ForbesOnTech

Rescue, CA , and Unleashing My Inner HucK

Whenever I need to recharge my deep discharge batteries, I pack up and load out for my secret retreat near stands of towering California heritage oaks and the fast flowing American River which based o observations yesterday, appears to be laden with shoals of rainbow trout just minutes before he season opener.

My retreat is located in the tiny village of Rescue, California, Not located near anyplace, Rescue has everything I need to get perspective on my life.

Rescue lacks a gas station, a supermarket, convenience stores. It’s a place where you plan and shop for your meals before you make the three-mile trek up from US 50.

I’m chirped awake in Rescue by choruses of nesting birds and the raucous screams of mocking birds trying to imitate the mating calls of chainsaws. Yeah Boy! Rescue makes me smile.

Rescue is a red dirt kind of town. It’s 1300 inhabitants are a mix of retired state, aerospace and electronis workers who fled cities for the rural California dream.

Even television reception is a problematic thing here in Rescue. The local branch of the El Dorado County Library is very busy and the delivery person for the Sacra mento Bee fulfills a lot of subscriptions, rain, shine or infrequent snow.

When I come up here, I stay with my best friend and his family, which includes my Godson, AJ.--- aka “Der Bub.”

Rescue has become an important part of my life. It’s where I go when I need to recharge or expand my horizons. It’s a pace where I laugh, read, and can stretch out my writing style. I come here every time when I really need to see life afresh. After I was legal to drive again after my stroke, the first place I wanted to go was Rescue. And the first thing I did when I got here was fire up “Sparky the Flame Throwing Tractor” and mow four acres of green weeds.

Rescue unleashes my Inner Huck.

When I’m up here I’m in full blown Huck “Put Your Back Into It, Jim” Mode. It doesn’t matter if its cutting weeds, tinkering in the barn, or researching a story I want to write about deja vue all over again California gold prospectors. But the persistent theme of my time up here recently has been to hang out with Der Bub. Laugh amd help him fledge into manhood. AJ starts high school this year, and lately I’ve come to really emjoy my role as a Godfather.

Lunch with AJ at a wing gril in Folsom is very enjoyable. Table top conversations about whether the M14 or the M16 was a better Infantry Rifle are pretty routine, taking Der Bub to a sporting goods store to buy his first athletic supporter following the conversation was something I’ll always remember and smile about.

I have three big chores today; mow my friend’s upper field with Sparky, reduce a five foot tall burn pile to ashes and pump wine into French oak barrels for aging. Let’s see, show my Godson how to safely burn pruned wood-- that’s easy. Mow two acres without causing an conflagration, even easier. Maybe catch a couple of fat trout down at the confluence of Weber Creek and the South Fork of the American?

Be still my damaged heart.

I kind of go off my diet when I’m here. But that’s allowed, Rescue is about enjoyment, and relaxation. And while it doesn’t have a gas station or a convenience store, there a Bell Market six miles away and Huck wants to show his skinny Godson how to make sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy. --Jim Forbes on 4/22/2011.

Recommendations for Early CA Sierra Trout fishing: Head out to Fuller or Manzanita Lake Now!

I’m stuck in San Diego on the opening day of the California Sierra trout season, unable to  engage in the one recreational past time I thoroughly enjoy, whipping water with ultra-light fishing gear, as I slowly bake at altitude under the unadulterated high Sierra sun.

The humanity of getting older, Is balanced in my life today by the reality of my health—which has not been all that good for the preceding 12 months. Last week I  had non-native human parts added to my body to correct a coronary condition that’s been building for the last decade.

To be precise, I had a cardioverter (combination pacemaker and defibrillator) stuck in my chest. So it’s no lifting and definitely no casting of fishing lines for me until mid-June.

I’m above ground, unable to fish, and I find myself napping throughout the day.

But I really really wish I were fishing Fuller Lake right now. Now other fishery in California has been as routinely productive for me over the years as this little known man-made lake On California’s Highway 20 east of Grass Valley www.kiene.com/reports/lakes/fuller.shtm.

 Fuller is so good I recommend it to jaded fishermen who think they’ve seen it all. It gets regular plants and has a substantial populations of both hold-over and native trout. It’s one of the few lakes where I routinely bring home at least one German Brown in my five fish limit. But better yet, when I’ve resorted to bait (such an ugly word) I’ve also consistently managed double hookups when fishing on the east side of the dam above its outfall.

You don’t need a $500 Orvis outfit to successfully fish Fuller. The one gadget I do recommend for Fuller, however, is a float tube. If you paddle out in a float tube, it helps to understand that the creek bed (think trout freeway here) meanders just off the shore opposite the road to the head of this Lake). This section of Fuller has been especially productive to me over gthe years I’ve fished the lake.

