Random Connections – Page 108 – A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

Pixlr Photo Editing

February 16, 2012 Tom No Comments

I had tried Pixlr a long time ago, but had completely forgotten about it until my friend and fellow instructional tech geek Tony Thompson posted something about it on his blog last month. With Picnic being assimilated by Google and with Aviary acting a bit weird, I was hoping another option for online photo editing would come along, and Pixlr seems to be the best option right now.

Pixlr comes in several flavors. There is the full-fledge photo editor, but there are also several quick tools for adding preset effects. There is Pixlr Express for quick touch-ups and Pixlr-o-Matic for effects such as vintage photos, etc. Android and iOS apps are available for these last two services. There is also Pixlr imm.io, an image sharing service and Pixlr Grabber, a screen capture plugin for Firefox and Chrome.

Spam Injection

February 15, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

Rants

I knew it was going to be a rough day. The coffee maker didn’t start on time, I cut myself shaving, and my watch stopped working. Then, to top it off, I found that this website had been hit by a spam injection hack attack. I was tempted to crawl back into bed. I first … Read More “Spam Injection” »

Google Earth and Google Plus

February 15, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Geocaching and Maps, Internet

I hadn’t realized how far behind the times I’ve been with Google Earth until I ready on Frank Taylor’s blog that there is an update out for a version beyond the one I’m using. That means I’m two versions behind. Version 6.2 makes some changes to the overall appearance of the map, with a “pretty … Read More “Google Earth and Google Plus” »

Kingville, Kingsville

February 12, 2012 Tom 23 Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy

I came upon Kingville quite by accident. I was looking for information on another ghost town in Google Earth when I spotted this name near the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers. When I zoomed in a bit further I saw that the the place indicated by the name was all wooded – there was no town there. Street View also showed just a wooded area, and not enough buildings to even justify keeping this as a place name. This intrigued me, so I did a bit of research, and it turned out to be an interesting ghost town location itself.

According to information on the Kingville Historical Foundation’s website, the town got it’s start in 1842 when a spur railroad line from Aiken was completed to Columbia. I checked Robert Mill’s 1825 atlas of the area, and the name Kingville does not appear. In 1850 a branch line was completed to Camden, and the town began to grow because it was now located at the juncture of two major railroad lines.

Research on the town was initially confusing. According to the historical marker for the site…

Kingville is thought to be named for its status as “king” of the railroad line between Charleston and Columbia and between Columbia and Camden.

However, the town was first called “Kingsville” with an “s”. For awhile I wasn’t sure if I was finding information on the same town. For example, this is an excerpt from an 1870 map of the Port Royal railroad in the southern states. It clearly shows the spelling with an “s”. The town’s name on this map makes it look almost as big as Columbia, but this is deceptive. Since this was a railroad map, the emphasis was on major junctions, rather than the actual towns.

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Congaree and Lower Richland

February 12, 2012 Tom No Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Local, Travel

Normally on a second Saturday I’d be off with the guys from Lowcountry Unfiltered. They had a great trip planned for today, but due to various reasons I wasn’t going to be able to join them. Instead, I teamed up with Dwight, his wife Sue, and son Adam to explore Congaree National Park and a bit of Lower Richland County.

Lower Richland County is located in a wedge formed by the Congaree and Wateree Rivers up to their confluence, where they become the Santee River. The area is also known as the “Cowasee” Basin, a name created by combining names of those rivers. Congaree National Park makes up most of the Cowasee Basin, but there are also lots of historical locations, including one interesting ghost town.

I headed down to Congaree on this clear, cool Saturday morning. I arrived at the park early to find an already packed parking lot. There were groups of Boy Scouts, as well as other tour groups gathering. I have to admit – I tend to be selfish with my wilderness experiences. I don’t mind others around, but lots of loud people make it hard to see wildlife. I was a bit worried.

Dwight, Sue, and Adam arrived, and soon we were off, headed down the high boardwalk. The plan was fairly simple. We would stick to the trails and boardwalks for the most part, but we wanted to do a little bushwhacking. We also wanted to find at least one champion tree.

Rolled Pita

February 9, 2012 Tom No Comments

Restaurants

UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed.

