Ward Maps [Allentown and Bethlehem]

One of my job functions requires me to know which ward of a city an address falls within. After obtaining a few paper maps I decided that there might be some random other person in the universe looking for a ward map for Allentown, PA... so I mapped it all out in Google Maps! Now I can easily search for an address, load my custom map overlay, and find the ward. :) While this originated because of my job, it very quickly became more hobby-related than work-related. :-P


View Larger Map

Notice the odd shape of Ward 17! Crazy!
And I'd really like to know what is the deal with Ward 0, which is one triangular block within Ward 8. Any ideas?

Here's one I put together for Bethlehem:


View Larger Map

Yay :)

Village of Burnt Cabins

Pennsylvania is known for having some peculiar municipality names, probably the most famous of which is Intercourse, PA. But this blog isn't about Intercourse. It's about Burnt Cabins.

Yep, that's right - Burnt Cabins, PA. I've had the distinct pleasure of passing through this place several times, the most recent of which I was able to take this picture (from a vehicle moving 40MPH)!


[from my old flickr free account shhh.]

So... where exactly is this place?

It's in Fulton County, PA! More specifically (from Wikipedia), "it's an unincorporated community in Dublin Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania, at the foot of Tuscarora Mountain. It contains U.S. Route 522 and I-76."
And since no one really cares where Fulton County is, here is a map:


[If you're reading this on Facebook: The map doesn't import correctly, so click "View Original Post" at the bottom to get to the actual blog.]

Fulton County is also the home of Licking Creek Township, which is another awesome PA place name.

So... why is it called Burnt Cabins?

Around 1750 settlers moved into the area and Native Americans were less than thrilled about it since they still owned the land. They voiced complaints to the Provincial powers-that-be, and action was taken in order to keep the peace. The settlers were labeled as trespassers, told to vacate, and their homes were then burned to the ground.

Today there isn't much in Burnt Cabins, but there is a still-functional historic grist mill, a Pennsylvania Historical Marker, and some trees.

For more information, check out these sites:

• Euro-Americans Begin To Settle In Bedford County
• Pennsylvania Land Records - A History and Guide for Research, Pg 62

Photo Recovery

Whether you've accidentally deleted files or you have a corrupt drive or memory card, most people eventually find a need for file recovery software.

At first glance you'll find TONS of shady software with iffy guarantees about what they'll actually recover (not to mention a pricetag that you'd probably rather ignore). Being a fan of open source software, the photo program I tried was PhotoRec. Here's what happened:

• Background info: I accidentally deleted about 25 photos on a 1GB SD card.
  
• PhotoRec: I installed and ran PhotoRec, which recovered all 25 photos very quickly. I quit the process after I saw it had recovered about 40 files, but it was clearly going to keep recovering old data from the card. Impressive!
• Here is one of the photos I recovered, taken by my friend Jen:

Seeing how well the recovery went on this card, I decided to put PhotoRec to the test.

• Background info: An 8GB CF card that I have has been less than reliable. About two months ago it appeared to be working fine and I took over 500 photos on it while on a trip in UT/AZ/NV... only to get home and not have my computer recognize a single file on the card. All 500+ were corrupt. FREAK OUT. At this point, I just REALLY wanted those photos, so I headed over to a local camera store and shelled out $100 for them to do a data recovery. They were able to recover all of the files from my trip, as well as a few from before my previous format. Now $100 poorer, there was much rejoicing for actually having those photos.
• Also note: After their file recovery, the store formatted the card and returned it to me.
  
• PhotoRec: I decided to get that CF card out of retirement to try PhotoRec. Although I didn't feel like waiting all 4 estimated hours for a full recovery, I ran it for about 30 minutes and was impressed with the results. It recovered photos from my trip, the ones that Dan's Camera had already recovered, but what I found more impressive was that it was able to recover TONS of photos from before that trip. The card had been formatted at least twice since those photos were taken!

PhotoRec doesn't have the most intuitive user interface, but the program works very well. The download also comes with TestDisk, which looks like it could be a useful tool as well, though I have not tried it yet.

Not only does PhotoRec work well, but their logo is cool too!