I have another semi-secret trout fishing spot in the Sierras east of Visalia, CA. It’s an under fished body of water near North Fork, CA called Manzanita Lake http://www.tripadvisor.com/AllReviews-g32789-North_Fork_California.html.

This little known jewel may be the perfect destination for Southern California trout fishermenn who want a great experience without a 10-hour drive. Manzanita has always been a little known but more productive fishing destination than the much more commonly known Millerton reservoir or nearby bass Lake. Manzanita is stocked regularly, has overnight camping and excellen fishing from the shore opposite a large boulder in the middle of the lake.

I have had excellent results using light weight (white pattern)Mepps lures and Colorado spinners here. The trick is if you cast towards the dam, your lure is headed for deep cold water—which is where old fat rainbows live. Do let your lure sink before beginning your retrieve. Manzanita may not offer instantaneous hook ups, but it’s a relaxing weekday or weekend fishing destination that’s never over crowded despite being loaded with feisty10-15 inch rainbows.

If I can’t  participate in the 2010  California trout opener, I can at least note places where experience has taught me to fish. Me miss the opener? Oh the humanity. Or more appropriately, oh the fishanity.—Jim Forbes on 5/31/2010.

Demo10 Spring:Tweener Social Media+branding, Rebtel's Android VOIP App, Democrasoft's Collaborize, MEDI Techs Monitors for Notebooks,and Phone Halo Protect

Rebtel Brings International VOIP to Android phones

Rebtel, a VOIP mobile voice carrier based in Sweden, pioneered a simple concept when it started in2006. They the only VOIP in the mobile space let its users make international calls by dialing a local number, While the technology initially required that people change the way they made phone calls, Rebel  has steadily grown. It now has 4 million users and is growing by 250,000 users a month. What Rebtel launched at Demo is the availability of its service for Android phones. On Android phones with the Rebtel app installed, users just turn the application on,  select the international number they want to call and initiate the connection. Market researchers report the international calling market is worth more than $(US)1.6 trillion. Rebtel currently serves 50 countries.

 

EverLoop Launches branding and Social Media for Tweeners

There’s a big problem in Internet connected  north American families who have children between the ages of 8 and 13 years old (demographically identified as “tweeners”). The problem such families face is that if their “tweeners” have a Facebook account, it’s illegal.  EverLoop is a social networking platform for tweens and brand focused products for those markets. Nationwide, the size of the market is estimated to be about 28 million. At Demo 10 Spring, EverLoop launched its private label business, which allows all tween-facing branding companies. Its social networking site for tweens will go live in June. EverLoop overcomes the classic dichotomy of private branded social networking; closed loop environments. Tweeners are likely to outgrow interest in limited focus sites and will instinctively. EverLoop is a direct outgrowth of its CEO’s interest in tweener online safety and on-line branding. Currently Ever Loop is angel and self-funded.  It recently signed a deal with MadScience, the largest kid’s science site.

 

Democrasoft’s Collaboraize Introduces Robust hosted Community App.

If there’s one type of application that really gets me excited; it’s hosted software that lets me create communities where every member has the opportunity to freely discuss, propose or test ideas. And Collaborize from Democrasoft which was launched companies at Demo 10 Spring  had me thinking of its potential uses all the way home from Palm Desert. Collaborize redefines community discussion software. It’s not the first product in this category and my first reaction to it was: GrassRoots.com, (one of my favorite products and start-ups from  my career at Demo wold have succeeded wildly if it had all gthe features of Collaborize and had not had a top-down orientation. What really sets Democrasoft Collaborize apart from other hosted apps in this space is the ease of which it can be used to create ad hoc, formal or other groups and features that let group members post and rate ideas or comments. My first reaction to this product is based on a view of working with community-based non-profits, where funds are always an issue. I can easily see where two pricing models could be offered: a discounted version usd by non-profits ( whixh would allow Democrasoft to write off the discount as a charitable contribution, while gaining both community support and brand familiarity; and it’s the posted four-tier commercial pricing model. As someone who’s involved in my local humane society, I’m use to dealing with volunteers,  paid staff and board members, each of which has unique collaborative needs. The basic feature set of Collaborize facilitates multipath communication between people who are in different places at different times. This hosted application provides a rock solid solution to problems faced by many non-profits and commercial organization: facilitating communications between people who are infrequently in the same physical location. Another potential market for Collaborize is education, where it’s easy to envision teachers in Internet-connected class rooms using it to create and manage conversations.

Phone Halo, using Bluetooth to Secure, Protect and Locate Valuables.

