The iPhone 4S added Siri which effectively is the same technology as the Dragon app but integrated into the OS.  Siri allows you to dictate text messages, emails, and drive other tasks by voice.  For me, the transcription is one of the most used features for me on the phone!  Often when I’m text messaging it’s much easier to just dictate rather than type.

Since both of these experiences really are Dragon by Nuance, I wanted to see how the PC version worked.  One of my pet peeves with Siri in particular is that it often fails for no apparent reason.  You’ll be rattling along and then the cursor shakes indicating that it lost the message it was trying to capture.  The application is server based, so any blips in network connectivity or the server being overloaded makes your experience less than great.

Dragon Naturally Speaking does not require internet connectivity  They were having a sale on the premium version so I wanted to give it a shot.  I also added a USB microphone to the bundle as I’ve heard that the mic can make or break the experience.  I had tried the software many years ago and training was a never ending experience and the accuracy was not that good.  With version 11.5, training took about 20 minutes.  It was really only a few things:

• Choosing the microphone
• Choosing your accent (I chose Southerner)
• Setting the microphone volume (you read two paragraphs)
• Calibrating the voice engine (you read 10 or so paragraphs)

After that you are off to the races.  The total experience was about 30 minutes!  I’d had pretty good experience working with Siri so adapting was very simple.  If I wanted to type out this note:

Hi Mike,
It was great seeing you and Angela today.

The dinner was awesome! How was the concert in Central Park yesterday?

Regards,

Dan

You’d have to say:

Hi Mike [new paragraph]
It was great seeing you and Angela today[period]

The dinner was awesome[exclamation point]

How was the concert in [cap]Central [cap]Park yesterday[question mark][new paragraph]

[cap]Regards[comma][new paragraph]

Dan

The grammar engine sometimes will add in punctuation that you leave out. I find that auto punctuation puts too much punctuation in often the wrong places, so I just add it in myself. Much like the iPhone, working in a quiet area seems to make the software much more accurate.  Adding words to its vocabulary is simple enough, but getting it to auto correct isn’t a smooth experience.

All in all, I do think it’s worth the $180 for the software and premium microphone.  As I use it the accuracy will get better with time.  For an out of box experience, the software is pretty darn good!

One of the great things about film is that it was significantly expensive every time you press the shutter button. You had to buy film, develop film, and wait the time for development. Don’t get me wrong, I love digital photography, but it lowers the bar for entry significantly. There are a number of SLR camera owners that have no idea how to run their camera. That was very evident at the top of the hill. I’m not saying I’m Ansel Adams, but I think I saw the effects of too much democracy in the photographic field that night .

One of the large container ships is leaving San Francisco Bay!

The full Golden gate at twilight!

The Supermoon has just come over the horizon.

The city skyline with the moon at twilight through the bridge.

Now it’s getting dark enough for some great photos!

I think this one is one of my favorites of the group.

With my little camera, the super moon is not so super .I think I need a new camera!

First light: the lights on the bridge did not stay on long after the first few mins of daybreak.

An interesting reflection street light.  Not sure why the standard overhead glass bulb didn’t fit the bill here.

First glows of orange and yellow!

I love the rays of sun hitting the bay.  While the original photo didn’t have any fog, the color here was really nice to see and photograph!

And the sunrise is here!

And a full view of the bridge is in focus!

Port of Oakland

This is the western end on Interstate 80.   The next exists are US 101 which is the official end of the freeway.    It’s another 2,900 miles to Teaneck, NJ eastbound!

The plan really was to just wander the park.  I didn’t have a set destination so I figured just start walking until I find something that was inspiring…be it flowers or some other flora.

While hiking up the main trail (Deanza Trail) a deer was having a mid afternoon snack!

About ten years ago a good buddy of mine had a thing for photographing dead trees.  Every so often one will catch my eye and I try to capture it in a photograph.  Sometimes it works, other times no.  I’ll let you be the judge here.

Once I got up to the top of the hill it was a nice view to the east.

As I got back to the road there was this one hill that was clearly razed by a large mower.  As I got closer, there was a sign noting “non native species” in the area that they were trying to eradicate.

As the hike came to a close it was apparent there were no poppies.  But this nice purple flower will just have to do for the day!

Google Maps is truly incredible.  Now it even does hiking trails!

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We started fairly far south in San Jose at none other than Sierra Road. What a difference weather, experience, and a day makes. The pavement was great and Sierra road has wonderful views of San Jose as you climb the hills. There’s a fairly short stretch around the back where the pavement gets really tight. It’s only a lane wide and there’s no room for error. Fortunately there were no cars around and was an easy ride north. Sierra road turns into Felter Road and it’s an equally good ride on the backside of the mountains. The turn for Calaveras is easy to miss and we did. Even though there was this rather large sign saying it was closed.

