We’ve gotten to the point where it’s hard to imagine going anywhere without our phones. And it just so happens that there is a great crop of apps to enhance your experience outdoors. But just so we’re clear on this, no app is going to take the place of basic woodcraft skills. Think about it…
I recently had a conversation with my wife, her sister and her brother about the value of a good old fashioned paper map. While GPS systems are convenient they don’t help you get the big picture of your surroundings. National Geographic, known for its amazing maps, serves up the best maps of 2016. Along with…
I stumbled across a provocative label on Mark Bernstein’s site, coupling the phrase “Where you are is WHAT you are” with the caption “Weber’s Qualitatvie Analysis Tools.” As best I can tell, Weber refers to sociologist Max Weber and “Where you are is WHAT you are” is a quote from Constantin Stanislavski related to his…
In honor of National Park Week, Chimani is offering free downloads of their popular National Park smartphone guides. They have a selection of apps for both iPhone and Android. The Android apps, usually $4.99 are discounted to 99¢ but they also have free “Lite” versions. Kerry Gallivan, founder of Chimani, says that his company’s guides…
In his book The Size of Thoughts, Nicholson Baker talks about some of the unexpected advantages of library card catalogs over databases: fingerprints for instance. Dark smudges of body oil can tell you at a glance which topics in the catalog are the most popular, something that would take a complex structured query to achieve…
There’s a peculiar comfort in a map – it extends the boundaries of our consciousness to the furthest regions, giving a clear picture of relationships that might otherwise be lost in the murky fog of our lizard brains. Maps bring to light new possibilites. Maybe I can get there from here… and reveals existing boundaries…