Maps & Bikes

I like maps and bike rides, so why not combine the two? This is the beginning of a probably too detailed project! :)

Check out my map below, featuring bike/walking trails in the Lehigh Valley! You can click on any trail and it'll show you my comments and maybe some links. I'm also including lots of landmarks and other such notes, which will display some photos I've taken along the trail when you click the icon.

There are only a few trails right now, but that will change. Once I have this a bit more detailed and polished it will go into the forthcoming maps section of my website... but for now... it's blog time!


View Larger Map

I might expand this to include trails in Jacobsburg Park and Lake Nockamixon if I'm feeling ambitious! ...but we'll see about that later.

//EDIT//
08/26/09 - Updated to include Jacobsburg, Nockamixon, and Lock Ridge Park!

Giant Robots Taking Over Bethlehem?

Only kinda...

A scene for Transformers 2 is being filmed in/around the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel! Of course, that means it's photo time for me. Sadly, most of the robotic awesomeness is CG and thus not present... However, the lighting crew did an excellent job and the blast furnaces look awesome!



As far as I know, they're filming 4p - 7a, Mon-Thurs this coming week. And if you're Asian, they're looking for extras! If you're just walking/driving around observing or taking photos... watch out for the security guards. They like to hassle you even if you're on public property.

EDIT:
The Morning Call has two articles, and some blog has photos (scroll down to see the set).

Nearly Forgotten: Calypso Island

I was looking at Google Earth today and noticed something labeled Calypso Island in the Fountain Hill-ish area (zip code 18015). I found this interesting because Calypso Island was removed a long time ago. Anyway, the label is on Brighton St, the particular location for Pennsylvania Lines LLC, according to public records. This is the company that owns the railroad lines through there.

So, a little bit about the mostly forgotten Calypso Island! I found this on a few older maps, as well as in a book or two. LV History sums things up pretty well:

• Calypso Island was a beautiful resort located on an island in the Lehigh River near Fountain Hill. The island was named for the beautiful sea nymph in Greek Mythology by State Representative George Henry Goundie during a Fourth of July celebration in 1869. Pleasure-seekers enjoyed the thirteen acres of natural grounds and the pleasure boats of every variety which surrounded it. Illuminated water carnivals took place on summer evenings. Transportation to the island was provided by the Calypso Transportation Line. The Lehigh Valley Railroad purchased the island in 1902 and removed most of the island to use as filler for construction of its rail line.

Here is a photo of a painting from 1832, and another from 1850. These photos represent the island before the so-called 'resort' was put there.

According to the following map* from 1855, the island was referred to as Upper Island.

To aid railroad construction, the company 'removed' this island just to fill in the area between the island and its main land, thus making a more direct path for the railroad tracks. This can be seen on the following maps:

1892 Map*:

2008 2019 Map:

The island was just West of the tip of Sand Island, and is likely the reason Brighton St is so curved. In comparing the historic maps and the current map you'll also notice that almost all of the street names have been changed considerably. But the railroad track junction and Hill to Hill Bridge are the same! It is also interesting to note that the smaller islands to the East noted on the historic maps are still visible in satellite images, though apparently not notable enough to make it to most maps.

I'm sure that wasn't nearly as fun for you to read as it was for me to write. Oh well!

*These maps were found at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Virii!!

Coolest 'computer virus' I've seen in a while:


First off, you have to agree that it's a fun idea! They're marketing it as computer virus art. But what makes a virus a virus? The replication? The infection or malicious intent/outcome? The fact that the receiver doesn't really want it and receives it unexpectedly? I tend to think of this more as a cool application than as a virus. Thoughts?

Also, I know that "virii" isn't really officially accepted as the plural of virus, but I like it more than "viruses" because it's more fun. Wikipedia has this to say:

• The form virii would not have been a correct plural, since the ending -ii only occurs in the plural of masculine and feminine words ending in -ius. For instance, take radius, plural radii: the root is radi-, with the singular ending -us and the plural -i. Thus the plural virii is that of the nonexistent word virius. The form viri would also be incorrect in Latin. The ending -i is normally used for masculine or feminine nouns, not neuter ones such as virus; moreover, viri (albeit with a short i in the first syllable) is the plural of vir, and means "men."

Words are fun. :)

Happy Easter!

