Author: Greg Boone
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2024 Total Eclipse cartography
It’s no secret I’m on a maps kick. I’m constantly sketching cool maps I want to make or GIS and scene design skills I want to develop. I also got really interested in the upcoming solar eclipse that will cross the North American continent 2,830 miles from Mazatlan, Mexico to Gander, Canada and some 43.3…
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Books of 2023
I read some great books again last year, and now that we’re a solid six weeks into the new one I figured it was about time I stopped tinkering and published this post including some authors I got to know last year and some who were brand new to me. I also did not engage…
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Open Source Cartography
During my sabbatical, I came upon a podcast called Very Expensive Maps by way of Jason Kottke. It’s hosted by Evan Applegate, cartographer who talks to better cartographers.” It quickly landed among my favorite must-listen-to podcasts alongside Las Culturistas, How Did This Get Made, and The New Bazaar. The first episode I listened to on…
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A few observations on the European urban environment
There’s a lot of wistful mythologizing that happens among certain Americans about European road design and land use. It’s easy to only remember the things that were really rad about European streets once back stateside, and to assume it’s always been this way. It’s also easy to assume we can quickly update our urban environments…
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The end of the Summer of Desktop Linux
My sabbatical draws to a close and with it my dependence on computers owned by me and me alone. Since Automattic is, with little exception, a Mac shop going back to work means this is probably the last post I’ll write from my Raspberry Pi for a while. It’s a bittersweet ending because, despite the…
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Rock Island State Park
A few things to know about Rock Island State Park: Rock Island State Park lies a mile north of Jackson Harbor, which form a narrow and often perilous strait between them that connects Green Bay with the rest of Lake Michigan. The ferry to Rock Island runs most days between Memorial Day and Indigenous People’s…
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20 miles of Washington Island
Despite a cold rainy start that had me questioning my decision, the day turned into a cool, relaxing day on the island filled with plenty of biking. I managed to catch most of the main attractions, at least the ones I was most interested in seeing. When I added up the mileage, I’d done about…
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Washington Island by bike
Yesterday, I drove up to the very tip of Door County to hop on the Washington Island ferry and cross Death’s Door for the first time. I’ll spend two nights here at the Jackson Harbor Inn, about 8 miles from the ferry terminal, and adjacent to the Karfi ferry to Rock Island State Park, Wisconsin’s…
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Solo-trip planning
I haven’t done a truly solo trip in a long time; maybe never? The last time I can remember traveling without friends or family outside of a work trip was in 2011 when I went to Pécs after my grandpa died. I left on a Thursday and took a long weekend. Even on this trip,…
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Five years at Automattic: A sabbatical
Every employee earns a sabbatical at Automattic after they have five years tenure under their belt. It’s a benefit that was almost unbelievable when I started there five and a half years ago, and continued to be even as I saw team member after team member before me start and return from theirs. I think…
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Radio Player: Alexa without all the skills
“Hey Siri, play Radio Milwaukee.” “Hey Alexa, play WUWM.” It may be hard for some folks to remember what it was like to play a web stream before these home assistants existed. For people who own such a device they close the cumbersome gaps involved with finding and playing your favorite radio station on decent…