Arc-et-Senans / Besançon (26 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Thibaut Pinot, the youngest competitor this year, put the French back in Le Tour yesterday chasing down Fredrik Kessiakoff who led a solo breakaway for much of the latter part of the stage and holding off a pack of GC contenters at the finish for the victory.

Samuel Sanchez had to withdraw with a broken hand after an early crash, joined on the day by Johannes Frohlinger and Gorka Verdugo.

Another one of those Individual Time Trials that I hate.  I really dig the Team Trials because of the teamwork, the Individual ones are boring which is why they don’t have Rally Racing on TV even though it is in fact bloodier than Turn Left.  Likewise you can see this very year how 10 seconds picked up after 4 miles has stood up for 8 days.

Really Evans needs to put on a show and it may net just a second or 2, but this and getting away on a climb (or avoiding an accident) are the only ways to make time directly against your opponent, everything else being absorbed into Same Time black hole.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a rest day, but they will have a recap show.  I’ll be attempting to detangle the stage winner predictions and clear up my dvr as well as put together the Master GC List for the first third of the tour.  Expect a diary before the Rest Day Recap at 8 pm and midnight tomorrow.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, midnight, 8 and 11:30 am and 3 pm tomorrow.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Arc-et-Senans / Besançon (26 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pretty tables-

Rolling in the mud

So one of the features of my “vacation” is working in large unpaved parking areas in the rain which comes down quite heavily at times.  I solve this problem by not worrying about it (Oh, what a world) and bringing a change.  I think I’ve told you about hip deep (no shit) Valet Parking but maybe not about the upper and lower lakes which are basically huge bowls that won’t drain until the water reaches the top of your door locks.

The sad fact is that when it gets dark they bring in the skip loaders and chains and yank them out any old way they can (hey, it was a total loss to begin with.  Call your insurance company.) and tape off any water still standing.

So I have some sympathy for the poor sods at Silverstone-

A Soggy Return to ‘The Home of Motor Sport.’ Why?

By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times

July 7, 2012, 12:27 am

Overnight things went from bad to worse at Silverstone as the track director decided to tell ticket holders not to show up on Saturday for the practice and qualifying session. The public parking lots on grass and soil were so badly flooded that they decided to prevent ticket holders from driving to the track, in order to allow the parking lots to be in better conditions for Sunday’s race.

But will anything improve? It rained massively on Saturday afternoon, causing a 1 hour and 30 minute pause during the qualifying session. Furthermore, the forecast is for one month’s worth of rain falling over Saturday and Sunday. In fact, some 60 areas of the country are under severe flood warnings.

Seriously, this is like the #1 topic, how sucky the parking and traffic situation is in the midst of this mid-summer English monsoon.

Silverstone invokes "Dunkirk spirit" after rain chaos

By Alan Baldwin, The Star

Sunday, July 08, 2012

“We had to make a difficult decision yesterday which was really upsetting but I have to say today has been a much better day,” he told reporters after another big turnout for a rain-delayed qualifying session.

“A remarkable number of people actually got here somehow, I’m not quite sure how…and we are very grateful to the people who did stay at home. At least it’s given us breathing space now and we are looking forward to tomorrow.

“The fans seem to be very supportive and there’s a bit of a Dunkirk spirit about this one,” added Phillips.

Never wear anything you’d be afraid to throw away.

British Grand Prix events are regrettable but the blame must be shared, says Damon Hill

By Damon Hill, The Telegraph

9:00 PM BST 07 Jul 2012

Damon Hill was, until last year, president of BRDC, the owners of Silverstone.

It’s a great shame what happened on Friday but finger-pointing does no one any good. Clearly the British Grand Prix is a big event of massive importance to the sport and what has happened is regrettable, but I think it’s important to point out that the efficient running of it is not just an issue for Silverstone, or Formula One, or Northamptonshire, but for everyone.

What happened here is not an isolated case this summer. So many events have been hit. Together we need to work out how to make this, a premier national event, work smoothly, so we’re not embarrassed and people don’t suffer.

