Andy Oakley

Interesting finds from around the web this week:

• Obama's inaugural address: a stunning exercise in lowered expectations (via The Seattle Times: Opinion (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Who Survives a Plane Crash? (via Freakonomics (via FullContentFeed.com))
• No Snickering – That Road Sign Means Something Else – NYTimes.com (via www.nytimes.com)
• Technology is Great, but Are We Forgetting to Live? (via ReadWriteWeb)
• Reality Bites (via Seattlest)
• One of the Most Beautiful Things You’ll See in a While (via Urlesque)
• News Analysis: Scientists Welcome Obama’s Words (via NYT > Science (via FullContentFeed.com))
• The Inauguration of President Barack Obama (via The Big Picture)
• Falling Pound Raises Fears of Stagnation (via NYT > Business (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Better Than Owning (via The Technium)
• World’s Oldest Nuclear Bomb Material Found in Washington (via Seattlest)
• Inauguration Crowd Will Test Cellphone Networks (via NYT > Business (via FullContentFeed.com))

Amy and I both got Big S passes this year which give unlimited access to the Summit at Snoqualmie. During the winter snowstorm we actually got a couple of good days of powder up there which was a pleasant break from expectations.

Meanwhile, one of the added bonuses of the pass is five free trips to some other resorts in the area; today we went to Crystal Mountain near Mt Rainier. Although there wasn’t much fresh snow, there were few people around, clear skies, no precipitation and some fun skiing.

It’s cold in Seattle, in the mid-high teens this evening and we could certainly feel it on the mountain. The prepared skier uses every available opportunity and resource to stay warm in such conditions.

We’ve been very fortunate to have a couple of weekends of stunning weather. Cold, crisp, clear and icy. Great for hiking (last weekend) and skiing (tomorrow, hopefully). Last Sunday, Amy and I hit up a random FS road off I-90 around milepost 34.

This isn’t actually my truck but the driver had done a rather good job of lodging it in a rut caused by a landslide. The road seemed blocked at this point but there were quite a lot of vehicles beyond. As we rolled up there was a tow truck blocking the way although it wasn’t exactly obvious what help he could bring. We parked up and hiked on by instead. By the time we returned, the truck and occupants were gone.

Several weeks ago I got a random message through Flickr saying that one of my photos had been selected for consideration in the Schmap Seattle Guide.

The photo in question made its way onto the Smith Tower page and was taken during last year’s Seattle Fire Festival. You can see the full picture on flickr or below.

It turns out they use tens of photos per landmark so my inclusion wasn’t exactly award-worthy. But I’m still a little proud.

Interesting finds from around the web this week:

• Inauguration Crowd Will Test Cellphone Networks (via NYT > Business (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Op-Ed Columnist: The Long, Lame Goodbye (via NYT > Opinion (via FullContentFeed.com))
• The lost cult of Microsoft program managers (via scottberkun.com)
• Web Service Shows US Airways Aborted Route Over New York City (via TechCrunch)
• Library use jumps in Seattle area; economy likely reason (via The Seattle Times: Local News (via FullContentFeed.com))
• When Steve Jobs Said “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish,” He Did Not Mean This Foolish (via BoomTown)
• Who Would Jesus Smack Down? – Mark Driscoll, a Pastor with a Macho Conception of Christ – NYTimes.com (via www.nytimes.com)
• Did Speculation Fuel Oil Price Swings?, 60 Minutes: Speculation Affected Oil Price Swings More Than Supply And Demand – CBS News (via www.cbsnews.com)
• Cashnxt: Low-Cost Banking for the Rural Poor (via ReadWriteWeb)
• The Power of the Penny (via The Business Sheet)
• What Happens When College Cafeterias Go Trayless? (via Freakonomics (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Another Stonehenge Discovered Under Lake Michigan? [Mad Science] (via io9)
• At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard (via NYT > Science (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Tunnel it is (via Seattle Transit Blog)

Interesting finds from around the web this week:

• And from my own mag yet! (via The Long Tail)
• The Ultimate (All-Beef) Sacrifice (via Urlesque)
• Snow Post-Mortem (via Seattle Transit Blog)
• Is the ORCA Card Good for Transit? Yes. (via Seattle Transit Blog)
• Police investigate threats to gay bars (via Seattle 911: A police blog)
• Truphone Guns For The All-in-one iPhone App – Adds Skype, Twitter And Other IM (via TechCrunch)
• Macbook Wheel Debuts On The Onion (via TechCrunch)
• Head Tracking Software – Cachya (via www.cachya.com)
• Free, legal downloads of every Beatles song (via Boing Boing)
• Wedgewood China, Waterford Crystal Cracked (via The Business Sheet)

Interesting finds from around the web this week:

• The graying of the presidents – The Boston Globe (via www.boston.com)
• In the Region: All the Home’s a Stage (via NYT > Business (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Microsoft VP incorporates running and the bus into his "exercise commute" (via The Seattle Times: Local News (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Exploiting nature to cut mosquitoes' life short (via The Seattle Times: Business & Technology (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Lane missing from Aurora Bridge (via Fremont Universe)
• Vertical Farming – TIME (via www.time.com)
• The Happiness Effect – TIME (via www.time.com)
• As 2008 closes, so does business for those year-end glasses (via The Seattle Times: Local News (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Screw heads demystified (via MAKE Magazine)
• Infochimps’ massive scrape of Twitter’s friend network (via Waxy.org Links)
• Barack Obama's election marks the beginning of the 21st century (via The Seattle Times: Opinion (via FullContentFeed.com))
• Recession Leads To Surge In Online Dating (via The Business Sheet)
• 10 Irrational Human Behaviors and How to Leverage Them to Improve Web Marketing (via SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog)
• 30 Most Notable Blogs of 2008 (via Fimoculous.com)
• Get Replacement Keys Cut from a Digital Photo [Clever Uses] (via Lifehacker)
• Our city’s anonymous snow bard (via Strange Bedfellows)
• At Least The Housing Boom Served A Core Human Need (via Clusterstock)