My usual photography + photoshop holiday card:



:)

Mashed Potatoes!

Now, everyone knows potatoes are pretty awesome. In high school a friend and I even had something we referred to as the Potato Product of the Day! Mashed potatoes are pretty cool and all, but when you add in Paul McCartney everything gets even better. This is pretty entertaining. And educational*. Educational potatoes. Who knew?!




*unless you already knew how to make mashed potatoes.

Photographers' Rights

As an amateur photographer, I always have my eyes peeled for something interesting to photograph. Sometimes people get bent out of shape when you take pictures, especially when it involves personal property, industrial sites, airports, car wrecks, etc. After a recent experience of mine, I've decided to look into what rights photographers have. I'm not a legal expert by any means, but here are some of my findings:

What you can't photograph:

• Some military locations/operations/facilities
• Anyone with a 'reasonable expectation of privacy'
  
• Example: People in their homes. Even if you're on a public street, people expect privacy in their own homes. Use your telephoto lens for wildlife, not your neighbors.

What you can photograph:

• Anything else

So that means you can photograph infrastructure, banks, items in stores, skyscrapers, airports, people in public places, etc. If you're allowed to be there, you're allowed to take photos. Authorities can question you, but they can't take your film or memory cards without a court order.

One thing to keep in mind is trespassing. You can 'legally' take photos while being illegally on someone's property. So, if you're trespassing, yeah, you're allowed to take photos... but they can press charges for trespassing. It seems that even if you're not trespassing, if you're asked to stop taking photos or to leave and you don't listen it can then be considered trespassing. I'm unclear of the legalities involved in that...

So... what photos can you publish?
You can't publish photos that:

• Project someone in a false light
  
• Captions seem to play a big role in this.
• Disclose personal information
• Example: if someone is holding a legible pill bottle... blur out the text!
• I would think that a minor's identity in a car accident might fall under this category, as well.
  

There is also the issue of misappropriation. An example of this would be using a photo for advertising without the proper releases. Libel also comes into play with projecting people in a false light. This is pretty intense stuff, so it's best to not get involved in it!

Again, I'm not a lawyer or anything fun like that, but this is what I've gathered from various sources. If any of this is incorrect... let me know!

Sources:

• Bert P Krages II, Attorney At Law: The Photographer's Right

• Legal Rights of Photographers

• Misinformation About Your Photography Rights Continues To Spread

Hardcore Cursing, Slovenian Style!

I read from a few sources that Slovenians don't have their own curse words, they just steal Serbian words. I don't know if it's actually true, as I don't speak Slovenian...

From a blog:

• "Three hundred hairy bears. It's the worst curse in Slovene. Apart maybe from `Duck on the lake' and `You are the mother of a chicken'. We don't really have any swear words in the language."

I am definitely going to start using these 'curses'! Awesome!

Anyway, I started looking all of this stuff up because, according to my Slovenian Grammy, chuntaglava = bonehead in Slovenian! This may or may not be true, as my family likes to make stuff up, especially in other languages. Glava = head. But as for that first part, who knows what it means. If it's highly offensive... oops?

My parents are apparently big fans of using foreign words that they think they know the meaning of... but don't. Example: putz [Yiddish]. Not a great thing to have little kids calling their friends! Also, I've heard that dupa [Polish] is more... strong than mom thought...

All of this entertains me.

Blu-Ray > HD-DVD! In Other News... debris!

I find it amusing that HD DVD is now dead... and being compared to Sony's Betamax. :-P Engadget offers the Top 10 Things To Do With Your Now Defunct HD DVD Player.


In news related to my previous post about the Lunar Eclipse [TONIGHT!], there might be some debris... Apparently the US picked tonight as the night to shoot down a defunct spy satellite. Perhaps debris and such will be visible from the West Coast and... parts of Canada? I'm not there, so I don't know.

While We're Talking About The Moon...

