Hello, Faolin42! Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions to this free encyclopedia. If you decide that you need help, check out Getting Help below, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! Fullobeans (talk) 20:20, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Great photos of historic places in Massachusetts. Thanks for all your work on the National Register articles! Swampyank (talk) 03:14, 12 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I echo that. I like it how you got the Russian inscription on the stone post at the entrance to the Russian Cemetery — nice touch! Nyttend (talk) 03:49, 12 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the compliments!
I've been bicycling all over Massachusetts for the past 3 years, and decided to do something useful with the photographs and start posting them to Wikipedia. I've biked thru every town and city in MA at this point, and am on my second pass. I bicycle closer to home in the winter, and found the requested photo lists for NRHPs, so I've been tailoring my rides to take the requested photos. Luckily I'm in Lexington MA so there are a lot of them readily available.
I'm new to Wikipedia so let me know if I make mistakes or violate guidelines.
I had a few questions...
1) Is it OK if I remove the reqphoto tag from the talk page after posting a photo?
2) Is it OK to take pictures of NRHPs that are also private residences? I don't want to violate people's privacy so I try to avoid getting anything personal about the owner in the picture.
3) Is it OK to tweak the latitude and longitude of the NRHPs? Some of them are off by a block. And if so, is it enough that the new coordinates show up in the correct spot on Google maps? I.e. does Google maps represent lat/long accurately?
4) Should I bother posting photos on CDP's that are seemingly conterminous with the town? I.e. if Ayer has a photo, does Ayer CDP need one too? I could post a photo to each of the CDPs. My rule of thumb so far is to only post it if the CDP center is more than a mile away from the town center. A good example of that is Shirley MA and Shirley CDP. (I try to bike through the center of each town, so I've wrestled mightly with what the center is!)
5) Are photos required/nice for numbered routes in Massachusetts? I checked a few routes, and didn't see any photos. I stick on the highways for the most part,so I have pictures illustrating a good number of them. Except for the limited access highways, of course! I like the highways since they're often the most direct route between town centers.
6) Finally, is this the right place to ask questions like this?
The answer to the questions 1-3 is definitely "yes" as to what you're doing. I'm not sure about policies regarding the other 3, but I believe that nothing is wrong with doing 4-6 in my opinion. Your questions might be better answered though at the National Register of Historic Places project. Swampyank (talk) 00:25, 14 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The whole point of a reqphoto tag is to let people know that the article needs a photo; once it has a photo, the reqphoto isn't helpful, so it should definitely be removed. Google Maps generally reflects coordinates quite well, so when you correct the bad coordinates, they should show up fine. And as far as 4 and 5 — by all means, do this! My personal philosophy is basically that if a subject is eligible for an article, it's eligible for a photograph. Finally, as Swampyank says, National Register-related questions are best asked at WT:NRHP; if you have any questions about using Wikipedia in general, you can ask a question at WP:HD, or you could leave a note at my talk page; I'll do what I can to help you. Nyttend (talk) 05:37, 14 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, about question 2 — for this reason I'll often spend less time photographing a house than I will other buildings. I was somewhat embarrassed when taking this picture — the owner came out and was curious about the fact that I was photographing his house (I was eating dinner with his neighbor, so it wasn't a problem that I was in the driveway next door), so I told him that I was interested in it because it was nationally recognized as historic. Perhaps you could say something like that if someone asks you what you're doing; after all, it can't hurt to say that you're impressed that it would be federally recognized as important. Nyttend (talk) 05:45, 14 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Question 2 -- I agree with Nyttend that it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to take half a dozen photos of a residence. Be assured that you're on perfectly fine legal grounds as long as you're on public property -- as a general rule in the USA (but not in many foreign countries) you can legally photograph anything at all as long as you're standing on public property when you do it. As a practical matter I often wander into driveways to get better angles, but don't go farther. And, in taking thousands of photos over the years, I have never had more than mild curiosity from homeowners or neighbors. The fact that the house is on the NRHP gives it a certain public status that owners understand, and, of course, Google has the goal of photographing every street in the world.....
