More of my American Folk Festival photos are on Flickr, of course.
Collaboration culture
August 25, 2010
I spend a lot of my free time on YouTube. I really love the amount of creativity that YouTube is allowing people to express in new and interesting ways. I connect with a lot of people on there; I really enjoy talking with people about what they love to do.
One of the aspects that I especially love is the culture of collaboration within the YouTube ecosystem. A great example is Pomplamoose, a duo consisting of Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte. I’ve heard the name thrown around a number of times before, but for some reason I never watched their videos. That changed tonight, and I’ve been listening to their originals and their covers all night.
When I look back at a lot of the things I like on YouTube, I notice that a lot of them are collaborations in some form or another (OK Go and the Notre Dame Marching Band, Julia Nunes and Ben Folds, Molly Lewis and Jonathan Coulton…). It’s wonderful to see that people are able to join together and share an interest and passion in something.
Most of the ideas I’ve been planning and starting lately happen to be collaborations, too. Collaborations are great for the kinds of projects I like to do; the projects are often too big for one person to do solo, and it really helps to have another set of eyes and another body of talent available while you’re working. You’re able to explore different interests with different people, and the passion you share really shines in the end product.
I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Sunset from Cadillac
August 2, 2010
It’s tough to go back to work on Monday after you spend Sunday night watching the sun set from the top of Cadillac Mountain.
Chimani Acadia app review
August 2, 2010
I wrote this review just before sunset on Sunday night.
A couple of months ago, the folks down at Chimani, a Maine mobile development company, asked me to write a review of their Acadia National Park app. They sent me a promo code so that I could download it for free, take a look, and do my trademark rambling about it.
Frequent readers of my blog should realize by now that I really enjoy visiting Acadia. It’s one of my favorite areas of the world, and in fact I’m writing this post while sitting on top of Cadillac Mountain on my iPad. I wanted to write a fair review of the app, so I’ve brought it with me to the park three times since I downloaded it in June. I can honestly say that Chimani’s Acadia app has improved my trips to Acadia.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Acadia app is its comprehensiveness. If you want to know something about Acadia, chances are it’s in the app: hiking trails, ranger events, parking, and much more. Many of the most popular spots have in-depth descriptions as well as additional helpful information (for example, Thunder Hole’s info page has a link to the tide charts for the day so that you can see the best times to visit). I’ve learned a ton about the park in the last couple of months through the app, including new places to visit and bits of history about some of my favorite spots.
One of my favorite features is the built-in Island Explorer schedules. The Island Explorer is a fleet of free-with-park-fee buses that follow routes around the island. The app provides you with route information as well as upcoming times for individual stops. It even calculates how much time you’ll have at a stop before the next bus arrives.
As a developer myself, I really appreciate the extra touches they’ve put in throughout the app. The in-app auto tour features audio versions of each spot’s summary, making it really easy to follow along with the tour. The included map is incredible as well; it puts a marker on all the spots for a number of relevant points (parking, trail heads, etc.) on a zoomable map of Mount Desert Island that works just like the iPhone’s included Maps application. The search on the home page allows you to quickly find anything you need within the application as well.
Granted, the app does have a few downsides. It’s a hefty app, weighing in at around 260 MB; that’s by far the largest app on my iPod touch. That size is put to good use with all the stored information, photos, and audio within the app, but it does slow down syncing when an new update comes down the line. It’s a fairly new application, so there are still a few bugs to work out (for example, the app doesn’t seem to show any afternoon times for one of the Island Explorer routes). I’ve noticed a few usability quirks and some crashes, too, but the app is constantly being revised and I’m sure it will continue to be improved in coming releases.
So should you buy the app? If you’re heading to Acadia for a weekend and just want to hit the well-traveled spots (Thunder Hole, Sand Beach, and the Jordan Pond House, for example), you might find a bus tour or a simple drive around the Park Loop Road suits your needs. If you’re a serious traveler who wants to spend some time and truly explore and experience the park, or if you’re someone like me who displays his annual Acadia pass on his windshield with pride, then there’s no question that you should buy Chimani’s Acadia app. It’s well worth the price.
Thanks to Chimani for letting me play around with the app. If you’ll excuse me, the sun’s about to set over Blue Hill. According to the app, sunset is at 7:57. I have to go.
An amazing weekend trip
July 26, 2010
There’s just something about trips to Boston that makes me want to write blog posts.
I spent Friday through Sunday traveling to Boston and Manchester, NH. It was an incredible weekend of music, food, and fun. I’ll try to make the length of this post shorter than the weekend itself – but it might be a close call.
