with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Spokane, Washington, and Meeting More Family

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 11, 2006

I knew that this trip to take my father back home to Seattle would feature some genealogy research for our family tree, but I had no idea how far this would go.

We met with my husband’s family in Ohio, then newly discovered members of my father and my family in Michigan, and today I spent with relatives of my mother, learning about the other side of my family tree. Wow!

My relatives in Spokane have saved tons of documents, letters, essays, and notes from their family members now past, including fabulous stories of growing up in Michigan and making the long trek to Washington State, and making their way in the new Pacific Northwest Frontier. I’ve copied hundreds of pages and can’t wait to read through them and learn about life 40, 50, 60, and even 100 years before I was born. I’ve learned that I come from a long family of storytellers.

I will be starting a website soon dealing with my family roots, tree, and genealogy, so stay tuned for news. This has been very exciting and I’ve been learning so much about my relatives and the pursuit of genealogy, a hobby I’ve dabbled in since I was a young teenager. So I’m looking forward to sharing the new things I learn with you and other family history researchers.

So we’re almost home. I’m tired beyond imagination. I have barely slept during this entire trip, and not much during the past few months, monitoring my father’s odd nightly habits and alert to his wandering in the night. While I may not have children, I’ve definitely experienced what it is probably like having children with long nights of constantly waking up to check, feed, and change them. It isn’t the same, but there is a familiarity with the sleepless nights and exhausting days, according to friends.

I just want to get to my mother’s, sleep for three days, and then spend 3 hours soaking the filth of travel off of me. I’ve gone three to five days without a shower during this trip, pushing my normal cleanliness limits. The longest before was 4 days and we were in the backwoods. I is stinky!

I have been productive during this long trip across the United States, so look forward to tons of articles and series coming at you soon.

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Where Am I and What Time is It?

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 9, 2006

Okay, I think I know where I am. I’m in Spokane, Washington, with my father. I just don’t know what time it is.

For the past two weeks, it feels like every day is a new time zone. We went from Central Time in Alabama to Eastern Time in Ohio and then back to Central Time in Michigan. One of the nights in Michigan, Daylight Savings Time hit and we lost an hour by “springing ahead”. Since then, we’ve crossed into Mountain Time and I think that it is now Pacific Time in Spokane. Not sure. Oh, well.

My father rages from “go go go” to “let’s see some things along the way” every hour or two. I would have loved to stopped and seen at least a couple things along the way, but my wants aren’t part of the equation. His are. So we missed the lovely national and state parks and the fantastic wildlife refuges that dot the landscape we’ve driven through, but we hit Custer’s Last Stand and the old prison-turned-into-antique-car-museum in Deerlodge, Montana. Whoppee. Ugh. Me bored. Sigh.

Why do they call it Custer’s Last Stand? It was the Indian’s win but Custer, who lost, gets all the credit for the spot. White man history, I guess. Sad.

I just dropped my father off at a friend of his to spend the night and I’m on my way to meet with a relative from my mother’s side of the family. I hope to get more genealogy, but also to catch up with some more fascinating members of my family. We will be in Seattle in a couple days, and I plan on S L E E P I N G. I haven’t had a full night of sleep in months. I need at least two. More sighs.

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Meeting New Family in Michigan

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 8, 2006

I’ll be writing more about this soon, but I’m thrilled that my father and I were able to connect up with new family members in Michigan. Actually, they are “old” family members as they have always been there, but we’re just learning about them now.

They are the decendents of the Farlin family which married into my West family in the early 1800s and together the two families came to Michigan to homestead. Don and Marlene McAlvey welcomed us like we were family, which we are, along with Marlene’s brother, Dale Farlin. Don and Dale have been researching their separate family trees for decades, and they just met us, two bad apples far out on one of the branches.

John D. Farlin Tombstone, Raisin Township, Lenawee County, MichiganWe met in Lenawee County, Michigan, in Adrian, our plan to explore our mutual family tree already in place. I took them out to the old homestead we discovered, which my father and I had checked out and photographed the day before. We showed them the ancient and almost illegible tombstone we stumbled upon for John D. Farlin, and Don found Harriett Farlin’s tombstone, wife of Samuel Farlin, which we had missed. We photographed these and then headed through driving rain and 50 mph wind back to Adrian where we dug into the Probate Court at the local Courthouse to find the original will and testaments from Samuel Farlin and Eliza Jane Farlin, daughter of John D. Farlin. Magical stuff all in original handwriting. Wow!

