Me Me Me

I Deactivated My Facebook Profile

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Just as a public service announcement: I deactivated my Facebook account to see what it’s like to not have a Facebook account. I suspect I’m going to run into places where it’s impossible not to have one, but let’s see what it’s like.

Over the past year, especially since the 2016 election, I find Facebook… exhausting. Mentally, it’s draining. Lots of debate, lots of echoes, and mental noise in my life that I don’t really need. In January, I deleted the app from my phone to see what that was like.

While it wasn’t a major factor, after the Cambridge Analytica stuff and yet another “Facebook abused it’s access to your phone” tidbit coming out, I’m also just kinda done trusting their engineers.

If you want to keep up with the kids, friend me on Flickr or Instagram[footnote]Yes, I know it’s owned by Facebook…[/footnote]. If you want to keep up with my news posts, follow me on Twitter. If you want to just ignore me, I’m cool with that, too. 🙂

I’m contemplating starting a project with a friend or two to replace the most valuable (to me) function of FB – as a clearinghouse for keeping up with your friends & family. More on that once work quiets down a little. Lots of ideas on how to structure that as a side project…

Practicing RC flying with a simulator

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One of my recent obsessions has been RC flying. So far, I’ve played with relatively cheap quadcopters and helicopters, but I’ve managed to crash every single one enough times to end up with a pile of damaged copters. So, I basically gave up on the hobby thinking I didn’t have the time (or budget) to really get into it. I felt like I either needed to spend to get an advanced quadcopter that auto-leveled and could correct for novice piloting, or really dedicate more time than I had to do the fly, crash, repair, charge cycle required to practice.

Recently, though, I discovered the world of foam board RC planes. These are planes built from cheap – like under $5 cheap – foam board using either custom plans or downloaded plans over the internet. Pre-made kits for the body of the planes can be found from places like Flite Test for under $40. These kits contain pre-cut or pre-scored foam board and the hardware required to connect to your electronics and servos. Flite Test has a great series of ‘swappable’ designs that make it easy to share batteries and electronics between several planes.

I found out about this via one of Flite Test’s videos featuring planes modeled after characters from Planes: Fire & Rescue, which happens to be my son’s current movie obsession. The models are amazing, and when they mentioned foam board, I had to see what it would take to build one with my son.

As I was trying to figure out if I could build one of these with my son, I discovered that I can now buy hardware that lets me practice RC flying using a flight simulator with a real RC transmitter. So, I could actually practice flying without all the crash, repair, charge steps in between flights.

I finally snuck in an hour to set this up at home and the results were awesome:

Aerofly RC 7 10th flight from sujal shah on Vimeo.

It’s hard to tell from the video, but I’m flying a simple RC plane in the simulator using a transmitter wirelessly. The sim is focused on RC flying, which is a little different than a typical flight simulator. The big difference is that the sim simulates operating the plane from the ground, not from inside the cockpit. This lets me practice the hardest aspect of this for me, which is maintaining an understanding of the spatial orientation of the plane and my controls. In other words, when the plane is flying toward me, I need to remember that pushing right on the stick will make the plane turn toward my left (because it’s facing me). That’s really hard for me, especially with my cheap quadcopters where identifying the “front” is tricky in flight.

That’s all the gear I needed to do this:

The connection process is pretty simple. Make sure the receiver is paired to your transmitter before you start connecting everything up. Then, the basic wiring pattern is the Single Line Converter (SLC) connects the receiver to the USB adapter on the computer side. Just connect channels 1-6 on the SLC (or as many channels as your equipment has) to the same channel output on the receiver using the included cables. The slot labeled S on the SLC should be connected to the USB adapter. Then just plug the USB adapter into the computer and fire up Aerofly. It will detect the USB connection and walk you through the setup process. It was pretty painless, though I recommend reading the instructions that come with the Ikarus stuff (for example, pay attention to connect + pin to + pin, – pin to – pin, etc. between the SLC and the receiver – the instructions contain the diagrams you need to make sure this is done right).

There were some gotchas in my particular setup: the Orange receiver doesn’t label the pins by channel number, but they turned out to be in order. Next, the Spektrum’s channel 6 isn’t in use by default. Aerofly likes all the channels to be calibrated, so I had to figure out how to enable that channel on my transmitter so I could finish the calibration without a warning message (it is a harmless error, but I was being picky).

Once that was done, I was able to get a plane up in the air, which I promptly crashed. I was thrilled, though, and am now just trying to do a simple racetrack around the airfield and then land. So far, I haven’t succeeded. 🙂

I was on the radio

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I was a guest on today’s episode of Where We Live on WNPR. The topic was on Connecticut Startup Culture. Give it a listen, and let the mocking commence (“Check it out, it’s awesome!” groan).