The music
The initial reason for my trip was a concert in Somerville’s Davis Square, just outside Boston. The performer? Jonathan Coulton.
I enjoy a wide enough variety of music that answering the classic “who’s your favorite artist?” question is pretty difficult for me. There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of JoCo, but I believe he’d be the artist at the top of my list of favorites. He performs catchy, smart, and geeky music with topics ranging from zombies to Laika, the first dog in space (and pretty much everything in between).
Usually a JoCo show consists of nothing more than Coulton and his guitar (and often the hilarious duo of Paul and Storm). That was the case when I saw him in concert back in November 2008. This time, the envelope was pushed; he added bass and drums to his act for two Massachusetts shows. I knew I didn’t want to miss that.
My good friends Ian and Kelley also said they’d like to go, and coincidentally the concert happened to fall on their son Mannix’s birthday. The concert was Mannix’s first “grown-up” concert, and there couldn’t have been a better choice. He clapped along to “Shop-Vac” and apparently sang the “all we want to do is eat your brains” line of “Re Your Brains” all the way home. His face lit up when Coulton played “Skullcrusher Mountain,” a song he’d heard and loved while riding around with Ian and Kelley in the car.
The concert itself was great. Jonathan played some songs solo and really rocked the songs that were backed with drums and bass. He also played a half-dozen new songs, most of which I expect to be stuck in my brain for quite a bit of time to come. The set included a couple of my favorite JoCo tunes that I’d never heard live: “Blue Sunny Day” and “Big Bad World One.” (I’ve uploaded a few videos of the show, and there are many more online as well.)
After the concert, the four of us waited around in the beautiful Somerville Theatre. Jonathan came back out while the crew packed up equipment, and he was nice enough to take a photo with Mannix. (JoCo is a dad himself; if you’re a parent, I think you might appreciate “You Ruined Everything.”)
The venue was perfect for the show: fairly large, but intimate. It was a great experience and a great performance by a great artist. You can’t beat a theatre full of people singing along with every word of “Skullcrusher Mountain.” That’s nothing short of magical.
The food
Over the course of three days, I ate meals in seven cities around Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Before the concert on Friday, I met up with my friend Melody in Cambridge to eat at Picante in Central Square. I had a great chicken burrito along with one of the many salsa options they offered at the restaurant.
On Sunday morning I went with Ian, Kelley, and Mannix to IHOP. I normally don’t mention chains when reviewing food, but I have to say, the stuffed French toast with strawberries, hash browns, and eggs has been pretty tough to forget.
The highlight of Saturday’s dining were the “never-melting ice cream cones” Kelley had made for Mannix’s birthday party. These cupcakes-in-cones were dangerously addictive, and they might find their way onto a menu of my own.
The fun
One of my favorite parts about Boston trips is the subway. I bought a one-day pass at Alewife and spent a fair portion of the afternoon cruising around on the Red and Green Lines. My first stop was Prudential. My original destination was the Apple Store, but I ended up spending a bit of time in the beautiful Christian Science Plaza.
After taking some photos, I headed down Boylston to the large glass-fronted store. There I was ecstatic to find a Camera Connection Kit for my iPad (I wasn’t patient enough to endure the 2-6 week delay on Apple’s site). I tried it out later in the weekend, and although it’s not exactly the same as my desired iPad functionality for photos, it’s a pretty darn good match.
The weather was beautiful, so I decided to skip the Green Line (my least favorite branch of the T) and walk down Boylston to Park Street. It was a really nice walk, even though it started to sprinkle a bit. I stopped at Au Bon Pain for a sandwich and resisted the lovely pastries that tempted my senses on the way into the store.
The weather didn’t cooperate quite so much when I emerged from the Red Line at Kendall Square. I managed to walk to Central and pick something up for Mannix’s party at the MIT Museum, but the rain had started to fall as I realized that I didn’t quite know Cambridge as well as I’d hoped. I found my way, but by the time I reached Central my shirt was drenched.
It’s pretty interesting to watch people in a city react to rain, though. In Maine we just go to our cars. In Boston people either find shelter or walk faster.
Mannix’s Willy Wonka birthday party on Saturday was a lot of fun, too. It even included a bounce house and, of course, Ian and I needed to make sure it worked correctly before we let the kids play around in it. The party was a great time, and the kids seemed to really love the Wonka-themed activities.
On Sunday I hopped back in the car, popped on the iPod (love that car integration), and listened to a couple of podcasts on the way home. These kinds of weekends definitely lead me to want to travel more often.
