First test with the new GoPro camera. The good news is the camera is wicked, the bad news is I had the camera on a ski pole in the morning which looks pretty cool but it is kind of  a hassle to carry around. In the afternoon I had the camera attached to my helmet which is great to ride with, but the video is kind of dull. It will be better if you follow someone to have some more going on in the frame I guess.

I didn’t play with the speed at all, although it looks almost fast forward at times, just cut different bits of vid together. In hindsight I think it could be way shorter, (especially the first riding shot) but it’s a first test so not really worth the hassle of re-editing etc. I’m still trying to figure out the best render/compression settings, and came across some articles about it after I made this so should be better quality next time. I filmed this up in Muehlbach, Austria with some peeps from work.

A new GoPro Just arrived from Amazon, along with 30cm of pow overnight on top of the rest. Cant wait to try this thing out.

Meanwhile, following up on the post a few down:

WSJ Reports, “The Next Crisis: Prepare for Peak Oil”
The Wall Street Journal today has an article about the work of Britain’s Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security that goes well beyond summarizing what the task force said in its report. The article starts out:

The Next Crisis: Prepare for Peak Oil

As Europe’s leaders gather in Brussels today, they have only one crisis in mind: the debts that threaten the stability of the European Union. They are unlikely to be in any mood to listen to warnings about a different crisis that is looming and that could cause massive disruption.

A shortage of oil could be a real problem for the world within a fairly short period of time.

From the oil drum…

This chart pisses me off too much to say anything, so I will point you to ES where I found it, who sums it up extremely well..

In London this morning (10th February 2010) at the Royal Society, the UK industry task force on peak oil and energy security launched a new report warning of the dangers of the forthcoming oil crunch.

The report, titled “The Oil Crunch – a wake-up call for the UK economy”, finds that oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political and social activity within five years. (Note: It already has, but it is good to hear important companies finally acknowledging it)

Having assessed the systemic changes caused by the global economic recession, coupled with the projected growth from non-OECD countries, ITPOES predicts Peak Oil will occur within the next decade, potentially by 2015 at less than 95 million barrels per day. (In 2008, production levels were 85 million barrels per day.) The study finds that the recession has delayed the oil crunch by two years. This provides invaluable time to plan for a future which will see structural increases in oil prices coupled with shortages and increased market volatility.

Q: What is different in this analysis of peak oil – I’ve read hundreds?
A: This is the first time leading businesses have warned that a peak in cheap, easily available oil production is likely to hit by 2013, posing a grave risk to the UK and world economy. The warning comes from a broad spectrum of industry (Arup, Foster + Partners, Scottish and Southern Energy, Solarcentury, Stagecoach Group, Virgin Group).

Download the full report here.

A real highlight for me each year at the Munich ISPO is always the Spacejunk exhibition.

Munich Ispo was as hectic as usual, so many brands and products on display, I tend to get fairly jaded quite quickly as I walk around. It takes a lot to stand out nowdays but there was some really cool stuff as always hidden amongst the noise. You could tell a lot of companies were playing it safer than usual with the quantity of products and the amount of really new stuff. Most was just variations of old products, styles and whatnot and there was little in the way of innovation.

Overall though, there is perhaps no better place than Munich Ispo to see whats what in the world of skiing and snowboarding design and I found the trip really rewarding.

I have about 2 gig of photos, so below is a selection of the ones which stood out as I went through them. Might post some more later this week too.

Lib tech make skis now with the same magnatraction edge as the snowboard I have. Would love to try them out.

More photos below..

Cairoli, the reigning MX1 World Champion and the latest recruit to the Red Bull Factory Racing squad rode the ground-breaking bike to victory in the first two of three finals and was third in the last race for a clear overall victory. “It was a fantastic start for me and I enjoyed riding the 350 bike. Today I wanted to do some tests to see how it went at the start and everything went well for me. I’m happy with the bike and the results today and its always a terrific atmosphere here at Mantova,” Cairoli said.

The results were a great start to the 2010 racing activity for KTM and the factory riders following the official factory team launch and presentation of the new KTM 350 SX-F bike at a reception on Saturday in Mantova. The latest Orange racer features an all new chassis and frame and a pro lever linkage system for increased controllability and has been developed by the KTM R&D department in close consultation with Stefan Everts, with the design done by Kiska.

KTM teammate Shaun Simpson, who missed much of last year because of injury, made a triumphant start to the season on board the latest KTM 250 SX-F, by being well up with the bigger 450 machines in the race format which combines both MX1 and MX2.

Marvin Musquin, KTM’s MX2 world champion moved up the ranks as the day progressed to finish behind teammate Simpson in second place on the final podium.