One thing we didn’t get to on the show (and, let’s be honest, there are probably a dozen conversations wrapped into this wax ball of a topic), was the demographic differences between CT and NYC or San Francisco. My sense is, and this is definitely anecdotal, that our mix of entrepreneurs in CT is probably a little older than the folks in those other cities. Probably doubly so in tech.

Before the show, I joked to Gitamba that the prototypical ramen diet isn’t really an option when you have a child at home. Accelerators like TechStars or Y Combinator target that frenetic pace and schedule. That makes sense for their programs, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it might not be the only or best model for areas still building up their entrepreneur base and culture.

Anyway, just an extra thought on the way out the door of the station.

Weight loss FAQ

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As most of my friends and coworkers know, I’ve lost a whole lot of weight over the last year. Folks that see me for the first time ask me a lot of the same questions, so consider this my attempt to answer the most common ones.

1. How much weight have you lost?

As of this morning, just under 60 pounds.

2. Why did you decide to do this?

When we realized we were going to have a kid this fall, I figured out that I’m going to be over 50 when he graduates high school. At the rate I was going with my health and weight… well, I just wanted to do something about it. My initial goal was just to shed 15-20 pounds and ride my bike consistently. The rest has just been bonus, in large part because sticking with the new habits has been pretty easy.

3. How did you lose the weight?

Combination of eating better & exercise, but mostly eating a lot better. I use the Weight Watchers iPhone app & online tools to track and guide what I eat. I also started exercising consistently once or twice a week. That’s pretty much it.

4. Weight Watchers, huh? Why? Don’t you have to go to meetings or buy their food?

I did Weight Watchers because a few folks I know through Twitter were having great success with the program. I also used a Points guide a bunch of years back to understand my diet. I didn’t really follow the program then, but I was familiar with the concepts and it made sense to me: measure calories in, keep it slightly below calories out to lose weight.

The good thing about Weight Watchers is that you don’t need to buy any particular food. You can eat whatever. It’s really about moderation and making healthier choices on the whole. The meetings are also not necessary. Some people need the motivation and the support. I just need the data, and the iPhone app and online tools were perfect for me.

The program assigns a points value to food based on it’s nutritional value. Based on your weight, age, and activity level, they give you a daily point budget. You track what you eat and make sure you stay under the daily limit. On nights when you’re out with your friends or out for a special dinner or you just need a treat after a rough day at work, you also have a weekly budget you can draw from. Finally, you can bank extra weekly points by exercising (which could be playing Wii Fit for 30 minutes, or mowing the lawn…).

There are lot of other apps out there for the iPhone that take a very similar approach. Many are cheaper. The Fitbit, for example, has calorie tracking functionality.

5. How much are you exercising?

Not a whole heck of a lot. The key thing is that I have fun with it. I don’t particularly like the gym. So, last summer, I started biking regularly, starting with short rides (20-30 minutes) and building up. I then realized how much I really enjoyed being out on my bike. This past summer, I rode my bike for 60-90 minutes once or twice a week. I played 9 holes of golf walking & carrying my bag (even in the pouring rain) with our office league once a week. That’s basically it. Most weeks, I’d have a full days worth of points banked from just one bike ride and 9 holes of golf.

As the weather has gotten colder, and I have less free time because of the baby, I’ve started running instead. I can get a workout that feels good in 30-40 minutes instead of 90. Plus, it’s more fun than I imagined.

I keep bringing “fun” up because I want this to be sustainable. Exotic diets or constant gym routines aren’t sustainable for me. This works.

6. Any other tips?

The one thing I have been using more than I imagined possible is a small, inexpensive food scale. I don’t use it to be precise about portions. I use it to be lazy about dishes. If I wanted to know how much 2 tablespoons of, say, olive oil is, or a quarter cup of cheese, I’d have to use a measuring cup or a spoon, then wash it. If i have multiple ingredients, I dirty more dishes. With the scale, I can just weigh each step and then turn the scale off and I’m done. Most nutrition labels indicate serving sizes by both volume & weight, by the way. Pretty handy. And, yes, I’m that lazy.

The other thing is to find activities that work for you. I’m imagining that most guys will be alright with an excuse to play golf, and walking is awesome on a beautiful golf course. Heck, it’s the only reason I kept playing all summer because, honestly, I’m the worst golfer I know. Plus, its cheaper than renting a golf cart each time.

7. When will you stop trying to lose weight?

I basically kinda have. In the last 7 weeks, I’ve lost ~5lbs, which is less than a pound a week. My official goal is to get my BMI to be in the normal range. I’m technically still just on the overweight side of that line. Once I hit that goal, I’ll switch the Weight Watchers plan into maintenance mode and then focus on my fitness goals instead.

Nurses make all the difference

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It’s hard to find time to blog or write or do much of anything aside from take care of our new baby, but I’ve been itching to write this post since we left the hospital last week.

