Shiny shiny

I have a lovely new MacBook! From which I am typing this! (This due to the fact that the old PowerBook died a death last week. Poor laptop.).

I am taking the opportunity to not just install all the software off the old one (since half of it is PowerPC rather than Intel anyway), & instead to establish what I actually want/need/use/etc. Quicksilver, Firefox, XJournal, & Poisoned already on, which probably says something about my priorities...

This post is otherwise content-free :-)

Shiny shiny

I have a lovely new MacBook! From which I am typing this! (This due to the fact that the old PowerBook died a death last week. Poor laptop.).

I am taking the opportunity to not just install all the software off the old one (since half of it is PowerPC rather than Intel anyway), & instead to establish what I actually want/need/use/etc. Quicksilver, Firefox, XJournal, & Poisoned already on, which probably says something about my priorities...

This post is otherwise content-free :-)

Bikes, drugs, & teams

So, Vino's been doping, Moreni's been doping, & Rasmussen (yellow jersey holder) has been sacked for lying about his whereabouts a few months ago (& thus probable doping). All of which is saddening, but kicking them out is justifiable. (I'm not 100% sure about Rasmussen, but it's looking increasingly suspicious & in the circs...)

However: the whole of both the Astana & Cofidis teams are also out (voluntarily withdrawn rather than kicked out, but it's fairly clear that they were under a lot of pressure). That's a further 16 riders (I think; unless any of 'em have fallen by the wayside already) who aren't going to make it to the finish because one of their teammates has been cheating.

The rationale behind this is of course to encourage people not to turn a blind eye. But it is entirely possible for both Vino & Moreni to have been putting things into themselves without the knowledge of their team or teammates (albeit a bit less likely in the case of Vino, because of what he was doing - blood transfusions). Given that Cofidis are one of the prime movers in the anti-doping stuff, it's even less likely that anyone other than Moreni was responsible - so is it fair to be taking them all out?

What it definitely is, all of it, is saddening. I hope very hard that Contador (who will get the yellow jersey today, unless anything very unexpected happens) is clean, but there's mutterings already about that :-/ 4 days riding, I think, until the Champs Elysee; it all feels pretty dispiriting.

Some things of interest:
A journalist tried out a bunch of drugs (HGH, EPO, steroids) for the 2003 PBP.
David Millar on Vino getting caught (Millar served a 2-year ban himself and is now Anti-Doping Crusader).

In totally other news:
Navigating by the stars!
Clever ratties! (thanks to webcowgirl for the link)

Bikes, drugs, & teams

So, Vino's been doping, Moreni's been doping, & Rasmussen (yellow jersey holder) has been sacked for lying about his whereabouts a few months ago (& thus probable doping). All of which is saddening, but kicking them out is justifiable. (I'm not 100% sure about Rasmussen, but it's looking increasingly suspicious & in the circs...)

However: the whole of both the Astana & Cofidis teams are also out (voluntarily withdrawn rather than kicked out, but it's fairly clear that they were under a lot of pressure). That's a further 16 riders (I think; unless any of 'em have fallen by the wayside already) who aren't going to make it to the finish because one of their teammates has been cheating.

The rationale behind this is of course to encourage people not to turn a blind eye. But it is entirely possible for both Vino & Moreni to have been putting things into themselves without the knowledge of their team or teammates (albeit a bit less likely in the case of Vino, because of what he was doing - blood transfusions). Given that Cofidis are one of the prime movers in the anti-doping stuff, it's even less likely that anyone other than Moreni was responsible - so is it fair to be taking them all out?

What it definitely is, all of it, is saddening. I hope very hard that Contador (who will get the yellow jersey today, unless anything very unexpected happens) is clean, but there's mutterings already about that :-/ 4 days riding, I think, until the Champs Elysee; it all feels pretty dispiriting.

Some things of interest:
A journalist tried out a bunch of drugs (HGH, EPO, steroids) for the 2003 PBP.
David Millar on Vino getting caught (Millar served a 2-year ban himself and is now Anti-Doping Crusader).

In totally other news:
Navigating by the stars!
Clever ratties! (thanks to webcowgirl for the link)