Tag Archives: atlanta

Snowpocalypse to come?

Ready for the snow to head our way. It’s just barely entered the state (far to the Southwest), but should be here this evening. Too bad the forecast says it will switch over to sleet/freezing rain sooner, limiting accumulation. Hope folks stay safe, especially if the storm produces more ice than snow – as that’s a real killer on roads, powerlines, etc. Ready to start marinating short ribs to cook tomorrow – cause comfort food simmering most of the day is always the proper companion to a snowy day! Check my webcam here for current conditions!

Hot Inside the Perimeter

So many of my friends ask me – what the hell is that foursquare/gowalla/brightkite thing I see popping up on your Facebook, Twitter or blog feeds. Well, for those not in the know, it’s possibly the next big thing (or possibly just annoying). Anyway, these are all so-called LBS or Location-Based Services. These services are all variations on the idea of ‘checking in’ to physical locations via a GPS-enabled mobile device to let your friends know what you are up to. Some, like Gowalla, involve a game of sorts, where virtual objects are available for pickup when you check in, rather like a virtual version of Geocaching. Gowalla ran a scavenger hunt in December for actual prizes – t-shirts, $10 iTunes gift cards etc – and I managed to find an iTunes card on my last trip to NYC, although I’m still waiting for the card to arrive. Anyway, as seen above, there is this spiffy site Wheredoyougo that creates a heatmap of your check-ins by using the Foursquare APIs along with Google maps. No surprise there that I pretty much stay ITP (or at the airport, ahem). There’s also a cluster of activity up on Buford Highway where I drag the family to get our ethnic on as frequently as possible ;-).

Thundersnow in Atlanta


I think it’s been some twenty years since I actually experienced that rare phenonmenon known as ‘thundersnow.’ But that’s just what we had today in Atlanta. Aside from it being March, and that we haven’t had an accumulating snowfall in at least four+ years, the thundersnow was icing on the cake. It’s so eerie the way the sound is muffled by the thick, heavy snow. I’ll never forget a nighttime storm in Boston years ago when I was out photowalking, and saw lightning illuminating the inside of the snow clouds. Amazing. Don’t expect this storm to have enough legs to make it to the evening hours here – it reportedly is going to even dust my hometown of Savannah after midnight tonight. Craziness.

Photos above are from a brief walk around Grant Park with Sam this afternoon. Both his shoes and my own were quickly soaked through from the copious amounts of slushy mix on the ground. Sam (and dad) enjoyed it immensely.