Category Archives: General News

Things that don’t have a genuine category, but I don’t like seeing the “UNcategorized” tag.

Playing around with Spiders

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Quite some time back I turned off all access to web crawlers. Why? I’m not really sure anymore. I had removed the genealogy sections long ago because I was tired of people griping about it. While everything that was on it was in the public domain, a few did not like to see it aggregated.  One especially threatened me, even though the information came from their local newspaper detailing their wedding, and their upcoming trip to Jamaica…not that is plain stupid. Thieves now know a) there is a house full of shiny new wedding presents, and b) exactly when the owners will be gone and for how long!
I digress.
If you had a prior link to the web page it still worked, but most search engines would never find it. Funny, most web people spend lots of time and energy working on “SEO” to get them higher in the search results! Me, I wanted it hidden. As an experiment I think I am going to restore it, and see how long it takes to get back on, and when in the standing.
So… we’ll see.

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FTF Magazine

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This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Geocaching

I recently “discovered” FTF Magazine, a Print Magazine for Geocachers. It looked interesting enough to spend a few bucks to get a subscription. With the subscription you get a nice Geocoin that is trackable.

They also send a Discoverable tracking card. I had never seen these until I did some caching down in Ohio where they seem pretty common.

 

 

   

Playing Games – Snag the Tag

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This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Geocaching


I saw a notice on the Geocaching home page about a program called “Snag the Tag“, so I investigated. On the home page was a link to purchase the “Hider Kit”. There was originally two types available, a large and a small. Since the large was sold out I grabbed a small right away, which was good since they sold out shortly afterwards. This project seems to be in a limited state so far, with maybe 600 (??) tags hidden on this “Mission Mammoth” project. Unlike geocaches these are one time hide/find. The owner hides the tag, some one finds it, takes it to claim online, and it is done. No logs to sign.

Shorty thereafter I received my tags and started to see how to do this. Not so hard.

  • Think of a location to hide the tag.
  • Put the tag in a container.
  • Hide the tag
  • Take some good GPS readings at the location.
  • Go to the website and put the information into the form provided.

To help they have some FAQ’s:

The very brief instructions that come with the coins.
The Front Side of the coin. I believe this is what you receive if you send away for the coin after making the find. It’s free, but there may be shipping charge.
The “Back Side” of the coin with the tracking ID.
The front of the “Game Piece” that is hidden.
?

The rear of the “Game Piece”. Note the magnets to attach it to the main piece that you send away for.
This is the coin with the Woolly Mammoth magnetically attached to the “Front” of the coin shown above.
A map showing locations, this is very dynamic, changing constantly. ?? ?????? The two Yellow ones are my hides, not yet published.

Lillie Parkrun 5K #50!

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This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series ParkRuns

Good grief, how long has it been since I have had something interesting enough to post about?!?! Need to see if I remember how to do this, and at the same time it appears the editor has changed significantly.

I have been running “Parkruns” since 12/19/2015 when I started running with the Livonia Michigan group, which was the only one in Michigan at the time.

They finally got one started in Ann Arbor in Lillie Park, and I began going there starting in November 2018 after a bit of a hiatus. So it’s “only” taken me about four years to get to the first milestone of “50 Parkruns”. Whoo Hoo.


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Mantis Chipmate

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The Mantis Chipmate. Some information for the remaining three people that have one, or are just otherwise interested.
Some photos of the accessories.
I am not sure why, but I found these interesting and when researching the web for more information I found very little available.
I was lucky enough to uncover some original accessories, still (mostly) in the original packaging!

I actually have not used this machine very much. The little I did it seemed like you need to have some time on your hands to process very much through it!
Will try more later. It may also be that “green” clippings feed in easier than the dried out stuff I put in. It did chew them up into shavings, but took a little while.

Note: There is no “feed” system other than the push paddle, so you cannot just stick the end of a small branch in and have it pulled into the cutters and ground up. It must be constantly pushed into the chipper head.

Did I get a “FKT” on the Geddes-Matthaei path?

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The other day I went out for a walk, ended up following the new Geddes Road to Matthaei Botanical Gardens path. It is still under construction, so maybe not a real FKT, but I did go from the “Yard of Bricks” in front of the conservatory, to the sidewalk on Geddes Road. A little rough to follow in places though. Maybe try again in a few weeks to see how it is coming along. Really looking forward to this route for easy access to Gallup Park and all the rest of the B2B Trail.

  

Some thoughts. Park at the mill, it’s free, the gardens charge for parking.  The length looks to be about 2.3 miles. Overall it will be pretty flat, a few ups and downs closer to Geddes Road.