Operation Gadget

Month: July 2005

  • Lance Wins Stage 20 Assuring a Seventh Yellow Jersey, Others Have Equipment Problems

    Reading Time: 2 minutesLance Armstrong clinched a seventh victory in the Tour de France today by decisively winning the Stage 20 Time Trial. I was not surprised that Lance won or that Jan Ullrich finished a close second. What did surprise me, however, was the relatively poor performance of Ivan Basso and the incredibly bad…

  • Liggett on the Saint-Etienne Time Trial Course

    Reading Time: 2 minutesBefore the last rest day, I spent a long time researching potential questions for Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. I was offered the opportunity to participate in a OLN-sponsored rest day conference call that day. It wasn’t clear back then if Lance Armstrong was going to be able to maintain the time…

  • Discovery Channel Sponsorship Strategy Hinges on Growing International Interest in Cycling

    Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Science of Lance Armstrong DVD is available from the Discovery Channel On-line Store. [ Photo: Discovery Channel ] Martin O’Donnell watches TV Cinq from France Television on Comcast in order to practice his French and keep up with what’s going on there. The other day he asked: Discovery Channel is getting massive publicity…

  • Leblanc Made the Tour de France a Top International Television Event

    Reading Time: 2 minutesIn the article called Liggett and Sherwen Think that Lance Will Not Have a Second Act as a Triathlete, I mentioned that I had passed on a number of follow up questions for Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen to my contacts at OLN and hoped to get at least a few of…

  • Comparing Tour de France Coverage on OLN to European Television

    Reading Time: 2 minutesJohn Robson published a good article comparing OLN’s coverage of the Tour de France to that of the major European television networks. I thought about writing an article like this myself but I haven’t done it because I would want to compare apples-to-apples: OLN’s coverage in 2005 to France 2 and 3…

  • Salvodelli Wins Another Stage for Discovery

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteI was pleased to see Paolo Salvodelli won Stage 17 for Discovery earlier today in Revel. I had been concerned that Salvodelli wasn’t doing well in the Tour since many riders who push themselves to the limit in the Giro d’Italia really suffer if they also do the Tour. I had…

  • Bike-Powered VoIP System Created for Use in Developing Countries

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteJonathan Maus told us that Inveneo has developed a bicycle-powered, Linux-based VoIP phone system for use in developing countries. No kidding. I found an explanation of a Pedal and Solar Powered PC and Communications System on the Inveneo web site. This article does not discuss the inclusion of the Asterisk open…

  • Jersey Shore Pro Cycling Grand Prix to Debut in May 2006

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteThreshold Sports and JSR Associates announced that The Pro Cycling Tour Will Add a New Jersey Race Series to be called the Jersey Shore Pro Cycling Grand Prix and will take place during the week of May 15 to 21, 2006. According to the article: … a week long series of…

  • Japanese Beetle Traps Stop Unwanted Guests from Eating Your Plants and Trees

    Reading Time: 2 minutesThe most unpleasant surprise of relocating to Newtown, PA was finding out that the area of town where we live is infested with Japanese Beetles. According to the Japanese Beetle information from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, these beetles: are not native to the United States, were first found…