That Mad Accursed River

I'd love to go do this, as John Milligan says, before I don't.

There are problems with that: I tend to fall out of boats. A lot. My wife Michelle says she'll go with me, but only in a complete body wetsuit with a plug-in heater.

I do have one thing going for me: I can pass the Ed Norton Test necessary to get a job alongside him in the sewers: I can float. So maybe, just maybe -- when the kids are older, our oldest in is Scouts and the Scouts want to go do this -- I'll get to go.

Until then, I'll live vicariously through Alan Murray's wonderful story and photographs on the adventure he, John, Mike and others had rafting down the Snake River in Wyoming. You can read the story and see his photos here. Enjoy.

Uncharted, meet Android

From what I hear, smartphones are all the rage. They’re the latest thing. They’re – I think the word is – keen.

I’ll tie an onion to my belt and take your word for it. And John Milligan’s. He successfully used his Android smartphone to take a photo and upload it to his personal profile at www.uncharted.net.

Big deal, you say. Folks have been doing similar things since the time we called nickels bees and could say nonsensical things like “Gimme five bees for a quarter.”

But this is significant.

We want our Explorers to use our website through a mobile world. Why be tethered to a desk to make an update to your profile, upload a photo, or even a story, if you’re good at touchscreen or itty-bitty keyboard typing? We expect our Explorers are mobile now, and will only get more mobile as the future unfolds.

John’s shown us it can be done. Huzzah for him, I say. He makes me want to replace our circa 2001 T-Mobile cameraless cell phone with that nifty little bowling game on it for something newer. Tell me, do they make a smartphone with dials now? I like to make sparks when I place a call . . .