High Adventure at Mount St. Helens

I went with my Venture Crew up to Mount St. Helens the week of August 5-9. We had a great time, and were able to experience the beauty of the mountain, plus explore some fascinating places.

For many people the above picture is one of the most familiar pictures of the mountain. In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and spewed ash over many of the western United States. Even up until early this year Mount Saint Helens was still having minor eruptions and building the lava dome inside of the crater. Here is a picture we took while on our trip this year.

On Monday we left Granite Falls about 9:00 a.m. and drove down to Cougar, Washington where our campsite was. We got down there in the afternoon and set-up camp. The young men went swimming after we got the camp set-up and we mapped out what we would be doing the rest of the week.

Tuesday morning we got up and went hiking through the Ape Cave on the south end of the mountain. The Ape cave is a huge (2 mile) lava tube formed during and eruption in the past. Part of the cave is a pleasant walk through the lower end of the cave, but you have to go round trip as there is no exit at that end of the cave. The upper portion of the cave is a much more difficult hike. You end up climbing over several rock falls, and squeezing through some tight spots in the cave for 1 1/2 miles until you get to the far end of the cave where you can climb out to exit. Here is a picture from inside the cave.

Wednesday was the day of the hike to the summit of the mountain via the southern slope. The young men and leaders going to the summit got up and left just after 5:00 a.m. for the trip to the trail head. The hike itself takes 12 hours so it is a good idea to go early. Due to a storm that came in the youth were only able to be on the summit for a few minutes, but they all said it was well worth it.

On Thursday and Friday we explored the area around the mountain and went down to the Columbia River Gorge. We also tried to take it pretty easy since the youth were pretty worn out from the climb to the summit. We did explore the Trail of Two Forests though which has a cool lava tunnel to crawl through. I added a picture of  it and also of the waterfall on the Lewis River we hiked over to.

Me in the lava tube.

The waterfall on the Lewis River.

Saturday morning we packed up the camp and went to the visitor center and observatory on the North side of the mountain. We learned a lot of cool things about Mount St. Helens and the impact of the eruption. All in all it was a great trip, and I’m glad to have had the chance to go with my Venture Crew.

Technorati Tags: Mount St. Helens,Venturing,Lewis River,Boy Scouts,Hiking,Columbia River Gorge

Search and Give

I wanted to take a moment to mention something that I have been participating in the past several months, but haven’t written about yet. One of the real benefits of working at Microsoft is how much we give back to the community. Microsoft matches time and money that I donate to charitable organizations, and also tries to be a good corporate citizen. As a part of this effort Microsoft set up Search and Give. This is a way of encouraging people to use the Live search engine while contributing money to their favorite charities. I personally have Search and Give set-up to contribute money to the Monte Cristo Elementary Parent Group which I am a member of. That was as I search for items on the internet I am also providing funding towards the parent group which provides many educational materials for the students at my childrens school.

Now I realize there are people who would claim this is a publicity stunt to get people using the Live search engine. That may be true, but at the end of the day so what? Microsoft has made a concerted effort to improve the functionality of Live search to the point where the differences with Google are miniscule. Ultimately if the search experience is the same, or better in many cases, what is the downside of using Live over Google and generate funds for your favorite charitable organizations? The other thing to do of course is to get other people to use Search and Give as well. The more people that use it the more money the charities get and that is ultimately good for them.

I would also encourage you to try out Live search. The Live team has added many new functionality and performance changes over this last year. They are truly trying to make the search experience more than just getting list of links back, but actually providing information that will enrich the user experience. If you are still hesitant to use Search and Give I would ask you to go and read the FAQ about it. See what Microsoft is doing as a company and how you can help your favorite charities.

 

Technorati Tags: Charity,Microsoft,Internet Search,Google,Giving

Why The Zune Experience Sucks

This post has nothing to do with the Zune device itself as I really like my Zune and enjoying listening to it, but has more to do with the state of digital music. I have a Zune Pass which means that for a certain amount of money each month I am renting the music. I like this over having to buy everything in my collection as it allows me to try out songs and albums I might never take a chance on otherwise. It also provides a steady stream of money to the music business since I am not likely to purchase these albums anyway.