We then headed back to Lansing where we spent the night and Don and Dale took me to the National Archives in Lansing, Michigan, and introduced me to some great techniques for genealogy research. We found more information that I’m still distilling and I got some leads to help me with my research when I get to Seattle in the next week. Wow! Oh, Wow!

I talked briefly about starting a web page to handle all this information with Dale and Don, and I will be starting it soon. There is so much to learn and I’m having great fun playing Sherlock Holmes with my family tree.

Dale, Don, and Marlene and their family were wonderful to us and we had a great time. I look forward to spending more time with them soon and doing more digging.

Thanks, Dale, Don, and Marlene for letting us barge into your lives and disrupting things. It was a joy and a dream come true! Thanks!

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What Can You Photograph and What Can You Publish

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 8, 2006

James Stephens’s post, “Where and What You Can Photograph – Aspects of the Law”, points to some really good articles discussing the legal issues and rights of where you can photograph, what you can photograph, and what images can be published. They are:

Stephans sums it up really well on what your rights as a photographer are:

  • You can take photos any place that’s open to the public. You can even be on private property and still legally take pictures. You might be trespassing of course, but that’s another issue.
  • You can take any photo that does not intrude upon or invade the privacy of a person (if that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy).
  • You can publish virtually anything if it doesn’t cast someone in an unfavorable light, or reveal private facts about them.

The USA Today article brings up a really good point. While it seems that everything and anything made today has to have a camera built-into it, including cell phones, cars, handheld computers, laptops, and more, the issue of where and when you can take pictures is going to get serious.

A blogger I know shot a picture in an office building. One of the tenants had boxes of medical records sitting around in an unlocked office, visible from the hall. He published a picture of the boxes, which started a little brouhaha: He didn’t have permission from the building’s landlord, someone said, so he wasn’t allowed to take or publish the photos.

That turns out not to be the case.

What I discovered is that a lot of people have ideas — often very clear ones — of what is legal and what isn’t, based on anything from common sense to wishful thinking to “I always heard…”

Other than that, if you’re feeling nosy or just want to shoot unobtrusively, check this puppy out.

Trouble is, they aren’t always right. If you’ve got a digital camera and like to shoot in public, it pays to know the real deal.

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Snowbound in Spearfish, South Dakota

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 7, 2006

My father is desperate now to get home. There is only so fast I can drive, and he is unwilling to take a plane to get home faster. Long story. So I’m now driving almost non-stop, averaging 10-14 hours a day of driving with barely a rest for lunch and cooling the engine of this old class C motor home when it gets too hot. My father complains all the time that we aren’t moving fast enough. Gees.

Anyway, the rain chased us for several hundred miles and finally caught up as we neared Wall, South Dakota, home of a popular tourist stop called “Wall Drugs”, an old pharmacy that took advantage of its lonely situation on a major transportation route to become a popular quasi-destination along the route. We stopped for about 45 minutes to let the engine cool and roared on toward Seattle. Then the rain started pounding us.

I don’t have a problem driving in the rain, but rain and dark on hilly highways where I have to drop to slow speeds to make it up the hill since the engine is being temperamental, I decided to find a place to park for the night. The campgrounds I passed along Highway 90 were still closed for the season. That left parking lots. We found a WalMart with a huge “no overnight parking” sign, so that was out. We finally found a KMart with two motor homes and a truck making a nest for the night. We parked in between them, the rain now coming down in a pounding torrent, the parking lot streaming with little creeks.

Unbelievably, I found an open free Internet connection, so I was happy enough to finally catch up on a little work. My father whined about “What did you ever do before you got one of those things?” which I totally ignored. It’s an old song.

I awoke early the next morning with that feeling of safe, warm, comfort. It’s a very unusual feeling for me. I’d been awake on and off during the night as my father, who sleeps most of the day, battled with sleep in the night, so it wasn’t a well-slept feeling. I haven’t had that for months. This was a familiar feeling of snuggling down under covers against the wet chill of morning that comes with….YES! SNOW!

Motor home with my father in Spearfish, South Dakota, covered with snow on our way back to SeattleI looked out the full length window along the top bunk over the cab and found layers of snow curving in lazy boa shapes along the window. I listened outside and heard a crunching sound of a car or two moving across a crust of ice. I looked outside and was thrilled with white white white white everywhere. SNOW!