Question 3 -- The US Coast Guard Light Lists give the coords of lights to the nearest 1,000th of a second of lat/lon -- about an inch. My experience is that these come out perfectly on Google and Bing, so, yes, Google and Bing are appropriate ways to fix coords using geolocator or a similar tool.. . . . Jim . . . . Jameslwoodward (talk • contribs) 13:12, 3 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for adding a picture to the Houghton's Pond page. I've been meaning to do that for a while but never got around to it. Thanks again! Dough007 (talk) 21:36, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
You're welcome! Faolin42 (talk) 21:05, 7 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hi! I just noticed you have added a lot of photos of the Massachusetts area. Looks like your style of blue skies and sunshine is similar to mine. Pretty simple concept, but buildings and sites look so much better than on cloudy days. I have also added many of my photos, particularly those of historical value. I used to do A LOT of cycling, but have been off the past few years - I hope to get back into it this year. Cheers! --Marcbela (talk) 13:51, 7 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Bicycling is just getting better and better. Google Maps now has a bicycling option, and every time I turn around they're paving a new bike path. Hope you can get back into it! I am getting way more selective on the pictures I upload. Definitely more blue skies. Is a bad picture on a page better than no picture at all? What's the philosophy? Faolin42 (talk) 21:05, 7 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I have posted some photos that aren't that great. If they explain what's going on, part of the story, you are right- better than no pic at all.--Marcbela (talk) 15:00, 9 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Your's is an interesting conversation for an antipodean! (However, I did lived in Cambridge MA in the late 1970s ... ) Adelaide is also a good town for bicycling (and taking pictures), and there is plenty of sunshine and blue skies, but not every day. Hence, I, too, am a member of the "better a cloudy sky than no photo at all" club. (Plenty of examples at J150W and North Terrace, Adelaide.) Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 11:51, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hi! Do you know if the building is still in use by the Odd Fellows? Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 11:40, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Don't know for sure, but judging from a brief web search, it doesn't look like it's still in use by the Odd Fellows. Malden's pretty close. Do you want me to try and find out for sure? Are you interested in Odd Fellows buildings in general? I posted an image for Irving Square Historic District the other day. And I took a picture of the IOOF building in Stoughton, Massachusetts a few weeks ago. At the time I didn't even know what IOOF stood for! Just looked like an interesting building. Faolin42 (talk) 13:19, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
"Do you want me to try and find out for sure?" - Thanks, but there's no urgency. However, if you happen to find out, I'd be interested to know; I've been looking for attractive pictures to put on the Independent Order of Odd Fellows page.
You're welcome. I did get the 42 from Life the universe and everything. I thought about chosing 17, as the least random number, but went with 42 instead.
Thanks for your paying attention to detail, in your correction of a street address for Martin House (Seekonk, Massachusetts) in the corresponding NRHP county list-article. When you find an error that is in the NRHP tables and/or in NRHP infoboxes, it is often originally from a typo in the National Register's NRIS database. This one was apparently noticed and corrected in just the Martin House article, and not in the table, by another editor. I and others accumulate correction requests to the National Register, at Wikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places/NRIS information issues/Massachusetts, where i just added mention of the correction you made. If you find more errors, please consider making notes about them in this centralized system. Thanks! --doncram (talk) 12:50, 26 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for adding about address correction for David Lane House, too! I followed up more at Talk:David Lane House. Seems like you are doing a great job taking pics on your bike rides; i like the David Lane house pic. Cheers --doncram (talk) 14:30, 26 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
And, you're invited to join WikiProject NRHP if you like, by adding your name at wp:NRHP. Whether you join or not, you're welcome to post questions or comments at the WikiProject's talk page, wt:NRHP, and to announce new photos or new articles that you create in corresponding announcement sections on the projects main page (shortcut wp:NRHP). Almost all the Massachusetts NRHP articles were created as stubs a while back, but if you make an expansion to one of those articles you can announce that in the new articles section. That sometimes brings attention from other editors who might further improve the article.
If you're interested in finding out more about any of the NRHP places you've photographed, you can obtain the detailed NRHP nomination document by request to the National Register, by email to nr_reference (at) nps.com. In some other states including Connecticut, these are on-line. In Massachusetts, they are usually only available in hard copy form, and will be sent by postal mail within a week or two, at no charge. Perhaps you could try asking for one or two, just to see how that works. Anyhow, keep up the good work! --doncram (talk) 14:40, 26 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the invite! I do a little research before each ride to make sure I have the addresses and coordinates right. I don't want these rides to be more of a wild-goose chase than they already are! I love that Wikipedia lets you hyperlink stuff like that. Faolin42 (talk) 15:01, 26 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Lovely images, and what a great idea. Wikipedia is a better place for contributions from people like yourself. The images make the text come alive. Nice work. MarmadukePercy (talk) 02:32, 14 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Nice image, but what does it have to do with South Hadley? It's located in Hadley. - Denimadept (talk) 18:27, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I wondered about that. It's a borderline call :-) After looking at my maps, and researching on the web, I tend to think you're right, that the actual summit is in Hadley.
