J Gardner Photography http://jeffgardner.org Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:51:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 JackOfAllhttp://feedburner.google.com The Newness http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/gjo7ga5tbNI/ http://jeffgardner.org/2010/02/18/the-newness/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:49:34 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=446 Yup. I’ve gone and done it again. The site is redesigned – only this time it’s not just a redesign, I’ve combined my blog with my photography site (formerly http://jgardnerphoto.com). Why, you ask? A good question.

My photography site outdates my blog by at least a few years and from the beginning I’ve always used Flash galleries to show the images. But I hate flash. I think it’s a pain to work with, a pain to use (from the casual browser’s position) and a pain when it comes to updating the photo albums. So my photography site would get updated once every year and a half or two years. Not often enough. Simply because I was too lazy to redo all the flash galleries. So there you have reason number one. Galleries without flash.

I have enjoyed writing my own personal blog (even if most of my energy is going into Beans on Tour right now), but having two separate sites to keep up and to change and update just became a chore (which is why the photography site got tossed to the wayside). So I have combined the two sites into one Wordpress installation. Now I have the ease of use and the extensibility of Wordpress and no excuses to keep both sites (which are now one) up to date. Reason number two, one site.

Reason number three is pretty trite but important. I love a good challenge. On Monday Gina and I are moving to Italy. Big change, lots to do, but I wanted to get the site updated before we arrived because I knew it would never happen otherwise. So upon arriving home from Buenos Aires last weekend I challenged myself to build a new Wordpress theme and launch the new site before we left again for Italy. Reason number three, challenge.

Ta-da. There you have it. I hope you like the new site and keep your eyes on the Galleries because I will be adding many new galleries over the course of the next month (with lots of travel shots!).

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2010/02/18/the-newness/feed/ 0 http://jeffgardner.org/2010/02/18/the-newness/ What is a netbook good for? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/7y479RI6_Bg/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/19/what-is-a-netbook-good-for/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:02:17 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=418 One word. Traveling. I’ve seen so many netbooks while here in India and I’m positive that I am going to see a lot more in Thailand. There are two very simple reasons for this: it fits in your bag and if it gets stolen you’re not out $1000+. Now if I could only get one to start running OS X.

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/19/what-is-a-netbook-good-for/feed/ 2 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/19/what-is-a-netbook-good-for/ Traveler tip: Virus protection for your USB thumb drive http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/xLR_KuRYOr8/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/15/traveler-tip/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:27:39 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=414 I’ve been using a lot of internet cafes recently. A lot of internet cafes and a lot of different computers. Viruses are rampant – and not just the poo causing kind. I use a mac, so most of these viruses are harmless but its always good idea to try and keep foreign files off your machine as much as possible. The owner of the guest house that we’re staying at here in Rishikesh clued me into a really clever way to help keep viruses off your computer when you’re moving your USB thumb drive between your laptop and local internet cafe machines (most of which have at least one virus). It works like this:

1. Open a new text file with your favorite text editor. I use TextMate – I highly recommend it.
2. Leave this file blank and then save it as autorun.inf
3. If your using a mac right click the file and click “Get Info”, if you’re on windows click “Properties”, change the permissions of this file to not allow anyone to change it. Lock it down completely.
4. Copy this file onto your USB thumb drive and then delete from your local machine (it conceivably could cause boot up issues).

When a virus installs itself on your thumb drive it also tries to update or write a new autorun.inf file. This is the file that actually allows the virus to run itself and wreck havoc on your machine. However if the file already exists and it has locked down permissions the virus won’t be able to do anything.

And by the way, if you’re ever looking for a nice place to stay in Rishikesh, Pyramid Cafe, up the hill in Laxman Jhula, is a wonderful place with a great restaurant.

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/15/traveler-tip/feed/ 1 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/10/15/traveler-tip/ The virtues of living out of a bag http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/7Np-a3CLJbA/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/09/04/the-virtues-of-living-out-of-a-bag/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:41:08 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=406 It’s been 4 years since I spent any significant chunk of time traveling. I’m back on the road again, with Gina this time, living out of a bag and loving every minute of it. It’s been a wonderful reminder that life becomes more simple when we strip things away. The stuff that we “can’t live without” quickly becomes superfluous and even the small amount that you are carrying with you in your bag seems to become grossly unnecessary. Point in case – I just went rifled through my bag looking for something and found that I hadn’t even worn half the clothes that I brought with me. Half! It’s good to reset your idea of what is necessary every now and then.