It looked like three to five inches of snow had fallen in the night when the driving rain had changed with the frozen temperatures. Total surprise.

The weather report had said rain and fairly clear the rest of the way to Seattle, so this caught us totally by surprise. I lay under my sleeping bag all snuggly warm and just stared out the side window at the Perkins Restaurant next to us, ignoring that and watching the snow frosting on the tree outside my window. A truck pulled in with five or six inches covering it. I couldn’t even tell what color it was. A man got out, bundled to the teeth with big heavy boots on, and the frozen water and snow layer beneath him crunched but did not break with his heavy tread.

We’re not going anywhere for a while. At least until the snow lifts. Then it will be drive drive drive drive. The snow plows are out in force, clearing the highway and parking lots around us, doing their scraping dance. But for now, Lorelle is in snow and happy. Totally happy. Snow. It’s a good thing.

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Ohio VanFossens – Michigan Wests and Farlins

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 2, 2006

My father and I made it to Alliance, Ohio, near the original homestead for the VanFossens, my husband’s family. We spent two days with one of his cousins and got a tour of the family homestead, VanFossen school, and the cemetery in Mechanictown, Ohio, filled with dead and buried VanFossens.

We had a fantastic time going back through history, learning about where and how Brent’s ancestors lived, worked, and then spread out across the United States after their journey to the New World from Holland. Some went north into Canada, others straight across to Washington State, and Brent’s direct ancestors headed south, eventually arriving in Oklahoma during the land expansion there.

For the most part, they were farmers, carpenters, and hard workers, but an amazing number of them were also scholars, engineers, teachers, and brilliant folks. There are a LOT of engineers in the family tree, I was not surprised to learn.

We are now on the edge of the Ohio-Michigan border and will be spending the next few days exploring the Lenawee County area where my father’s ancestors came from. With the help of new found cousins, we are hoping to dig up some lost connections in my father’s family tree.

Then it is on towards Seattle, at fastest pace possible as my father is now in a hurry to get home. Unfortunately, I don’t think his cat, Squirt, is ready to go home. She’s been in a pout since we left. We’ve decided that she missed the outdoor play time with Holiday, our new kitten, as they used to chase each other and roll around on the grass for hours during my father’s stay in Mobile, Alabama, with us.

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The Power of 1000 Suns

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 2, 2006

Imagine. Collecting the power of 1000 suns to generate electricity in something the size of an old satellite radio dish? Well, experiments are underway in Israel to test such a device.

Israel’s National Solar Energy Center will start testing a 400 square meter (4,300 sq ft) solar collecting dish, the big dish, capable of achieving 1000 suns (concentration the intesity of the suns enegy by a factor of 1000).

The dish is lined with 216 mirrors, but not more than a quarter will be uncovered to sunlight for the initial experiments. The mirrors concentrate the light onto a small square of concentrator photovoltaic cells, which convert the light into electricity. The concentrator photovoltaic panel is only 10 cm by 10 cm and is too small to absorb the energy from the whole dish. An array of cells large enough to absorb all of the collectors energy would be about 65 cm x 65 cm. The testing will progress in stages, first at 20 suns, then with 40 suns and so on up to 100 suns.

The Energy Blog – Huge Concentrating PV Collector to Start Tests

I want one for my backyard. How about you?

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Bad English Signs

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 1, 2006

Living many years around the world, outside of correct English spellings, Brent and I have a huge collection of funny stories about the bad English signs we’ve found. One of our favorites is the many names for “speed bump” we’ve found including road humps, speed humps, hump in the road, bump in the road, elevated road crossing, and traffic reduction construct.

Alex takes a trip on a snow mobile in the snowy mountains of ChinaOne of our dear friends, Alex, is living and working in China. He is a Russian who speaks several languages fluently, including English. Brent used to work with him in Israel, and now he is working for the same Israeli company, on loan in China monitoring an Israeli project there.

He loves all things fowl and wicked when it comes to any language, especially English. He’s taught us more about how disgusting our language is than we ever wanted to know. So when he got to China and discovered horrid spellings in English on many signs, he started photographing them and sending them to us as jokes. He’s amassed quite a collection and I thought I’d share some of our favorites with you.

