Italian soldiers with bike (Image in public domain in the United States).
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Use of bikes in the military

I didn’t know that the United States once had a bike military unit until reading a post today about the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps in Adventure Journal. This unit was based in Fort Missoula, Montana, more than a hundred years ago, but better read the original article here.

Even more curious resulted to find that a country like Switzerland kept active a bike based military regiment until as recent as 2001, while the Sri Lankan army stills uses bicycles for some units.

Going back to the American unit, there is a page with many photos in the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.

Photo Credit: The image illustrating this article shows Italian soldiers during World War I. It’s in the public domain in the United States.

 

Knowledge Shortlink

Is RVplus.com a good RV supplies store?

RV Plus (Text illustration).The  RVplus web store offers great variety of RV supplies in their pages.

I found that the company is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee; accepts all major credit cards plus PayPal and all shipping is done through FedEx (according to the website). Business reputation looks good with 218 positive reviews as from today published in eKomi.

I haven’t bought anything yet but looks like I may try this store soon and be sure that I will let you know about the outcome of any transaction.

In the meantime if anyone has any experience dealing with this RV store, please, feel free to post a comment and complement this post.

Camping Store, Recreational Vehicles Shortlink

Resources for writers and students (free online courses)

I just found two websites that can be useful if you are looking for grammatical and writing related information.

The discovery happened through a Coursera course and I wrote this post to keep the links at hand and, at the same time, share them with whoever may be interested. BTW, Do you know about Coursera? No? Hold on a second and I will explain.

The first reference website is the Purdue Online Writing Lab which provides many writing resources. The second one, the HyperGrammar section of the University of Otawa website (this one looks like a full English course).

Another interesting place is Common Craft, where you can obtain information about multiple topics in a very simple and ingenious way. They produce minimalist videos to give you a breve, direct and overall introduction to different themes. This site also offers a paid membership but at this point I haven’t read about  the benefits.

Coming back to the Coursera topic.

Coursera.org is a website that offers free virtual courses through partnerships with universities and other educational organizations. I really recommend you to take a look to this valuable learning tool.

If you fall deep for free online courses another place to visit is EDX.

Knowledge Shortlink

A sandwich recipe for the heart

Definitively I will like this sandwich, and the best part is that according to a new research it can also cut the risk of heart problems (they put the average in 30%).

I won’t go over the details of the medical study (for this you can read the article), but  follows the list of the ingredients for the tasteful sandwich.

  • Whole-wheat baguette
  • Mozzarella cheese 
  • Arugula
  • One slice of ripe tomato
  • Extra-virgin olive oil

The article advises to eat one regularly and this sandwich falls under what is popularly known as the Mediterranean Diet. Interestingly the Arugula or Salad Rocket used for this recipe is originally a native of the Mediterranean region and tend to add to the food a peppery taste.

The Mozzarella cheese  (usually white when fresh) is an original from southern Italy and its human use was first mentioned in 1570, so this cheese doesn’t have such an old history as the Pecorino that was referenced by Pliny the Elder in the first century AD.

Camping, Other Shortlink
Small air conditioner unit box.
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Potential substitute for the camper AC Unit

My camper dismountable air conditioning window unit requires to be small and light.

I use a Frigidaire AC for this purpose and it works well, but in case there is a future fail I found another unit with similar dimensions, weight, cooling power and low price: The General Electric model AEZ05LQ (specs in the GE site).

I just saw this model in Wall Mart and took a couple of pictures with the phone as a reminder.

Small air conditioner unit for camper.

A really small unit.

I didn’t found this GE unit in Amazon but the store carries  nine other compact models. One of them (and very popular with reviews) is the one I use (check photos of my own indigenous and cheap system in this post).

I can tell you that the system works and the replacement cost is very low. Even more, in some campgrounds  I’ve seen people with small windows AC units cooling their tents (beware that  condensation can create some issues).

Recreational Vehicles Shortlink

Getting ideas: Two blogs about tiny houses

I read about Tiny Houses years ago and today casually found out about a film that premieres tomorrow in the West Coast and follows the construction process through the eyes of a person without building experience.

Take a look to this movie trailer.

TINY: A Story About Living Small (Teaser Trailer) from TINY on Vimeo.

Watching this short preview I thought that campers may benefit from some ideas that are used in building tiny houses and living frugal. You can find some information in blogs such as of the one maintained by the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and the Tiny House Blog.

At the end this little houses are sort of small travel trailers with a more permanent twist.

Knowledge Shortlink
Trail in Fort Wilderness.
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Exploring shapes the brain!

And apparently there is more: ADVENTURING makes us different.

At least these are new findings published in the US Journal Science after scientists experimented with 40 identical mice.

Ulman Lindenberger, director of the Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin said that,

“When viewed from educational and psychological perspectives, the results of our experiment suggest that an enriched environment fosters the development of individuality”

So, let’s keep exploring and learning to help our neurons.

Via an article published in France24

Camping, Knowledge Shortlink

The “Cramper-Van”: Another ecological camper

If I would need to market this product the selling points would be:

  • Compact profile guarantees ability to camp almost anywhere.
  • Offers bed, table, four seats, stove and sink.
  • Savings in tag and registration.
  • Low cost of operation.
  • Ecological design.
  • Low price.

The hard sell point would be that this camper is pedal powered, so even if this may be good for your health you will need plenty of time to move from campground to campground.

Anyway, I posted before on similar curious vehicles and apparently this model is not for sale but check some photos and an article published by the Mail Online.

Recreational Vehicles Shortlink

Did the Japanese come to America before Colombus?

Via Archeological.org I found and interesting post published in the Ohio Archaeology Blog that explores the idea that Japanese Fishermen reached America five thousand years ago.

