The Most Portable Computer Is No Computer

Photo: sparkieblues

Internet-based applications and file storage, or “cloud computing” as it’s popularly referred to, are fast becoming incredibly functional for most basic tasks on the computer, but there’s still a lot to be said for keeping the trusted essentials with you, especially when you’re traveling to places where internet connectivity and security are unknown quantities. Thankfully, not just web applications are easily portable; with USB flash drives going for peanuts, you can take your whole computer with you in your pocket, just without the hardware. Find any working computer, even one that’s been erased or locked down, and it can become yours with all your programs and files.

Review: North Face Apex Jacket

It’s really kind of inevitable that I would do a review of the North Face Apex softshell. Since I bought my first one nearly a decade ago, it’s been indispensable in my closet. From cool days in the city to biting cold nights out in the backcountry, this jacket been nearly everywhere I have, and has rarely left me wanting.

Quitting Is Okay

Photo: katie weilbacher

Quit school, quit your job, quit the race; “quit” has joined the ranks of unspeakable four-letter words. We’re always told to finish what we start, it’s drilled into us as we grow up: finish your homework, finish the game, finish your peas. And as kids, we need that. We start out as need machines driven by pure ego, and have to be taught how to focus, how to fulfill our commitments and do our best, and that we do in fact need to eat things that aren’t made of pure sugar.

The problem is, as we get older this mindset persists, even though the lessons are learned. We continue on the path we think we’re supposed to take because we were never taught how to quit. Not only is our thinking narrowed and stunted by never considering the alternatives, but when we do fail, we often get so hung up on the fact that we failed, it makes it that much harder to learn from why we failed. Our day-to-day lives all so often become victims of our ingrained sense of satisfaction at persisting.

I’ve Always Wanted To Try That: Surfing

Photo:haniamir

If you live anywhere near the ocean, odds are there’s at least a small surfing community in your area. People who will go to great lengths and brave temperatures and conditions in the water most people would only consider dealing with if, say, the ground were on fire. This unconsciously affiliated band of people, men and women, old and young alike, seem drawn to water as moths to flame, not just wanting waves but needing them in their life. You have to wonder, what do these people know that I don’t? What is so powerful a draw that ties them to this sport?