But here's my reasons for inclusion for South Hadley...
The picture was taken from South Hadley, so it's part of the view in South Hadley
It's the namesake of Mount Holyoke College
1000 Places to Visit lists the Summit House as being in South Hadley, but I actually think they're wrong on this
Mount_Holyoke lists the location as Hadley and South Hadley
I can take it down if it's inappropriate for South Hadley. No big deal. Faolin42 (talk) 19:18, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed, it's no big deal. Why they named the college "Mount Holyoke", I have no idea. hm.... nope, nothing about the name in the article. - Denimadept (talk) 20:03, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed, that would make sense. One thing I've learned over the last three years of activity here is that life is too short to argue about this kind of thing. I've learned to ask, and leave it alone unless there's a Real Problem with the edit. It might be a good idea to find out if there was a reason Mary Lyon named the school as she did, to go with the image. - Denimadept (talk) 21:44, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Faolin42, and thanks a lot for your recent work on all the Middle-earth articles, that's a great job. Maybe you'd be interested in WikiProject Middle-earth (unless you already know about it)? We've got some critical articles listed on the project talk page that could need more work than just typo-fixing, so any help is welcome. Cheers, De728631 (talk) 18:50, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I'll take a look. I'm a big LoTR fan from way back. But unfortunately I'm not a writer. 90% of my contributions to Wikipedia have been adding photographs to pages, but there's probably not much call for that in project Middle-earth. However, I did add an image for Buckland that was vaguely hobbitish - Buckland Library. Faolin42 (talk) 19:13, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
A barnstar given in thanks for your dedication to cleaning up Middle-earth related articles. Carl Sixsmith (talk) 21:13, 10 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Many thanks! I had finished my quest of Massachusetts, and thought I'd contribute to Middle-earth. I just need to dig out my books. I'm working from half a set now. Faolin42 (talk) 22:15, 10 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I was almost ready to merge the article Wakefield Upper Depot with Wakefield (MBTA station) when I saw your photograph. However, after further examination, I don't believe your picture is correct. Check this link, and have you tried the corner of Tuttle and Chestnut Streets? ----DanTD (talk) 19:51, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
Boy, I know what you mean! I debated long and hard about the difference between Wakefield Upper Depot and the Wakefield (MBTA station). I didn't get up to Tuttle and Chestnut. The picture in Wakefield Upper Depot is definitely of 25 Tuttle Street. That's the address of the Remax Business you can see in the photo. I have a front-on picture of the station which makes it look even more historic. And I have a picture of the modern MBTA platform at 42°30′7.48″N71°4′32.3″W / 42.5020778°N 71.075639°W / 42.5020778; -71.075639 just to the south of the my picture for Wakefield Upper Depot. I can email you the two other pictures or post them to wikimedia if you want to take a look. Faolin42 (talk) 20:16, 18 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Finwë until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. Crisco 1492 (talk) 10:49, 1 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Hi. I saw that you recently added a few pictures of buildings in downtown Worcester. I created the page List of tallest buildings in Worcester, Massachusetts and am slowly creating pages for each of the buildings. Pictures of some of the taller ones are tough to find, so I was wondering if you would be interested in taking a few. --Found5dollar (talk) 14:47, 1 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sure. I expect to visit Worcester again sometime this summer and could take some photos of the buildings you can't find pictures for. If you use geolocator, and paste the coordinates into the article, it'll make them very easy to find. Faolin42 (talk) 22:16, 1 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! all the coordinates are already in the article, hope they help.--Found5dollar (talk) 02:49, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Hello! I've recently been working to improve the categorization of images related to Massachusetts, and noticed that all the municipalities in Massachusetts are listed in Category:Cities in Massachusetts. Would it be alright with you if I moved all the towns into a new category, Category:Towns in Massachusetts? Thanks, Emw (talk) 20:16, 11 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
That would be great!. Feel free to recategorize. I just didn't know enough whether I should split it out when I started adding all the images. Also feel free to change/recategorize commons:Category talk:Villages in Massachusetts. I created that category as a catch-all for cdp's, neighborhoods, villages, ghost towns, etc... Faolin42 (talk) 20:35, 11 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
and just wanted to mention that I live on the other side of the hill and can see the back of those crosses if I scoot my chair over just a bit. Feels good. Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 15:27, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! We had stopped at the Vivac winery across the road, so I snapped a few pictures. Hopefully I got the name right, I had to do some research to figure out what they were called. Faolin42 (talk) 23:37, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Hi -- I've noticed (e.g., here) that you've converted <br> to </br> -- but the slash should come at the end of the tag, not the beginning, so: <br />. In any event, such edits are not necessary, since the mediawiki engine takes care of converting HTML tags to XHTML -- and fortunately even handles malformed XHTML with the slash at the beginning of the tag. Cheers, -- Elphion (talk) 05:24, 15 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I just put a welcome note on your sw-page since you registered there. As you have that much material on places in Mass why don`t you put your photos into the short entries listed under ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.54.217.123 (talk) 12:30, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! I'm working my way around the world one day at a time. For instance today I'm posting the pictures I took on Aug 17th in years past. Faolin42 (talk) 23:22, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
