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Beast Ramblings

My wife Barb and I have started down our own road. Getting married changed things for me, for her, for both of us. We needed to start fresh. The path I was already on as a mountain guide is an enjoyable one, so we upped the ante in that direction: we started our own guiding agency in North Conway. Thus, I’m happy to share with you the birth of Redline Guiding.

Continue reading “Redline Guiding is Born” »

I was asked in an email recently what my feelings were regarding the placement of a navigation menu on a web site. The person asking wanted to know the latest scoop on the advantages or disadvantages of various menu placements. Is a right-hand vertical menu better somehow than a left-hand vertical menu? How about a horizontal navigation menu at the top of the page? Over the years I’ve made them all at one time or another, though lately most have been vertical right-hand menus. I responded with all I knew about the subject, then admitted the info may be dated. Here’s basically what I offered:

Continue reading “Web Site Navigation Menu Placement” »

I recently had a conversation with my son about the subject of this post. We wondered if we had street smarts (wisdom), book smarts (intelligence), both, or none of the above. And we also explored our preferences to these qualities in those we associate with. It turned out to be an interesting subject for us. My son says that I have both street smarts and book smarts. I won’t argue with him. I’ve had a wild past and street smarts have kept me out of trouble on many occasions. But I do grasp things academically and have always had a solid understanding of the sciences and other subjects. My varied past had a hand in that, too. I also read a lot and that helps. My son is street smart…

Continue reading “Book Smarts or Street Smarts?” »

It took almost a year, but I got the required number of downloads (250), and exceeded the minimum 50% acceptance rate — I am at about 74% — to become an “Exclusive Photographer” at iStockphoto.com — w00t! I can’t say it was easy all the time. There was a lot of learning going on, and I have to admit it was a bit frustrating at times, but the ride was still enjoyable. 250 downloads isn’t a lot, and I didn’t have a rich year, not monetarily speaking, but it’s a beginning. The important thing is this a fit for me and I’m enjoying the journey. I feel very positive about the destination.

Continue reading “iStockphoto Exclusivity” »

All the rage nowadays is using your high speed Internet connection for telecommunications purposes, instead of using the good old phone company and their possibly overpriced services. There are even devices out there that you can plug one end of into your computer’s USB port and the other end becomes a common phone jack. It’s all pretty cool, except for one major downside — the latest new threat. Here’s what it is…

Continue reading “Hacking Telecom: What’s Next?!” »

On Sunday, March 8th, I asked my white German shepherd dog, Salty, if he wanted to go for a walk. He seemed depressed so I thought it would cheer him up. He didn’t really seem up to it, but would follow me to the ends of the earth so away we went. He didn’t run ahead as he usually does, he barely kept pace with me, and he actually stopped once as if he was tired. I got very concerned so we turned around and went home. I called the veterinarian.

Continue reading “In Loving Memory: Salty 1999-2009” »

I’ve been at a little while now. I’ve got some calluses. I’ve been a member of iStockphoto since February of 2008, but I didn’t start contributing until April. You do the math. During these months I’ve been hard at work basically re-learning the craft. Photography has been a hobby since I was a kid — I grew up with an SLR camera given to me by my dad — but this whole stock photo thing and using a digital SLR (DSLR) have been a new and exciting adventure. This is my progress report.

Continue reading “On Becoming a Photographer” »

Gas prices are high. Driving my Jeep creates pollution. That contributes to global warming. Driving is also known to be dangerous. I avoided all these negatives this year by doing all of my holiday shopping online. It’s fast, convenient, saves time, and hopefully with the precautions I take and knowledge I posses, safe. I didn’t have to spend hours driving all over creation finding the items I wanted.

Continue reading “Unmet Friends in Unseen Places” »

As I did in 2006 and in 2007, I have created a “best of” post highlighting certain articles that I published in 2008. As I mentioned last year, some of the articles were chosen because I really liked them, others because you really liked them. If you want more of the latter let me know what you’d like to see. Sometimes I get stuck for ideas — though I usually think of something — but requests help.

Continue reading “The Best of the Beast in 2008” »