Mushrooms

Fourth flush. 3.2 oz this time; up, but less than I was hoping for.

John McCain Makes No Sense

Details on & transcript of the nonsense above.

More Cyclopath Publicity

Further publicity for Cyclopath: The project is (well, I am) on the front page of the CS Department web site. (Click for image for bigger.) Cool huh?

These news items also display on flat panel monitors the department has wasted thousands of dollars on installed throughout the building.

Mushrooms: In other news, I have another flush of mushrooms going -- 4 mushrooms, perhaps more. Pics on harvest sometime in the coming days.

Cyclopath Writeups in Both Major Twin Cities Newspapers

The Twin Cities are a two-newspaper town. The Pioneer Press also published a nice story about Cyclopath today. Excerpt:

Cyclopath is [...] a geographic wiki, which any user can edit. On a block-by-block basis, you can add, change or correct the roads, paths, bike lanes and even alleys and sidewalks over the seven-county area and rate them for bikeability.

You can add recommendations, warnings, comments and critiques. And you can add important landmarks, such as locations of ice cream vendors, bars, pizza joints, coffee shops, repair stores, drinking fountains and portable toilets, all from a bicyclist's point of view.

I like the Pi Press article slightly better because it describes Cyclopath's features more effectively, and also because it's the lead item, with a photo, on the Pi Press home page.

Other cool things happening this morning:

1. As a result of the publicity, I'm receiving requests to be a tester and/or to be notified when Cyclopath goes live every few minutes.
2. Cyclopath is on the Most E-Mailed list on the Star Tribune front page.
3. Cyclopath is #4 on the Most Viewed list on the Pioneer Press front page.
4. Cyclopath is #1 on the Most E-Mailed list on the Pioneer Press front page:

UPDATE:

Turns out the Pi Press article was on the front page!

Cyclopath Writeup in the Star Tribune

My project, Cyclopath, is featured in a story in tomorrow's Star Tribune. Excerpt:

It's the kind of spokes-to-the-street information that cyclists crave. Riders can rate road conditions block by block, enter text descriptions, pinpoint interesting places and fix faulty map data throughout the seven-county metro area. Then Cyclopath crunches the information and returns personalized routes based on a "bikeability" rating.

"There are lots of bike maps out there, and I think each of them have significant failings," Priedhorsky said. "Who knows where cyclists can go? Well, cyclists do, and they know better than anybody else."

How many houses does John McCain own?

At least six (four more than a senator needs):

1. A $4.7 million, 6,000-square-foot condo in Phoenix.
2. A $2.7 million beachfront condo near San Diego.
3. Another $2.1 million beachfront condo near San Diego.
4. A $1.8 million, 15-acre creekfront ranch in Yavapai County, Arizona.
5. A $1 million beachfront condo in La Jolla, California.
6. A $850,000 condo in Arlington, Virginia.

Bonus property excess:

• The McCains bought their daughter Meghan a condo, in cash, for $700,000 when she graduated from college last spring. No word on who pays the association fees.
  

The McCains also own a rental condo which they are currently trying to sell. It can be yours for $730,000.

The total value of McCain real estate is $13,800,000.

Yet despite their large net worth, the McCains can't manage their credit cards responsibly, and John McCain doesn't understand the economy.

Mushrooms 3

I harvested the 3rd flush of mushrooms today. Only 1.75 oz this time; hopefully this trend won't continue. Perhaps the mushrooms are too warm or not humid enough? I will move them from the living room down to the basement for the next one.

I Win Honorable Mention in Local Photo Contest

The above photo won an Honorable Mention in the 10,000 Reasons Why Photo Contest, sponsored by the Minnesota Environmental Fund. I get to go to an awards ceremony on August 7, and they are going to make a real big print for that event.

Photo in context (near the bottom).

Would John McCain vote to authorize the Iraq war, even knowing what he knows now?

Yes, yes he would. Viz:

In an interview with reporters on the back of his campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express” Monday afternoon, McCain said that even in retrospect he would still have voted to authorize the war, as he did in 2002.