Jeffzilla

I recently took a vacation to Alaska. It was a great escape from the city, and an awesome return to the backcountry for my Brother and I, who have both spend time backpacking there. There are a few photos in this blog post, and the rest of them, including captions describing most of the trip, can be found over on flickr. Check out all the Alaska photos.

The view from our kitchen in the backcountry of Denali State Park

During the trip, I took about 700 pictures, along with a few videos. My father also took a couple hundred, as did my brother. I actually uploaded all the photos to flickr, but I think for the sake of time and giving you a good overview of the trip, I’m only making the top 50 or so publicly accessable. If you would like to see more photos from a particular section of the trip, or if you’re planning a trip to the AK and want to know more about any particular section of it, just let me know. I’d be happy to open up more photos and videos.

Throughout the trip, I carried my Garmin eTrex Vista HCx GPS with me, with rechargeable batteries and a 1gb micro SD Card. It was set to record a track log every 30 seconds, and was on for most of the trip. Additionally, for road navigation, I as using Garmin’s US Road Atlas 2008. The whole system worked very well. I made sure to synchronize the clock in my camera, as well as my fathers and brothers cameras to the clock in the gps, so that all time stamps line up.

We took a flight with Talkeetna Air Taxi around the mountains in Denali National Park. The maximum altitude for the plane was 10,000 feet, but Denali tops out around 20,000 feet. The whole flight we were flying very very close to the steep walls of the mountains.

When I got home, I successfully merged the GPS track log with the EXIF data on the photos, and Geotagged each photos. If you go to the flickr photo set, you’ll see a map link on each photo, which will show you on a map approx where the photo was taken. The gps is typically accurate to about 7 feet, and since it takes a track log recording every 30 seconds, if i was moving while shooting, depending on how fast i was moving (500+ mph in the air, 2mph hiking, etc), the location could be off a bit.

Extending the geocoding of the pictures a little further, I used Jet Photo studio to create this interactive photo gallery, with the Google Maps API. Each photo is placed on the map at around where it was taken. Additionally, all the (public) photos have map links, which will place them on the map.

These flowers were blooming in a recently burned down forest. Regrowth and renewal.

Media Links:

Flickr photoset of Alaska 2008. If you’re a friend of mine on flickr, you should be able to see slightly more pictures than what I’ve made public.

RSS Feed of photo set

Geofeed

Geotagged photo map (Flickr)

Geotagged photo map (Google)

During the backcountry portion of the trip, my brother and I found a crashed NOAA Weather Balloon with an attached Radiosonde. I’m writing about that in a separate post.

We made a bunch of friends in Alaska. Here’s the blurbs on a few of them…

Andy Morrision runs Alaska Backcountry Access, his own outdoor guide company. Andy is a great guide, and does a ton of trips. We went jet boating up the river, and kayaking with him

Rachel Drinkard lives in Girdwood, and works as a reporter and writer. Her blog, Anarchy in the AK, covers all sorts of Alaskan issues and stories. She came boating and kayaking with us.

Ron Tenny and his wife Michelle run the Hidden Creek Bed and Breakfast, and were very hospitable to us. We had a great time staying there, an awesome breakfast, and fun discussing the area, and the industry with Ron and his son and daughter.

In Girdwood, we grabbed a relaxing dinner and felt like locals at Chair 5.

In Anchorage, we had pizza at the Moose’s Tooth Brewpub.

The marina in Seward, Alaska. The Chugatch mountains are jutting out in the background.

And for the videos - I’m posting up two videos to this post, but there are many more - including the full footage from the weather balloon. Those will go up in a bit, after I’m done editing them together etc.

Ermine Hill, Denali State Park, Alaska

Taking a break on after hiking to the top of Ermine Hill, a small peak within the Kesugi Ridge, in Denali State Park, Alaska. The view up there was incredible, and the terrain made us feel like we were on another planet. After finding a weather balloon crashed, I kept on expecting to find a lunar rover or something.

