April 2008

The Golden Canyon endurance challenge

Hiking Death Valley is not like hiking any other place I’ve been. For one, the park is so gargantuan that the trails don’t really show up on the map. Instead they just point out a few popular trailheads, most of…

Reaching a new low

After surviving the Golden Canyon endurance challenge, we headed down towards Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the US (282 feet below sea level). I, of course, wanted to “get low” at the lowest point in the US, so posed…

Like camping on the moon

The weather in Death Valley was perfect on Friday night (low 60s), so we left the rainfly off the tent for the first time. The dry desert air breezed right through the mesh panels. At night we could see the…

Hiking Keane Wonder Mine

Last Saturday we headed north to the Keane Wonder Mine. The weather was perfect, not as hot as Friday, and with an occasional breeze. Once again, on paper, the mile long trail didn’t seem like much, but it included 1500…

The flora and fauna of Death Valley

The hip reason to visit Death Valley these days is to see the desert wildflowers bloom in the spring. It was part of our motivation to drive 9 hours each way at end of March. I think we may have…

The Mosaic Canyon narrows

On Sunday we had a 9 hour drive ahead, but that didn’t stop us from squeezing in one more hike on the way out of Death Valley. Stephanie had read some good things about Mosaic Canyon near Stovepipe Wells, which…

Pea Soup Andersen’s

As early as I can remember, split pea soup was just about the most revolting foodstuff imaginable. My dad loved it though, from the can, and I think my mom couldn’t stand the smell, and so we too couldn’t stand…

Journey to Alamere Falls

Stephanie and I haven’t really taken a Vespa roadtrip since our Panoramic Highway adventure last July, so last weekend she dreamed up a ride to the southern end of Point Reyes, followed by a hike when we got there—partly to…

Handwashing dishes

First of all, welcome to White Noise Lounge. A week ago MC Soleil and I had this wacky idea to broadcast white noise over the internet. So we decided to start an audio blog of the ambient sounds in our…

I caught a butterfly

…with my camera. I believe this furry creature is a variable checkerspot.

Saucisses-lentilles

One of the other dishes Stephanie’s sister made for us while we were in France was lentils with sausages, or saucisses-lentilles. It’s a very simple dish, not as memorable as hachis parmentier (I mean with a name like that…), but…

Get thee to CoCo’s Crawfish

A few weeks ago I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve had any cajun food. I mentioned this to Stephanie who forwarded me a link to a creole restaurant, but one that’s only open for lunch. I figured…

I think I am being followed

Hardy Heron: first look

Started the upgrade process to Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) last night, and finished it up this morning. Overall impressions are very positive, thanks to a few (but not all) of the things that broke in Gutsy fixed. The updates to…

Belden Place

Was transported to Europe last night having dinner with Stephanie outdoors at Belden Place, a strip of outdoor cafes nestled between Pine and Bush near Kearny. It was all the more appropriate having just come out of Priceless, starring Audrey…

Electric shaver

My dad uses an electric shaver, so when it came time for me to shave, I also chose an electric shaver. I tried an actual razor once in college, and I felt like it took off a whole layer of…

Rear Window

Just wanted to point out the Volvo C30‘s quirky tailgate design. I think it’s kind of cool. Also, related but not: I’ve been carless for a year. Though I’m not sure how high I can wave that flag, as I…

Alpine Lake Dam

Mysterious black and white Vespa photo

I have a lazyweb question for the internets. Does anyone know anything about this photo? Like who took it? Where? When? Who’s riding the #90 scooter up a dirt road on the side of a mountain? Is he racing? What…

---

Wow, I didn’t realize Sprint was in such a tailspin:

The most likely scenario for Sprint going forward is a long twilight where the company’s inferior network, ambiguous brand message, and quality of service results in a continuing [if slowing] attrition of subscribers, revenues, and margins

#

OMG this is so awesome! Defendius door chain #

Wow: New design for UK coins revealed (guess that means no Euro for the foreseeable future?) #