This is a very real possibility, and personally I have been a firm believer that other cultures “discovered” this continent before Colombus).

Read the article here.

Knowledge Shortlink

Good advice for setting a camp in bear country

This video comes from a documentary crew shooting in Alaska (grizzly territory), and refers specifically  to a long term base-camp.

Besides the common advice of keeping the kitchen and food storage area separated from the living and sleeping quarters in combination with the use of bear-proof containers, it’s interesting to note how they installed an electric fence around the camp (I pointed to some commercial electric fence solutions in a post from 2011).

These safety measures apparently worked very well, taking in consideration that the person mentions that more than 100 bears were wandering in the area.

I learned about this video through the Good Nature Blog  where you can learn more about the film and check the video of a bear virtually eating a GoPro camera and some others.

Very interesting stuff!

Camping, Knowledge Shortlink
trails_Jonathan-Dickinson
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National Trails Day and other outdoor activities

Next June 1 the American Hiking Society celebrates the National Trails Day with multiple outdoor events that include hikes, bike and horseback rides, paddling trips, birdwatching, geocaching and more.

For Floridians this may be a good excuse to learn about the Florida Trail Association and the Florida National Scenic Trail under the administration of the U.S, Forest Service.

But there is more to try, if you plan to be around South Florida go for the Tamiami Trail “Triathlon”, an initiative of Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and the South Florida National Parks Trust. The idea is to engage in hiking, biking, canoeing or kayaking in three different points of the area.

For all the details check this page of the NPS.

Destinations, Sports Shortlink
Video tab settings for You Tube.
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Specifications for You Tube Videos

Just a quick note to remind myself about the specs when encoding with Quicktime Player.

  • Export movie (wrapper): Quicktime 
  • Frame size: 720P (1280 x 720 pixels)
  • Codec: H264
  • Frame rate: 30 fps
  • Frame reordering: OFF
  • Audio: AAC
  • Render Audio Quality: Best
  • Select Constant Bit Rate for the audio (CBR).
  • Check Internet Streaming Fast Start.

Audio settings tab in Quicktime Pro Internet Streaming Tab

If I missed something or someone has a better method add it in a comment.

Images: Screenshots from the program I use for encoding, Quicktime Player 7.

Other Shortlink

Video Gallery: Sunset in the Glades

Two days ago my son and some friends decided to have some fun cruising the Everglades at sunset and launched the two canoes west of the Miccosukee Tribe. In the video you will see some gators splashing in the calm waters of the river of grass, many birds and bald cypress trees.

After paddling for close to three miles they decided to return with some help from the outboard motor installed in one of the canoes. I couldn’t join the party because was working…   : (

Destinations, Sports, Video Gallery Shortlink

Video Gallery: My first mud run

Mud runs are trendy now and I just ran my first one. To “document it” and show others what to expect id they are newbies like myself, I attached a Go Pro Camera to my head.

In this case was a 5K running with a swimming portion and many obstacles, all  accompanied by colorful ambushes (more details in the organizers website).

I must confess that the last time I did something like this was in my early 20s during my 3 year as a soldier. Anyway, I did better than expected and really enjoyed the run (now planning and training to repeat the experience). Just would advice to train and be sure of your health condition before signing for these type of events.

Enjoy the video and hope will give you an accurate idea.

Sports, Video Gallery Shortlink
Official Poster of the Exhibition
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New photographic exhibition in Biscayne National Park

 

A new photographic exhibition will open next June 7 at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center Gallery in Biscayne National Park. The photographer this time is Paul Marcellini and the main theme the park’s wildlife.

According to the artist “The project is dedicated to reconnecting people with the wildlife on their own doorsteps – and enriching their lives in the process.” It’s interesting to note in the technical side that the photographer used a pure white background from a portable field studio to take the images.

This show is part of the larger global Meet Your Neighbours initiative (check the link for info and great photos). If you want to explore the work of Paul Marcellini check his website.

The event looks like an interesting excuse for a trip to the park. Don’t you think?

Via: Biscayne National Park. Image Credit: Poster for the event published by Biscayne National Park | Photo: Potugues Man-o-War by Paul Marcellini. 

Destinations Shortlink

Two snapshots of Eco Pond

Follow two of my photos taken from the same vantage point in Eco Pond, Everglades National Park. The first-one is from April 2011 and the second picture is from May 2013.  Big difference in 25 months.

Eco Pond in 2011.

Eco Pond in 2013.

Photo Credit: oncamping.net

Destinations Shortlink

Germans and American fighting together in World War II?

This comes as a curiosity to me from an article published yesterday in The Daily Beast about a battle where American soldiers, French prisoners and Germans joined forces against the attack of an SS Division at the end of the war (Read World War II’s Strangest Battle: When Americans and Germans Fought Together).

Pointed by a comment also found an older page that narrates the event accompanied by some photos published by the Texas Military Forces Museum.

Everything happened in the Austrian Itter castle (click the link to see photos in Wikipedia).

Knowledge Shortlink
One of my photos of Tusayan Ruins in the Grand Canyon.
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Do you suffer of Herpetophobia?

 

Herpetophobia means fear of reptiles and if you suffer from it check the website Reptile World from Michael Shwedick. Education and knowledge can go a long way in controlling unfounded fears; what we need to do is to learn to identify the dangerous species that in the case of Florida include the coral snake, copperhead, cottonmouth or water mocassin and timber rattlesnake (also known canebrake of banded rattlesnake) and the pigmy rattlers.

Photo Credit: oncamping.net | One of my photos of the Tusayan Ruins in the Grand Canyon.

 

Knowledge Shortlink