Two Disc Golf Courses in Two Weeks

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Two Disc Golf Courses in Two Weeks
Uncategorized

After nearly a year of being out of the game, I’ve had the privilege of playing two different disc golf courses on consecutive Saturday mornings.  While both experiences were a blast and made me want to get back to this regularly, both let me know how much had happened with the state of disc golf in the Upstate in the past year.

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Adventures in Teleconferencing

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Adventures in Teleconferencing
EdTech, General Technology

Tuesday I took part in two different teleconferences, one where I was a participant and one where I was the session leader.  Both used similar technologies, but difference services.  Neither worked very well, but for different reasons. Conference 1 – I was supposed to drive down to Columbia for a Tech Leader’s Roundtable.  With all … Read More “Adventures in Teleconferencing” »

Google Releases Google Earth version 5

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Google Releases Google Earth version 5
Geocaching and Maps

Today I found out from Frank Taylor’s Google Earth Blog that Google has released version 5 of Google Earth.  I had to run out and update my copies of the program right away.

At first glance there doesn’t appear to be much different.  The buttons are altered slightly but the overall user interface hasn’t changed.  However, there’s quite a bit new in this release, most of it under the surface (literally.)

The brand-new flashier bits in this version are as follows:

Google Ocean – greater details of the ocean floor had already worked their way into the last release of version 4.  However, now users can plunge beneath the water’s surface to explore.  A new folder of points of interest has been added to accompany the new feature.

Google Mars – Now users can switch between Earth, Sky, and Mars.  The imagery is quite impressive.  However, make sure that you de-select any of your terrestrial layers.  It was a bit disconcerting to see earth-bound geotagged Flickr images on Mars.

Historical Images – To me, this is one of the coolest new features.  When activated from a button on the tool bar, a slider appears.  If there are any historical images of that location, slide the bar to the left to view them.  It’s great for tracking changes over time.  For example, here’s a view of the Reedy Falls Park area from 1994, prior to construction of the Liberty Bridge and Falls Place…

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A Declaration of Independence

Posted on By Tom No Comments on A Declaration of Independence
EdTech, Rants

Starting today, I’m doing something I should have done 10 years ago.  I refuse to take sales calls of any type unless they fit one of these three criteria…

  • We have an active request for proposals  for that specific product.
  • I have directly contacted your company with an inquiry about a specific product (and that doesn’t mean you happened to get my contact info from some conference or other indirect means.)
  • We have already established a client-vendor relationship for specific goods and/or services.

So unless your sales call happens to fit the above, don’t expect much of a response from me.   I will still accept e-mails so that I have your contact information on hand, but I will not have an extended phone conversation with you, I will need attend a webinar, and I will not schedule a meeting with you.

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Geohashing – A Game Based on a Comic

Posted on By Tom 6 Comments on Geohashing – A Game Based on a Comic
Geocaching and Maps

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The XKCD comic seen above came out around Christmas of 2006, and formed the basis for a new GPS activity – not necessarily going to a random location and making out, but using random numbers to generate latitude and longitude coordinates.  The process of generating the random coordinates is called Geohashing.  These coordinates serve as a basis for adventure, not unlike throwing a dart on a map and then trying to reach that location.  It’s a lot like Geocaching, but you don’t have to find a little container, and the coordinates change.

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The Incomparable Weirdness of Twitter

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on The Incomparable Weirdness of Twitter
Internet, Weirdness

Twitter-Capture

As if there were any doubt, my true nerd nature is about to come through.  Some of my admissions in this post will be embarrassing, but it gets my point across about Twitter.

I freely admit that I am a Trekkie.  I can usually name most of The Original Series episode titles having seen just a few seconds of one.  I am not, however, a “Trekker”.  I don’t have a Star Fleet uniform in my closet (although I did have a model phaser when I was a teenager), nor to I dress up like a Klingon and attend conventions.

So what does this have to do with Twitter?  I’ll get to that in a moment.  I signed up for Twitter as a matter of convenience.  It was a simple way of updating my blog and Facebook from one location.  I didn’t really have any intention of “following” anyone on Twitter, but soon I got tired of looking at my own updates.  I added a few friends and locals that I knew from other social networking sites.

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Goodbye to the Bahamas and Trip Reflections

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Goodbye to the Bahamas and Trip Reflections
Travel

I watched one last Bahamian sunrise, this time without a camera in sight.  We had packed, and we were ready to head home.  We had a good, large breakfast at the hotel, then went to meet our transport to the airport.

The trip home was uneventful, which was a good thing.  By this time I had caught the cold that had plagued Laura for the entire trip, so we were both coughing up a storm (much to the annoyance of our fellow travelers.)  There were no delays, and we arrived safely in Greenville at the appointed time.

Our luggage, however, was a different story.  There was nothing awaiting us in Greenville.  We were just glad it happened at the end of the trip rather than the beginning.  The airline was able to locate it, and about 11:00 PM it was delivered to our house.  Apparently my luggage tag had snagged in a conveyor belt and had caused damage to the bag and the delay.  The contents were OK.

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Kayaking and Caves in Lucayan National Park

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Kayaking and Caves in Lucayan National Park
Paddling, Photography, Travel

For our last full day in the Bahamas I had booked a kayaking tour and trip to the Lucayan National Park. Laura had been fighting a bad cough all week and didn’t feel like going, so I was on my own. After watching another stunning Bahamian sunrise, I began gathering my gear and headed down to meet the group.

I was the only one from our resort going on the tour, but there were nine others that had already been picked up, and we stopped for four more on the way out. Along with our guide, we had a party of fifteen.

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