Chocolate & peanut butter graham sandwiches
July 12, 2010
My mom has always raved about a simple treat my grandmother enjoys making as a dessert. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy them on a few visits, too. The idea is simple: melt some chocolate chips, add some peanut butter, and sandwich the warm mixture between two graham crackers. Refrigerate them for a bit, and you’ll have a light snack or dessert perfect for the summer.
Mom and I made a batch over the weekend, but we added a bit of a kick: a scoop of cookie dough ice cream on top. I think we found a winner. Once home, I did a bit of experimenting and found that Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked is another great option for a topper.
Both variations of these little suckers have helped me overcome these hot summer days. (Chocolate always seems to have a way of doing that.)
The JARbor Bar
July 11, 2010
Those of us who live in Maine have the opportunity to experience the Harbor Bar, a frozen delight first introduced to me by Kelly, one of the partners at Sephone, during a particularly rough period at work. For those of you who are unenlightened, a Harbor Bar is a chocolate chip cookie vanilla ice cream sandwich encased in a chocolate shell. I usually pick them up at either the Jordan Pond Gift Shop or at the Hull’s Cove General Store in Bar Harbor (get it? Bar Harbor? Harbor Bar?).
Recently I decided to make one for myself. I’d made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and, as is often the case, my freezer was stocked with various kinds of ice cream. I chose to up the ante a bit: I replaced the normal vanilla ice cream with some Edy’s Cookies ‘n Cream yogurt. (Note that I used frozen yogurt. That makes this treat healthy, of course.) I melted some chocolate chips and butter together, dipped the sandwiches in, and voila: the JARbor Bar.
Rest assured, I’ll be trying this again. They’re a bit messy at first; it pays to let them sit in the freezer for a while, though it’s tough to resist a taste as you make them. The next time around I’ll probably try freezing the sandwiches first, dipping them in chocolate after the ice cream has frozen up a bit, and then freezing the sandwiches again to minimize meltage. But really, a little bit of a mess is well worth the reward.
Practice makes perfect
June 19, 2010
Here in Acadia (yes, again) I spotted a man and a woman of about my age peering up at a ten or twelve foot ledge in front of them, around 500 feet off the Ocean Path trail. My first thought? “Oh, no, they’ve jumped down and aren’t able to reach the top.” (There are quite a few spots like that on the rocky Acadia shore.) I watched as the first of the two tried to jump up without success.
I decided to wait a second before heading over to help. The woman grabbed the rock, found a good hold for her foot, and slowly climbed her way to the top of the ledge. Once she reached the top, she brushed her hands together and darted back to her starting point down a gradual slope that I had failed to see. The man followed suit, climbing the rock and then returning to the bottom of the ledge.
I watched the couple for a few minutes and thought about practice. Why do I return to this island after dozens of trips, grasping my camera in my hand even though I know every trail and every rock in some parts of the park?
Photography is my hobby, just as those two enjoy rock climbing. You may know a ledge like the back of your hand, but every time you climb offers you another chance to practice and another chance to take a new route to the top. Yes, I’ve seen Bubble Pond in the past, but I’d never seen a damselfly on a leaf there. That happens every time I’m here.
Every day, every trip, every climb is a new chance to reach where you want to go.
GiveCamp
June 16, 2010
I love tech community events. I’ve attended a handful of BarCamps and related meetups over the past few years, but when my good friend Kelley told me about a June event in Boston, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It was a GiveCamp: a 48-hour event at which around a hundred designers and developers donated their skill and time to two dozen non-profit organizations from around New England. The organizations walked in on Friday with a project they wanted to complete. The goal was ambitious; in two days’ time, each of the projects should be completed to a point where the non-profit could manage it within the organization.
It turned out to be a completely new and definitely unforgettable experience for me.
Code away
After braving Boston traffic, I arrived at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development (NERD) Center on Friday evening. We met in the largest room on the first floor and briefly introduced each organization and worker. Every worker had been previously assigned to an organization for the weekend, and each team met to discuss the project and develop a plan.
Then the work began. For the next 48 hours, designers and developers worked together alongside representatives from each non-profit organization. Some workers floated between projects to use their talents in as many ways as possible. Considering each worker probably spent fifteen hours of the weekend on projects, I think it’s safe to say that GiveCamp enabled 1,500 hours of work on projects that in many cases wouldn’t have been able to be completed due to limited budgets or resources.
Bed, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and more
Though the focus of the weekend was centered around project development, it was far from the only component of the event. Representatives of the non-profits at the event had a chance to attend workshops about tech-related parts of their business (web security, WordPress usage, and more). The workers (as is to be expected with those who work on the web) balanced their work time with a healthy portion of fun and play (mostly in the form of Rock Band).