Strand is an amazing place. Many of you know the joy I encountered back in November(ish) when I found an long-out-of-print book called "Let's Speak Rusyn" for $1, thus making Strand one of my favorite places on earth. Well, today I had another adventure in Strand! I found a few cool books, but one in particular needed to be shared. It's called "The Space Tourist's Handbook". Here is an agenda laid out within this amazing book:

Sample Moon Visit Itinerary
Days 1-3 - Travel to the moon.
Days 4-5 - Arrival. Welcome glass of Moon Punch. Acclimation to low gravity. Meet and greet Moon-based support staff ("Moonies"). Short, brisk walk on lunar surface.
Day 6 - Longer Moon walk. Rock sample collecting.
Day 7 - Free day. Send email using Moon computers. Take photographs of the Moon base. Enjoy a buffet dinner with other astronauts. Indulge in savory Moon pies.
Day 8 - Daylong hike to "highlands" and other major craters.
Day 9 - Prepare for departure. Pack souvenirs. Email your photos. Visit clinic for preflight enema.
Day 10 - Departure. Return to Earth.

This is just plain silliness. And I enjoy it.

Lunar Eclipse Time!

Everyone knows eclipses are cool. Therefore everyone should be excited for next Wednesday night! There will be a total lunar eclipse on Feb 20, 2008, and it will be visible [barring crappy weather] from our own backyards in the Lehigh Valley! NASA is awesome and has an article or two telling you all about it, including a photo diagramming the timeline.

Totality begins at 10:01pm EST, and ends at 10:51, with 10:26 being the mid point of the eclipse.

I plan on trying to find a place with not too much ambient light so I can check it out, perhaps bring my telescope, and maybe try to get a cool photo or two. This is the last lunar eclipse [at least visible in North America] until 2010.

So who wants to check it out with me?!

Transliteration (Pertaining to Eastern Europe)

I'm sure most of you won't find this the least bit interesting, but... I do! And it's not like the fact that I'm a nerd is a news flash or something.

Over the past year and a half I've done a lot of genealogical research. This has led me to many documents in many languages! These languages include: Russian, Rusyn, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, German, Slovene, Polish, and Lithuanian. I don't know anything about German, Slovene, Polish or Lithuanian yet... that's for later. Anyway, most of my research has focused on my dad's family. That part of my family comes from the Rusyn areas in western Slovakia and eastern Ukraine. If you're not looking at Rusyn names... this won't be nearly as helpful, but most of these are fairly constant.

Enough background info, here's a breakdown of a few things that I find fairly common in surnames!


*The H is mostly silent in names that begin with Hr. Stick with silent and you're likely to be closer to how it's supposed to sound!
**In most Slavic languages, Г is transliterated to a G. However, in Rusyn (where names that begin with Hr are common) Г is an H, whereas Ґ is a G.
***This isn't a single letter, it's two. Therefore, no IPA pronunciation.


So, if you know me, you know my last name. If you don't... it has a silent H and a bunch of other stuff non-Eastern Bloc people don't like to pronounce. I'm hoping that this might help people understand how to pronounce fun names like mine! :-P

New blog?! And... tea!

I think I'll use this new blog for random information that I want to share. I haven't really decided yet. I like that I can log in so easily from Google. :)

If I decide to use this blog I want to create a layout for it. You don't care.

Anyway, here is a post that will not be found ANYWHERE ELSE*! Consider yourself very lucky to have come across this blog!

Today I had hyun mi nok cha for the first time in a long time. This is because I used to drink it every day and I got kind of tired of it. But it was good to have it again today, because it is really quite tasty. For those of you who don't speak Korean, [not that I know anything more than some foods and tourist phrases] hyun mi nok cha is green tea with rice.

So, to break things down for you:

• 차 = cha = tea
  
• 녹 = nok = green
  
• 현미 = hyun mi = brown rice
• One thing I've noticed in my [very minimal] studies of Korean is that there isn't much of a standard for transliteration. I've seen "hyun mi" more frequently than "hyeonmi", but I'm not sure which is correct. If you know, tell me!
  

Now, Wikipedia has an article on brown rice tea, but the tea I have is actually a combination of green tea and rice tea. I read that this began, back in the day, as a way for the lower class to make what little tea they could afford last longer. Diluting green tea with rice eventually became quite popular, even with the ruling class! I wish I could find that article so you would not think I am making this up, but no.

So now I should go accomplish something other than writing a new blog. Yay!


*This is untrue. You should still consider yourself lucky to have found this blog.