hobolinks :: July :: 2006

Jonathan Ley, photographer and publisher of respected CDT Maps, has put up a nice page on his recent coast-to-coast hike of Iceland. I’ll be spending some time perusing this one.

(Thanks to Cutter’s Blog)

This guy is walking around the country by whatever road suits him, working on a book. It looks like it could be a good one.

(Via Two-Heel Drive)

I remember in 1996 there were fires in the section south of the San Jacintos, we hiked under orange skies. This time it’s north of I-10, the San Bernardinos. The CDT was closed in many places in New Mexico due to fires earlier this year - thankfully the Rockies have at least had some rain.

Caves in the Grand Canyon have led to discoveries of new species of millipedes, and crickets. The star of the show this time around is a new genus of cricket with hind-end pincers.

Some nice wilderness creation bills have made it unanimously through the House, the beneficiaries being California, Oregon, and Idaho. Let’s hope the Senate follows suit.

“For the sake of the planet, the biodiversity science community has to create a way to get organised, to coordinate its work across disciplines, and together with one clear voice advise governments on steps to halt the potentially catastrophic loss of species already occurring,”

We’ll know when it has really hit the fan: the world’s politicians will start listening to the scientists. Until then this will just have to wait until we decide who can marry whom and whether it’s legal to say the pledge of allegiance before the word ‘God’ was added…

CNN Money has named my current residence of Fort Collins, CO the best place in the US to live - a title it has also received from other surveys. Outdoor activities are always cited, which is true, but we’re a little further away from the mountains than you’d imagine from these articles (1 hour drive to Estes (& Rocky Mountain National) Park, 2 hours to the nearest mountain pass, 2.5 hours to the big ski areas, etc). High-tech industry jobs are always cited, but not the fact the big tech employers have been announcing one round of layoffs after the other for years - most of our measly job growth is in service industry jobs. I like this place, but I’m afraid all the hoopla is going to turn it into a big retirement community with very limited options for making a living.

(Via Stellar News)

Also called the Tasmanian Wolf or Tasmanian Tiger (it looks like a cross), I had never heard of or seen this extinct animal before this footage on Google Video.

(Via Animal of the Day)

I’ve been impressed with how up front these guys have been about the compromises they’ve had to make to reach their goal. Only one of the three completed the 1000 km, but I’m jealous of all three of them.

They appear to be small, very cute creatures. I guess the island must still have some good habitat left.

(Via Last Chance To See)

If you believe the hype from the makers of Nitro MPG.

Hoping to increase the quality of coffee exports and meet upcoming mandatory biofuel requirements, Brazil has proposed turning low grade coffee into biodiesel. Oil from runoff and discarded beef fat is also being evaluated for use. No word on how much fossil fuel is required to produce such biofuels.

Some good points are made in this critique. I personally think map mashups will be popular as long as they are useful, but I agree that they probably won’t produce a new generation of millionaires.

(Via the Map Room)

The most recent survey found no sign of black rhinos in their last known refuge in Cameroon. The World Conservation Union report cites poaching for their horn as the main cause. This is the first extinction report I’ve found since I started reading up on the topic about a year ago. I don’t think there will be a eulogy, but Wikipedia has some infomation on the former life of the deceased.

Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind trail recipe over at Cutter’s blog.

An unknown species of snake was found in Borneo that changes color to match its environment. Biologists have named it the Kapuas Mud Snake.

I don’t usually think of cows and chickens as endangered species, but sure enough, efforts are underway to save endangered livestock and poultry…

Baby Rhino tracks are taken as a sign that species may not be done for yet.

At the 2006 Dempsey-MacCready One Hour Record Attempts Fred Markham rode a fully-faired recumbent bicycle 53.4 miles (85.4 km) in an hour. And I can’t average 15mph on my recumbent!
(Via Slashdot)

I’d never seen the fast-moving Mimosa plant in action. Apparently in the southern US it’s considered an invasive weed.

(Via J-Walk Blog)