When you’re expecting a baby, you can tour the hospital. They show you the rooms in labor and delivery and in maternity and the nursery wing. They tell you about the amenities, the security, and medical technologies they have available. After our stay at Hartford Hospital, I can honestly tell you that none of those things are that important. What made our stay there amazing were the nurses and care staff. To a person, they were thoughtful, kind, attentive, and, most of all, helpful.

Helpful is under-appreciated. Helpful could be knowing what to say when a mom is upset because her son isn’t latching on right. It could be the nurse that stays in the room reassuring the new parents because, let’s face it, new parents worry a lot (especially us). Or it could be the PCA that gets the mom some extra supplies or juice containers. Our nurses and PCAs at Hartford Hospital were the best.

To all the nurses and care staff at Hartford Hospital that took care of Heidi and my son, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. You made our time at the hospital comfortable and helped Heidi and I get comfortable with caring for our new son, from swaddling instructions to breast feeding help. Our time at the hospital exceeded our expectations in just about every way. Thank you.

Acadia National Park: one of my favorite places

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Bubble Pond, along the carriage road

For so many reasons, Acadia National Park is special to Heidi and me. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out on one of the treasures of the National Park system and, really, of the east coast. The beauty of the park is remarkable (just look at the photo on the right!). Acadia’s real strength, though, is how accessible and easy it is to explore. The park is crisscrossed with miles of easy to ride carriage roads and easily reachable trails. It’s an easy, if long drive up to the park from New York or anywhere in New England, and has a great little town right outside the park in Bar Harbor. Whether you go for a drive on the Park Loop Road, or a hike or bike ride on the trails or carriage roads, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views of water, islands, and the rugged coast of Maine.

On our most recent trip, I made time to take a long bike ride through the eastern half of the park. The carriage roads, built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. as a labor of love, run through some of the most beautiful sections of the park. There are different loop combinations possible, allowing you to choose the duration and difficulty of your ride, run, or walk with ease. Some of the roads hug the lakes and ponds through the park, while others follow ridge lines or climb mountains in the park, leading to spectacular views out over all of Mount Desert Island. There are some challenging climbs, but since the roads are graded for horse-drawn carriages, there aren’t many of them. On the other hand, because of Acadia’s mountains and glacial past, there are really no flats anywhere. As one of my guide books said, the good thing is that nearly every climb is rewarded with a good view and a nice downhill after.

The route I chose covered about 33 miles, around 30 inside the park on the carriage roads (there’s a map below). While riding, I saw a number of families and groups riding around. I even saw a number of older couples (60+) making their way around the carriage roads. The western part of my loop (miles 6-13 in the map below), and the climb to the top of Day Mountain were among the quietest portions. I passed only a handful of riders and joggers. The portions closer to Jordan Pond & Eagle Lake were the busiest. If you know the park at all, that probably wasn’t surprising. I highly recommend getting away from the busy portions if you have the time. Just bring some food & a decent amount of water and give yourself enough time to take breaks and enjoy the views.

The one thing I wish I had was a guidebook for Acadia. I carried a bike map and a small guide for the roads, but concerned about weight, I left everything else except the water and my cell phone behind. After I tweeted about my ride, though, a developer based in Maine sent me a tweet about an iPhone & Android app he’d built for Acadia National Park. He offered to let me take a look for free and to offer feedback. After taking a look, I really wish I had it on the ride. The app is Chimani Acadia National Park, developed by Chimani, LLC. The app is beautifully designed and well thought out. It contains trail maps, cycling routes, sunset/sunrise info, ranger events and even an audio tour for the Park Loop Road. The app also has a schedule and route map for the free Island Explorer busses. Best of all, everything works without a network connection. Acadia may be many things, but cell phone friendly it isn’t, so this is a requirement for a park app.

Ride cheat sheet
5 right
3 left
2 left
4 right
6 right
9 right
11 right
13 right
18 left
19 right
20 left
21 left
14 right
15 left
16 left
17 left or loop day mtn
7 right
6 right
4 right
back to Bar Harbor, shop

My guide book was a little better in a few ways, though. First, the app’s maps don’t really have a turn-by-turn set of instructions for any of the routes or trails. They just indicate the starting position of a route or some portion, and list out points of interest. It would be great if they included turns at the sign posts. Every intersection on the carriage roads is numbered and is usually a three way intersection, so your choices always basically boil down to right or left. For each route, then, “directions” are a list of left & right turns. For example, the box to the right shows my cheat sheet for the ride (Note: I amended this while on the ride, so it doesn’t match the route above). It would be great if the app either listed the turns or allowed the user to create a cheat sheet like this.