We all agreed we would ride Calaveras as far as we could and if it was closed we would U-turn and come back down to Felter Road for plan B.

I was having my new found luck with Sierra and Felter road and hoped that luck would have turned into Calaveras, but I still didn’t like it. There’s tons of bicycles, its very narrow for an extended length, and they’re crud on the road.

After hitting a nice patch of gravel on Felter Road, I felt the bike jump from under me and my confidence was shaken. Calaveras was a slow ride to the north. Fortunately the closure was only Monday through Friday. I didn’t want to ride it twice. It was smooth sailing up to Interstate 580. The reservoir looks to be in good shape despite the little rain we had this year.

Once crossing over 580 the heat was getting to us. Although it was mid to late April the temperature was already over 90. I drank a quarter water flat. The other guys were equally thirsty as well.

Currently I was thinking we could get sandwiches rather than stop at Pete’s, but I found out we had one additional rider who is going to meet us at the restaurant. So, we took Palomares to continue the journey north. Palomares is one road I really do enjoy. It’s fun and technical but not mischievous. Palomares rolls into Redwood which then turns in to Pinehurst Road. The GPS got us lost not by its error, but we keyed in one of the waypoints incorrectly. The stop was on a side street and not the main road. A quick correction brought us to the north of Walnut Creek and a short jaunt down 680 brought us to Pete’s Brass Rail and Car Wash.

I have always enjoyed Pete’s Brass Rail and try to frequent the restaurant when I’m in town. They have a number of beers on tap and the food is pretty good!. We got a spot on the patio and it was fun to enjoy the afternoon with the sun in the breeze.

Pete’s Brass Rail and Car Wash (C is average. No grade inflation here):

I had to do a little bit of coaxing to the others as the Park service is really raising their fees. When I moved here it was only two dollars to get into the park now it’s ten. That is a 500% increase in 10 years. That feels little steep to me. Nonetheless we all went in the Park service got its $50 out of us. The trick to enjoying Mount Diablo State Park is hitting it when the rest of the world’s not there. Given that it was a nice Sunday afternoon I was hoping for the best and was actually pleasantly surprised. There were a fair number of cars out, but passing was pretty easy. The road is also in good condition and provides enough technical challenge to be interesting.

Once we got to the top, I was disappointed to find out that the observation deck was closed. “They” say you can see more of Northern California from Mount Diablo than any other place. So, we walked around the gift shop got some water, look at the view to the west, and took some pictures. I wanted to find a way to see the view to the east but it looks like I would have to do some hiking. Nobody in the group was headed back to San Jose so I took the opportunity to say good bye to them and start hiking.

The number of bugs around the park was truly astounding. Climbing and descending the mountain on the motorcycle there was one section where literally you were covered in bugs. Fortunately, the hike was below that altitude. I can’t remember the name of the trail but it goes around the circumference of the mountain just below the tower. The views to the east were spectacular!

Spring was in full color! These flowers were beautiful.

The hills were deep green is well.

Being so high you can see cities tucked in the rolling hills.

Also, there is this one section of forest a trail that looks very cool!

Riding down the mountain was interesting because I wanted to take photos of the road.

However, there weren’t very many places to pull off and those that were were quite soft.

I need to burn some time because I wanted to see the sunset over San Jose. The Easter ride was really fun seeing the sun rise. This morning when coming out over Sierra road I figured it would be pretty to see the sun set there. It was about 6 o’clock and I needed to burn an hour or so before getting down to San Jose. I remember the Sunol Jazz Café as a tucked away treasure. I decided to stop there for dinner. A mixed experience, but glad I did.

Sunol Jazz Cafe (C is average. No grade inflation here):

It was so warm that day even the the dogs were passed out or looking for some easy food!

After dinner, I found my way back to Calaveras, then Felter, then Sierra. I always love riding through the golden hours: the hour surrounding sunrise and sunset. The yellow in the sunlight really brings out colors in the surrounding area.

One of the things I really like about Sierra Road was the stark contrast between the rural and the urban settings.

Sitting atop the mountain you can see grasslands and then just over the hill urban sprawl. I found a little spot where couple others were gathered to see the sunset. I’m not as pretty as the sunrise, it was pretty darn close.

As the sun sets:

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Once on the road, I had my 80,000 miles.

I was only just miles from home though. I had thought I would be in this grand destination but alas, I was on the downtown freeway in a not so great portion of town. I took a quick photo to mark the accomplishment and then it was time to keep rolling. This ride down was very much utilitarian. I hopped on the bike and kept riding until I got there. About 180 miles of all, which is a bit of a stretch for me. I think it was the first time I’ve ridden the tank from full to empty in one sitting.

