This weekend I tried out the auto belay device at the local climbing gym. Remember, I’m not a climber. I start getting uncomfortable when I get over ten feet off the ground. And the auto belay is not giving me any solace here. The device works like those key rings that janitors clip to their…
Engadget has an article about a Land Rover concept car that uses an iPhone to control the vehicle. Aside from the gee-whiz cool factor of the thing, you really have to wonder about the logic of having a touch-screen electronic interface for a vehicle with the core purpose of traveling in harsh conditions. It seems…
How do you treat raw skin and build calluses after a weekend of rock climbing? My new challenge started a couple of weeks ago after I joined the local climbing gym. A few hours on the artificial walls and I’d peeled the skin off the palms of my hands in seven places. Three of the…
When photographer and writer Shreve Stockton found herself the guardian of a two-week old coyote pup she began taking pictures every day and mailing them to her friends. This grew to a sizable mailing list to which you can subscribe, therby getting your own daily coyote. Aside from being too cute to be legal, these…
I use Google Maps alongside with USGS and USFS maps when I plan a Jeep junket. I just find it easier and faster to browse Google Maps than an actual topo map. The downside is that Google Maps isn’t always accurate. I’ve wound up facing dead ends a number of times following roads that appeared…
Yesterday when Maureen, Ros and Norah stormed the shops in downtown San Luis Obispo, I had to follow along seeing that I am the cash box. I don’t mind doing a little shopping with the women folk, but I really don’t understand the process. After 20 minutes my nerves start to itch. My anxiety level…
Kevin Drum notes that any talk about peak oil is moot if manufacturers are close to peak production.
Being a sucker for a new frontier I purchased an iPhone last night, or maybe I should say that my bank purchased an iPhone and in exchange I gave the bank another piece of my soul. And I did this knowing full well that the iPhone would make my life into a living hell. Aside…
One of the epiphanies behind David Allen’s GTD process is the fact that you need to break tasks down into “next actions.” For instance, one of my to-dos is the 30,000 mile service on my Jeep. But to do this service I have to do a lot of smaller steps. For instance, before I change…
Popular Mechanics, the perennial bastion of testosterone, offers up 25 Skills Every Man Should Know. Some of the items on the list are editorial are no-brainers, such as Back Up a Trailer or Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle. Well, duh. Those are the basic minimums for manly behavior. Some of the other entries border on wtf?…
This past week I felt a little like a kid who got a pony for Christmas…and a firetruck. First comes the new Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard”, and next comes Gmail with IMAP. Using Gmail as an uber-account for all my mail accounts, I might be able to defrazzle my inbox at last. Using Apple’s…
Like a whirlwind romance my weekend fling with Leopard has been a wild ride. The new Mac OS X hasn’t yet broken my heart but it did break Photoshop 7 and a few other mission-critical apps in my home office. Fortunately the damage was a little less severe at the Evil Day Job from Hell,…
(Warning! Extreme Geek Content to follow.) Is Mail 3.0 set to be a GTD killer app? I’ve been an OS X early adopter long enough to keep my expectations down-to-earth. Last night I paid homage at the Apple Store, got my free Leopard t-shirt and a copy of the new 10.5 system. Here are my…
I have the upper body strength of a ripe banana–as my kids are quick to point out. So my new goal is to get ripped like a rock climber…or to at least be able to do one pull-up by the end of the month. To that end I installed a Metolius Slim Gym in the…
It was just about a year ago I bought my first Land Rover. It was a beautiful car and I really enjoyed driving it. Just not that much. I didn’t get more than five miles from the car lot before the temp gauge pegged. I spent more time trying to get the dealer to take…