The problem is that the record labels can pull the rights to the music at any time. On Friday I was driving home from work, and plugged my Zune into my car stereo system. I quickly discovered that a large amount of the music I listen to has be pulled from the Zune Marketplace. On my Zune itself I get a message that, "The item is missing or can’t be played." When I logged into my Zune account on my computer and tried to play the same song I get the following:

This happened with several hundred songs on my Zune. I consider this a bad experience for the customer. Now I realize that one could argue that with DVDs for example that a rental company like Blockbuster or Netflix might pull a movie at any time and that movie would no longer be available for rental. Normally they do this due to the lack a popularity of a title though, and especially with Netflix, not due to a lack of shelf space. The key difference to me though is that a DVD doesn’t get pulled once I have rented it and have it at home. I don’t get a DVD from Netflix for example that plays for the first day I have it, but never again. The same cannot be said for digital music.

Now if a particular song was completely pulled I could probably understand, although I still wouldn’t be happy about it, but it seems so random. As an example one song that stopped working on Friday is "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan on the Mirrorball: The Complete Concert album. It looks like the record label has decided that most of the songs on this album are only available for purchase. The song itself though is available via the Zune Pass on a different album. So if I want to keep the song on my Zune I have to delete the one I have that is no longer working and go and get a new version of the same song if I still want to listen to it. That is a horrible customer experience and explains why people are so willing to steal from the record companies.

Now perhaps I am wrong, but I can’t imagine there is a huge demand for a song on an album that was released a few years ago. Why they would decide that the only way to listen to this song now is to purchase it doesn’t make any sense. I get why they might do this with newer songs, but not with one that is much less popular today than when it came out. I know that some of you might ask why I don’t just purchase the song, and it really comes down to a question of value for me. There are some songs that I like so much I have paid for and purchased them. Many songs however have value to me, but are not worth 79 Zune points for me to purchase. I might be willing to pay 19 – 29 points for the song, but not more.

Ideally the record companies would stop changing their minds ab0out which songs are available week to week, and instead just make the majority of their offerings rentable permanently so they would at least get some income from each song or notify the customers through the software or device ahead of time so that they can decide how to handle a pending removal of a song. Perhaps the Zune software could have a tab that shows songs that will expire in the next 2 weeks and present the customer with alternatives on handling the change. Here are some ideas.

1. Purchase the song for a discounted price.
2. Inform the customer of a different version of the song that is available for rental. Let them choose if they want to download this version and modify any play lists accordingly.
3. Allow for current renters of the song to keep renting it, but no longer allow new users to download it.
4. Especially with older songs, just leave the rental rights unchanged.
5. At the very minimum give me a view that shows all of the songs that have been removed so I can easily get them out of my player and software.

I would hope that the people at Apple and Microsoft would work with the record companies and try to get these types of issues resolved. I think that for normal customers this experience ends up reflecting badly on the device itself and the company making it rather than on the record labels where the blame really lies. It stuns me that the music industry cannot get their act together and realize we are not all music thieves. Many of us are willing to pay to listen to music we like, and making things available for rent is a good model for them. I’d be interested in some other thoughts here.

Technorati Tags: Digital music,Zune,Microsoft,Apple,Sarah McLachlan,record labels,cusomter experience

Ways To Improve The All-Star Game

The All-Star game on Tuesday night was amazing. You don’t expect to see games go into the 15th inning. While the game itself was very interesting I think there are a few steps Major League Baseball could take to improve the game.

1. Allow the fans, the players and managers, and the writers to each get 1/3 of the votes each for the players. In that way you would get a more reflective roster that reflects how players are performing during the season. Each group would then get ownership in helping select the team.
2. Eliminate the need for each team to have an All-Star representative. The only exception I might make to this is that the team must have at least one player from the team hosting the game. There are some teams that in a particular season really done have an All Star.
3. Extend the All-Star break. Let all of the teams play their final pre-break games on Sunday. Make Monday a travel day. Run the Home Run Derby on Tuesday, and the game itself on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday would be off days and all teams would resume their schedules on Saturday. In that way there should be no problem due to All-Star pitchers pitching on Sunday.
4. Instead of having current managers in charge of the game, appoint 2 legendary managers (I.e. Earl Weaver, and Tommy Lasorda) to manage the game. In that way there is no pressure on the managers not to play someone from a  rival team because of the impact on the rival for the rest of the season.
5. I would require the top 3 home run hitters in each league plus the career leader in home runs for each league to participate in the Home Run Derby. This is a spectacle for the fans and the players should have to participate unless they are on the disabled list.
6. Stop playing the game for home field advantage. Home field advantage should go to the team with the best record, like it does in every other sport.
7. Starting position players should be required to play at least 6 innings, and starting pitchers should go at least 3 innings. Once those requirements are met then back-ups should be brought in.
8. Unless a player is on the disabled list they should not be able to get out of the game. This is a game for the fans and they should get to see the stars that were voted in.