Thanks to YannB for the photos

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved ancient law code, created ca. 1790 BC in ancient Babylon. Hammurabi said he was chosen by the gods to deliver the law to his people, in a story cited as the likely starting point for the Ten Commandments which was written almost 2000 years later.

Ibn Khaldūn (1332-1406 C.E.) –  was a North African polymath — an astronomer, economist, historian, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, hafiz, jurist, lawyer, mathematician, military strategist, nutritionist, philosopher, social scientist and statesman (!!!!!!!) —born in North Africa in present-day Tunisia. He retreated into the desert in 1375 and emerged four years later having written one of the most important ever studies of the workings of history.

This volume, commonly known as Muqaddimah or ‘Prolegomena’, became a masterpiece in literature on philosophy of history and sociology. The chief concern of this monumental work was to identify psychological, economic, environmental and social facts that contribute to the advancement of human civilization and the currents of history. In this context, he analysed the dynamics of group relationships and showed how group-feelings, al-’Asabiyya, give rise to the ascent of a new civilisation and political power and how, later on, its diffusion into a more general civilization invites the advent of a still new ‘Asabiyya in its pristine form. He identified an almost rhythmic repetition of rise and fall in human civilization, and analysed factors contributing to it.

Ibn Khaldun’s writings seem particularly relevant today after reading this:
Endgame

I’ve mentioned more than once in these essays the foreshortening effect that textbook history can have on our understanding of the historical events going on around us. The stark chronologies most of us get fed in school can make it hard to remember that even the most drastic social changes happen over time, amid the fabric of everyday life and a flurry of events that can seem more important at the time.

The twilight years of Rome offer a good object lesson; so many people were convinced that the Second Coming might occur at any moment that the collapse of classical civilization went almost unnoticed; only a tiny handful of writers from those years show any recognition that something out of the ordinary was happening at all.

Reflections of this sort have been much on my mind lately, and there’s a reason for that. Scattered among the statistical noise that makes up most of today’s news are data points that suggest to me that business as usual is quietly coming to an end around us, launching us into a new world for which very few of us have made any preparations at all.

We caught the first lift and some fresh tracks before work. Forgot me hat though.

I took the camera out for the last run on the top bit you see in the photo above, just held it in my hand riding to take some video so it’s a little shaky. Funny how that slope, which is pretty steep, looks kind of flat in the vid. Anyway, I made a (quick) short edit, starts slow but speeds up.

Which trigger will ignite the Great Depression II?

1. Federal Budget Deficit Bomb. The Bush/Cheney wars pushed America deep into a debt hole. Federal debt limit was just raised almost 100% with Obama’s 2010 budget, to $14.3 trillion vs. $7.8 trillion in 2005. The Congressional Budget Office predicts future deficits around 4% through 2020. Get it? America’s debt at 84% of GDP will soon pass that toxic 90% trigger point.

2. U.S. Foreign Trade Bomb. Monthly deficits actually dropped from $50 billion per month to roughly $35 billion. But the total continues climbing as $400 billion is added each year. Foreigners now own $2.5 trillion of America, with China holding over $1.3 trillion in Treasury debt.

3. Weakening U.S. Dollar as Foreign Reserve Currency Bomb. Fear China and other currencies will replace dollar as main foreign reserves. The dollar’s fallen: The main index measuring dollar strength has gone from 120 at the Clinton-to-Bush handoff to below 80 today.

4. Cheap Money Bomb: Credit Ratings Down, Rates Up. Economists at S&P, Fitch and Moody’s were totally co-conspirators of Fat Cat Bankers, misleading investors before meltdown: Soon, debt up, ratings down, interest rates soar.

5. Global Real Estate Bomb. Dubai Tower, new “world’s tallest building” is empty. BusinessWeek warns that China’s housing collapse could be worse than America’s. Plus the U.S. commercial real estate bubble is now $1.7 trillion, a “ticking time bomb” bloating 25% of bank balance sheets.

6. Peak Oil and the Population Bomb. China and India each need 500 new cities. The United Nations estimates world population exploding 50% from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050: Three billion more humans demanding more automobiles, exhausting more resources to feed their version of the gas-guzzling “America Dream.”

Full article here, lot of interesting comments from people too….

[Audio:http://blog.derestricted.com/wp-content/uploads/tunes/09. Blackmagic.mp3]
[Audio:http://blog.derestricted.com/wp-content/uploads/tunes/14. Bonus Track.mp3]

Was a fan of his last album, and the new one carries on where the last one left off. Some laidback jazz tunes, some lo-fi flying Lotus beats, and all with his smooth baritone on top. Few remixes out too, with a better cover than the album. Hat tip to cntrl.be for the headsup on the new album release.