August 27, 2007  Sitting On the Dock of the Bay...and Freedom of Speech Update
 
I visited my friend Paul's site as I do frequently. He told about an upcoming company-sponsored trip to San Francisco to attend a technical conference.
 
I was fortunate to attend a techie conference back in the early 90's, held by Autodesk in San Francisco. I was the guy that kept the Unix server running and programmed the requests of our draftsmen and surveyors to automate input into the AutoCAD Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) software we were running.
 
My first visit to the "City by the Bay" was back in 1968, when my pal, Hal and I wormed our way through the Black Hills, over to Yellowstone (complete with Grizzly attack), down through the Tetons and into Yosemite. There was a brief encounter with the Oakland Chapter of the Hell's Angels on the winding cliff-hanging roads east of Oakland. Hal had been to San Francisco a few years before, so we were able to pack in a whirlwind tour of the town during the few hours we had: the gardens by the Golden Gate, Chinatown. We drove through the Haight-Ashbury district. The hippies were mostly gone in '68... only the burnouts remained. Some flower-power graffiti remained, but the area had become a depressed area.We dove a '68 Porsce Targa (Hal's car) down Lombard Street...the flowered snaking road most folks associate with the hills of San Francsico.
 
After dark we headed for the Pacific Coast Highway. We ultimately arrived to camp on an ocean beach, listening to the surf in our pup tents. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized we were camped on top of the beach dumpsite.
 
But the Autodesk Convention trip was truly great. My friend Denny and I talked our company into letting us go out several days early. We'd pick up the difference in the added hotel stay and meals and expenses. We had a mediocre hotel just north of Market St. near the Mosconi Civic Center, where the convention was to be held. We had 3 days to explore the city, and Denny's cousin, who lived only an hour away, became our guide and chauffeur. We went to the Sonoma region wineries (see my Favorite Links entry), saw the annual arrival of the Navy fleet, complete with the low-level fly-over of the Blue Angels.
 
On our "free" days we'd take the Powell and Market cable-car trolley at the turntable...the Powell/Mason line down to the east end of the regular commercial end of Fisherman's Wharf. Even further east was the ferry pier to Alcatraz. Having previously spent a couple of hours in jail on a trumped up speeding charge (aka the Judge dismissed the ticket and the local Chief of Police had grounds to subsequently dismiss the officer that issued it) I wasn't eager to be back in the hoosegow again.
 
That line ended at Bay Street. Vendors would be flying the giant Chinese kites (I have two). You could work your way west amongst the specialty shops, street vendors and seafood restaurants on the wharf. The sights and smells were wonderful.
 
Otherwise we'd take the Powell/Hyde line to the Aquatic Center, the Maritime Museum, and Ghiradelli Square on the west end of the wharf district.
 
Crossing the trolley line is Bush Street, but it's one-way to a dead end.
 
The big finale to the Autodesk Convention was the last party. Local bands displayed their unique music. Local limited breweries and wineries were showcased with their sponsored offerings. A pizzeria and a deli proved tons of great pizzas and sub/hero sandwiches. I recall that Denny kept wandering off for a new cup of beer. But I had a few beers and kinda preffered the wine varieties that were being offered. The wine server struck me as not being straight, but he had the wine that I wanted. Did I sell my soul? My Body? Let me say that I got all the wine I wanted, including a couple of bottles to take back to the hotel, and still didn't have a date for the night. Thank Goodness!
 
There's a bit of a caveat I have to interject here. Conference attendees from large corporate entities were put up in downtown exclusive hotels and bussed to the Mosconi Center. We were put up in a local hotel that typically was part of the cut-rate foreign tourist packages. But it was a few blocks from Mosconi. So every day Denny and I would walk the 4 blocks where many of the homeless either roamed the streets looking for food or handouts. We typically were up so early in the mornings that we'd pass hundreds of homeless in cardboard or newspaper covers on the ground or on benches in the local parks.
 
It's really diificult to understand the plight of these people. But American politics has turned it's back on them, and, indeed, right or wrong, they have needs to live. A hostel was just down the street from our hotel. It could't accomodate all these needy people. So, it was Denny's idea that we scoop up all the sub/hobo/gyro sandwiches that we could carry and give them to the homeless people we saw on our hike back to our hotel. Being that late in the party, the sandwich folks were happy to give us huge plastic bags to load up food, so they could justify consumtion.. Let's just say it was win-win.
 
A few years later I'd heard that the mayor and Police Department had deported these homeless. It's really easier on the tourists. Yet, I have really mixed feelings...some were total bums, but others were neady. Where did they go?
 
Although my wife, Peg, and I never had an opportunity to visit the City By The Bay together, we both shared a special affection for San Francisco. And Peg loved the Giradelli chocolate.
 
So, It's with much envy that I look forward to Paul's trip stories.
 
Paul's always been a good friend. He hosts this website and knows far more about hardware and software internet intricacies than I'm ever likely to learn. That's why I highly respect his opinion. Besides, Paul said that the (large) company he works forhas used the affiliate advertising to bring in substantial revenues on their websites.
 
When I'd completed the first part of the "Favorite Links" update, Paul suggested that I look into the affiliate programs sponsored by some of the companies I recommended. So I checked the Omaha Steaks website and discovered that their affiliate program was handled by LinkShare. Being an affiliate basically gives you monetary reimbursement for click-thrus on ads and links placed on your website for the sponsoring client.
 