I sometimes forget where I’ve put my mobile phone, or car keys and get flustered.  The longer it takes me to sort through my clothes or the stuff on the top of my desk, the more frustrated I become. Phone Halo Protect, Bluetooth hardware and smart phone application is a solution to this problem. Up front, I have to note that there are already locater fobs that I can use to find my sometimes invisible car keys.  Also, I’m not above calling my cell phone to use its ringer to locate that pesky device. But what I really like about Phone Halo is that it uses Bluetooth and has controls that let me control how far my treasured device and I can be separated before a preset alarms goes off. I liked Phone Halo’s application because it works with most bestselling smartphones and because it offers a number of innovative notification strategies. I particularly liked the technology’s ability to send GPS location of any device or person protected by Phone Halo. But most of all, I liked Halo Phone’s demonstration and the fact that this technology resulted from a college student’s senior project. Oh, the blue tooth transceiver used in Phone Halo Protect is innocuous enough to attach to your basic adolescent on trips to amusement parks and other venues. After seeing this product for the first time, I’m convinced we’ll see more of this company’s chief technology officer, Chris Herbert in the years to come. Watching this demonstratin I was immediately reminded of two successful past Demo alums, Palm’s Jeff Hawkins and Kerbango’s James Gabel.

MEDL Technologie—A fast Simple Way to add a Second Monitor to Your Portable

As the price of LED panels and portables computers has dropped, it’s become desirous and practical to attach multiple monitors to the ubiquitous portable computer. MEDL Technologies, 13-inch screen is an inexpensive way to attach a second monitor to a portable through a USB connection. I like the idea of more screen real estate on my notebook, since I often have a word processor and live data stream running simultaneously. The software supplied with MEDL Technologies’ LCD screen makes setting up and running a second screen on your notebook a simple task.

Refining the Technological Ingredients for Field Research; My First Book

Packing for field research has me thinking about what I really need to have with me, what type of computing or photographic equipment I need to tote,  and more importantly what  software really fits with what I need to do while working away from my comfortable networked home.

I’m not ashamed to admit I’m kind of a hardware focused guy. SO until I buy a Lenovo Skylight in about four months, I’ve settled on a platform experience has taught me to trust: A Lenovo ThinkPad X60 with a communications centric configuration Specifically, excellent Wi-Fi that’s as noted for its range as it is its reliability in connecting to disparate 802.11 networks, plus an integrated EvDo Modem that lets me attach to Verizon’s data network using an inexpensive day pass. On top of that it has a keyboard I can pound on for hours on end without worrying about punching a key switch out f its mounting. But even that’s not enough for my communications needs while I’m up between Marysville and Quincy, CA, researching the topic that interests me. And having gone through multiple evacuations in front of fast moving wildfires, Skype s the one communications program that I’ve come to rely on as much as my cellphone. But I do have one wish when it comes to Skype. I want a handset that can be recharged through a USB cable and which does not require I tote along a separate AC adapter. I’m reasonably sure at least one Skype phone with this feature is in the works, and Im hopeful it will be delivered before I make my second research trip late this spring.

Although I use a beta version of Office 2010, I’d hesitant about relying on any beta application for something as important as original research.  But I’m willing to put my faith in Microsoft, knowing that if I need to, I can easily switch over to with Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Of course the big qualifier here is if I can hit an internet connection (which explains the importance of communication features in the portable I’ll be taking on this first trip.

Although I’m taking two digital cameras, I don’t intend on doing photo editing in the field.  I want to reserve task for my home desktop (an HPO TouchSmart 600) which has a big screen plus the raw horsepower and graphics capability to make short shrift of a processor-intensive purpose. I  do plan on offloading any photos I take to illustrate my story or help me remember something on the CLickFree backup appliance that’s part of the technology I’m taking into the field and I’m toying with the idea of buying a digital camcorder for this project as soon as I get my tax return. But there is some technology I need to learn to use for this project,. I want to geotag photos of locations and add short metadata files to help me remember details behind the photo. I’m sure there’s technology available that does this, so I’d appreciate pointers from anyone who reads this.

Thus far all of my field gear fits nicely in the back of my Kia Soul hamster van. If I decide to car camp, I can move my box of technology to the front seat, Fold down the back seats and stretch out in the back of my van, with more than enough room left over for my trusted guard dog, “Perro” (an 11 pound deer head Chihuahua of curious parentage).

I’ve told only a few friends what I want to write about, but several of my high school chums remember my interest in this topic as we backpacked the San Gabriel Mountains while we were teens.

But looking at this project, I’m more excited about it than I have been about anything since I produced the Demo technology showcase events. And I owe my confidence in being able to see the project through to a specific mentor, who encouraged me to follow my dream of being a writer years and years ago.  My eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Ruth Trumble, deserves to be remembered for inspiring so many of us baby boomers all those years ago. To the her memory, I say “thanks for showing me the way.”—Jim Forbes March 07,2010.

  

Peach Buds Pop: On Your Mark, Get Set, Garden!