Flying Next To Denali

During our flight with Talkeetna Air Taxi, we flew right next to Denali, making sharp turns to weave in and out of the peaks, and through the clouds.

Why make software for an increasingly dwindling market - the 1st generation (EDGE) iPhone. Instinctiv is a new company that’s making iPhone software that purports to predict what you want to listen to based on a number of factors, and the smartly shuffles your songs accordingly. But it only shuffles your own songs. Only the music you have on your phone at that moment. No network listening.

I can see how this would appeal to iPod Touch and 1st generation (slow EDGE) owners, but, since the 1st Gen iPhone is no longer on sale, that group is starting to dwindle. On the new iPhone 3g, with speedy fast 3G network connectivity, is Instinctiv really necessary? (Or, does it have a viable future?) Why not just listen to real, genuine Pandora radio, if that’s the experience you’re going for? Although it’s not out yet, I’m almost positive a real, native Pandora radio application will be released for the new iPhone 3G, which will (or, should…) use not only the iPhone’s wifi connection, but the 3G cell data connection as well.

Better yet - ever shared with a friend a Pandora station you’ve made? Cool to be able to listen to the same batch of songs, no? How about allowing iPhones running the Pandora radio application to synchronize their stations, so two iPhone listeners can listen to a synchronized Pandora station? Why not push this feature to the standard browser based web player too? It might get dicey for the music licensing, but would be cool nonetheless.

(Seen on TechCrunch)

Recently at the Beet.TV Executive Summit in Washington, Wall Street Journal writer Walt Mossberg spoke on the convergence of computer and TV entertainment, internet bandwidth, and the importance regulation/deregulation from the top.

I’m with Walt on this. The critical step for converging TV and computer content/entertainment, and allowing us to take the next step in rich content delivery, communication, and integration is bandwidth. Insuring that access to network bandwidth does not become more metered, restricted and taxed, and that it becomes increasingly more plentiful and open is critical.

Also in this talk, Walt foreshadows the release of the 3G iPhone in the next 60 days - I’ll be the first in line when it does come out! As for bandwidth and 3G - I think that when the 3G iPhone does launch, AT&T seriously needs to get their act together with the 3G data network throughput - having all those users able to browse the web, directly download/stream media, and use other data intensive applications (iChat AV?) is going to put a serious strain on the network.

Here’s the video of Walt Mossberg speaking on Beet.TV about broadband speed, rich media, and the iPhone.

Surfing the web a few minutes ago, I accidentally typed in a URL incorrectly. Instead of a normal 404-not found error page, lo and behold, I got this Road Runner Internet “Website Suggestions” page. What’s going on here? Is Road Runner really snooping my web traffic that aggressively? This is the first time I’ve seen this on my own internet connection, although I’ve heard of it before. Anyone else gotten this? How much information are they collecting on me? Also, here’s links to their FAQ page linked from the “suggestions” page. Finally, after reading a few forums on the issues, I found OpenDNS - a DNS server service alternative to your ISP’s DNS server (Road Runner, in my case). Looks nifty.  (Click screenshot for bigger)

Quick blurb I read over at The Raw Feed…. Iowa now has more cell phones than landlines. They are the first US state to reach this landmark, and I’m proud of them! I personally haven’t had a landline in.. lets see… 8 years.. since I started college and got my first cell phone. And I’m really never going back. I think that nowadays, considering the widespread cellular coverage, half-decent rates (debatable), and all the extra kinds of communication you can do with a cell phone, there’s no need for land lines. And I like having only one number - it’s just more simple. There are some things that land lines are good for… disasters, call quality (cell phones are quickly catching up, though), and last-choice internet connectivity. But given my needs, the cell is the way to go.

Bravo Iowa, bravo.