We are going to have wet weather; we are going to have wet races. So there needs to be a sensible analysis of how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

And it’s a good thing they have that to talk about too because everything you thought you learned in Practice and Qualifying you really didn’t because for the first time in 2 days we’re going to start dry.

• Formula One Official Site
• Silverstone
• Guardian Interactive Circuit Guide
• Speed Racecast
• Formula One: Silverstone Qualifying

Pretty tables below.

Belfort / Porrentruy (98 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Yay!  We defeat the evil David Gregory and Meet the Press.  That almost makes up for tape delayed Silverstone.

Or as Scarecrow puts it-

NBC implicitly concedes that the people it typically invites as guests on Meet the Press are less important to it’s viewers than the 8th stage or so of a French bicycle race.

The carnage from Friday’s crash was much larger than originally reported.  Local hospitals said as many as 23 riders were treated (not including those under the care of trainers and Team Doctors) and in addition to the withdrawals I reported yesterday there were 8 non-starters- José Ivan Gutierez, Imanol Erviti, Maarten Wynants, Oscar Freire, Hubert Dupont, Robert Hunter, Amets Txurruka, and Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal.

Hesjedal was a dark horse contender and the leader of the Garmin team which has been pretty much devastated and now has ‘Tipsy’ Tyler Ferrar as the top prospect.  Other hard hit teams are Rabobank and Movistar.  Anthony Delaplace was unable to complete the stage..

In the GC there’s quite a bit of shake up, but the principal details are that Wiggins, Evans, Nibali,  Taarame, and Froome duked it out at the finish with Froome taking the stage win.  This group put a big move on the field and same timed between them so net win in the first Mountain stage to Wiggins.  Among the bigs who lost time were Menchov, Schleck, Sanchez, Scarponi, and Valverde.

Gone are the poseurs in the Climbing category too.

Today’s stage is going to be the first big Mountain stage with 4 category 2s and a 4, 3, and 1.  The Awards point is at about the only semi flat place after 5 climbs and the finish is at the end of a long, high speed downhill which should amplify any final climbing lead.

General Classification

Today live coverage will be on NBC proper at 8 am.  Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Belfort / Porrentruy (98 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pretty tables-

Know much?  Me either.

Silverstone is everybody’s test track, but they haven’t done much.

The weekend is going to be Wet, Dry, Wet which means the only time they’ll get with the drys (Hard and Medium) is P3 and Qualifying.  It will be a challenge to see how they balance the chassis setup between Qualfying (dry) and Racing (wet).  Clear vision is a distinct advantage.  Most drivers Friday spent the majority of their time in the garage.  To be fair the place was an ice rink.

They won’t be using drys tomorrow though they could run out of Wets and Inters.  I wonder if someone will try to spare his Mediums?

Debrief was all rain games, spins, and blooper reels.  They did mention that negotiations on the new racing agreements are not going well which is amazingly reality based for them.

Guess they ran out of everything else.

Renault has no idea what is wrong with their alternators.  Test driver Maria de Villota of Marussia lost her right eye in a crash.

Coverage starts at 8 am on Speed.  Tomorrow the race is tape delayed until noon on Faux so I’ll have to use the same tricks I used for Valencia.  I’ll mostly be watching this today though because nothing important ever happens in the first 90 minutes of Le Tour.  It’s like Turn Left that way.

• Formula One Official Site
• Silverstone
• Guardian Interactive Circuit Guide

Tomblaine / La Planche des Belles Filles (123.7 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

So Le Tour has 2 dual stage winners, Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel  Take that Formula One.

Also plenty of flaming chunks of twisted metal which is why Sprinters can’t be trusted.

On the other hand you can’t say that among the front runners they’ve had much material effect.  Of the “name” dark horses Frank Schleck has been hurt the worst, losing 2:02 by getting involved in yesterday’s 26 km crash.  Mark Cavendish lost a similar amount, but he’s a Sprinter so his total time doesn’t matter as much.

Alessandro Valverde, Pierre Rolland, Robert Gesink and Janez Brajkovic lost over 2:30 each.  Thomas Voeckler and Ryder Hesjedal much more.