It takes two simple things to kick start my gardening bug; the blossoming of my peach trees; and the successful starting of my two-cycle rototiller. And both happened last week, so my 2020 gardening season is underway in February.

The problem with beginning my garden his early in the year is that I spend a lot of time looking at the temperature and atmospheric pressure fervently hoping   gray clouds slinking towards my home from Mount Palomar won’t unleash a spring hail storm.

Although it rarely happens, Mother Nature has a way of teaching me she’s in charge; most recently in 2008 when a 15-minute freak hail storm. withered  five rows of two-foot tall tomatoes and several nice green leafy mounds of Yukon Gold potatoes in as well as nearly 100 Sequoia strawberry plants and two rows of Havana gold tobacco.

Gardening in Zone 9 is easy. There’s enough sunshine to set my plants early and to experiment with new cultivars every year. I start every year with a list of new plants I want to try in my garden. This year’s big experiment is burley tobacco and celery.  You might think growing celery is easy, since it’s little more than crispy, stringy, water. Turns out the common celery plant isn’t easy to grow. It has a 180-day growing cycle and it likes full sun and a regular watering. It also has specific soil requirements and because its seeds are tiny, it can be hard to germinate.

Aside from what I’ve read on Internet gardening sites, most of what I know about growing celery has been handed down to me from my Father’s people—hardy pioneers who were Eastern Utah and West slope Colorado farmers and ranchers. After looking at the soil in both those states in areas where the Forbes Family lived, I think I may have taken their vegetable success stories too literally. While I recognize that a lot of celery is grown in Utah, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s grown somewhere that has a vastly different soil chemistry than northern San Diego County. The harvested celery fields I saw in Utah had fine soil the color of Nestles Quick chocolate drink mix. The soil in Colorado is incredibly rich dark sandy loam. None of that remotely resembles the dirt in my garden but that’s not going to stop me.

“Well, isn’t that nice and Good Luck with the celery, Jim?” I thought churning through a 20-foot square patch of my garden with my seven-year-old Mantis tiller.  In sad acknowledgement of the need for improved drainage and sweeter soil required by celery, I’ve added about 40 pounds of sand and just less than 15 pounds of ground sea shells to the soil in this part of my garden. If I’m wrong the worse thing that can happen is I’ll continue to buy celery at the local farmers market or grocery store. And, If my experiment is completely off the mark, I’ll just plant heirloom tomatoes in this patch. And I know how to grow t hose in abundance. The increased calcium in this plot should yield to sweeter tomatoes. And that’s a good thing.

I fill, out my garden in stages.  The next vegetables I’ll plant will be Brussels sprouts, cabbages, lettuce and my yearly six to ten rows of Sequoia strawberries. The one new strawberry hybrid I’m trying his year is a strain called “Ozark” which yields firm sweet two-ounce fruits.  I’m planting the Ozarks in the lower of my two big gardens. With any luck, the local weasels will eat any voles or gophers that try to eat my strawberries.

I’ve gardened since I was a kid and I’ve always enjoyed my time coaxing good produce from the dirt in my yard. As an adult who had a stroke nearly eight years ago, I’ve found gardening to be incredibly therapeutic. It forces me to use my weak hand, to pay attention to my balance and it improves my remaining self-confidence.  Gardening is an activity I recommend for anyone who’s come through a debilitating stroke. It keeps me active and outside and it puts healthy vegetables and tasty fruit on my dinner table.

And speaking of fruit, the peach tree that serves as the starting signal for my yearly gardening is swamped in pink blossoms. I think I may have to shore up some branches again this year.—Jim “Farmer” Forbes on 02/21/2010.

 

Touch Computing Steam Roller Approaches--Microsoft says Touch Drivers to be in Windows 7

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer unveiled the iPhone-like touch-screen feature at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, calling it "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009.more  here

 

When it comes to not quite nascent interface technologies, touch is something that’s overdue in mainstream computing. So far it’s been limited to convertible notebooks like those made by Acer\Gateway, Fujutsu, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba and others. And on Palm handelds and those that run the Windows mobile operating system as well as all-in-one desktop computers ;like the HP TouchSmart IQ line.

 

Incorporating touch drivers in Windows could create hockey stick like growth in convertible notebooks and desktop computers alike. With current screen pricing, the price delta associated with digitizer screens could make touch-computing a mainstay feature. Touch computing interface technology could also drive innovation among software developers, making complex or feature-laden applications like image editing software much easier to use and perhaps cutting down on expensive customer service calls from users anxious to master such programs.

 

Touch computing (along with voice interface) is a technology that’s been percolating at Microsoft since the late Eighties. It’s about time that it came out of the shadows of research and development and was exposed to the bright light of mainstream personal computing. —Jim Forbes 05/28/2008.