The blog has moved to http://jessehouse.com/ ... Many google searches point here so I am leaving it operational, but there will be no new posts.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

2009 Grasshopper Adventure Series

A really fast bike ride or is it a race? you choose

The schedule for 2009 Grasshopper Adventure Series is out!
  • 2009-02-28 Old Caz
  • 2009-03-07 Chileno Valley
  • 2009-04-11 Lake Sonoma 
  • 2009-05-09 King Ridge 
this year there is actually an entry fee - times they are achanging
read more here 

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Best binoculars for birding

Well the best binoculars for birding are probably Swarovski or Zeiss, but both of these are very expensive and if you want to get really close to the same quality but for a third of the price I highly recommend Savannah Phase-Coated Waterproof Binoculars from Orion. The Savannah comes in at less then $400 vs over $1000. 



Don't get me wrong, a good friend of mine has a pair of Swarovski and they are excellent! The key difference is in low light conditions the Swarovski do out perform the Orions but for most of the birding I do the Orions do the job and do it well. I have been using the 10x50 for over 4 years now and they are great for birding from the car, a smaller pair would be more ideal for hiking or other on the move activities.
Not sure why they name those two models differently they are both Phase-Coated and waterproof - they are the exactly the same just different size. Also, looking around on Orions site I do not see the 10x50 available anymore (one pair left over at Amazon)? hopefully they have not discontinued those. There is the Savannah Porro 10x50 but I am not familiar with that model, it appears to be less expensive and might be great buy for the money?

Friday, January 16, 2009

words to live by

this quote really grabbed my attention
from the NOOP.NL blog; an article called '5 easy Questions for Ron Jeffries'

...look for the good in every moment, and love it, while avoiding the bad without hating it.
 - Ron Jeffries

easier said then done but definitely a goal worth pursuing.


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Coding Cheat Sheets

This is for personal reference: some links to helpful Cheat Sheets for coding

'Testing is Overrated' on InfoQ

This is a good presentation
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/francl-testing-overrated

just over 22 minutes and worth the watch; I had to take a screen capture of one of the slides about doing code reviews, just too funny