I don’t think any of these proposals are unreasonable. They might actually make the game more compelling and appealing to people.

The Fun Of Being A Parent

The longer I am a parent the more I realize how much karma exists for how we behaved as children. There are numerous times that I see how my children act and remember the way I acted when I was their age. These aren’t pleasant memories to be sure. It is also embarrassing to be reminded of your weaknesses, which children are great at doing.

I was reminded of this again yesterday. My daughter Sarah was upset at her brother Ryan for something he was doing and used a naughty word because she was angry. As you might imagine since I am writing this it was a word that I have a proclivity for using. As a part of her punishment Becca had Sarah call me to tell me what she said and why. It really isn’t a good feeling to have your child do something that you have a weakness with.

When Sarah was talking with me, I asked her where she learned the word, hoping of course that she would say that she heard it from a friend. With the innocence of a child she replied that she had heard me say the word. Yep, that certainly felt great. I told her that it isn’t OK when daddy says it either, and that the both of us would work together to make sure we don’t say that word anymore.

I guess it ended up being a good lesson for the both of us. Sometimes it is good to be reminded that while our words says things, our children see (or hear) or actions as well, and if they aren’t consistent they are going to observe that. Perhaps it’s time for me to go get the soap and wash my own mouth out.

The Rats Sold Us Down The River

Mayor Judas "Collecting Nickels" sold us for 30 pieces of silver, or accurately 45 million in today’s dollars. He let Cowboy Clay buy his way out of the final 2 years of a lease for nothing. The Mayor tried to claim that we have assurances from the NBA that they will keep us informed about teams for sale and expansion opportunities if we work to upgrade Key Arena. As the Evil Lying Retarded Goblin has shown us, the word of the NBA is worth exactly nothing. You already have a league that has shown that it is willing to "fix" playoff games and we are entrusting them to assist us in getting a new team to replace the Sonic’s. What a load of crap that is.

I am very sad to see the Sonic’s go. I can’t even wish Kevin Durant good luck in his career today. It’s not his fault that his owner is a dishonest hillbilly of course, but I can’t help but hope that things don’t work out for Durant and the team in Oklahoma City. Let me put it this way, I wouldn’t be devastated if Durant turned out to be a dud or ended up with a career ending injury. I know that’s pretty petty, but through the incompetence of Caffeine Boy, the Wicked Witch of the Northwest, and the short-sighted dimwits from the state legislature and city council that’s what I’m left with today.

Cowboy Clay couldn’t even just give us sole possession of the Sonic’s name, colors, records, and championship . Instead he claims we will have a shared history and will make copies of our championship banners, retired numbers, etc. Why would you do that Clay Clay? It must be because you know your no-talent NBA Developmental League team isn’t going to be winning in the real league for years to come. You will have to convince the fans Oklahoma City to support your team while they continue to lose 60+ games per season. I hope the Oklahoma City Bandits, Thieves, or Robbers will suck bad enough over the next several years that you will end up having to try and move them again. Here’s to 41 years of losing for you Cowboy Clay!!!

It should be pretty clear by now that I’m pretty ticked off. I do want to say though that I don’t blame the people of Oklahoma City for this in any way. If I was in a city without a major league sports franchise I would want one as well. I can’t wish you luck in seeing a young exciting team getting better though, as that would mean Cowboy Clay and his cronies would profit from this travesty, but I personally hold no ill will towards the residents of your fine town.

The Villains

Judas

Cowboy Clay

Evil Lying Retarded Goblin

Caffeine Boy

The Wicked Witch

Chopper

The Cultural Crusader

It is a sad day! I will miss this team. I will be voting against the Wicked Witch, Chopper, The Cultural Crusader, and Judas and will encourage everyone I know to do likewise.

Best Of Luck Bill

As most of you know, today is Bill Gates last day as a full time Microsoft employee. He is moving on to focus his full time efforts on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This will be an interesting time for Microsoft. One real positive we have going for us though is our senior leadership. I, for one, have full confidence in their ability to direct our efforts to make great software and look for new opportunities to provide our services.

As Bill leaves, like many, I reflect on his contributions to the information technology industry. Most of my career was spent working with Unix systems so for a long time I spent much of my time ripping on Microsoft in general and Gates specifically. As I have progressed in my career though I have come to understand just how visionary he was and is. I also admire the work he has done throughout the world with his money and his desire to help people.

As he leaves today I just want to thank him for his hard work in helping get technology to where it is today and wish him well as he uses his foundation to help people. Thank you Bill!

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