I converted to Apple some five years ago. Enjoy the seamless integration of devices, even if Entourage does not equate 100% to Outlook. But, landed a test drive for a Microsoft Surface from the @thefader event tonight for the Solange magazine cover in Soho and will compare my trusty iPad to #surface at work and on the run @johnpasmore – I can read my coursework for Columbia on my iPad, remotely connect to my laptop and generally make my life comfortably mobilized. Curious if the Surface can keep up….

Not just code, but really all of it: Apps, sites, devices, and an avalanche of content. And I like the idea of code and I like technology generally. But at some point it seems like more for more’s sake. As a society we are pouring millions of dollars and engineering into how to serve better advertising, how to make a better phone, and how to create digitally the community we used to have before we all got so busy answering emails and checking Facebook.

I’ve spent a good deal of time in ad supported business, and generally like advertising — from the creatives to getting it in front of an audience. But the idea of an ad following me around, waiting for me to demonstrate “purchase intent” seems a little creepy. I’m a content guy. I think if advertiser x makes good stuff, and then tells a good story, I will circle back for that experience. That’s where I think the effort should be, on telling the brand’s story and aggregating the people that care into a reachable audience. And, yeah that could be via cookies, but hopefully something friendlier — more human.

And I do think we have bigger fish to fry. I know that we have some finite number of engineers and PhD’s driving invention, so the question becomes, “what do we want to apply that big but not infinite resource against”. Sure we can spend some of it on making Facebook smarter, much of it on the Black Box that is the military, and the “market” should then theoretically point resources in the right direction, towards the right projects. But the market is not that efficient.

Given the long leads and high risk in bio-technology and possible modest results in creating tech that somehow improves the lot of those with less, I think the market is chasing all things social. And. it’s hard not to as those businesses can scale quickly and there is liquidity in the category. But maybe we can point a little more smartness towards health of us and the planet. Would hate for the FB party to come to end because we weren’t invested enough to see that giant asteroid careening in our direction, or next H2N2 variant that would have taken a few more lab techs to detect.

the drive from NYC is about 90 miles more or less. As always, we stop and Rock & Snow in New Paltz to rent cross country skiing gear.

The service at Rock & Snow is great and I would recommend stopping through whenever you’re in the area. I think it was about 25-27 degrees for most of the day and add a little wind and you’ll want the right pair of gloves.It’s just good to get out of the City; was watching a video on my recently favorite Physicist David Bohm on YouTube and they talked about seeing things that are NOT the product of thought, like trees and snow, and how there is some elemental satisfaction or attraction or oneness to that. I never really framed the attraction in terms of “thought” or lack of, but it’s a perspective worth ruminating on while under the sky.

Just a short story on gear:

Took out a Montane Medusa 32 liter pack for the first time (from ProLite Gear)– is light and fine. Takes a moment to get used to as the chest pull and waist adjustments are a little proprietary but worked fine to carry a never-needed extra layer (Patagonia R3), a hot drink. cold drink a few hand warmers and couple glove options. Happy with the pack. For hands ultimately the Black Diamond Access Mitt was fine. Went with just a Montane Flux jacket – again enough while skiing.

Look forward to seeing more snow this year and a couple more mountains.

The dark object in the middle of the picture is the Freedom Tower minus electricity. The walk down from the 22nd floor of my apartment was memorable. The walk back up more so. Hurricane Sandy lived up to the hyperbole spewing from the TV.

I can only imagine how the unfortunate folks closer to the sea felt. There was a point in the storm where it became apparent that the warnings were actually understated and that this one was more than we prepared for. And somehow in its aftermath the City was different as well. After 9/11 there was a feeling of camaraderie in the City, but the jostling bordering on violence on Gas Lines or even at the supermarket showed that somehow we were different as well.

In 2011 downtown was closed and here in 2012 it may have well been. We were in the dark for just five days, and we left after two. We found hotel rooms in New Jersey but those long lines for gas became a troubling sight. Sure we all need gas if we’re driving but I think they were driven more out of anxiety than need. And while I still can not place a finger on what exactly makes 2012 so different than 2001, I know, and I think we all know that “order” was nervously close to disorder. Troubling.

