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Mount Desert Island

Dec 12, 2007

I put up some pictures from a recent trip to Mount Desert Island in Maine, a.k.a. home of Acadia National Park. This was my first time there and while I had heard some nice things, it was actually much more than I imagined. I had no idea we had something of that magnitude here in New England. The island is filled with mountains with ocean views, carriage roads, stone bridges, lakes and has the only fjord on the east coast of the United States. Some of the more fun things we did while there was taking the South Ridge Trail up Cadillac Mountain and exploring Otter Cliffs.

The Cadillac hike was one of the nicest hikes I have ever done. Even though the mountain is only 1,530′, the South Ridge Trail which is 3.7 miles to the top has about half of the distance on an open ridge with spectacular views around the island and into the Atlantic Ocean. It also helped that it was sunny and not too cold. Cadillac Mountain is famous for being the first location in the United States where a sunrise can be seen. We didn’t see a sunrise, although we did get to see a striking sunset that slowly progressesed and took on different appearances as we descended the South Ridge Trail. We also had the very good fortune of seeing a rabbit scampering around on the summit. It’s usually pretty rare to see any animals on a summit, let alone on the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast.

I almost didn’t go to Otter Cliffs and damn would I have been missing something. With lots of different types of rock formations and cliffs hanging high above the ocean, Otter Cliffs were more like things I have seen along the West Coast than the East Coast. There were also plenty of deer roaming around very casually and because we went on a Monday in late November, it was pretty much just us and them.

View Mount Desert Island photos

Links: 9-24-07

Sep 24, 2007

Mayor Menino wants Boston to be bicyclist’s dream
Boston Mayor Tom Menino is hiring a bike czar and a first phase of improvements around the city is to include 250 new bike racks and an online map system. Future possibilities mentioned include shower facilities, bike storage areas, and automated bike rental systems that make wheels instantly available to anyone with a credit card. It would be great if Boston goes all the way with this and then maybe other cities around New England would follow the trend too. If you consider things like skyrocketing energy costs, global warming, increasing obesity rates in the US and how bad traffic is in some cities, doing things like this should be a no-brainer.

$1 US = $1 Canadian
Seems like it was just yesterday I could go up to Montreal and get a whole lotta bang for my buck.
Manchester City Marathon
Manchester, NH is having a full 26.2 mile marathon for the first time since the 1930′s on Sunday November 4, 2007. The race is approved as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

An Observation, Not an Endorsement

Sep 19, 2007

Ron Paul for President sign

I am posting this picture I took in Holderness, NH just as an observation, not as an endorsement. So far in the early days of primary season here, one of the most unexpected developments has been the amount of support for Ron Paul. Before this year I had never heard of Ron Paul. Lately though I have been noticing a suprising proliferation of Ron Paul for President signs around New Hampshire. It probably won’t mean anything since the Republican base won’t get behind him and he is just too much of an underdog, but hopefully it at the very least sends a message. I do respect some of of the things he has had to say:

“I believe that when we overdo our military aggressiveness, it actually weakens our national defense.”

“The obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.”

“Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon.”

Paul has also said quite a few things I disagree with but so far one of the best things about this primary season has been candidates like him and Mike Gravel who have the chutzpah to state many of the inconvenient truths the other candidates are afraid to mention. For now though, like many others voters are, I still have to do a lot more listening to all of the candidates.

Hands Across The Merrimack Bridge

Jun 4, 2007

For a long time I have been telling my Manchester friends that good cities utilize their waterfront/riverfront setting by building around it and Manchester is not doing it enough. All of the cities I enjoy going to have a vibrant waterfront area that usually has lots of people walking, running, roller blading or biking and lots of other life and nature around it. It’s good for the residents of the city and it helps the city have more appeal as a destination city. With that said, I was glad to see construction had finally begun the other day on the Hands Across The Merrimack (aka Singer Family Crossing), a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Merrimack River .

Work to begin on pedestrian bridge over river in Manchester

Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta says something very similar to what I think I have said 100 times since I have lived in this area.

Citing successful waterfront development in Boston, Portland, Providence and Portsmouth, the mayor said Manchester has hurt itself by treating the Merrimack River as an afterthought.

The bridge will link walking paths and trails on both sides of the river. This should encourage people to utilize the trails more now that more routes will be possible. I was happy when Manchester created a Riverwalk a few years ago, but it is usually a ghost town when I am there (except during New Hampshire Fisher Cat’s games).

Hopefully at some point it will even be possible to make a loop around the river, without using the streets, much like one can do around the Charles River in Boston. This would require a trail/path on the west side and a little extension on the east side.

I am pretty amazed and happy to see some infrastructure being added that has nothing to do with automobiles. The bridge which had been in the fund raising and planning stage for the last 5 years was spearheaded by Manchester citizen Helen Closson. A HUGE kudos to her for making it happen. Manchester needs more people like her.