Wouter Poels, Thomas Danielson, Davide Vigano, and Mikel Astarloza are already withdrawn, many people are pretty beat up.

The good news is that today we have a nice, safe, sane Mountain stage where the all-rounder GC contenders may be able to put on a move or two.  There are two category 3s and a category 1.  The Points award is just before the first peak.

General Classification

Today and Sunday 8 am live coverage will be on NBC proper.  Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Tomblaine / La Planche des Belles Filles (123.7 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pretty tables-

Épernay / Metz (129 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Andre Greipel won again yesterday for 2 in a row in a classic sprint finish.  The breakaway was pulled in with a mere kilometer to go after a 3 kilometer crash that involved Tyler Farrar.  Cavendish had to settle for 5th but did not lose much ground in the Points competition.  General Classification top positions changed hardly at all despite Wiggins’ being one of those delayed at the stage finish.

Marcel Kittel of Argos-Shimano had to withdraw due to stomach problems, the fourth overall.

Today’s Point awards will be decided just before the only mountain of the day, a category 4 with a very steep descent.  While most are predicting another Sprint finish, it’s distinctly possible that an attack like that which failed yesterday by a mere kilometer could succeed today with a little more altitude variation.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  Saturday and Sunday 8 am live coverage will be on NBC proper.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Épernay / Metz (129 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pretty tables-

European parliament rejects anti-piracy treaty

Eric Pfanner, Business Standard

Jul 06, 2012

Foes of the treaty said the vote, by an overwhelming margin in the European Parliament at Strasbourg, would probably end the prospects of European involvement in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, which has been signed by the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea and a number of individual EU members.

…

The vote was not even close, with 478 members of Parliament opposing the treaty, only 39 supporting it and 146 abstaining, yet it leaves considerable uncertainty. Under EU law, the treaty cannot go into effect without the Parliament’s endorsement.

“It’s a crushing victory,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesman for La Quadrature du Net, a group in Paris that was active in the treaty protests. “It’s a political symbol on an enormous scale, in which citizens of the world, connected by the internet, have managed to defeat these powerful, entrenched industries.”

The legality of second hand software sales in the EU

by Jas Purewal, Gamer Law

Posted on 3.7.12

The second hand sale of physical and digital software has effectively been declared legal, according to a judgment published by the Court of Justice of the European Union today.  This has the potential to have a real impact on the way that software is sold and consumed – but at the same time the case raises more questions than it answers, so we’re really not in a clear cut situation at all.

…

Essentially, the court held that, under EU law, the right of software developers to control distribution of a piece of software – whether stored physically or digitally –  is “exhausted” (i.e. lost) once the developer has been paid for it (known as a “first sale“).  This means that developers lose the ability to prohibit any second hand sale.

However, if a second hand sale goes ahead then the first purchaser must stop using her copy of the software and render it unusable, because the developer’s right to control reproduction of software is not exhausted on a second hand sale.  In order to make sure that the first purchaser stops using the software she has sold on, it is permissible for the software developer to use “technical protective measures such as product keys“.

(h/t Ian Welsh)

Verizon Playing Dangerous Game in Net Neutrality Battle

By Tony Bradley, PCWorld

Jul 3, 2012 5:13 pm

This time around, Verizon is playing the First Amendment card. The challenge, essentially, is that by limiting Verizon’s ability to choose which content to block or promote, the FCC is infringing on Verizon’s right to free speech.

There are a couple major flaws in the argument. First, an individual’s right to free speech shouldn’t apply equally to a corporation.

…

Second, the FCC net neutrality rules don’t actually inhibit an ISP’s ability to express itself freely. Under the FCC rules, Verizon is free to publish whatever content it chooses–it simply can’t block or discriminate against other content as a matter of business practice.

The fact of the matter is the vast majority of the data traversing the ISP’s network (like Verizon) doesn’t belong to the ISP in the first place. An argument could be made that by throttling or blocking traffic Verizon is actually the party guilty of stepping on the First Amendment rights of others.

