August 2017

Mount Umunhum opening at last

In 2004 I headed up Mount Umunhum for the first time, hoping to conquer my last Peninsula summit. Unfortunately [I was thwarted by the private land which blocked the road](http://bob.ryskamp.org/brain/?p=2110), tantalizingly close to the summit. Thirteen years later, and thanks to [lots of hard work](https://www.openspace.org/newsletter/mount-umunhum-timeline) by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District ([donate here](https://www.openspace.org/what-to-do/get-involved/donate) =)…more

Micro-activities

Since becoming a father I’ve had trouble fitting in all the things I’d like to do, so I’m always on the lookout for ways to combine two activities together, or to squeeze one in between two others. A few examples of these “micro-activities” that have worked out well: * Meditate while falling asleep * Pushups…more

Machine fashion

Computers are great at generating lots of options…not so great at choosing the best ones. So you can guess what happens [when they start generating novelty t-shirt ideas](https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?srs=16325482011&rh=i%3Aspecialty-aps%2Ck%3Acola&keywords=cola&ie=UTF8&qid=1502249965).

How images change the world

An interesting argument about how and why to look at photographs of suffering. First, put yourself in the position of the photographer; imagine you are seeing what they did right in front of you: > Azoulay asks her readers to project themselves into the scenes of photographs, to notice the power dynamics at play, to…more