That being said, it’s a great complement to a good bike map. The routes all include points of interest with some background info. For example, the carriage roads include many beautiful stone bridges throughout the parks. If I would have used this for my ride, I would’ve tweaked my route to include the Cliffside Bridge, which sounds spectacular.

Overall, the app looks solid and worth having if you’re going through the park. My only advice is not to rely on the app as your primary map when you’re hiking or biking. For one thing, the maps aren’t detailed enough. Most importantly, though, batteries don’t die on paper maps. Many of the maps you can pick up at the Visitor Center are also waterproof. For what it’s worth, I usually keep my phone inside a ziplock back when I ride in case it rains along with a little cash and one credit card.

My paper map was an awesome one that’s available at the Visitor Center. It’s the “Complete Hiking Trail & Carriage Road Map” by the Friends of Acadia. It’s $3.50 and well worth it.

Top of Day Mountain, Acadia National Park

This ride was also the first time I’ve been on any sort of mountain bike in years. I rented a nice Cannondale F4 from Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop. This was my first time renting there, but I’d be happy to do it again. You really can’t go wrong at any of the shops along Cottage St. in Bar Harbor, but they had a full bike shop attached, which was great for last minute gear I needed.

The F4 is a nice ride. While it felt super slow compared to my road bike, it was really pretty damn fun to zoom around the park without worrying as much about the gravel or rocks. I recommend staying away from road bikes on the carriage roads. I wanted the wider tires of a comfort bike or mountain bike on the gravel. I also really appreciated the hill friendly gearing on the mountain bike. I’ve been on the roads using a comfort bike and was fine, so just use your judgement. Bikes aren’t allowed on the hiking trails, so there’s no real easy opportunities to truly go trail riding, as far as I know. It was the first time I really wish I had a cross bike.

Heidi and I also went on a whale watch. This was my first time doing one. I didn’t really expect much from the trip, thinking we might be lucky if we saw even one whale. Boy, was I wrong. We saw at least 4 finback whales playing and diving. No breaches (leaps out of the water), but we saw a fin slap and a number of terminal dives where we saw the tail before it disappeared below the surface. We did a sunset whale watch, so we were treated to some beautiful views on the way home. If you’ve never been on one, highly recommended. Just remember to dress warmly. We were freezing out on the water, and when the boat really gets moving, you feel like you’re in a wind tunnel experiment about wind chill. We were both freezing, but didn’t want to take a chance we’d miss a whale sighting. Definitely, bring fall/winter layers (sweatshirt or fleece plus windbreaker or warmer jacket, etc.). It’s a great way to spend time with nature when you don’t want to be out in the park or can’t hike (say, if you’re with a pregnant wife, for example 🙂 ) I’m really glad we went on this.

Beyond all the nature and hiking and biking, Bar Harbor and the other towns on the island have great, great restaurants. A lot of places are very vegetarian friendly, and there’s a variety of cuisines to suit whatever you might want. There are great restaurants all over, including Thai, Mexican, Greek, Italian, and lots of seafood. A lot of the restaurants use locally sourced ingredients, too. Good stuff. Some of the places we like include Guinness & Porcelli’s, Lompoc Cafe, McKay’s Public House, and a number of the pizza joints on Cottage and everything on Rodick St. There are also some great restaurants in Southwest Harbor and in some of the other towns on the island, so be sure to get out and explore!

Atlantean Inn, Bar Harbor

Finally, getting a place to stay up there can be a bit expensive during the high season. The best thing we’ve found is to rent a house for a week and try to go up with another couple or family. We’ve done this a few times now and it’s really the most cost effective way to go. You can eat in, since you have a kitchen, and make lunches for your hikes/rides/whatever. The other thing we’ve done is camped. The park has a number of campgrounds nearby and many are reasonably priced and have showers and other amenities. We’ve stayed at Smuggler’s Den Campground. They had a shower and a pool and a shop on the campgrounds for things you may have forgotten. On our most recent trip, we went a little more upscale, since it was our anniversary, and stayed at a phenomenal B&B called the Atlantean Inn. The owners were awesome, balancing the being helpful but giving us space thing perfectly. Our room was great, and the breakfasts were amazing. They cook vegetarian breakfasts, but I’d be surprised if most non-vegetarians would notice or care, the food was that good. I really loved staying there. Too bad they don’t allow kids, otherwise we’d probably plan another trip in a few years.

Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island are really great places to visit. Hopefully this has given you a taste of some of things you can do there and why I really love the place. Even with everything I’ve mentioned, there’s so much more (the only fjord on the east coast!, the first place in the U.S. to see a sunrise!).

I have a lot of good photographs up on Flickr from our recent trip, and would also suggest checking out Faith’s beautiful photo set from her recent trip. This is a gorgeous park and a rugged and beautiful part of the world. Whether you’ve been there before or not, I hope you get a chance to visit soon.