gabriel mcgovern

Pic of monica

This post was created using the new iPhone Wordpress application. A few days ago, I posted about my excitement. Now that I have had a chance to use it - I can say that I am not disappointed.

It is available now in the app store and cost the same as wordpress.org - absolutly nothing!

The interface is refreshingly simple and easy to use. There does not seem to be a WYSIWYG editor, but basic HTML should still work.

You can even include images stored on your phone. The final image below shows the interface. The others are just random images that were on the phone.

Matt Mullenweg of wordpress fame just announced:

“We’re doing an iPhone-native WordPress client, check out the screencast here. It will work for both .com and .org, be available FREE from the App Store, and best of all it’s going to be completely Open Source, which as far as I know no current apps in the store are.”

For me this is the “killer app” that I have been waiting for. Until now - you had to edit your blog through the safari browser. It worked, but it was not easy. I will post a review as soon as it becomes available in the app store.

For the forth, we went down to the waterfront to watch the fireworks. Portland puts on a pretty good show. I forgot to bring a camera - but found that the iPhone takes pretty good firework shots:

Looks like Andre isn’t the only one. Spotted this on the corner of 13th and Nehalem St:

These were taken by Porch (Bryan):

(more here)

Well this was exhausting…

Getting there

Friday night was Troopers bachelor party. After a long night of debauchery - we took Saturday to nap and gather gear. At midnight, we regrouped and headed for the mountain.

Up the mountain

Around 2am (Sunday) we arrived at timberline, signed a permit and started walking up the slopes. There were thunderstorms on the southern horizon, but they seemed to be moving away.

Even at this early hour, there was lots of activity on the mountain. Snowcats were busy grooming the slopes and a trail of headlamps could be seen farther up the mountain. Many climbers choose to camp or get a cat ride up to the top of the slopes.

The air was warm even before the sun came up. Soon I was regretting the heavy layers I was wearing.

Final push

Around 7 or 8am we passed Hells kitchen (a smelly sulfur vent) and put on gear for the final climb. The “hogsback”, shifted last year making the usual route much harder. Instead, we followed  the line of climbers up the old chute.

The view at the top was incredible, even though it was a bit hazy. Unfortunatly, we could not stay long. The cliffs were heating up fast and beginning to drop chunks of ice and rock.

Going down

Climbing down the chute was much slower then going up. The snow on the steep slope was now slush and it made for uneasy footing.  However, after that we made quick time down the mountain by glaciating.

I would estimate it took about 7.5 hours up and only 2 to get down.

Spore is the highly anticipated, “massively single-player online game” by Will Wright.

The full game is slated to be launched this fall, but EA games announced that they would be releasing a creature creator next week.

Why wait?

Looks like the bit-pirates beat them to it.

Creatures

You can already see dozens of creatures on Youtube as well as the EA site.

• Some of the creations are memorable.
• Some are simply weird.
• And some are NSFW (another one).

This is a bit random, but I love it.

I was searching for some information about Edward Tufte and ran across this discussion on his personal web site. Scroll way down to see the image. In addition the page title is “Ask E.T.” which made me chuckle.

It’s been a long day…

This weekend was beautiful.

The temperatures in the valley peaked Saturday close to 100. This is considered surprisingly hot for the Portland area. It is even more surprising when you consider that less then a moth ago it was still threatening to snow.

The long winter and quick warm up has caused the rivers to swell due to the rapidly melting snow in the cascades.

Friday

On Friday, I took the motorcycle out and road along the Clackamas river. At Barton, I stopped to watch several groups launch rubber rafts into the river. Floating the Clackamas is a fun during the summer. Yet, with waters at 40 degrees and levels nearing flood stage - I just hope that everyone knows what they are getting into. The waters are fairly calm near the launch point, but can get very rough in the miles that follow.

Saturday

On Saturday, Samantha and I decided to do some swimming. Rather then settle for the brown Calcakamas, we headed to a spot I knew about on the Washougal River in Washington. This particular spot has a deep pool and an overhanging cliff allowing for a 25-30ft plunge into the cold blue waters. To get there, take a right at Dougan falls and continue a few more miles on the dirt road. It is approximately here