Ben's Journal

Last year, I realized I could brush up my map and compass skills by printing out a local topo map and using it to explore my neighb...

I've shared why I carry a backup phone , and the plan I use to power it . Now comes the fun part: talking about the device ...

I like carrying a backup phone . While the phone handset gets all the glory, I realized that without a cell plan my little backup pho...

Here's my top five reasons I carry an itty bitty backup cell phone : 1. To find my 'main' phone. In that moment of...

One sign that I've been completely sucked into a story is when the plot starts to influence my IRL mood. This is where I found my...

Below is a script that combines the USGS Product API and Google's Geolocation API to make a shell script to retrieve topo ...

We recently leased a Mazda CX-5. While it surprised us with it's comprehensive feature set (heads up display, baby!), it was missin...

Every so often I find that I want to access a Micro SD card from within Linux on my Windows WSL2 setup. I put the card in my laptop a...

If there's a better way to start a year than with a New Years Day Hike , I surely haven't found it. The weather cooperate...

While I enjoyed listening Gavin De Becker's The Gift Of Fear , I'm fairly certain Shira didn't appreciate it nearly as ...

This post is part of a series on creating and using local printed maps. Start here . Hitting print on a USGS 7.5 minute...