With lessons learned from the recent fight to save Trestles, the folks at Surf-First.org have put together a survey designed to gather demographics on surfers in the US. Because they say it better than I can, here’s copy from the survey landing page:

All across the country, surfers are facing access and environmental fights that fail to consider their needs and enormous impact. While fishermen and other recreational ocean users flex big muscle in courthouses and town halls, surfers get pushed aside a ‘segment group.’ A minor hobby for punk kids – instead of healthy lifestyle for whole families. That’s because we let them.

Despite being a 1000-year-old sport with a $7 billion industry, surfing has failed to produce the demographic and economic studies to show who we are, where we live, and what we spend. So while other interest groups bolster their arguments with impressive numbers to prove their positions, all-too often, surfers get blindsided and bowled over, unable to offer a single hard number to support their cases or save their breaks.

Not anymore. With your help, we can start to paint a true picture of who surfers are and how we behave. And every surfer who answers provides another stroke of necessary detail. All you need to do is take 15 minutes to fill out the survey.

Ten Highest Peaks of the Presidential Range

Yep, they’re going for Mt Washington. One of the most valuable tools for this trip has been the subscription to the White Mountain Guide Online.
They already knew they were going to be hiking from Pinkham Notch to the summit of Mt. Washington, so I searched for a route among the “suggested Hikes”. Going to the summit appears to be strenuous.
It’s pretty cool to see the whole of the Boott Spur Loop laid out on a map:
But you don’t feel that in your gut like this:

Hope, I’ve added waypoints and much trail description in this Google Earth file.

Jake, I love to race realistic sims as much as the next guy, but sometimes you want to stomp the pedal and hit 650km/h on the straightaway (that’s 403.9 mph for those playing along at home). I’ve been playing this game for a couple of years and they just came out with a new version. Trackmania has always put sim graphics on an arcade racer and given it to you full on. Dude, you can brake while you’re in the air!

Official Game Site of Trackmania Nations Forever

In case you’re still not convinced to give it a try – it’s FREE – here’s a trailer:

After 10 long minutes of scouring the web, I found one site that converted the UTM coordinates to latitude / longitude: The Canadian Spatial Reference System’s GSRUG at http://www.geod.nrcan.gc.ca/apps/gsrug/utm_e.php

The link I found was broken (from a 2005 keyhole bbs post) – so here’s the product description from the CSRS website:

Geodetic Survey Routine, UTM/TM to/from Geographic coordinate conversion. Compute either Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates from the geographic latitude and longitude of a point or the reverse conversion.

I suppose it would just illustrate my kinship with these souls to publish a formula from my hypothesis that “15 minutes of fame” is an outdated concept. Given that News 2.0 is presented on nearly ubiquitous media and is available on demand, the baseline fame “hang time” will vary as a function of the true mass appeal of the story. No longer will “15 minutes of fame” be awarded solely by media outlets – now spotlight seekers have the power to grab the attention of the media on the internet, who can pick up the story and award t minutes of fame. The formula is

t = (e^(1/x) + ln(x))
x = number of internet webpage views
f(10) = 3
f(100) = 6
f(1,000) = 8
f(10,000) = 10
f(100,000) = 13
f(1,000,000) = 15


Case in point, this story on WIRED caught my eye:

Star Wars-Obsessed Rocket Geeks Build and Launch an X-Wing Fighter

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/15-12/st_xwing

But it’s only worth sharing because of this response:

What Really Happened to the Life Size X-Wing

It’s the “Customers Vote” program. You vote on what deals you want to get and then Amazon will randomly select people who can then buy the item at the deal price. They keep using the word “ridiculous”, and I have to agree… (some folks will get a chance to buy a Wii for $79!!!!).

In the interest of full disclosure, I signed up as an Amazon Associate a while ago to check out their API – so if you use the links on this page and end up buying something, I get referral credit.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/holiday/amazon-customers-vote/?tag=bbeojcom-20

Provides simple data entry interface for 5 custom global meta tags (description, keywords, etc…). It works perfectly on the production site it was designed for. Please let me know if you encounter any issues.

Download the plugin: BBEOJs Simple 5 Custom Metatags Plugin for WordPress

I was checking out the plugin generator interface at www.wp-fun.co.uk – it’s pretty cool for a work in progress – but don’t be fooled, it’s not for beginners. You still have to understand what goes where in a plugin file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn’t your plugin work on my site?

Probably your theme doesn’t implement the wp_head() hook.
To check this, switch your theme back to Kubrick, aka WordPress Default 1.6

If all else fails, leave a comment on the plugin page.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb package ground beef (turkey works well with this recipe too!)
• 1 package chili seasoning
• 4 cans stewed tomatoes (I cheat with 2 mexican style, 2 chili style, DelMonte’s)
• 2 cans large red kidney beans
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 4 bell peppers (2 green, 1 yellow, 1 red – or one package of frozen “chinese vegetables” works well too!)
• 1 softball size spanish onion (yellow will do)
• up to 4 jalapeno peppers (with kids I use 0, and garnish as necessary)
• chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper
• Optional: 1 can of beer (I recommend a light, fairly bland beer, like Natural Light)

Start the Sauce

• Open the cans of tomatoes and dump them in the pot.
• Rinse beans well, then drain and add to pot.
• Dice 1/2 of the jalapenos and toss them in as well. Leave out the seeds, and trim out the “seams” for a milder flavor
• Chop the onion and bell peppers into chunks
• Add 1/2 of the veggies in the crock pot on low

Meat & Veggies

• Start browning the meat in the frying pan
• Chop (not too small) onion, bell peppers, and the rest of the jalapenos
• When about 3/4 of the meat is lightly browned, dust with chili powder and cumin -
  about a tbsp. of each, but at least enough to lightly cover all the meat
• When completely browned, add the vegetables, and dust with chili powder, cumin, and cayenne to taste
• Simmer until the vegetables are pretty much limp (about 5-10 minutes)
• Mix in the package of chili seasoning (DON’T add water)
• Stir until the meat and vegetables are pretty well coated
• Cook for another 5 minutes on low, stirring continuously

Final Assembly

Add the contents of the frying pan to the crock pot and cook on low at least 2, but no more than 12 hours, stirring occasionally

As with most chili, this is extra good reheated after a night in the fridge. Don’t ask me why.

Here’s what it looks like today (from the StormSurf website):

And here’s the forecast for a week from today (again from the StormSurf website):

So, using my magical power patented technique of Predictive Interpolation, I see us getting the tender juicy bits of storm system #2 when we arrive, followed by the long period high energy leading edge of storm system #3 nearer the end of the trip.

To summarize for the layman – the water will be wet and there will be much playing in it.

Pura Vida!