Paying Attention: The snowboard half pipe (joined at this year’s Sochi Winter Olympics by skiing half pipe) is the equivalent of the dry land half pipe beloved by skateboarders. The idea is deceptively simple: drop in from the top of the pipe, get up some speed, go over the top on the opposite edge, do …
Author Archives: Piercedp
The Handwriting Is On The Tablet
Breaking: This (disturbing) piece of news: Barnes & Noble, which had previous released their VP of Hardware for the Nook project, just let go their entire Nook hardware engineering group. Unable to compete with the Kindle or the iPad, B&N found itself in a very difficult corner with no apparent way out. I applaud their …
Olympic Briefing: Ski Jumping
Paying Attention: Stand at the top of a hill–man made. There are two choices of hill: Normal (i.e. steep and long) and Large(very steep and very long). Either one is capable of inducing a serious fright to even the bravest soul. Next, strap on a pair of special Ski Jumping skis. They’re going to be …
Olympic Briefing: Bobsled
Press Clippings: In an effort to get everyone pumped up for the Sochi Olympics,we’ll continue posting videos that highlight the top sports. Today, let’s go with something that always gets the adrenaline pumping: Bobsled. This time, with a twist, in a run with a bobsled designed/produced by German car maker BMW for the US Team …
Olympic Briefing: The Downhill
Olympic Briefing: Speedskating
Paying Attention: Speed skating is like running the 200 meter dash on ice. The sport is conducted on a sheet of ice, and is very, very technique driven. There are two forms of speed skating practiced in the Olympics: long track and short track. Long track is more graceful, mano-a-mano competition; short track is a …
The Last Snowflake
Press Clippings: In the middle of the Winter Olympics, this article from the weekend New York Times points out the fragile future of snow, mountain resorts, skiing, and–yes–even the Winter Olympics, if nothing is done about global warming. Despite the cold U.S. winter, the very unusual shifts in weather patterns, the snow in the …
The Harsh Truth About Aging
“Aging is very rude, making no attempt at diplomacy, at softening its’ message. No small talk. It just starts slamming doors in your face, yanking things out of reach (of your arms, your eyes, your deeper longings)”.
Olympic Briefing: Moguls
Paying Attention: If you spend much time on a ski mountain, you either learn to love moguls or to avoid them. The mogul skiers who make it to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics have learned to love them. Mogul skiing is technique, strength, and timing heavy. Mogul skiers blast through the bumps by using their …
Olympic Briefing: Freestyle
Paying Attention: Freestyle skiing is a multi-disciplinary sport that includes moguls, aerials, ski cross, half-pipe, and slope style skiing (and insurance form processing). It is extremely demanding technically and can be very treacherous physically for competitors. This wiki has complete background information on the sport as staged at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Competitions are …