Below is picture of before and a drawing of after:

The old railroad trestle which will be replaced:

A promotional drawing of the new bridge:
Hands Across The Merrimack Bridge in Manchester,NH

HTML killed the Flash star

Apr 30, 2007

Not that I would link to or visit MTV.com that often, but their recent website redesign is very noteworthy my opinion, because it departed from the bells and whistles of a flash site and was changed to a pure XHTML/CSS site. With my design philosophy and for the type of site I like to read (one where I don’t wince upon arrival), I give MTV a BIG kudos for this. I really enjoy seeing a huge usability improvement like this on such a high profile site and on one of the sites I would have least expected it from.

Here is some of what they said on MTV Labs:

…about nine months ago, we went all Flash with our Web site. It was a technical marvel and it was indeed flashy. But, it was also something of a headache for a lot of users, so we were told.

Luckily, we’re also good listeners, and that’s why a few months ago we started toying with a new and improved HTML version of the MTV site. Anyone watching the live beta site has been witness to substantial evolution, from the overall look of the pages to simplified navigation, a new video player and a vastly improved internal search mechanism.

The site still has some pizazz though, thanks to the MTV HATS project. The HATS (Header Art Treatments) show a random, artistic background each time you visit the site (just refresh your browser repeatedly to see all the different HATS). These backgrounds are appropriate for the MTV audience, but at the same time the content presentation stays consistent, loads fast and is very readable.

I am impressed MTV. Maybe I’ll actually be back for another visit.

Links: 4-11-07

Apr 11, 2007

Microsoft is Dead
If I used tags on this site like you would on del.icio.us or flickr, the tags for this one might be something like: microsoft irrelevancy brokenness how_to_suck limp oblivious coffin old_news google
Do The Right Thing.com
Like Digg, but and instead of voting or “digging” the story you can rate the social impact of a company’s actions.
White Mountain Art and Artists
I don’t know how I managed to never come across this site, but it is excellent. Lots of White Mountains of NH art and history.
The Bicycle Commuter Act
This would provide a tax benefit to employers who offer cash reimbursements to employees who ride to work in order to help defray their commuting costs. Seems like a good idea, now more than ever.

2007

Mar 24, 2007

I am beginning to wonder if I can go all of 2007 without a post on the ol’ blog. Oh well, guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore! Above is a picture I took recently up in the White Mountains. Hiking up there is one thing that has kept me pretty busy this winter. I really like this shot as it almost looks like it was black and white, but it was really just the way the once bright sun was being overtaken by the clouds. This shot is of Mt. Washington as we came down Mt. Eisenhower.

Movable Type to WordPress

Oct 31, 2006

After using Movable Type for the past 4 years, I switched the blog part of this site to WordPress. I’ve been wanting to change it for a while, but I haven’t had the time. It’s not that Movable Type is bad, but I’ve set up WordPress for a few other sites and I have found it to be really flexible and easier to customize. I also like that it’s open source, has nice options for URL rewriting (good for SEO) and is PHP based, where MT was Perl. If anyone notices any problems or bad links, drop me a line.

Lincoln Trail on Mt. Kearsarge

Oct 24, 2006

One of my favorite trails in Southern NH is the Lincoln Trail on Mt. Kearsarge. I think some might consider it to be long and boring, but I find it has a lot to offer in subtle ways. It’s not as nearly as rocky as some of the trails in the White Mountains so it’s good for a casual stroll though the woods or a trail run. You also pass through a nice variety of different forests and if you go all the way to the top you have a great wide open summit with 360 degree views. The trail never seems to be used that much so peace and solitude is almost always assured. This is probably because there are a couple of other much easier routes to the summit and for a similar effort most people would go for the big kahunas up in the Whites. During the last 2 hikes I did on it I took some pics while everything had some good fall color.

View Mt. Kearsarge Photos

Links: 10-8-06

Oct 8, 2006

Mexico’s remote Isla Holbox
I love the way this sounds – I think I found my next vacation…”In Mexico’s remote Isla Holbox, hours are measured by shadows shifting across agave leaves. Minutes have no meaning. You don’t know what time it is, what day it is. This place is a psychiatrist. It takes away worry or stress.”
Do Newspapers Have a Future?
“Newspapers on paper are on the way out” this article says. I’m not so sure. While I do think newspapers have to adapt to the new world order for information, it’s hard to spend hours comfortably reading a screen the way you can with a newspaper. And although content is free on the web it is can be cluttered while newspapers collect and organize information and present it to readers in a way that is easier to swallow.
NH Congressional Candidate Carol Shea Porter on You Tube
Shea Porter may be a long shot, but good move putting something on YouTube.
Beware of Pirates
This is why I probably won’t be going any bigger than 600 pixels wide in my photo gallery photos.

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