I love Eastern Mediterranean food. There’s nothing like pita and hummus for a snack, and kabobs, olives, rice, and falafel make a perfect meal, especially when rounded out with baklava. So, I was thrilled to see that a Lebanese restaurant had opened on Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greer, within striking distance for lunch.

The Rolled Pita is located in the corner of a small strip mall near the old Allen-Bennett Hospital. For a long time it went unnoticed, with only a small sign proclaiming “Lebanese Restaurant.” I didn’t even spot it until they renamed the place and put up a larger sign. That was last Friday, so Wednesday I decided to give it a try.

Atmosphere

If it were a Greek place, I probably would have described it as “spartan” just to be witty. This goes beyond spartan. There are just a few tables in a surprisingly large area. The restaurant actually takes up two spaces at the mall, with the second space serving as a fish market. Unfortunately, the place reeks of fish, and I almost turn around and walk out.

Take Five

February 8, 2012 Tom No Comments

Miscellaneous

For many years now Laura and I have had a saving strategy. Any loose coins get dumped into a large jar. Slowly, but surely the amount grows, and when we run out of space we deposit them. The saving part was easy – we never really missed the money itself, and we don’t need coins … Read More “Take Five” »

iPad as Effects Processor

February 4, 2012 Tom No Comments

Gear, Music

So far we’ve looked at iOS devices as digital audio workstations, notation readers and scorers, and as musical synthesizers. This time we’re going to take a look at the devices as effects processors.

The phrase “effects processor” is a catch-all term that refers to just about any way that sound is manipulated before its amplified, recorded, etc. This could be as basic as adding reverberation to make it sound like your in a large auditorium instead of a small recording studio, or as complex as auto-tuning, looping, or otherwise radically altering the sound.

Effects devices typically took two forms. There were rack-mounted devices that controlled EQ, compression, reverb, delay, etc. Then there were performance devices. These were usually geared toward guitarists, and included the Fuzz, WahWah, Flanger, and distortion peddles. Now a whole range of effects peddles can be found. Rack-mounted effects are still important in studio work, but most of those effects can now be found on performance devices themselves, such as keyboards, etc.

Effects apps for iOS seem to look more like performance level devices, and this makes sense. The portability of the device makes it a great alternative if you needs some quick effects and don’t want to lug all your gear with you. If you’re doing a jam session or just practicing, these are great. I’m not sure how it would work in a studio setting, though.

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In-App Agony

February 1, 2012 Tom No Comments

EdTech, Gear, Rants

Most apps for smart phones, whether iOS or Android, are relatively inexpensive. They are certainly cheaper than the programs for PCs and Macs over the past decade or so. As computing power increases and memory gets cheaper, software seems to pick up added bloatation, so it’s also nice to see powerful applications in a streamlined package.

Even though streamlined, powerful apps are fairly cost effective, there is on trend that bothers me – the “In-App Purchase.” You purchase a cheap application, or perhaps find a free one, only to find that inside the app you have to purchase additional components to get it to do what you want. I’ve found this to be the case with photography and music-related apps quite frequently.

For example, TC-Helicon’s VocalJam app is $6.99 in the app store.

By itself it’s a pretty good program. However, if you try to click on the effects buttons on the left side, you get the following message:

Winter Paddle on Lake Robinson

January 30, 2012 Tom 3 Comments

Paddling

For Christmas Laura had given me a nice paddling jacket and neoprene boots so I could do some cold-weather paddling. I had not had a chance to really try these out, but Sunday afternoon presented a nice opportunity. It was breezy and in the low 50’s (not really cold, but close enough.) Bob and Alan joined me for a semi-quick afternoon paddle out on Lake Robinson in Greer.

Bob and I arrived at the Verne Smith Park and unloaded the boats. We could already feel the breeze coming off of the lake, but the water didn’t look too choppy. Alan arrived shortly thereafter. Just before we got underway I realized I was traveling VERY light for me. I had forgotten my phone, and didn’t have any GPS gear with me.

While there weren’t any white caps, there was a definite bounce to the water. The new paddling jacket was quite welcome as it shed the spray splashing onto the boat. I was also glad I had brought along my spray skirt.

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