New York Traceroute

by Erik Olsen on

No this is not a link to the IP route to reach someone’s Website. In fact, I
think I’ll file this one under “Strange,
time-consuming, but weirdly cool”. All this is is a single image drawn by a guy who has traced his every route in New
York City, whether on bike or on foot, over the course of one year.

Apparently the guy spends a good deal of time in Lower Manhattan (and who doesn’t if you live here?), as well
as Brooklyn. My guess is he lives in Brooklyn and works in the city. Of course, you can’t say for sure, but the
image got me to thinking how interesting it would be to have a device that does exactly this over the course of your
lifetime. Yes, it would likely involve implanting a GPS chip in your head, and there are some folks who might be
against that, but ignoring how the government might use this information against you, let alone marketing people, you
have to admit it would be very interesting to see all the places you’ve been.   

(via Coudal)

Cool or Lame: Sean Penn Reports from Iran

by Erik Olsen on

Time for another edition of Cool or Lame:

 

We all remember
Sean Penn’s Iraq Adventure, his effort to play a
“low-key” visit to Iraq just before the war to give us an up-close-and-personal view of Iraqis and why we
shouldn’t attack them. How did you feel about that? I have mixed feelings. I personally find most celebrity activism
rather abhorrent (Bono not withstanding…Bono’s work with debt relief in Africa is highly admirable). There is something
about these stars taking on pet projects to save the world, something about their self-righteousness, that rubs me
wrong.

Having lived in LA for most of my life, I know the culture of the place and where much of this activism comes from.
It tends to be rather weak and suspect, the result of a millionaire working in a shallow business having a prick
of conscience and deciding to use his special powers for the good of mankind.  Of course, the issues and problems
these folks raise SHOULD be publicized. Of course we should be AWARE and INVOLVED. And perhaps in our celebrity
obsessed culture this is a bona-fide way to deliver an important message about world affairs. But to me, having a
mega-star like Brad Pitt wander
through a village in Africa to show off his mid-career concern just seems kind of lame.

And so here we are
once again with
Sean Penn. Penn is on assignment in Iran with the San Francisco Chronicle, writing about the country and the
Iranian elections. No question the Iranian elections seem rigged, or at least severely lacking by true standards of
democracy. And the fact that Penn landed an interview with Muslim cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is impressive. But
there is something about Penn assuming the role of serious reporter that bothers me. When these articles come out, we
can judge them on their merits, but I’d have to say I’d rather see these issues taken on by real reporters who have
professional experience dissecting and understanding them than some celeb who gets mad when he reads the
paper.

Am I off base? Cool or lame?

Gliding the Grand Canyon

by Erik Olsen on

Several years ago I watched a film at an outdoor film festival of two guys paragliding in
Tyrolia (sadly, I forget the name). The footage was epic, really amazing stuff and inspired me hard-core to take a look
at this amazing sport. When I was living in Chile sometime later, I actually tried paragliding over Santiago. It was a
mind-blowing experience. Sadly, since then I can’t say I’ve gone up again, but have kept the whole paragliding thing
high on my life list.

Today I found this magazine dedicated to paragliding and thought I’d
point out this article on gliding over the Grand
Canyon. While gliding over the canyon would be exhilarating, my guess is you’d have to be a master at the sport. The
last thing you’d want is to go down somewhere in the canyon where you smack into a cliff or something. Obviously the
dude in this piece knows what he’s doing. Give it a read and tell me if this wouldn’t be a very cool thing to do.

Helicopter on Everest

by Erik Olsen on

File this under, Wow, who knew.

In May, a
helicopter made the first-ever landing on the summit of Everest. The landing was apparently a publicity stunt by
Europcopter, the maker of the helicopter, but it could very much change the way that mountain rescues at such altitudes
are perceived and executed.  The landing took place on May 14th at 7:08 a.m. The test pilot, Didier Delsalle,
landed at 29,035 feet, the top of the world.

It has been though that the summit of Everest was impossible for helicopters. Even basecamp has been hard to reach
because the air is so thin at that altitude.
Into Thin Air fans might
recall that KC Madan, a Nepalese military pilot, became a hero when rescued Beck Weathers and Makalu Gau at Camp
II.

Assuming the technology to make this happen can be mass-produced relatively cheaply, this could really change
mountain rescue efforts at places like Everest, K2 and Denali, all towering peaks where climbers have died due to an
inability to reach them.

Pretty fascinating. 

Go Abroad Young Man/Woman

by Erik Olsen on

Ever dreamt of going overseas for a year or more? Trying to live in a completely different environment than the one
you know? Living abroad is one of the best things you will ever do. I’ve lived overseas a few times, and those are some
of the best memories of my life. In fact, I am constantly thinking about how to get overseas again. I would guess that
sometime in the next five years I will have moved outside the states.

But what about you? Do you want to pick up and see another part of the world as well? Then check out this site called
Transitions Abroad. It really is the most solid and useful site out
there for would-be expatriates. There is an amazing amount of information here to help you decide where to go, what you
can/will do, how to prepare and so on. As you can probably imagine, lots of books have been written about the subject
of living abroad, and you can find many off them here as well.

In this age when America’s image seems to be suffering so badly across the globe, doesn’t it behoove us to get out
there and show the world the angels of our better nature?