John,
You might be contacted by Bobb about forming a "Massachusetts 351 Club" for people who have or are in the process of visting all 351 Towns in Massachusetts - Cheers! --Marcbela (talk) 12:17, 23 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for adding a photo to Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico, and for all of your other wonderful visual contributions to Wikipedia. SarahStierch (talk) 04:25, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! It came just in time. I was tempted to post a mediocre image (by my standards), but resisted because of the barnstar... Faolin42 (talk) 20:59, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi. When you recently edited Auntie Anne's, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Cottonwood Mall (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.
It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:45, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The New England Wikimedia General Meeting will be a large-scale meetup of all Wikimedians (and friends) from the New England area in order to discuss regional coordination and possible formalization of our community (i.e., a chapter). Come hang out with other Wikimedians, learn more about ongoing activities, and help plan for the future!
It's not really a good idea to override the size of images. Some users have their default thumbnail sizes set higher than the 240px default, but when you specify a size, that preference is overridden. Sometimes it is appropriate (maps that aren't clear unless display at large sizes, panoramas, highway markers used as an illustration that don't need to be bigger than 100px, etc). Other than those types of cases, you should let the photo display as the default. Also, you don't need to force the caption to be centered, making the article inconsistent with the rest of the encyclopedia. Imzadi 1979→ 23:11, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Nice!! That looks like the new bridge, though. From this page, it looks like they're just about done with the old span. Can you make an image with them both and post that? - Denimadept (talk) 04:46, 11 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That's an image of the southbound span. I do have some images showing both spans. I'll pick one and post it. Faolin42 (talk) 17:02, 11 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I added 3 more images, and created a category, but maybe this image is the best picture for the article. Faolin42 (talk) 23:06, 11 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, they really redid it! Is it really refurbished, or did they replace the superstructure of the southbound span completely? Here's what I'm thinking for a picture like this. Stand facing the bridges from the front of the whip factory. Can do? Or maybe, from the other side of the river, on the river side of the new rail bridge? I'd like to see what that looks like now, too, if you don't mind. Granted the rail bridge update is separate. The pictures I have are, at the latest, from just before they opened the north-bound span:
Now I'm taking a look at your category images. is amazing! I really like what they've done! ...okay, I just noticed that they did not replace the lace girders on the old bridge. Oh well. Still, at least they fixed the bad steel and such. I was thinking the new fountain was where the old park was, on the south side. Nope. - Denimadept (talk) 01:26, 12 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for adding a bunch of pics today! Kicking off the Wikipedia Loves Monuments drive nicely. And your pics are great. The Union Baptist Church one is worth, well, a thousand words, in terms of explaining what Shingle Style architecture there might mean.... I mentioned that pic at wt:NRHP just now, by the way. cheers, --doncram 18:15, 1 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the mention! I had a nice sunny day in New Bedford. And I learned what a Swing Truss Bridge was... Faolin42 (talk) 00:15, 2 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You're invited: Ada Lovelace, STEM women edit-a-thon at Harvard[edit]
U.S. Ada Lovelace Day 2012 edit-a-thon, Harvard University - You are invited!
Now in its fourth year, Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and related fields. Participants from around New England are invited to gather together at Harvard Law School to edit and create Wikipedia entries on women who have made significant contributions to the STEM fields. Register to attend or sign up to participate remotely - visit this page to do either. 00:19, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
I noticed that you recently added a picture of the Isaac Winslow House in Marshfield. Did you by any chance also photograph the Daniel Webster Law Office while you were there? (Love your pictures, BTW.) Magic♪piano 19:08, 31 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! Yep, I got a picture of the the DW Law Office too. I noticed it by accident, just wandering around the property. .. Should I upload it to Commons? Faolin42 (talk) 22:21, 31 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Although the HABS photo currently in use is pretty nice, I always try to add pics of things for which only black-and-white (or poor quality) pics are available. I had put the law office on my "if I ever get to Marshfield" list (part of a quest to get good recent pics of all the Massachusetts NHLs), but if you have a decent pic of it, sure, upload it. Magic♪piano 19:34, 1 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Love the photo you took of the John Curtis Library in Hanover, MA.