If you want to follow along with us on our travels we’ve been keeping posting to Bean on Tour, our travel blog. You can also see photos at my flickr account. But just for good measure – here are a few of my favorites.

Central Park

Central Park, NYC

4 Mile Creek State Park

Four mile creek state park, Outside of Niagara Falls

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Lower Yellowstone Falls

Lower Yellowstone Falls

Buck Mtn.

Summit of Buck Mtn., Tetons

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/09/04/the-virtues-of-living-out-of-a-bag/feed/ 0 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/09/04/the-virtues-of-living-out-of-a-bag/ J. Gardner Photography Refresh http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/D-ZLGByTE3Q/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/08/06/j-gardner-photography-refresh/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:20:50 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=402 I’ve finally updated my two year old photography website design. I’m still working on getting some new photos up but I’d love to hear what people have to say about the design!

jgphoto_home

On another note, Gina and I are setting out on our road trip (the first month of our six months of traveling) this weekend. We’ve spent the week moving out of our apartment in Blacksburg and sorting through all the stuff that we’ve accumulated over the years. I’ll be happy to be living out of a bag again soon! Keep an eye out here for pictures along the way. You can also follow our adventures at http://beansontour.com

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/08/06/j-gardner-photography-refresh/feed/ 2 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/08/06/j-gardner-photography-refresh/ Ueli Steck is Crazy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/VMDa_oII8pI/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/31/ueli-steck-is-crazy/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:22:42 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=400 I present my evidence. Speed Solo on the Grande Jorasses, by quite a difficult route.

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/31/ueli-steck-is-crazy/feed/ 0 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/31/ueli-steck-is-crazy/ Bar Tape dot Net http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/Bzu5dVKStl0/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/17/bar-tape-dot-net/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:39:04 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=394 Very cool, very well made documentary following Team Cervélo through the season. So good.

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/17/bar-tape-dot-net/feed/ 0 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/17/bar-tape-dot-net/ Another one for the Smashing crowd! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/bj8ayiCh3Pc/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/14/another-one-for-the-smashing-crowd/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:01:38 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=392 Another article of mine was just published on Smashing Magazine! As always, I’m having a great time replying to comments and emails about the article. Please keep them coming!

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/14/another-one-for-the-smashing-crowd/feed/ 2 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/14/another-one-for-the-smashing-crowd/ The Road http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/mrx9ZoHyHXY/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/07/the-road/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:26:48 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=387 It actually looks like they’ve made a great movie…keep your fingers crossed.

(Edit: Looks like YouTube knocked the video down due to “terms violations”. Looks like you’ll just have to search for the trailer)

]]> http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/07/the-road/feed/ 0 http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/07/the-road/ Lance Armstrong and the art of being smart http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JackOfAll/~3/W2OmL3eixr0/ http://jeffgardner.org/2009/07/07/lance-armstrong-and-the-art-of-being-smart/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:44:17 +0000 Jeff http://jeffgardner.org/?p=382 I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about yesterday’s Tour de France stage (Stage 3: Marseille to La Grande Motte). From the beginning it appeared that it was going to be a boring stage. Flat, hot and fairly long – which was made worse by a 4 man breakaway that the peloton didn’t really work too hard to reel back in. Turns out that assumption was wrong. The last 35 or so kilometers were absolutely fantastic! There was a strong crosswind through the flats that began to pull the peloton apart and then team Columbia-HTC (who had slowly positioned all of their riders at the front of the peloton) made a break! And a big one. They, with quite a few other riders who saw the move coming, put 40 seconds between themselves and the main pack before the finish. No surprise, Mark Cavendish took the stage win again.

But almost as soon as the break happened it was noted that Lance Armstrong had made the break with team Columbia-HTC and Alberto Contador had not. There has been a lot of talk recently about how Lance is just returning to the tour to take over team Astanta and try for an 8th Tour victory. While Lance may harbor desires for another tour win, I don’t think it’s a very fair assessment to say that he is just back to try and grab the win out of the hands of his teammate, Contador. The fact that Contador didn’t make that break is poor communication between teammates, yes, but it reflects much more on the good judgement and quick reaction that 7 tour victories has given Lance.

Bottom Line? People need to stop whining on behalf of Alberto Contador. He’s a strong rider and well capable of winning the Tour – as long as he puts himself in the right place at the right time. Lance Armstrong is a teammate and as such should try hard to help Alberto find those opportunities, but Lance is still in the race himself, and he is still a competitive athlete and I, for one, would love to see him take an 8th.

(Edit: I couldn’t stand the auto play recap movie. You can check it all out at http://versus.com)

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