I jumped over to the LinkShare homepage (please note that I'm NOT including links, for reasons that will become obvious). To join their affiliate program you first have to fill out tons of personal info. THEN, and only then, do you get to see the LinkShare contract. This 14 page document reminded me why I have such a low opinion of lawyers. It basically says that LinkShare can control much of your website's content, set whatever payments it desires, and screw you when the mood strikes them. Large corporate websites have their own lawyers and are not likely to be intimidated by this contract. I understand that LinkShare is attempting to protect its clients, but does so in a totally Big Brother manner. They speak of the intellectual property of their clients without respect for my intellectual property or rights.
 
The pittance I might receive by sponsoring a LinkShare site on DonKeyHoeTee.com isn't worth giving up my freedom of speech and the ability to control my site's content. That's just the kinda guy I am.
 
Until later.....DKHT

August 21, 2007  Old Friends, New Friends, Good Times and Past Sorrows
 
My special geocaching pal, Grace (Graska), emailed me about a week ago. She and I have been out on numerous geocaching adventures, and she knew about the hardware and software that I was using in GeoTruk. She had some geocaching friends who had just acquired the Delorme Street Atlas software and were interested in setting it up on a laptop in their (sigh) brand new Jeep!

 
I haven't been doing any geocaching since last November's Rosemont Cemetary solo outing down in Texas. Mainly because of a few health problems. I've been using in-vehicle GPS/laptop software not only to help navigating long trips, but also to help me navigate to places near cache locations available from Geocaching.com, where the handhelds take over.
 
I had an opportunity to pass on some info I'd learned, from my friend Paul and from personal experiences. Definitely not in finding geocaches so much (I had, by far, the lowest number of "finds" of the group). Rather, my contribution would be in using vehicle-based GPS road routing software and geocaching integration software.
 
Ater an hour of kibitzing about how the stuff worked, we went on a road trip to find a cache.... the results were less than I had anticipated!
 
The DeLorme Street Atlas software works off of a database taken from years of information from various sources. So does the ALK Co-Pilot software. These routing software packages have a tiered priority structure, sometimes based on older maps or aerial photos. Rural areas tend to be the lowest priority. Big cities are highest priority (I've spent far too much time being lost in Patterson, NJ after 1:00 AM to argue the point)
 
It was in GeoTruk, with Graska, Maggie (of Kris and Maggie) and GeoMatt that we set off soon discovering that the software had automatically routed us along some really backwoods roads in our area. These are pure fun....except when the routing tries to take you on abandoned or gated logging roads that are impassible. It began to be somewhat embarrassing, but the rest of the team was gracious and we eventually came in to the gate leading to the cache from a very roundabout way. It was a fun outing, and I think that my geocaching gal pal, Graska, probably could've admitted earlier that she'd been here before!
 
We took a shorter and more comfortable route back to Graska's, thanks to GeoMatt's guidance.
 
This outing was the "shot-in-the-arm" I needed. In the past several weeks I've recalled the passing of my wife, Peg, 20 years ago, and the passing of my buddy/pup Fritz 19 years ago. This time of year usually finds me in a blue funk, and I'm glad that fellow geocachers gave me something else to think about and to lift my spirits.
 

 
Until later.....DKHT

August 12, 2007  Geocaching, Travel Bugs, Geocoins and Muggles
 
If you're not familiar with the sport/activity of Geocaching, I'll offer this brief outline.
 

 
Caches run the range of "micro" (pill bottle size) through large, typically a surplus ammunition cans. Other waterproof containers, such as Rubbermaid tubs, are also used. In fact, there are many variations of the caches, including virtual caches where there isn't a physical container, but, rather, something that has information that can be confirmed by the cache hider so that the searcher may take credit as a "find". There are other variations that you may attempt with more experience in the sport.

 
Once found, the cache can be logged on the same website, giving the finder a public acknowledgement of his/her success or inability to find that . The larger caches have room for trade items... You take a trinket or item and trade that for an item already left in the cache by somebody else, or you just sign the logbook in all physical caches. You then revisit the Geocaching.com to record your find, either successful or otherwise.

 
Now, take the trinket concept to a higher level and you discover Travel Bugs (TB's) and Geocoins. Travel bugs are items with a mission, specified by the original owner. They must not be kept, but are intended to be moved on from cache to cache in order to accomplish their mission. The original owner purchases a special, serialized tag, much like a dog tag, attached their TB to the serialized dog-tag via beaded chain. Geocoins are specially minted, serialized coins whose serial number replaces the TB dog tag. Geocoins may, but often don't have missions.
 

 
Geocaches are located in every area from wilderness to urban. Geocachers tend to wander about to home in on the cache using their GPSr's. Often, some caches are placed where non-cachers are prevalent. The people who are not geocachers but are in the immediate area are called Muggles (from Harry Potter). Geocachers are careful to not draw attention to their goal when muggles are present. Now, not all muggles are problems to geocachers. But many will be curious about the activities of geocachers. Many muggles become intrigued with Geocachers's activities and wait for the geocacher to leave the area. Unfortunately, far too many muggles steal or destroy the cache container, not understanding or respecting the sport.
 
So, if you think you may be interested in geocaching go to Geocaching.com, input your zip code and view the list of caches in your area. Checkout the names (pseudonymms) of the people who have hidden the caches. A lot of thes folks are locals (not all) and are more than willing to take you out for a few finds of your own. The website offers the ability to email these people through Geocaching.com. You can also bring up the subject with your friends...many may either be geocachers or know someone who is. We all enjoy the sport and most are anxious to share their love and knowledge of the sport with others.
 
And remember, geocachers practice CITO (Cache In, Trash Out), so bring along a plastic bag that can be used to carry out trash and litter (left by non-cachers, undoubtedly).
 
On other fronts, I've been slow in getting this post up... about three weeks since my last. I have had another project to work on... Checkout the all new "Favorite Links" on the left.
 
Until later.....DKHT