Excellent, this is just the story I need to hear to convince myself that Joost is doomed. Apparently Joost’s former CTO Dirk-Willem van Gulik was fired and then hired by BBC on the same day. Sounds like there’s some unrest within the Joost office, that would cause them to fire a guy who the BBC things is a prime for the job. This just reinforces my position that although Joost is a cool application/technology/delivery network, it is doomed in it current state. They haventsigned the critical big-hitter partnerships that are needed to get it the must-see content it needs. The player is full-screen only, hogs bandwidth, and isn’t as flexible or familiar as other sites. I’ve been using Hulu a lot lately, and I like it because it A. has decent content (although Hulu’s doomed too, for other reasons..), and it has a familiar web-video interface, with some nifty extended features to make it more conducive to watching full tv episodes, tv style - full screen, dim the rest of the screen, playlisting, etc.

Content is kind. And if Joost could manage to sign a few big content deals, they might have a fighting chance. That, however, seems unlikely. NBC might be re-hasing their deal with iTunes, (which is why I think Hulu is going away) and Fox is offering their content both on itunes and on their own “Fox on Demand” site.

Joost, you were cool while you lasted, and your interface/bit-torrent-y technology is cool, but step up the content, or else you’re toast.

Yes, I’ve heard all the nay-sayers out there, ripping on the new, glorious Macbook Air. You’re saying that it has no user replacable battery, no firewire, no optical drive, is too flimsy, yadda yadda.

Yeah well, that’s not the purpose of the Macbook Air. You want to do intense mobile HD video editing? Ok, that’s exactly what the Macbook Pro is great at! Do-everything-ok basic work computer? That’s the Macbook. The Macbook Air is sleek, thin, lightweight, and powerful. It cut’s out all unnecessary bulk, to offer a platform you can easily travel around with to perform basic work tasks. I ask myself, how often, when I travel, do I REALLY need a dvd burner, firewire 800 ports, etc? Not often. Yes, I understand some people work in industries where they need that - Go get a Pro. The bulk of my work is surfing the web, working with MS Office, chatting, video conferencing, and listening to music. The Air seems perfect for this.

Regarding the non user replacable battery. Meh… I only have one battery for my 15″ Macbook Pro, and I’ve rarely been in a situation where I’ve needed to go for more than 4.5 hours using my computer, away from a plug. Charge up in the airport, hack out some work on the flight, re-charge when you get to your hotel room that night. Perfect.

And what about movies/music etc? No optical drive? I haven’t watched a movie directly off a dvd in years! Pretty much all of my on-laptop computer watching comes in the form of watching mpeg movie file backups of the dvd’s I own. No messing with shuffling disks around, and when I want to watch a movie, I just load it up instantly from my external HDD. And if I’m going on a trip, I’ll just move a few movies over the the internal HDD before the trip. Also, with the iTunes store now offering both movie purchases and rentals, in HD nonetheless, who needs to lug around an optical media drive everywhere? (yes, I know optical media is not dead, and I’m a huge supporter of the Blu-ray camp, but that’s another discussion…)

For networking, the Air supports 802.11 A, B, G, and N. N wireless is fast. In fact, I believe its speed definitely faster than any internet connection I will ever be on, and most likely faster than most LAN’s i’ll be on. No, it’s not gigabit ethernet, but really, when am I using all that speed? Especially on a portable. For streaming video off of my wirelessly connected Time Capsule, it’s perfect.

Finally, no, it’s not going to be flimsy. Full disclosure, I haven’t handled one myself, yet. However knowing Apple’s historically excellent and solid build quality, I’m sure this thing will be solid. From the pictures, it looks like it has a solid edge bevel, akin to the iPod Touch’s edge… and a metal casing similar to the iPod classic. The hinge will be rock solid, and just like my apple keyboard, although it’s extremely thin, I don’t think you’ll be able to bend it easily.

So, there’s my take on it. It will be a great computer for road warriors, commuters, or trendsters who want a powerful, capable, but minimal computer for home/lifestyle.. perfect to sit on the couch with at night and check email and chat, perfect to catch up on the latest new music on Beatport, or tv shows on Hulu.Time will only tell how well it’s picked up, but I’ll surely be down at the apple store asap, to give it a quick handle.