The heartiest of the group brought along their sleeping bags and slept on the floors and couches at the beautiful NERD Center. Late nights allowed some amazing views of the Boston skyline as well as some obligatory sounds-like-they’re-drunk tweets.
And there was food. It seemed as though there was a new selection of gourmet options every hour in the common area of the floor: pizza, pasta, French toast, ice cream, cake, granola bars, salad… The workers may have been tired, but they were far from hungry.
The lessons
You may notice that I haven’t talked a lot about the actual coding that we did during the camp. The code was a big part of the weekend, of course, but in my mind it’s not really that important. We gathered on Sunday afternoon to present our work in front of the entire group and see what we had accomplished during our time at NERD. During the presentations it was easy to tell that the code wasn’t what mattered to the organizations; it was what the code allowed them to do. Maybe it helped plan activities for kids. Maybe it helped tag people and objects in photos from developing countries. Maybe it helped recruitment for a youth soccer league. The presentations were emotional for everyone involved with the work done over the weekend.
I made a point to walk around the floor as people were working a number of times throughout the weekend. Here were a hundred workers spending a weekend creating something for an organization which in many cases they’d never known until a few days prior. There was an energy and a sense of passion I’ve been lucky enough to experience a few times in my life. These people were doing something. There was no talk of budgets, no pestering from managers, and no complaining about a lost weekend. A hundred people came together and did good.
I learned a lot about myself over the course of the weekend. Some lessons were personal, but some have changed me in a way that’s visible to anyone I see. I rediscovered how much I love working with passionate, skilled people who want to do all they can to achieve a goal. I learned that I’d rather spend a weekend helping out than taking a trip to Acadia or laying around in bed. And I found once again that people coming together can accomplish great things.
Jim O’Neil concluded the weekend with a presentation about what we’d been able to accomplish. Jim, one of Microsoft’s northeast evangelists, had worked together with Kelley and many others to bring the idea of GiveCamp in Boston to life. On his last slide, he hinted at the possibility of a second New England Give Camp in 2011.
Sign me up now, Jim. I’ll be there.
LePage / Mitchell / Cutler
June 9, 2010
(or, how I’m steadily losing faith in my state)
First came the vote to defeat gay marriage in Maine last November. Now, with the choice of Paul LePage as Maine’s Republican candidate for governor, it’s clearer why; there’s a vocal part of the state that is quite happy on the far right side of the political spectrum. In my view, both as a Democrat and as a Mainer, that’s bad for the state.
Thoughts on the Democrats
I didn’t vote for a candidate yesterday. In fact, the two issues on which I did vote (yes on questions number 2 and 3) passed by a fair margin. I just didn’t have any real preference for any of the Democratic candidates, and to be honest, it was tough to distinguish between the four of them. A few thoughts about each:
- I liked McGowan’s views on a lot of issues, but he seemed too focused on a select group of areas. I also had a difficult time believing that someone so in favor of renewable energy would have mass appeal with more conservative voters.
- Of the four, I heard the least about Mitchell. Apparently she was able to muster up support from somewhere, but I didn’t really have a solid opinion of her either way.
- I like how Rowe thinks, but he’s just not a very compelling candidate. He’s a Democrat and I agree with him on a lot of things. That’s pretty much it.
- Scarcelli tried to differentiate herself, but those differences turned out to be the reason I didn’t really care for her. Her views on issues like class size and nuclear power didn’t do much to win my approval, though I liked a number of things about her campaign.
The biggest downfall of the Democrats seemed to be that none of them had an extremely solid message. Some of the Republicans, on the other hand, did.
What it means for November
Let me say this first: if Mills won yesterday, there’s a big chance I would’ve voted for him in November. I wouldn’t have minded having Abbott as a governor, either. In my opinion, a moderate candidate would be best for the state right now (though a liberal candidate would work, too).
LePage, on the other hand, is exactly what we don’t need. In my mind he represents old, traditional thinking Maine. We need to attract people to the state right now, and a mindset like that just won’t cut it. (He also scores a weak 1.5 on my checklist; he’s not against renewable energy, as far as I can tell, and he only sent out 20 tweets. I’ll give each of those points a 0.75.)
Normally, I’d be happy about an extreme candidate in the opposing party. But Eliot Cutler is going to make November a three-horse race, and that means that the election could easily go in any of those three directions. I’m eager to see which candidate moderate Republicans choose to support. It’s going to be a battle, and that battle is going to signal a lot about Maine come November 3.
I want Maine to move forward. It’s time to speak up about it.