Nate Shivar

Hmm. No Taglines Here.

Hidden Urban Trails | Riverbend Rd. Athens, GA Edition

by

The Entrance To A Hidden Urban Trail Off Riverbend Rd

The Really Sketchy Entrance

I love the idea that even in the most urban areas – there are still really random trails to explore and use.

I’ve lived in the Riverbend Rd area of Athens, GA for 4 years – and only last week did I stumble across this really cool and useful trail up and down Riverbend Rd.

It runs parallel to the Athens Bypass and Riverbend Rd (which is super-hilly). The trail itself is quite narrow and rooty – but in good enough shape to run on. It’s well-shaded and is way better than trying to run on Riverbend – which might be possibly one of the Top 10 Worst Places to run in Athens, GA.

Here’s a Google map and photos from along the way… [Read more…]

How I Learned HTML and CSS Through Immersion (with no books, courses, or classes)

by

I took 4 years of college level Spanish.

I could do 21 different verb conjugations – but never came as close to feeling proficient in Spanish as I did after spending a week in Guatemala.

Language is all about usage and immersion – and I’ve learned that computer languages are no different.

After years of occasionally picking through a Dummies guide or looking at web design classes – I stumbled on a method of learning that has made me fully proficient in HTML and CSS (languages that produce web pages in browsers) in just a few months.

Wanna see more? [Read more…]

First Marathon Observations

by

Atlanta Centennial Park

Centennial Park

Back on March 18th I ran the Georgia Marathon. It was my first marathon – and only my second long-distance race over 5k. Here’s a list of what I learned from a first marathon… [Read more…]

5 Reasons To Start Biking For Transportation

by

Bike Saves You Money

Exactly Right.

I’ve been commuting around Athens, GA via bike for 3 years now.

It all started with biking the .75 miles to work and back, and has slowly expanded to biking pretty much everywhere within a 6 mile radius.

Here’s several reasons why I’ve kept it up – despite the Georgia heat, the Athens hills, and general vulnerability of cycling.

[Read more…]

4 Reasons To Use Panoramio – Google’s Most Unloved Product

by

Panoramio Logo

Panoramio Is Awesome

So there are thousands of photo-sharing services out there – and I’ve used my fair share.

Instagram. Flickr. Photobucket. Shutterfly. Picasa. And lately, Pinterest. They are all either mainstays or really hot right now.

Panoramio is different – even if unloved by the masses or by Google (it’s owner, who hasn’t even integrated it with Google Dashboard).

It’s focused around landscape photography and there’s several reasons why even though it’s not hot, not huge, and not loved – you should at least check in on it once in a while. Here’s why. [Read more…]

5 Reasons Why People Who Love Social Media Should Deactivate Facebook

by

I hate Facebook!Yes, because of network effects, Facebook keeps getting more valuable every time it adds another person to its 800 million users and another website to its Social Graph.

But every free social network dies – and it’s time to move on to the next one (as I did in December). Here’s why. [edit 3/23/2011 I reactivated Facebook primarily for business reasons, but found a way to strip the profile down to nothing via Don Caprio. The idea still stands in my mind] [Read more…]