(or: The Vision Thing)
Who?
Jeff Morrison, Iowa native, road geek, history geek, geography geek (Been there, done that, got the National Geography Bee T-shirts and Jeopardy pen but not the call), Mac user, Titanic buff, grammar stickler.
What?
In the early 2000s, with the advent of digital cameras and easy Internet publishing, those of us with an interest in highways and poring over old atlases found out we weren’t alone. Iowa Highway Ends is one of many state sites that branch off from AARoads’ Interstate equivalent and Dale Sanderson’s US Highway Ends.
Why?
Because, as PBS used to be fond of asking, “If (I) don’t do it, who will?” In some of the areas besides the main Highway Ends site, I saw a need for a single page or page set for compilations of information, if for no one else but myself. Besides, once you get good photos of a location, there are fewer things to do to keep updated, so I branched off into the related field of Iowa geography. That led to related fields about other things about this state.
When? Where?
I’ve had an account on Angelfire since 1997. However, I didn’t do much with it beyond a few basic pages. In 2001, though, I saw that no one had created a page with Iowa highway photos. Jason Hancock had the histories, and I picked up the other end, so to speak.
As the decade went on, and the photo collection got bigger, I started using Apple’s iDisk service to host images. (I’ve been using iTools since it was free.) Apple changed the name a couple of times and started charging, but the service worked, and I eventually moved everything over in 2010.
But the Internet does not stand still. While I was content with the “digital hub,” everyone else has started to push “the cloud.” And so, Apple put an expiration date on the second address of Iowa Highway Ends. Which brings us here. Eventually.
How?
Hand-coding and WYSIWYG HTML editors. Now, in at least some areas, I’m trying to drag the site and my skills into the 21st century.
At least three generations of digital cameras and GraphicConverter.
What the blog is
A dynamic and, hopefully, updated-more-often version of the updates page I didn’t touch much. It’ll also be a repository for news articles about Iowa highways, school districts, and other things that may catch my eye.
What the blog is not
While it will have entries about and links to things I’m interested in, the blog is not going to be very personal. (Ed: I lied. It depends on your definition of “very”.) It’s not going to be about political opinions. Any views expressed here are mine alone and not those of my past, present, or future employers. (Don’t bother looking for a Facebook link. I’m not there, for multiple reasons.)
Page created 6/30/11; last updated 5/17/23