A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
One of the most useful tools I’ve found for my recent geographic projects has been the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) from the US Geological Survey. Users can search on both foreign and domestic names and receive a list of potential hits based on that name, with a description of the geographic feature (stream, town, … Read More “Just Name the Place” »
It’s back! The websites formerly known as "Bob Jones a Go-Go" has returned. The URL is now www.nobojo.org, but the content is the same. The tagline is "A Look Inside the Wacky World of Bob Jones University," and that should give you a pretty good idea of the site’s flavor. Written by a former BJU … Read More “The Return of NoBoJo” »
St. Patrick’s Day slipped right past me this year. I didn’t listen to any Celtic music. I didn’t drink any green beer, Irish coffee, or even any Bailey’s Irish Cream. Worse yet, I didn’t even wear any green all day. There was a time in my life when such a lapse would have been unthinkable. … Read More “Missing Holidays” »
My normal breakfast is a cup of coffee and a low-fat power bar. However, once in a blue moon Laura and I like to go out for breakfast on the weekends. We fluctuate between one of the Stax places or Denny’s. This morning, it was Denny’s. There, it became evident that Denny’s blatantly encourages gluttony, … Read More “Encouraging Gluttony” »
My camera has the shakes. It’s a combination of high magnification and my cheap lenses. I’ve been experimenting with higher and higher levels of magnification, and I believe I’ve hit a limit. Even using a rock-solid tripod won’t help me with this. My Celestron C90 is listed as a f/11, 1000mm lens when used with … Read More “Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture” »
During one of my SCETV sessions this week the question came up about the various flavors of Google Earth, and which might be most appropriate. For classrooms and general use, go with the free version. Period. I can’t see why anyone who doesn’t work with GIS professionally would need anything else. Google has provided a … Read More “What Flavor of Google Earth?” »
I found two doppelgangers, right within sight of each other. First is Olympia Mills, located on the west side of Columbia. I was riding with my hosts from SCETV to lunch when we rode past, and I had to do a double-take. The design of the mill and detailing was identical to the mill that … Read More “Doppelgangers” »
I had my second day of workshops at the SCETV studios today. The schedule was the same as yesterday – two basic workshops followed by one advanced. Things went very, very smoothly. I don’t know if it was that yesterday served as a warm-up and I had hit my stride, or if it was the … Read More “SCETV Google Earth, Day Two” »
Today I spent the day working with teachers from around the state showing them how to use Google Earth in the classroom. The workshop was sponsored by SCETV, and was held in their studios in Columbia. I did two sessions of Basic Google Earth, and one of Advanced. The basic sessions went very well. It’s … Read More “SCETV and Google Earth” »
Last night we had The Glen Miller Story on TCM playing as we did some household chores. Figuring prominently in the film was the song "Pennsylvania 6-500." This song, of course, is a reference to the phone number of the Pennsylvania Hotel using the old telephone exchange system, where Miller played frequently. Laura reminisced that … Read More “Pennsylvania 6-500” »