…

Part of the underlying problem is the fact that the major ISPs are also content providers. Verizon has a vested interest in preventing Netflix traffic because it has its own streaming entertainment services. Comcast is owned by NBC, so it could gain a strategic advantage for its own content by throttling the bandwidth for rival networks. The simple solution is for Congress to impose regulations banning ISPs from delivering their own content, or being owned by companies that publish or deliver content.

If the net neutrality rules suggested by the FCC to keep the Internet fair and open to all seem too draconian for Verizon, perhaps the problem is that Verizon the ISP needs to be separated from Verizon the cable TV provider, or Verizon the wireless broadband provider, or Verizon the VoIP (voice over IP) phone provider.

Rouen / Saint-Quentin (122 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

There was another withdrawal at the beginning of stage 4.  Maarten Tjallingii of Rabo Bank broke his hip on Tuesday in a crash and though he was able the finish the 40 km left he was unable to start yesterday.

BruceMcF our resident Sprint expert has this assessment of the classification competition so far.

Cav(endish) is riding for stage wins and for the Green Jersey, and he completely lost any chance at points at the finish. However, since he contested the intermediate sprint points remaining after the break went through, and since its only one intermediate sprint with points stacked up, he ends the day in 4th in the Green Jersey classification. Sagan is on 147 (between the stage wins and finishing in the top ten in intermediate sprints and the other Sprinty McSprinterperson stage), Matty Goss is on 92 (he’s also been contesting intermediate sprints), Greipel the Gorilla is 87 points (not contesting intermediate sprints, but didn’t fall down today), Cav is 86 points (contesting intermediate sprints and did fall down today), Boasson Hagen (a team-mate of Cav) is 81pts.

Cancellara is 74 points, but is not contesting for the Green Jersey, Petachi is 71pts, but he’s stage hunting, Veelers is is 56pts, Renshaw is 46pts, they both seem to be stage hunting as well, and Morkov rounds out the top 10 with 40pts, but that is because he collected intermediate sprint points as he was on three successive breaks chasing the “Pretender to King of the Mountain” title before the race hits the high mountains and the KOM competition begins in earnest. I like to call someone like Morkov “Prince of the Hills”.

So the Green Jersey competition looks to be between Sagan as a puncheur and three sprinters in Matty Goss, Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Sagan or Goss, since Green jersey is the height of apsirations for Liquigas or GreenEdge, while Sky has Yellow Jersey hopes. Greipel is likely to win a few more stages riding for Lotto, a long time sprinters team, but he doesn’t seem to be chasing intermediate points, which puts him at a disadvantage.

Pescheux thinks that lack of points in Rouen means Cavendish is done.  There are no mountains today.  One point award.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Rouen / Saint-Quentin (122 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pretty tables-

Reprinted from July 4, 2011

A story about smoking.

The big place to watch fireworks is down on the beach and one year my friends and I decided to make an event of it so we packed up a couple of cases and our portable stereo- a car battery, 250 watt car equalizer/amp, a Colecovision power supply and voltage inverter, 2 Walkman CD players, mixer board, and 4 Minimus 7s.

And a blanket.

We got there early so we’d get good seats and were only 3 or 4 rows behind the Police tape and had a fun early evening waiting for the dusk to gather amusing ourselves, scaring little children, and annoying our neighbors.

Nothing like playing the feedback.

As it got darker we switched to more mellow fare, Holst’s The Planets and Pink Floyd as I recall and soon enough the show started and we were right underneath it.

Underneath as in the shells were exploding pretty much directly overhead and showering flaming debris all around us.  A blanket a couple of rows ahead caught fire causing several moments of excitement until somebody remembered that if you just shovel sand on top these things go out.

I personally was put in mind of an old Buck Rodgers comic strip where the villain, in preparation for a duel with Buck, lies down in a field and has his flunkies howitzer him with spikey mace balls to demonstrate his courage until his chief toady right next to him gets kind of, well, squished.  Think chunks of facade landing next to the Orc captain at the siege of Minas Tirith if you’re not getting the 1930s image.

Harmless good times for the most part and it seemed only fitting that when a lit fragment landed close enough to reach without straining I fished out a Kool and kindled it off the chunk.

