This is a slideshow my fiance made about our March 2010 camping trip to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

click here

I have completed my Social Media Plan! I hope to institute this plan to promote Hiking Steve as the Texas outdoors information resource, and increase the public profile of my personal brand. I will use my blog, Twitter, Flickr, and email newsletters to connect with my audience, and create a community of like-minded individuals who wish to advocate for and be stewards of our environment. I hope to partner with organizations such as the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance and REI to create lasting connections and cooperate to achieve our similar goals.

For my Social Media class I have been given an assignment to build a social media strategy. In the coming week I will post the plan in detail. I am focusing on my personal brand, promoting my blog, my knowledge of the content, and my writing skills. More updates to come…

Here is a quick little video of my new container garden. My landlord doesn’t allow in ground gardens, so we went with these containers. We have a Celebrity Tomato plant, 4 jalapenos, 2 strawberries, a tomatillo, and an acorn squash. I am no expert gardener by any means, but these are looking really good. I don’t think it is very hard with all the beautiful Texas Spring weather we have been having. I will be posting updates on the progress. Also Meagan and I are making a trip out to Poteet tomorrow for the Strawberry Festival, post coming soon….

Here are a few pictures from my first camping trip of 2010. Beautiful early Spring trip to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

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I found the Wired Magazine Great Wall of Facebook a very interesting story. When Facebook first came along, I never pictured it as being something that would compete with Google. I just thought that they did different things. But as they have evolved and my understanding of what they do, and plan to do-I realize that they are in very direct competition for control of the direction of traffic in the internet. Google is more information based, maybe seen as a more reliable source of information. However Facebook has information that Google just doesn’t have. Facebook has personal information about individuals that isn’t openly shared in this way anywhere else.
These two behemoth companies will continue to battle for the edge, and to be the first to create the next big thing. I believe whoever can obtain the most information about users of the internet without creating an outcry over privacy concerns will have the advantage–Whichever company can use it’s “People Power” to create, innovate, and steer the world in a new direction will be victorious.

The internet has changed the way the world does business. We once operated in an economy where good became more expensive over time, however now we are transitioning to an economy where things are becoming cheaper and the internet is driving this revolution. Through open source, the blogosphere, and things like this information is being user-generated and shared for free.

“The Web is all about scale, finding ways to attract the most users for centralized resources, spreading those costs over larger and larger audiences as the technology gets more and more capable.”

While devastating the bubble that the dot com industry went through sort of forged it in fire. Hundreds if not thousands of unthoughtful useless startups emerged in the buildup and the bubble bursting purged the market of these underperformers. The companies that remain have become a part of our everyday life. While everything companies like Google offer may be free to us-the end user- Google is gaining infinite wealth through information about us and our habits.

For my Social Media class, we had to design an Iphone app. Unfortunately my artistic skills are sadly lacking, but I gave it a shot. My app would help it’s users locate places to hike in the area. You would have the option of a “quick fix” day trip or an overnight. Based on your choices the application would display a list of locations near you with all the pertinent details.

Yesterday’s weather was more than welcome after the weeks of rain and cold. I was fortunate enough to have the day off, so I couldn’t bear to stay inside all day. So to get my legs stretched out I took a short trip out to the John J. Stokes Sr. San Marcos River Park. The park is located on the San Marcos River off of County Road 299 also known as Cape Road. You can find directions to the park here. You will hear the park called by many names here in San Marcos. Some call it Stokes Park; it is officially named the John J. Stokes Sr. San Marcos River Park. Yet another name it goes by, and the one I am most familiar with is Thompson Islands. The park is nestled amongst a system of channels that were diverted from the San Marcos River to power a mill built in 1850. The Historical marker near the entrance to the park states-

“William A. Thompson brought his family and slaves to Texas from Louisiana in 1850. They established plantations in Caldwell and Hays counties. With slave labor, the family built a mill on the San Marcos River near this site. Construction and operation of the mill resulted in the creation of three land masses in the river channel which became known as Thompson’s Islands. The land remained in the family for generations, and the mill, which provided power for local lumber operations and a cotton gin, became an important element in the area’s economy.”

Another historical marker located nearby at Conway and River Road marks the sight of the Thompson’s Island Homeplace, it states-

“Dr. William Alexander Thompson (1803-1879) made an agreement with neighbors in 1850 to use the San Marcos River for irrigation and as a source of energy. He and his sons William A. and James used slave labor to build a gristmill, sawmill and cotton gin. The land masses formed by digging a ditch for the waterwheel and a sluiceway from the river were called “Thompson Islands.” The Thompsons directed the business until 1911 when John Matthew Cape (1861-1933) bought the mill. The use of electricity in 1942 ended the mill’s need for water power.”

