We’re opening a new category of topics on Wild Rye, loosely grouped under the heading “homesteading.” This section will include classic homesteading topics like backyard poultry, canning, and doing-it-yourself. But it will include things of interest to the more urbane homesteader such as setting up your wifi for your connected home. If you have any…
#1. Traveler Tip: Stash Money in An Empty Pen (and Then Hang on to That Pen) From Instructables (via Lifehacker) comes this handy tip – use an old pen barrel as a makeshift money safe. It’s a clever idea…except that success hinges on a second tip that isn’t included in the Instrucable – how to find a missing pen.…
The idea behind the flying-saucer design of Apple’s new headquarters is to generate plenty of cross-traffic and promote serendipitous encounters. That may be the case, but according to an article by Hunter Oatman-Stanford in Collector’s Weekly the design really isn’t terribly new. Connecticut General’s new corporate estate included snack bars, ping-pong tables, shuffleboards, bowling alleys, tennis…
We’ve all been there. We’ve been passed up for a promotion because the nephew of the CEO came on board. Or we came down with the flu the day before we leave on our dream vacation. Something goes wrong in the universe and we are dealt a really bad hand. Life feels like it’s all…
Our ancestors went camping with little more than a breechcloth and stick. Nowadays you can’t get out without your Osprey Stratos pack and MSR Hubba Hubba. There’s no upper limit to how much you can spend on adventure gear. The big question is how much do you really need? The Last Whole Earth Catalog gives us…
It doesn’t take a lot to create a sense of place and purpose. Think about how children will string a clothesline between two chairs, throw a blanket over it and immediately have a magical “tent-fort” that is somehow better and more purposeful than the room it inhabits. That’s the idea behind “lighter, quicker, cheaper”…
Shipping containers have been a promising alternative to prefab architecture at least since Stewart Brand’s Sausalito research library. According to Gizmag there is now a Canadian firm called Honomobo that will drop one of these ready-to-inhabit home spaces on your lot for the price of a basic remodel. Of course you’ll have to work out…
White-tailed Kites are fairly common around here. You often see them hunting in freeway medians. They have a characteristic way of hovering in one spot like…well, like a kite. I saw this fellow hovering at the base of the Mount Cleff Ridge in Wildwood Park. Slowly, deliberately the kite dropped ten feet, fifteen, feet, and…
Answer a couple of questions about the things that are important to you and the free app Teleport will cough out a ranked list of cities that best fit your needs. It doesn’t end there – Teleport gives you a sidebar with adjustable settings so you can fine-tune the selection. Once you’ve settled on a…
Hungry Valley is a State Recreational Vehicle Area just off Interstate 5 near Gorman. The park is packed with 130 miles of trails for dirt bikes, ATVs and 4WD vehicles. This might conjure up an image of a nuclear-broiled landscape swarming with jump-suited Suzuki pilots–something like Mad Max meets the Power Rangers. And that wouldn’t…
Somewhere around 1972 the Los Angeles Times’ California Magazine ran an article about Levis 501s and the people who wore them – prospectors, cowboys and Bing Crosby who had a tuxedo custom made by Levi Straus so that he could wear jeans at his favorite high-end watering holes. I was hooked. And even though I…
Entering from Highway 33, just south of Ventucopa, Quatal Canyon Road is the superhighway of Jeep trails. After several hours of bashing my brains out on the moguls in Ballinger Canyon it was actually kind of nice to be on a smooth dirt road for a change. (I really have to install some anti-sway quick…
It’s one bunny-hop for a man (or woman) but it’s one giant lunge for mankind. Evo.com announces an out-of-this-world travel package for mountain bikers giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore some of the gnarliest single track in the galaxy. Check out Evo’s moon biking offer here. [Via pinkbike] Also – Awesome…
A collective of urban designers and an economist based in Brazil have assembled an amazing collection of before and after photos showing improvements to urban landscapes. One thing that is immediately clear when you start browsing the gallery is that it doesn’t take massive construction – or demolition – to make a city…
Are you feeling the effects of Spring Fever yet? The Art of Manliness has a quick gear roundup to help you pack for a warm weather getaway. The guide includes links to Apolis, United by Blue and other adventure wear makers, via Huckberry. Also check out How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe and…