For real? Some homes worth less than their copper pipes (I feel total insulated from the housing meltdown, living in San Francisco) #

I, for one, welcome our new Minibike-riding Monkey overlords #

Feature in the upcoming Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” release I can’t wait for: World Clock Applet #

US GOVT CENSORSHIP: U.S. Funded Health Search Engine [POPLINE] Blocks ‘Abortion’

“We recently made all abortion terms stop words,” [Debbie] Dickson wrote in a note to Gloria Won, the UCSF medical center librarian making the inquiry. “As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now.”

Taking a fucking stand Johns Hopkins! Sheesh. Disgusting.

Update: That didn’t take long:

A prominent public health school has restored the word “abortion” as an acceptable search term on a reproductive health Web site funded by a federal agency that restricts references to abortions.

#

Amazing panoramic photo taken from Racetrack Playa: A Dark Sky Over Death Valley #

Evocative:
#

Weekend silly: Windows Vista Source Code Leaked! #

Best publicity ever: Pro-Tibet protesters climb Golden Gate Bridge cables #

Hehe: Ask Me About My Flux Capacitor #

How many protesters does it take to stop a torch? International Torch Relay May Be Scrapped (I actually half thought to myself that I might work from home tomorrow and take part in the skirmish…) #

A, duh. According to a poll of 109 historians, George W. Bush is the Worst. President. Ever. #

This looks too good (or bad) for words: Tropic Thunder #

Mark Shuttleworth for president!

Windows is a very important platform, and our justifiable pride in Linux and the GNU stack shouldn’t blind us to the importance of delivering software that is widely useful. I believe in bringing free software to people in a way that is exciting and empowering to them, and one of the key ways to do that is to show them amazing free software running on their familiar platform, whether that’s Windows or the MacOS.

#

Purty funny: Video of dog who won’t go through screenless screen door #

You stay classy, John: “It’s harder and harder trying to do the Lord’s work in the city of Satan” #

Whoa whoa whoa: Incredible! (via Kottke) #

WOW!

“Gavin Newsom runs San Francisco the way the premier of China runs his country – secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace,” Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said. “He misled supporters and opponents of the run. People brought their families and their children, and (mayoral officials) hatched a cynical plan to please the Bush State Department and the Chinese government because of the incredible influence of money.

Go Peskin. #

Phrase of the day: mass transplant (not sure I understood the math on this one—I could use an infographic) #

A fun watch: Urban Honey #

Terrie on Golden Eagle Falconry in Kazakhstan and Mongolia #

Ha! Haha. This is actually a really important case:

When [J. K. Rowling’s] lawyer, Dale Cendali, spoke Lord Voldemort’s name — known to everyone who has ever read a Potter book as “he who must not be named” — she quickly said, “Forgive me for speaking the name.”

#

Superbrilliant: Super Mario Bros theme performed by an RC car on a row of liquid-filled bottles #

Word of the day: foodberg (and cool hack) #

I would almost drive to LA for this: Grilled Cheese Invitational #

Wikipedia article of the day: Global city #

I doubt I will ever remember this, let alone need to use it: Raising Skinny Elephants Is Utterly Boring #

Coconut milk, where have you been all my life? Made Curried Carrot Soup last night with the Nantes carrots that have been showing up in my veggie box lately.

Oh, and check out this neat picture: Carrots of many colors. #

Photo caption of the day: Another section of my favourite sewer #

I’m feeling linky today: 66 “Choose Your Own Adventure” Book Covers #

I relate to this:

But I refuse to become a full-time blogger. I think that’s a cop-out. If I look at the people I respect most in the industry, the people I view as role models…they all have one thing in common. They’re not just excellent writers and communicators. They build stuff, too.

#

For future reference: Rapid Development Toolset for WordPress Theming (something I’d like to try my hand at) #

I love this:

The newly reprinted version of this design has had two amendments. The previous version included one character which has been determined to not be a robot at all. The previous version also included a robot dog that virtually nobody recognized.