Took a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday morning(Oct 20th) while out running. I guess this looks familiar to anyone who has spent time in San Francisco, but here it’s pretty unusual. In fact most people who live here have never seen anything like it.

The local radio station (WBLS) re-posted from my Facebook page and virality ensued. Ran up the ’shares’ on FB. Wish I had better camera or took more time with the shot but knew RunKeeper was ticking on an on. Will be interesting to see if we get more weather no one has really seen…

Hey, how does that work? When referring to the technology that surrounds us the gap between that question and the answer has never been wider. We know how to turn on an iPhone, but beyond that is knowledge that few people can claim. Pictured above: Butler Library at Columbia University.

Except of course for the legions of programmers and engineers who are required to create and maintain the ever-expanding universe of what was once tech, and is now ubiquitous. It’s our life.

So jumped back to Columbia, Java, still early. Challenging on several levels from balancing family, work and studying to just outright intellectually challenging.

System.out.println{“Will report back on this….”);

Not enough beach days in life. Long Beach (NY) is west of some of the big name Long Island beaches like Jones, but for all purposes I can think of it works pretty good. I suppose parking can be an issue, but we were literally steps away from the beach

when me plus the littler Pasmore headed out to meet a friend and his son (little Pasmore on left in picture). Was perfect; sand, water, sun, company, perfect.Thinking about trying one of the lake/beaches upstate — stopped by Lake Welch way after hours and it looked serene, inviting and terrific, but the comments on Yelp were a bit less inviting. That was on way back from Fahnestock which is a solid 45 minutes further upstate but seemed about as un-pristine as Welch. Result, sticking to Long Island till I hear different. Couple more beach days before autumn spins into NYC.

I considered a bunch of tents when my wife opted in for a quick camping trip. One of my favorite sites is Hiking in Finland which extols the virtues of Ultra-Light (UL) backpacking. I went in the opposite direction with a Kodiak canvas tent.

While I love the site Hiking in Finland, am equally focused on one of my favorite magazines Overland Journal which is not so fixated on weight. In fact, generally the opposite. The vehicles featured in Overland are very -nearly tank-like and comfort is usually pretty high on the list in the edit.

As this was a car camping trip, with my wife, the primary decision was the tent. I have a Marmot 2 person tent that works okay for my son and I and is a good 3 season backpacking option. But we were driving in. Inspired by Overland Journal I decided to go with canvas as opposed to the plastic/nylon diaspora. The Kodiak 10 x 14 is roughly 100 lbs so this isn’t getting far from the vehicle.

Will come back to this post to expound a bit, but bottom line is definitely happy with the purchase. Bought it from Cabela’s after a conversation with customer service at Kodiak. We talked about the 10 x 10 versus the 10 x 14 — he had the larger one, and by the end of the conversation I agreed that if you’re going in for a “family” tent may as well go big. No regrets and great advice.

The tent went up in about 1/2 hour. There are something like 14 stakes, and securing those properly alone takes a moment. I watched a few YouTube videos which are helpful, but don’t really make perfect sense until you set this up for yourself. It’s not complicated in any way. Would still take 20 minutes at least if you’re not rushing, and you shouldn’t, as getting the stakes in properly should take some focused attention, and getting the attached awning on the 10 x 14 takes just a couple of minutes as well.

Will come back to all of this but tent is great. On the table in the picture is a Snow Peak Baja Burner stove. Give this a high recommendation as well. Drawbacks being that it is not light, doesn’t have an integrated wind shield and only one burner. Pluses are that you can add this to a Snow Peak table, the stove is stainless unlike most stoves in the Primus, Coleman vein, and stainless just cleans up better and is more durable. Snow Peak is bombproof and as long as you’re not hiking with it is great.

That’s it. Impressed with the Kodiak from zippers to floor — and even the price for what you get. Very few products built like this nowadays. Just don’t try and carry it too far.