Phil Houtz

Zeke Barlow of the Ventura County Star writes about a battle over funding between environmentalists and off-road vehicle users. The nub is like this: the Sierra Club wants more money set aside for hiking trails. CORVA wants the money used to keep Hungry Valley and other such parks open. Representative Darrell Steinberg wants to increase…

Google just released “My Maps,” a Google Maps feature that lets you mark and annotate routes and save them as public maps. As an example of My Map’s potential, check out this oral history map of Route 66. (via World Hum) There’s clearly some social bookmarking potential here, for sharing maps and sharing local histories.…

Yesterday Norah and I were shopping at Trader Joe’s and we saw a couple of “reverse panhandlers.” A couple of handsome white-haired women, each armed with a fistful of dollars, were standing in front of the store passing out dollar bills. Un-begging. It was a brilliant piece of theater. People were clearly uncomfortable with the…

From Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools site, the Viewtainer is a handy, useful way to stash tools and supplies. It looks like it would make a great, small, geocache as well.

I’ve got the weekly supply-run down to a science. But meal planning has me whipped. If anyone has any pain-free ways to plan the weekly menu, I’m all ears. I now understand those meal-in-a-box TV commercials where the family has a religious experience at the supper table and the mother is beatified. Anyhow, here’s how…

Following up on my original question about topo maps: Singletracks has a nice review of Delorme Topo. GPS Tracklog has some thoughts about maps, particularly USFS maps. The map server that looks most promising is the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. I can’t figure out what the Vector Data Gateway is or how to use it. (I’m…

Here’s a shot from the St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Dublin, as posted on the Dublin Community Blog. It makes me want to go back. Follow the link for more pictures of Irish mummery. And raise a Black Bush for me.

Most nights we can hear the coyotes in the river bottom, howling, yipping, cussing and breaking bottles. Some nights we hear them up close to the house, less than 100 feet away in the lemon orchard, ripping, snorting, murdering small creatures with glee. Last night I decided to drop in on the coyotes in their…

Now you can be a vegetarian and a cannibal at the same time.

Here’s what happens to a counterfeit Adventure Pass when it’s been exposed to rain, sun and torrential water crossings. It turns into a groovy tie-dye adventure pass. I should keep this if I want to go to the Rainbow Family Reunion this year. The reason for having a counterfeit Adventure Pass in the first place…

Stayed up way too late last night watching archaelogical porn. I was intrigued by what Jacobovici choose not to show in his documentary (besides any serious alternative theories about the occupants of the tomb) The Lost Tomb of Jesus. Namely, he didn’t indulge in any Knights Templar theorizing that the website for his book dabbles…

Here it is. Wellington Grey dares speak the truth about Roomba.

Amidst all the scholarly chatter about ossuaries, patinas and epigraphy there isn’t much talk about the Freemason connection to the Jesus Family Tomb. This, I think, is where the Cameron/Jacobovici documentary could have its biggest impact. Consider the number of people who believe that the DaVinci Code is fact. By all accounts Cameron and Jacobovici…