Strange Things In The Woods

Posted by Eric

Tree Ring

I was hiking and geocaching in the wooded area behind Joliet Junior College today when I stumbled across this strange arrangement of sticks and grass encircling a tree in a clearing. No idea what the purpose is, but it’s clearly for something.

You know those fantasy stories where the intrepid adventurers are traveling through some ancient forest, and the trees seem to be trying to steer them towards or away from something? Well, these woods may not be ancient, but they do like to confuse anyone hiking through them. It’s almost impossible to blaze a straight trail through the place. I’m sure I could not find this spot again without my GPS.

I Am A Terrible Technology Prognosticator

Posted by Eric

I’ve never been good at predicting where computer technology will go. Sure, I’ve wanted a terabyte capacity hard drive since I first heard the term 15 or 20 years ago, but only recently have I had enough data to justify one. But more storage, more memory, more speed, those are obvious things. Doesn’t take a guru to figure it out.

My first Big Mistake with judging technology was with CD-ROM drives. I read all the geek news so I was aware of them, and eventually they started coming with new computers. But when I got my first one I thought “Well, that’s neat, but I doubt I’ll ever have many of them”. Today I have a 16.5 gallon plastic box in the basement, full to the gills with data CDs, containing god-only-know-what. At a guess, there’s well over 500 discs in there. One of these days I’m going to sort through them and get rid of the obsolete and useless ones. No, really I am.

Same deal when USB first came out. It sounded like a nifty idea, but I couldn’t imagine ever having more than a couple of USB devices. I figured sure, a mouse, maybe a printer. Ooof. So wrong. So very, very wrong.

Laser printer, ink jet printer, two USB hard drives, mouse, Palm, iPod, handheld GPS receiver, Wacom pen table, memory card reader, UPS monitor. That’s eleven devices that are hooked up pretty much any time I’m at my desk. Add a couple of thumb drives, and it’s a real mess. And that’s just on my primary computer. Luckily both of my LCD monitors have built-in USB hubs! My notebook and my server each have a couple of devices attached to them, and there’s a couple more rarely-used USB gadgets floating around, as well.

I can hardly wait to see what I’m wrong about next. Let’s see if I can rig the game – I don’t think that small-device hardware makers will ever standardize power adapters so that we no longer need a metric ton of wall warts all over our homes.

Redneck Trailer

Posted by Eric

Bitch Trailer

This past weekend we drove down to Wilmington, Illinois to take a look at the Kankakee River, which has been threatening to flood there because of a buildup of ice dams. I like all things relating to heavy weather, so this was kind of a must-see for me.

It’s remarkably hard to get directly on the bank in much of the town, but right out in the middle of the river is an island, with parks on both the north and south ends. Both of the parks were completely flooded, which was kind of impressive to see, but you still couldn’t get a good view of the ice dams from the park access roads. Also on this island is a disreputable little trailer park, which at first glance looks like it might actually be a junkyard. I can’t help but wonder why the town hasn’t condemned it and turned it into more park land.

Anyway, we drove in there and found a perfect spot to view the river. The first thing I saw when I got out of the van was the trailer in the image above. Naturally, I couldn’t resist taking the photo. I figure either someone was pretty mad at whoever lived there, or maybe down at the other end is spray painted “dirtbag”. Kind of his-and-hers designated parking for the trailer set.

So we did our bit, looked at the ice on the river, took some photos, and turned to leave. Standing by the trailer door was a bona-fide redneck, loudly telling some friends “He better not be takin’ no pictures of my fuckin’ house”. He repeated it several times, clearly wanting to get some reaction from me, or intimidate me, or something. Sorry fella. 1) It isn’t a house, it’s a trailer. And a crappy one at that. 2) Way too late, dude. That ship already sailed. 3) I’ve got the same build, same messy beard, and same disheveled long hair, so your appearance isn’t the least bit threatening to me. Though I do at least have a passing acquaintance with soap.

Ah well, at least I got one interesting picture that day.