Be warned, when translating, whatever word they find that most closely resembles the translation, they will use, often clueless as to how Americans feel or think about the word. So some of these might be inappropriate for adults. If you don’t know the word, ask your child. ;-)

Bad English Sign from China - Please do not spit too loud. Thank you.Please do not spit too loud. Thank you.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Bainiarihaohe Seductive PhotoBainiarihaohe Seductive Photo – Name of photo shop.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Assembling Dragon CaveAssembling Dragon Cave – tourist spot.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Amalgamated Pest ControlAmalgamated Pest Control

 

Bad English Sign from China - No Occupation While StabilizingNo Occupation While Stabilizing – Keep Off If Moving

 

Bad English Sign from China - Notice of Ice Slideway - whole signNotice of Ice Slideway

This sign was at the Chinese ski resort Alex visited. It is called the “Notice of Ice Slideway”. It’s your basic warning and legal cautions sign.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Notice of Ice Slideway - closeup of the English

Ice slideway is an entertainment of update and excitability. For your pleasure and safety, please read the following notice carefully.

1. After buying the ticket, go to ice slideway platform through the stairs on both sides in order with the guidance of workmen; for your safety, please take the basket willingly to avoid slip;
2. Larking during going upstairs and on the platform is forbidden;
3. Please obey arrangement of workmen and stand in a line when waiting on the platform; sit down and ski down, during this period, make sure that your legs are put together and arms are put inwards to avoid the collision with ice edge;
4. Please leave the ice slideway immediately after reaching the bottom to avoid the collission with following tourists;
5. Keep the environmental sanitation; throw litter into specified garbage box.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Intraday Deposit of Asmall PackageIntraday Deposit of Asmall Package – claim check.

 

Bad English Sign from China - ShaoLin Template Cable Car SignThe summary about cableevay of the Song moutairs ShaoLin

It lies the South west of ShaoLin femple cllish is the famous buddism interest. The all set of machine is produeed from Aastria Dobeimia company. It is the single line action by itself and it contain four person. It about 2860m long (It is the longgest the same kind of cablecvay in our country) and, it is 453m high, single way sent passenger 660p/h, the fastset speed, is 4m/x. The ahde time is 12 minutes. It is the only awy to SanHuangZhai view, Duning your yourney, you can ouatch and engoy the mountain peak in two side. It is chain of mountam. It is all kinds of riew.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Fried Beef Noodles, Fried Chick Rice, Fried NoodlesFried Beef Noodles, Fried Chick Rice, Fried Noodles

 

Bad English Sign from China - If you would like to join us, rubbish will never be homeless.If you would like to join us, rubbish will never be homeless.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Cash Recycling CenterCash Recycling Center

 

Bad English Sign from China - Trg to make the senic spot more beautifulTrg to make the senic spot more beautiful

 

Bad English Sign from China - RctrievableRctrievable – possibly means recyclable?

 

Bad English Sign from China - on a food package - Fuck the Materialon a food package – “Fuck the Material” is one of the ingredients. Above that “Restore Sugar” is another odd ingredient.

 

Bad English Sign from China - Prohibit ExcretmentProhibit Excretment – No Shit.

 
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Standby Mode Wasting Energy

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 30, 2006

The Economist reports “Pulling the Plug on Standby” will help save billions of dollars in electrical costs.

Strange though it seems, a typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food. For while heating food requires more than 100 times as much power as running the clock, most microwave ovens stand idle—in “standby” mode—more than 99% of the time. And they are not alone: many other devices, such as televisions, DVD players, stereos and computers also spend much of their lives in standby mode, collectively consuming a huge amount of energy. Moves are being made around the world to reduce this unnecessary power consumption, called “standby power”…

…In 1998 [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, California] released an initial study which estimated that standby power accounted for approximately 5% of total residential electricity consumption in America, “adding up to more than $3 billion in annual energy costs”. According to America’s Department of Energy, national residential electricity consumption in 2004 was 1.29 billion megawatt hours (MWh)—5% of which is 64m MWh. The wasted energy, in other words, is equivalent to the output of 18 typical power stations.

This figure, however, was based on estimates. So Dr Meier and his team went on to measure standby-power consumption directly, in an empirical study. Their results, published in 2000, revealed that standby power accounted for as much as 10% of household power-consumption in some cases. That same year, a similar study in France found that standby power accounted for 7% of total residential consumption. Further studies have since come to similar conclusions in other developed countries, including the Netherlands, Australia and Japan. Some estimates put the proportion of consumption due to standby power as high as 13%.

So what do they suggest to help you cut back on the wasted electricity?

