aside from having lots of land and being able to fire off shotguns whenever I liked, was the motorcycling.
Had I stayed there, and not fled back to Asia after flogging my Yamaha 535, I’d have pitched the ultimate LP Texas Motorcycle guide.

Anyway, keep blogging. Nice to see you in a non-work way.

JSB

Comment on The first ever Lonely Planet Travel Bloggers Awards by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:06:44 +0000

Fantastic – I’m working on opening up nominations this morning – keep an eye on http://lplabs.com

Comment on The first ever Lonely Planet Travel Bloggers Awards by Robert

Robert — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:56:54 +0000

I have a few in my mind to nominate, will nominate them as son as the nomination process is announced!

Comment on The first ever Lonely Planet Travel Bloggers Awards by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:10:17 +0000

you would!

Nominations will open on http://lplabs.com first thing in the new year.

Suggestions for categories?

Comment on The first ever Lonely Planet Travel Bloggers Awards by Nomadic Matt

Nomadic Matt — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:25:29 +0000

oooo oooo i nominate me! lol

Comment on TomTom Rider Review by graham freestone

graham freestone — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:13:30 +0000

TT rider v2 is great. no problems with mine apart from the fact someone sod stole mine out of the car last week. Scala headset is OK up to 50mph, then it is too quiet with earplugs in. pity they don’t give the option of buyuing the Q2 headdset rather than the basic headset. The only negative of the TT rider v2 is that you can’t record your trail as you go, if that is useful for you. user inteface is otherwise great: clear precise instrcutions and mapping. am currently comparing Garmin Zumo 550 with this, but TT rider v2 is cheaper and better i feel.

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:10:40 +0000

Phil – genius – total genius. I am going to present this to the Innovation Board ASAP. It’s a break-through.

Jonathan – totally spot on – the single biggest thing the BBC did to be more innovative? Stopped sending cease and desist letters and started sending emails saying – wanna work with us?

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:21:35 +0000

I have a remarkable proof of something which this comment box is too small to contain. But my blog is bigger.

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Jonathan Tweed

Jonathan Tweed — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:40:45 +0000

I hate it too.

I hate it when companies say they’re going to be more innovative. The innovation is already there, it just needs to be allowed to surface.

Relaxing policies, changing culture and removing barriers to experimentation are what’s needed, not telling everyone to be more innovative.

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Phil

Phil — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:11:36 +0000

Innovation is the antithesis of boredom. I get bored, therefore I innovate. I also sleep when I get bored. From this we can conclude that innovation == sleeping.

I have just discovered a new excuse for falling asleep in meetings and have innovated with respect to my duties.

Man that was a hard day’s work – need a sleep.

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Michael Sparks

Michael Sparks — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:21:55 +0000

Stick with what the word actually means and you won’t go far wrong. ie the OED definition:

1. a. The action of innovating; the introduction of novelties; the alteration of what is established by the introduction of new elements or forms.

For that to make sense you need the verb to innovate:
1. trans. To change (a thing) into something new; to alter; to renew. Obs. (rare after 1750.)
2. To bring in (something new) the first time; to introduce as new. Obs. exc. in Comm.
3. intr. To bring in or introduce novelties; to make changes in something established; to introduce innovations. Sometimes const. on or upon (also with indirect passive). spec. in Comm.

3 is tautological and not helpful, but if you look at these, they boil down to “introducing something into a situation where it is considered new for that situation”.

ie specifically the introduction of a new method/etc into a situation that did not previously have that thing. eg introducing wikis into an organisation that didn’t use them is innovation.

As a result, you can then have a clear sequence of research, development and innovation, in a business context:
* research : the creation of something genuinely new – an advancement of knowledge/technology.
* development : the process of taking that pure/applied research and making it useable/reusable
* innovation : the introduction of developments into the business

It’s worth noting that you can skip the development stage if research is handed off to developmental partners, and that innovation can draw on both internal and external research/developments. (indeed, it should, since good research does the same)

Incidentally, this does mean that a marketer is talking complete sphericals if they say “This is a true innovation”, because it isn’t one unless it gets introduced into a business in terms of actual use/deployment. They can say it’s something new, which may or may not be true. They can say it’s an advancement of state of the art/the latest development, which may or may not be true. But unless they’ve deployed it into a specific environment where it is actually new, then it’s not innovation, it’s just a toy and maybe shiny.

