Category Archives: social

media consumption

social

Irrespective of trade publications or study manuals it’s been years decades since I picked up a book. This is about to change. Current media consumption consists of:

Wishing to add books, specifically eBooks, here is what I know. There are numerous books from many genres and freely available within the rules of public domain copyright. These will keep me absorbed for awhile. Use Calibre, a very full featured content and library management system to maintain and transfer books to your portable device du jour. Of several choices, I use the Stanza app on my smartphone.

For short stories / articles on the web use Instapaper. This is an excellent application which harvests almost any clip from the web which you direct it to fetch. Instapaper neatly scrapes the content including inline graphics while leaving the adverts and fluff behind. The main attraction is that your clipping is nicely formated for your eReader (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Kindle…) AND time shifted to that device for reading at your later convenience. Example: Here’s the skinny on the Iran Hitchikers from the perspective of Outside Magazine. I stumbled upon this story while browsing but not wanting to interrupt my surfing I easily snatched the journalist story (think Instapaper) for another moment and place.

Oh so little time…

John Christopher Strombotne

social

S’man visiting NYC happened upon the Ellis Island tour which led to an unexpected find. Memorialized there on a panel of the American Immigrant Wall of Honor was the name of his Great Great Grandfather. The discovery led to momentary excitement and debate here at home because previous searches of the Ellis Island/Port of New York records database had turned up null with zero matches. We know from Emigration Records that John Christopher Strombotne sailed from Trondheim, Norway arriving in Hull, UK in 1882 before making the crossing on a steam ship from Liverpool or Glasgow. Many Scandinavians arrived at Quebec or Halifax, where there were excellent rail connections from the Canadian ports to the US Mid-West where he settled. Odds were that he never visited NY. So, why is John Christopher’s name displayed on Ellis Island? It is the one place in the United States where an individual can honor his or her family heritage at a National Monument. Included at the exhibit are names representing all ethnicities, all years of arrival, all points of entry, and all modes of travel. S’man, on the scene, was able to solve this mystery. It was his Grand Aunt, Gena responsible for the tribute.

That’s Entertainment

social

>On location with Jeff and Alison at their beautiful Atlanta home for the filming of a music video which will complement the soon to be released album by star Algernon. Jason of BunkleyTV is producing and Dray, of Orphanage Filmz is directing. It’s thrilling to be behind the scenes during the shoot and for the “making of” documentary too. Thank you cast, crew and gracious hosts for sharing their afternoon!

Livingroom demolition

social

Pulling up 17 year old carpet and padding reveals original pristine hardwood flooring. Suddenly, the perfectly good furniture “needs” changing. Uh oh. Maybe I shoulda sat in the big chair and switched on to This Old House instead of messing.

Union Station

places, social

img_0549 No Smoking in the ticketing lobby today. You can make out the uneven wear from decades of foot traffic; undulations reflect in the polished marble floor of the North Hall waiting area. The Union Station in Kansas City was built as monument to train travel before the age of airlines or the personal automobile. Its usage peaked during WWII and then began a long decay until the building structure was rescued less than 10 years ago. There is some interesting history here which includes Harvey House and a gangland shoot-out. I felt wonderment as I strolled through.

26.2 with Donna The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer

adventure, jogging, social

The 26.2 with Donna Dede Marathon was streamed LIVE on a webcast so it was thrilling to watch and listen as my sweetheart began a 1/2 Marathon on Jacksonville Beach.
live-donna-26pt2Also thrilling that I could track her progress as the athletes were wearing RFID chipped ankle bracelets. When the race was started they ran across an RFID wire stretched over the road. The wire powers the device with a high frequency signal picked up at the antenna which transponds its unique serial number. Everyone’s time is tracked by running past the wire. At strategic choke points they passed a different wire which marked time. Using T and D formulae one can derive ET, Pace, and ETA statistics. I’m streaming tears and cheers of joy for her!
… data at the 7 mile marker
tracking-26pt2