Once I got there, I took a quick shower, and it was time to go back out on the town. We went to Mothers Tavern, also known as Mo-Tav, for dinner and beers. The food, much like last time, was very good. At about 10 PM, the place turns into a dance bar. Surprisingly for a college town, the crowd was very mixed. We had fun dancing with the crowd and enjoyed the evening.

It was fun to dance and hang out at the bar. We left at about midnight which signaled it was a good time.

The group from SBR was leaving Paso Robles at 8 AM. Since I didn’t get to bed until a least 1 am with a few beers in me, 8 AM was not happening. We got breakfast at A Touch of Paso. I’d not reccomend it.

A Touch of Paso (C is average. No grade inflation here):

So, a leisurely morning, a decent breakfast, and some down time I was on the road late. A friend of mine recommended Chimney Rock Road out of Paso Robles. It was an out and back ride on supposedly great pavement. The pavement is pretty good, but in my opinion it’s nothing to write home about. The ride literally runs to a dead-end. There are plenty of other roads in California that are that scenic and go somewhere. Heading north on Interlake Road (one of my favorites in the region) you crest and have the view of both Lake San Antonio and Lake Nacimiento (pictured).

The road is well paved, very honest, and the turns can be taken at a good clip. It’s good and twisty though!

Interlake Road ends in Lockwood which is a very, very small town. It’s one of those where you blink and you’re through it. There is a small winery here.

I wanted to get some wine at when I was down here Labor Day but didn’t have any room in my bags. The shop keeper is awesome. He’s got a very quick whit and knows a lot about wine. It was great to learn a few things along the ride.

I met two riders from Paso Robles at the Lockwood store. As usual we started talking about bikes roads and what each others plans were. They recommended I take Lockwood Jolon Road over to 101. My plan was to take Jolon road to 101 and then Bitterwater to 25. With this new found knowledge I could jet over to 101 pick up 198 and then 25. Lockwood Jolon Road was a little mix of everything: fast sweepers, a bit of technical, and generally a nice way to get to the freeway.

I’ve often taken 198 east of 25 into Coalinga. That’s a well-known and well loved stretch. This is the start of Highway 198 east from the end of Highway 25.

The section from highway 25 west to US 101, is a little less well-known. The road is not as technical but very much enjoyable.

I stopped at the intersection of 25 and 198 to take a few photos. I had plenty of time in the day to burn as I did need to be in San Jose until about 6:30. That’s good as 25 is a long, lonely highway.

Riding north on 25 you could see a lot of green in the hills.

And green along the road.

We’ve had a good week of rain which green things up quite a bit. I came upon this very cool looking farmhouse and decided to stop and take a few pictures. The red was in very much nice con trashed to the green around it.

I’ve seen the sign for “San Benito Lateral” more than a few times but I’d not known what it was. I decided to roll down that little road to see what was there. There were some pretty hills:

There was one horse that seemed to show a bit of interest in my tenure along the side of the road. His eyes never left me. Guess the yellow power ranger outfit didn’t help.

Highway 25 rolled north into Hollister and then on to 101. It’s a pretty mellow ride up the freeway and back home. Pass Robles is becoming a great weekend trip. There’s plenty of good ways to get from here to there and it’s about the right distance away for an easy over-nighter.

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I kicked the whitenoise generator on the phone and surprisingly was out like a light. I woke up briefly once in the night and was back off to sleep for the night. Morning was right on time.

The moon was out in full glory today.

I’d planned a ride on meet up and wasn’t expecting any takers at either stop. It was a quick roll through the valley. In 2008 I remember US-101 being very desolate where as this year there seemed to be much more traffic for that time of the night on a holiday. With another quick stop at Stonestown Mall, it was time to head to Tam Junction.

I do love that the VStrom does have good headlights!

No one showed up for the planned stops, but met two buddies of mine up at Tam Junction.

The ride last time seemed riddled with hooliganism where as this year it was super mellow. The riders ahead of me would park the bikes in turns. Last time I was getting blown by. I got up to the parking lot at 6:00am and started the mile hike in my gear up to the summit. About 1/4 of the riders made the slog up the hill!

The view from up there is awesome. One can see from the Pacific Ocean to the west all the way to Novato to the north. Sunrises are pretty simple affairs. A giant ball of fire some 93 million miles away comes up over the horizon about every 24 hours. To me though, sunrises mark the promise of a new day. I’m always a sucker to see the sun come up. Thermos in hand with hot tea on tap, it was time for action.

Looking over the horizon, it was all quiet below. Its astonishing to see how quickly the environment changes in the stillness of nature. I’ve captured the scene in a variety of different formats from panoramic down to close up. Note to self, bring a good tripod and check the ISO settings.