The article states that the first thing that really needs to happen is to promote awareness, and then get manufacturers to start increasing efficiency in household products by reducing their “standby mode” electricity drain. Then, turn things off.

Turning your microwave off when there is no “off switch” gets complicated so there is a new growing industry in creating accessories that attach to your microwaves and “always on” products to allow you to turn them off manually or with timers.

So if you aren’t really using it, why not turn it off? You’re paying for all that wasted electricity, so why not see how much you can save by turning things off when you aren’t using them.

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Smoke Free Camping

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 28, 2006

I’ve seen quite a few posts on RV and camping forums asking about smoke free camping. Most of these people get laughed off the forum as the participants respond with “NO WAY” and “NOT A CHANCE”. Not true.

If you are looking for smoke free travel, lodging and smoke free camping, there are plenty of places. In my research, I found a lot of campgrounds and resorts in Europe are now totally smoke free or feature only a limited area for smoking. There is also a growing trend in the United States for smoke free or controlled smoking areas in campgrounds and resorts.

Not only that, more and more international lodging and camping facilities are also going smoke-free, including Westin Hotels.

The new year will ring in the USA’s first smoke-free major hotel chain. Westin Hotels and Resorts will announce today that it is snuffing out smoking in all rooms, restaurants, bars and public areas at its 77 U.S., Canadian and Caribbean properties starting in January. Guests may smoke only on balconies or in other outdoor areas.

The policy reflects “a demand from guests for a smoke-free hotel experience,” says Sue Brush, Westin senior vice president. “Nobody likes to walk into a smoky guest room — not even smokers.” Westin research shows that 92% of its guests request a non-smoking room.

An example of the growing trend in smoke free camping includes campgrounds in Utah. On the Tooele County Health Department, Utah, website, they have a list of Smoke Free Parks in the area.

Twenty seven of the 50 states in the U. S. have communities with outdoor tobacco smoke free ordinances at parks, zoos, youth sports, trails, and also beaches. Did you know that cigarette buttts are the most littered item in the world? Against popular belief, butts DO NOT decompose. It takes decades for one butt to decompose. They are no longer made by cotton, as in the past. In fact, butts are made from cellulose acetate, which is a plastic. They are highly toxic and dangerous to children and animals when they eat them.

Tooele County Health District (TCHD) is one of the ten health districts in Utah who are working to make parks in our county smoke free. TCHD’s survey results indicate many Tooele Residents would support smoke free parks.

The World Health Organization offers a world map of anti-smoking legislation around the world, giving you more information on which areas are worth traveling to that will mostly likely have no smoking facilities, lodging, restaurants, and shops.

If you are looking for smoke free camping and lodging, here is a list that will help you get started. If you know of any smoke free campgrounds or lodging, please leave the information in the comments below so I can expand this list.

Let me clarify, a smoke free campground or lodging must provide a protected and enforced no smoking area in and around the camping or lodging areas. Many campgrounds and resorts offer cabins with no smoking permitted inside, but encourages smokers to smoke outside. If this applies, please make a note of it as non-smokers can be impacted by their neighbors hanging around outside their cabins smoking. If the campground is totally smoke free, or if they offer a no smoking section, please let me know. Thanks.

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Heading North via The Smoky Mountains

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 26, 2006

My father and I are heading out for the north tomorrow morning. I leave behind the two cats to take care of my husband and my husband to…okay, so the cats will take care of him and he can take care of himself. ;-)

The plan so far, though subject to massive change due to weather and whether or not one of us pulls the plug on this venture, is to head north to Scottsboro, Alabama, to visit the Unclaimed Baggage Store.

WHERE LOST AIRLINE LUGGAGE GOES

Two million bags are checked in at airports each day and 99.5% of them reach their destination on the same flight as their owner.

That leaves ½% of the luggage that are “mishandled”. The definition of mishandled is that they do not arrive with the passenger, arrive damaged or arrive with missing items.

Doing the math: ½% of two million equals 10,000 bags a day.

The Department of Transportation claims that 80% of the “mishandled” bags are reunited with their owner within 24 hours and 99% are returned within 5 days. Only 1% are lost forever.

But, 1% still equals about 100 bags per day and 36,500 a year. Where did they go?

ALABAMA.

Alabama?