I suppose this boils down to “have I found this new thing useful”.

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Briantist

Briantist — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:29:09 +0000

Wasn’t it Janet Street Porter who used to go around insisting everything had to be “innivitiv”? I blame her!

Comment on What the hell is Innovation? by Tom Coates

Tom Coates — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:59:43 +0000

I think it’s fair to say that a company can be innovative without having an R&D arm, and I think it’s fair to say that you can distinguish between two companies or products by some generalised sense of how innovative they are, although of course it’s really hard to quantify.

So there’s something hard and useful underneath all the guff, I think, but Sweet Jesus there isn’t half a great big fuckton of guff and balls and emptiness and vacuity concealing it.

I don’t hate innovation as much as I hate compelling, is basically what I’m saying. Compelling is creepy and stupid. Innovation is a good word that’s got trapped inside the golden cage of professional arseholes.

Comment on Bliss is a cold shower and a naked old chap by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:36:18 +0000

Can’t say I noticed how large he was, so to speak, but he was a good deal taller than me and not very happy at all…. I decided to run away… seemed to work!

Comment on Bliss is a cold shower and a naked old chap by catherine@catherinecashmore.com

catherine@catherinecashmore.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:37:26 +0000

I imagine you gave him quite a fright too!

Comment on Bliss is a cold shower and a naked old chap by Frank Wales

Frank Wales — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:10:18 +0000

So is this old chap huge, then? Otherwise, why are you hiding from him?

He’s already flashed you, so all he has left is harsh language and imminently fractured knuckles if he tries to plant one on you.

Enjoy your free drinks, I say.

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by Matthew Cashmore

Matthew Cashmore — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:23:11 +0000

Hi there flattop,

I can indeed confirm that the S1 doesn’t let water in through the visor – in fact it’s such a snug fit that you’ll find you’ll HAVE to open the vent otherwise you’ll have problems breathing. But even with all the vents open I’ve never had any water get in.

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by Flattop

Flattop — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:05:01 +0000

I have a caberg that let water run down the inside of the helmet when it rains. I’m looking for something that won’t do that. Can you confirm that this helmet won’t leak water through the visor?

Comment on Me and Kangaroo Sign by Briantist

Briantist — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:50:25 +0000

Yes, you should get a T-Shirt made and send it to Ashley Highfield…

Comment on Coolabah Swag Bag Review by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:56:41 +0000

Hi Barry,

Yes well in the end we didn’t take the swag bag… for that very reason. It did get a wet weather test – http://www.thelondonbiker.com/blog/?p=170 – which basically confirmed that you’ll keep bone dry overnight.

The canvas is really water-proof. But when you roll it up during the day the water works it’s way through the material and gets your kit wet.

So in the end I went for a very new and shiny Tatonka Kiruna – http://intranet.tatonka.com/infosys/infocgi/artinfoe.dll?2600&0

Which performed perfectly.

http://flickr.com/photos/journeytorussia/2862198539/

Comment on Australia… slightly delayed by Briantist

Briantist — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:09:04 +0000

Great photos of Oz, Matt.

You’re going to get a summer this year too!

Comment on Coolabah Swag Bag Review by BarryP

BarryP — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:42:37 +0000

Ineresting review Matt. i am wondering how practical it is pitching in wet European summers, as i don’t see how you can keep your sleeping kit dry. I hope you will comment on you experience after your Russia trip.

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by mattcashmore

mattcashmore — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:34:43 +0000

Hi Father Ted – without a doubt the most silent lid I have ever owned – well worth it if you want a quiet time.

Comment on Potching by Eric

Eric — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:54:08 +0000

becarefull, first sign of stripping and fixing and not riding are signs of old age

Comment on Schuberth S1 Helmet – Review by Father Ted

Father Ted — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:36:29 +0000

Hi, Can you tell me what noise levels are like in helmet please.

Cheers

Comment on So I’m leaving the BBC…. by Mario

Mario — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:17:05 +0000

Congratulations, and all the best!

Comment on The Barge Inn Review by Bethany Hire

Bethany Hire — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:57:56 +0000

There are a few mixed reviews here but I think it sounds really nice and would like to try it out