The difficult thing was the three hours getting out of the parking lot.

Reprinted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

I’ve always identified myself as a writer, even when it was poetry for machines and deadline dreck for newsletters, pamphlets, and flyers.

I like words and written communication better than verbal or theatrical presentations because of the random access you have to the information as a reader.  With a speech, or Radio, or a Play, TV, or Movie the information is under control of the deliverer, not the audience.  It’s inherently a serial exposition, a sales pitch, designed by arrangement and order to lead you from reasonable premises to a predetermined conclusion without allowing you to revisit the path of the argument unless you repeat the experience from scratch.

You may call reading the last chapter to find out ‘who done it’ cheating, I suggest instead that it’s a challenge every Author should be willing to face.  If you can’t make your middle memorable it’s probably better suited for a Short Story than a Novel.

So that’s what’s in it for me.  It’s a form of self expression in a broadly accessible format that’s not really very expensive except in terms of the time it takes to produce the content.

What’s in it for you?

There are 2 parts to this answer.

As a Reader only, you get to bask in my brilliance and wallow in my words and if passive entertainment suits your style I’m grateful for your eyeballs.  By that I mean you’ll get a lot more of me if you can stand it and love or hate it I don’t really give a rat’s ass what you think about me as long as you pay attention.

But the beauty part of a blog is that you can have your voice heard too.  It’s called a Vent Hole for a reason and it accepts both positive and negative feedback.  If your ambition exceeds a Tweet or two you can contribute longer pieces that I will be more than happy to evaluate and feature.  There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than promoting the work of others.

I hope that The Stars Hollow Gazette will develop into a Group Blog where regular participants as well as muse driven Authors will provide a stream of fresh content that will make us a several time a day destination.

Activism

I think that blogs are both more and less powerful platforms than conventionally recognized.  Many people have a nostalgic affection for storming the Bastille and I don’t despise those who are willing to wear no pants.

My legs are not what they once were, though that doesn’t mean I won’t ‘kilt up’ if the occasion calls for it.

I don’t think a failure to summon musket armed militia is an indication of weakness.  The information battlefield has numerous hedgerows, stone walls, and trees to snipe from behind of.  If you think it doesn’t hurt you’re not listening to the howls of outrage from the ego struck elite you ungrateful cur.

My activist brother thinks the most important function of blogs is as a source of information and a historical record, an alternative to the monopolistic media with its competitive barriers.  I think it’s equally as important to amuse and distract.  Your eyeballs are money.  Your passive consent, complicity.

I call you to a life of resistance in the small and easily done things.  Move your money.  Use cash when you can.  Turn off your lights when you leave the room and properly inflate your tires.

If just two people do it, in harmony, they’ll think they’re both faggots and won’t take either of them.

I’ve been called worse things than a stick.  Whom would fardels bear to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all and the native hue of resolution is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought, and enterprise of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry and lose the name of action.

In thy orisons be all my sins remembered.

Civility

No one has any obligation to treat you any particular way on the internet.

Indeed, one of the things I most despise about our inbred Versailles Village political/media culture is their false politeness and evasion of the truth.

Calling people liars and cowards and idiots is not ‘hate speech’.

Saying that Jew controlled financial, media, and political elites are stealing victory from our brave troopers and using the blood of Christian babies to make Matzoh IS.

If you can’t tell the difference between those things it’s simply useless to talk about subtleties and I won’t bother to do so.

In general however you may attribute to me personally any vice- I claim them all, particularly sloth.  If you have something new and inventive you’d care to share I’m always interested in novelty.  On the other hand you can hardly complain when I return the favor and if I happen to do it bigger and grander than you and you leave impressed…

That’s envy, my dear.  There’s a little bit of envy in the best of us.

Evolution

If you’d bother to learn anything about me at all you’d know I’m not a great believer in it.  It seems to me contrary to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations – then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation – well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation. – Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington

But change is only to be expected, and while most of it is merely increasing entropy, intermittently self organizing systems emerge and flourish for a time.

And if you’re lucky you can be a part of it.