Looking for more information about the Thompson family I found another historical marker listed on the Texas Historical Commission website marking the sight of the Thompson Plantations. It does not have a location listed so I am not sure exactly where the marker is located, but it states-

“Part of the Thomas G. McGehee land grant of 1835, this site was the hub of the four Thompson plantations. Confederate veteran William A. Thompson (1836-1913) assembled the adjacent parcels of land, which he later divided among his four sons. He also ran a sawmill, gristmill, and cotton gin in this vicinity. This house was built in 1898-99 and occupied by William H. Thompson (1876-1948) while he managed his father’s property. The fields were devoted to cotton until the decline of that crop in the 1920s. Part of the acreage was then leased to the U.S. Air Force for flight training.”

This is what I find really interesting about this park. Not only is it a beautiful piece of property it is also steeped with history. Hiking around the park you can see the remnants of the machinery used to operate the mill abandoned scattered around the river bottom. Make sure when you visit to explore the park on both sides of Cape Road. The hiking is extremely easy with nice well-beaten trails and even terrain. The park is not too large, and can easily be hiked in entirety in an afternoon. In the summer when the weather is warmer it is fun to swim across the channels and explore the three islands created by the mill. However take caution as the currents can be dangerous. The river is flowing alot faster now than it has in recent history so I would take extra precautions before plunging in around rapids and submerged structures. There are plenty of areas to swim and lounge on the banks of the river. There are even a few rope swings along the banks of the river. The area is also full of wildlife. On my trip I saw Cardinals, Blue Jays, Mockingbirds, a Great Blue Heron, turtles, and squirrels. Weekdays before the schools get out are the best time to come as it gets pretty crowded on the weekend afternoons.
My complaint is the state of the park. It is not maintained to the level I feel it should be. It is not only an important natural area, it is rich in history. Slaves toiled away digging the channels by hand to harness the power of the river. Trees from the area were brought to be milled into lumber to build the beautiful historical homes in San Marcos. The people that owned the mill were amongst the first families of Texas. The machinery and remnants of the mill are scattered about the park slowly deteriorating back into the earth. The city should recognize this treasure rotting away in their city. It is absolutely a piece of San Marcos history. The trails are not marked-there is no mention along the trails of the slaves forced to toil away, the importance of the mill to develop San Marcos, or the amazing engineering that went into harnessing the river’s power. I think the city should remove the machinery, preserve it, and place it in a museum. They could build a great interpretive trail around the existing structures and channels of the old mill creating an attraction for history buffs like myself. They could use the rapids and waterfalls created to build a great boating rapid (i.e. Rio Vista). It could and should be a San Marcos treasure. If you do go visit the park keep in mind the history and the importance of the sight to early San Marcos. On my hike, I noticed a couple of African-American men fishing on the banks of one of the mill channels. I couldn’t help but wonder if they knew how the very concrete they sat on got there. Did they know their ancestors were forced to dig these channels by hand and construct this old mill?

Part of the channel wall

entrance to upstream side

just upstream of the waterfal

top of the waterfall

old mill gears

old mill gears

shaft that was driven by water to turn the mill

waterfall-would make a great boating attraction

wishing I was on a canoe

waterfall

one of the mill channels

nice wide trail

rope swing!

you can see some old machinery in the background

nice well-beaten trails

look at the moss growing on his back

No matter what anyone says, Apple and Microsoft are both great American companies. I don’t believe it is one or the other, I think they do different things, and can coexist peacefully and at the same time remain prosperous. One thing I find interesting is, before Gates retired, he was viewed as the money-hungry ruthless CEO, and Jobs was portrayed as the artist-not worried about money or competition just the product. Now that Gates has changed his occupation to a full-time philanthropist these roles have appeared to swap. Gates’ charity, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is THE largest transparently run private charitable foundation in the world. Jobs with his crass attitude, and flashy presentations is beginning to look like the money-hungry CEO. I do not think the argument that Jobs is more concerned with advancing technology then making money is correct. Take the upcoming iPad. Not only is this a really poorly named product-it doesn’t do anything new. When describing the iPad Jobs keep using words like magical-What it really is, is possibly magical for Apple stock. As pointed out by Daniel Lyons in his Newsweek article “In iPad We Trust” (http://tinyurl.com/ybbyrzs) “what Jobs is really try to do is to replace the personal computer with a closed appliance that runs software only from Apple’s online App Store. So instead of selling you a laptop and never hearing from you again, Apple gets an ongoing revenue stream with iPad as you keep downloading more apps.” It sounds like a magical way for Apple to make money. Jobs is beginning to look like more and more of the Bill Gates of yesteryear. I think the points brought up by Leander Kahney way back in January of 2006 in the article Jobs vs. Gates in Wired Magazine (http://tinyurl.com/yull9q) are relevant here. Gates has always been viewed as the villain, and Jobs as the saintly computer maker. Kahney argues that these roles have reversed, “It’s Gates who’s making a dent in the universe, and Jobs who’s taking on the role of single-minded capitalist, seemingly oblivious to the broader needs of society.” Simplified Gates publicly gives billions to charity-Jobs pubicly gives none-in fact he doesn’t engage in cultural issues at all it seems. When it comes to their products though Gates makes the cheap, useful Ford Taurus, and Jobs makes the aesthetically appealing, flashy(no pun intended), souped up Ferrari. Take your pick, they will both get you to the grocery store.