#

Hmm:

Diazepam (aka Valium) is a core medicine in the World Health Organization’s “Essential Drugs List”, which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system.

#

You have got to be kidding me! A biker was threatened with a fine for parking her motorcycle in a motorcycle bay – because it has three wheels. #

I could see myself being against foie gras, even though I quite like it, but Michael Ruhlman’s recent post gave me pause (especially after having read The Omnivore’s Dilemma):

I never thought [the anti-foie gras activists] had any leg to stand on if they argued only that the practice of gavage were inhumane but were happy to buy boneless skinless chicken breast and beef tenderloin from America’s meat factories.

#

I loved Jason Kottke’s intro to this article (the article was pretty rockin’ too):

The story of a salvage team racing to save the Cougar Ace, a 55,000 ton cargo ship packed with Mazda cars valued at $103 million that nearly flipped when the ballast tanks on either side of the ship got out of balance. If the team succeeds, they get ~10% of the cargo’s value and if not, they don’t get paid…either way, someone might die.

#

Photo of the day: Tim’s magnolia blossom bud (last shot on the page) #

BigDog meets AIBO on xkcd: New Pet #

This looks interesting: Glass, a Portrait of Philip In 12 Parts #

Another great worksongs photo: Inside the Edward Dean Adams discharge tunnel underneath the city of Niagara Falls, New York. #

Cool, my sister took a glass bead course #

This was my last night, hanging out with Jean and Dan from NOTCOT: Apple Pie with Cheese #

What a unique punishment:

The next morning, his ashes were scattered at sea over the Mediterranean, in international waters. This was to ensure that there could be no future memorial and that no nation would serve as his final resting place.

#

Ha xkcd! Not content with normal restraining orders #

More worksongs awesomeness: The Adams station discharge tunnel (with lots of cool map links) #

Nice nature photo on moodaholic: The Beginning #

So weird and so cool: Mister Lonely #

I don’t quite fully understand the whole gourmet vinyl toy subculture, but this Turtlecamper is hot! #

I must have one! Uno (a motorunicycle) #

Clay Shirky takes some of the thoughts I had in Television Abstinence to a whole new level:

Desperate Housewives essentially functioned as a kind of cognitive heat sink, dissipating thinking that might otherwise have built up and caused society to overheat. And it’s only now, as we’re waking up from that collective bender, that we’re starting to see the cognitive surplus as an asset rather than as a crisis. We’re seeing things being designed to take advantage of that surplus, to deploy it in ways more engaging than just having a TV in everybody’s basement.

I expect this may influence a lot of people. #

Dulling the double-edged sword:

It seems that perfectly innocent young girls keep growing up to be women who like sex, an ongoing commercial and social problem…Young girls look up to “Hannah Montana” as a role model, and parents do not want them thinking that they might grow up to be women who like sex.

#

This is neat, a map of the US created by roads alone: all streets #

More on the fate of the Cougar Ace cars: A Crushing Issue: How to Destroy Brand-New Cars #

That must pay well:

There are rumors wafting about the ‘net that [Mark Hamburg, second engineer at Adobe hired to work on Photoshop,] will not be working on imaging at Microsoft, but that he’ll be part of a crack team being assembled to look at the MS OS from the ground up in the wake of the, er, mixed reception given to Vista.

#

Tonight Stephanie discovered a “hugs-friendly” sleeping bag (looks pretty cool) #

My next camera?

The [Canon] 4D will be 19% lighter and approximately 30% smaller than the current 5D. Although the eventual cost will be $2,995, there will be a generous $1,000 rebate for at least the first month after introduction.

Update: There has to be a special circle of hell reserved for people who fall for April Fool’s jokes A MONTH AFTER April Fools. #

I don’t know what I like more, the title or the video: Only in Saudi Arabia #