Mike Hanson has been plotting this particular course for over two years now, and on March 5, 2010 he's expecting to put his best foot forward, and into the history books, as the first blind hiker to navigate the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail with only his cane and voice-enabled GPS system. "I want to show the independence of people with disabilities," he said. A... Read Moreccompanied by a videographer who is helping document the trip, not help him, Hanson plans to demonstrate how blind people can be independent and that their abilities are underrated by the general public. Progress, for Mike, is measured by feeling his way along the trail by tapping his cane thousands of times per mile to navigate the notorious trail. Utilizing the technology that everyone else has on the trail, he has waypoints pre-programmed into his GPS - focusing on road crossings, trail shelters and huts, streams and peaks. We here at VentureThere wish Mike the best of luck on his adventure. And if you live somewhere along the trail, keep checking his blog to see when and where he is. Personally, I hope to meet him on the trail

The North Face athlete Renan "Naner" Ozturk took some time out of his freakishly-busy schedule to summarize the year. It's a busy, fun year. Thanks for sharing. TNF expeditions year in review from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

On February 13 and 14, more than 3,000 mountain bikers, volunteers and friends dodged cactus and wash crossings for 24 hours in one of the biggest endurance events in America. Now in its 11th year, the Kona Bikes 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo has defined the Southwestern racing experience for international competitors who are happy to soak up some sunshine (and moonshine... Read More) in the desert one hour north of Tucson, Arizona. Among the top solo competitors were British hardman Anthony White and singlespeeder Michael Melley, the only two individuals to rack up 17 laps around the 16-mile course. Windy Marks led the women's solo race with 13 laps, and singlespeed goddess Karen Rishel was only 15 minutes behind. In the team relay categories, the hottest battle played out between Team Topeak-Ergon and the Hippie Ninjas of Stan's World. The co-ed teams raced day and night, and in the end it was the Hippie Ninjas who pedaled to victory with 22 laps. On hand was Stan "the NoTubes Man" Koziatek himself, who was honored with the dedication award for his contributions to the mountain biking industry. "Stan has single

Causing quite a stir on the green front Sunday, Bloom Energy unveiled their fuel cell technology that's intended to replace the grid. Sadly, the Bloom Box doesn't play mix tapes, but it can power your blu-ray. Boxes have been powering a Google data center for 18 months, so your last search was partially carbon neutral. As was your last eBay score, 15% of thei... Read Morer campus runs on five industrial Bloom Box cubes. It's pretty simple, even if you're not a rocket scientist: a constant cycle of fuel combining with oxygen to create electricity. Originally intended to create oxygen for NASA on Mars, founder and CEO K.R. Sridhar reversed the flow of oxygen for the Earthly version. Going from blow to suck, methane or other hydrocarbons (natural gas) are fed into the cell and heated to 1,000 degrees Celsius. One fuel cell powers one light bulb. Average American house? You're looking at two stacks. How about your neighborhood Starbucks? 64 stacks. In the first nine months, eBay has cut energy costs by $100,000. With business units currently costing $700,000 to $800,000 (government subsidies and i

Some 22 hours after Shaun White claimed gold, the 12 finalists in the women's edition began dropping in - and falling left and right. Whether it was fatigue, deteriorating conditions, or some inevitable cosmic letdown after the men's comp high (am I the only one who thinks it'd be more exciting to run the women before the men?), the girls struggled to stay upright. Th... Read Moree lack of a dominant first-round run left the outcome in question till the very end. Here's what stood out to one grandstand-sitting observer. 1. Rooting for snowboarders is...hard. | The crowd dressed loud and proud for the occasion--lots of patriotic hats, jackets, flags, and more than one inflatable kangaroo--with the most vocal members being those supporting Canada, Australia, and the U.S. Unfortunately, they often found themselves cheering loudly for their favorites, groaning as they ate snow halfway down the run, then waiting a respectful few seconds before whooping just as loudly when the girls got back to their feet. 2. Torah Bright is one tough Aussie. I don't know much about Bright besides the fact that she's Mormon, she's s

After reveling in a loaded collaboration during Burlington's South End Art Hop last summer, Select Design and Montanaro Gallery aligned creative forces once again to provide a winter installment and a cure for us cabin-fever'd Vermonters. They figured, "Why should we only do this fun stuff once a year?" Couldn't agree with you more, once is never enough. Tit... Read Moreled 'Measuring and Collecting,' curator Michael Montanaro organized a top shelf display of modern contemporary artwork from some of today's most progressive artistic talents in the United States. Led by creative director Chris Webster, Select Design's extended brick and mortar lobby was aptly jammed with pieces from private and public collections. The month-long exhibit features works from Dave Kinsey, Doze Green, John Crash Matos, Shepard Fairey, Phil Frost, Jesse Reno, Randy Noborikawa, Mikey Welsh, Andrew Jacob, Justin 'Skr!bner' Pilotte, Clark Derbes, and Andrew Sloan. The opening reception was definitely the place to be in the South End, as evident in the flowing scene of Nor'East lifers, industry heads and creative charact