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6:51:46 am – Even the city is asleep!

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A quick view to the south of the city and the Pacific Ocean

There were a number of bikes that came out today. Mild temperatures and no wet weather brought out a lot of riders. A number of people were starting down the mountain at this point and there were many more bikes on the right hidden by the trees.

The dawn patrol is ready to ride!

Breakfast was at Theresa’s and Johnny’s Comfort Food in San Rafael.

Theresa’s and Johnny’s Comfort Food (C is average. No grade inflation here):

I decided to take some time and explore the area on my way back down to the valley. I stopped to take some photos of the bridge, but the light was terrible as evidenced by the photo. I was taking the picture right into the sun!

Continuing on the road down to Pt Bonita was quite cool. With clear skies, it was extra cool!

I got home having done a full ride and it was only 11:45 in the morning. I got all my chores at the house done. Went for some exercise. Now it was only 4pm. This was proving to be the longest day in a while. 9:00 pm finally came and I was out. All in all a good ride. Looking forward to next year.

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The weather has been so on and off as of late, I didn’t know if Daffodil Hill was going to be open. The recording said that they’d let us know by 9 am that day. We had to leave earlier than that so it was either a ride to Daffodil Hill or a short jaunt up 88. I met the San Jose crew in Fremont and we headed up over the east bay hills for some good twisties:

and long sweepers:

I’d timed the stop in Stockton incorrectly, so we got there with plenty of time to spare. San Francisco had just arrived. Daffodil hill was closed today due to snow. There was weather off to the east so we figured head to Volcano, get lunch and head up the mountains and see what was there. We decided on the general store in Volcano as 1) somebody knew of it and 2) it was warm inside. With chow in the imminent future, bikes were lined up and parked!

Country Store (C is average. No grade inflation here):

With Daffodil hill being closed, there were a few splashes of color out there:

What transpired next I didn’t really expect. The weather forecast called for the snow line to be down to highway 49. That’s pretty low for this late in the season. We didn’t see any snow at 88 and 49 and none was in Volcano. We were all surprised that Daffodil Hill was even closed as we didn’t see any snow at all. When riding up Shake Ridge Road, for a few miles we saw some white spots on the sides of the road. Then after about a mile spring transitioned into full on winter. The road was full of snow with tire tracks of pavement. I decided to press the groups luck as it was only a “little bit more” to get back to Highway 88. The tire tracks got thinner as we went on and some of the crew had sport bikes not really meant for snow. Being so far in, we couldn’t get the bikes easily turned around anyway. With a mile to go we had some car decide not to use the tire tracks of the other cars and sprayed us all with snow.

But alas, we got back to 88 stronger for it!

The snow thinned out quite a bit near 88, but there still was quite a bit there near the back of the photo.

A few snowball fights later, it was time to roll.

I’d decided to press our luck a little bit more and head up 88 into the mountains. It was a beautiful ride with the falling snow from the trees, white all around, and a clear highway. After about 10 or so miles, I figured the group was having enough “fun” and decided to head back for home. We made our way back to 26 and down to the valley for the 4/5/205 slog back to 580. I had some time to kill so took a little jaunt up from the top of the Altamont pass to the country by ways.

The hills were green and the wind not to be found.

I’ve been watching Last American Cowboy on Netflix so it was interesting to stop by one of the cattle farms in the area and just see the cows grazing. This calf wanted to come up and see what the hell rode up!

But alas, the day was ending and it was time to roll back down to San Jose. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

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Let’s set up a few basic parameters

• you = your account name on the servers
• yourserver = The machine you are logging in from.  It’s most likely your laptop.
• remoteserver = The machine you are logging in to.  It’s most likely the one that is not near by.

Setting your identity

For SSH to work correctly, you need to set up an identity the other server can trust.  So, if you can log into your machine, the remote server trusts that the login credential of your machine is strong enough to have it not reprompt you for credentials.  To do so, just run the following session on your computer.

you@yourserver:~> ssh-keygen -t rsa
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/you/.ssh/id_rsa):
Created directory '/home/you/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ:WX:YZ you@yourserver

Establishing the Trust Relationship

For SSH to work you need to have your public key on the remote server so it knows that it is you making the login request.  To do so:

Now use ssh to create a directory ~/.ssh as user b on B. (The directory may already exist, which is fine):

you@yourserver:~> ssh you@remoteserver mkdir -p .ssh

Finally append your new public key to you@remoteserver:.ssh/authorized_keys and enter your password one more time:

you@yourserver:~> cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh you@remoteserver 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

From now on you can log into remoteserver as you without a password:

you@yourserver:~> ssh remoteserver
you@remoteserver:~>

Volia!