Scottsboro, Alabama is the lost luggage capital of the world. It is the home of the Unclaimed Baggage Center where you can buy a lost $1000 Versace dress for $55, a tube of slightly used Japanese toothpaste for 50 cents, a $15,000 sapphire and diamond bracelet for $7500, gold wedding bands for half their value, and a black lace teddy for $3. Why do bags get lost? The airlines say late check-in is the number one reason because the luggage may not be loaded on the same airplane as the passenger. Second, bags get lost when passengers are making connections even if they are traveling with the same airline. Bags can be tagged erroneously at the airport and end up at the wrong destination. Tags get ripped off and there is no name and address to be found inside or outside the bag. Sometimes the bags are stolen…

All luggage the major airlines cannot find the owners are sold to a salvage company- Unclaimed Baggage Center. It is sent to Scottsboro where the luggage is opened and the contents are sorted, cleaned and priced. They have a staff of appraisers who determine the original value of the items then apply a set discount. All items are then put on display and sold to the public.

And the public loves it. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has become the number one tourist attraction in Alabama with over 800,000 visitors a year. They come partly for the bargains and part for the entertainment value of peeking into someone else’s stuff.
Where Lost Airline Luggage Goes

I’ve longed to visit this place, and my father is thrilled to paw through other people’s junk.

Then it is on through the Appalachian Mountains towards the Smoky Mountains and northward towards Michigan.

I found some information on the International Towing Museum, dedicated to antique tow trucks and vehicles in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Dixie Gun Works and Antique Car Museum nearby in Union City. My father is coming out of his skin with excitement about seeing these places. Me, I want to find some nature to explore rather than visit old cars and trucks and guns.

I’ll check in as I can with reports on what we’re doing and what and who we are seeing.

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Thinking Green a Hot Topic in the UK and Europe

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 26, 2006

A favorite website of mine is called and it is constantly updated with “tree hugger” news, news that comes with a techno-meets-eco theme. Here is one prime example that got me thinking.

Something is happening in the UK that we are missing in North America. Where we are all single issue types, worried about global warming or peak oil or vegetarianism or seal hunts, in the UK they have wrapped the whole thing into the concept of ethics, which the dictionary describes as “A set of principles of right conduct.” They make TV shows about it. They build communities around it. ‘People have a hair-shirt image about green living but it can be easy, affordable and attractive,’ said Kendal Murray, who lives in BedZed. ‘I live with a clear conscience and haven’t had to give up a single thing to live this life.’According to the Guardian, “Ethical living is on the march… . Statistics published by the Co-operative Bank show that Britons spent £25.8bn on ethical goods and services last year, up 15 per cent on 2004.
Tree Hugger – Guardian: Can Our Way of Living Really Save the Planet

The United States used to be on the cutting edge of all things modern and advanced. I grew up in Washington State thinking green and recycling long before the rest of the United States. Here in Mobile, Alabama, 20 years later, there is still no recycling! Amazing.

And yet, thinking green seems to not only be a slow growth thought in the United States, the US is being out-thought by many other countries.

I wonder why?

I love how they call it “ethical goods” and “ethical living”. Living with nature, not against, is about ethics. Protecting the little nature left on this planet is an ethical duty. I like this idea.

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Site Map

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 24, 2006

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Photography Technology Helping NASA and Solving Crimes

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 24, 2006

Reading an article from ZDNet, “How NASA Can Help Detectives”, I ran across some interesting ways that photography plays a part in helping NASA help detectives solve crimes.

With a new photographic laser device developed to check damages on the Space Shuttle, NASA is going to help the FBI to investigate crime scenes. The Laser Scaling and Measurement Device for Photographic Images (LSMDPI) was designed to provide a non-intrusive means of adding a scale to a photograph, which is very useful when looking at an object in space when there is no size reference. But the LSMDPI, which weighs only a half-pound and can be attached directly to a camera’s tripod, will also be used on Earth in crime and accident scene investigations. It also could be used for oil and chemical tank monitoring or aerial photography.

You never know how photography can change a life, as well as an industry.

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Nightmare Upgrade of WordPress 2

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 24, 2006

I apologize in advance for the nightmare conditions of Taking Your Camera on the Road. I’m in the middle of an upgrade from hell with the latest version of WordPress.

Every time I turn around, I’m finding more problems. If you spot any problems, errors, or odd things, please let me know so I can fix them. I might know and be struggling to find an answer, or I might not. With so much customization and tweaks on this site, I’m having a tough time trying to track them all down. Any help would be appreciated.

Why do I always pick the last minute before heading out the door traveling to do stupid things like this? Huh? Slap me next time. Sigh!

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