I am working on a the team redesigning the town's municipal website, and I am looking to use your photo as a masthead image. You retain all rights, and I can watermark the photo with a photo credit. Let me know if you are interested.
1939 map as Nutting Lake: <ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=13536 |title=Billerica |series=USGS 7.5 Minute Sheets and Quadrangles |year=1939 |scale=1:31680 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |location=WardMaps LLC |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref>
1979 map as Nutting Lake: <ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=13537 |title=Billerica |series=USGS 7.5 Minute Sheets and Quadrangles |year=1979 |scale=1:24000 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |location=WardMaps LLC |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref>
1889 map showing Turnpike station: <ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=4048 |title=Billerica & Tewksbury |series=Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts |year=1889 |publisher=Geo. H. Walker & Co. |location=WardMaps LLC |scale=1:40800 |accessdate=9 March 2013}}</ref>
Book listing the station: <ref name=sne>{{cite book |title=The Rail Lines of Southern New England |author=Karr, Ronald Dale |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=1995 |isbn=0942147022 |page=223}}</ref>
The station was only as the Bedford & Billerica, not the earlier narrow gauge (which ran east through downtown). Pi.1415926535 (talk) 17:57, 9 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. How generic can a Place get? Maybe I should have linked Barn in the caption too... :-) Faolin42 (talk) 18:43, 12 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting[edit]
You are invited to the 2nd Annual Wikimedia New England General Meeting, on 20 July 2013 in Boston! We will be talking about the future of the chapter, including GLAM, Wiki Loves Monuments, and where we want to take our chapter in the future! EdwardsBot (talk) 09:58, 16 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hey John, do you have any plans on writing "Unvisited" for iOS? I would love to use it, but I don't have an Android, so if that could be done, that would be wonderful. Thanks! Kevin Rutherford (talk) 04:13, 31 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately, no immediate plans. But long term, I'd like to. I just want to firm up the Android version before I attempt the iOS version. Java comes a whole lot easier for me than Objective C. Faolin42 (talk) 14:08, 31 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
How about this? If there's enough interest in the Android version of the App that I get 100+ downloads with no worse than average reviews, I'll start work on an iOS version. Faolin42 (talk) 22:59, 6 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hi John! Really great to see the international interest in your app, and I don't at all mind the pleasant discussion on my talk page—I had sent some folks there from the Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list, and you might like to join that as well. Also, Kevin started a short page at Commons:Univisited app, and we might want to expand that, as Commons is the primary wiki for the international photo folks.--Pharos (talk) 03:36, 8 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to get your app, but I don't do log in to google. Where can I get it? --Andreas Schwarzkopf (talk) 07:11, 19 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Google's definitely the easiest way to go, at least for me :-) Do you have an android based smart phone? If so, where have you downloaded apps from before. Maybe I can put my app in the same place. Faolin42 (talk) 13:51, 19 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Winner of the Most Sites added overall in the NRHP Fall 2013 Photo Contest[edit]
The Photographer's Barnstar
I hereby award you this barnstar for photographing the most sites overall on the NRHP Fall 2013 Contest. This is one of the most prestigious categories in the contest. You CRUSHED the competition, having almost double any other entries! Nice job. Royalbroil 01:37, 8 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I'll add my congratulations to Royalbroil's. Breaking 200 newly-illustrated sites in one month is an impressive-- indeed, staggering-- accomplishment; and you didn't just break it, you shattered it. Keep up the good work! Ammodramus (talk) 02:34, 8 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! I owe it all to Unvisited, an App I wrote to help me plan photo trips, the handy WLM API that provided the data, and my sister for helping me out (and putting up with) the first test run in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Faolin42 (talk) 13:34, 8 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Las Vegas is, or was, definitely a target-rich environment. I hit it once on my way from Arizona to Nebraska, and although I was only able to spend an hour or so there, I was able to get something like 20 sites. Glad that you had a good base from which to operate: it works much better if one can spend the whole day in a city, with a list of which sites to shoot at which times of day. Ammodramus (talk) 15:58, 9 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I grew up in New Mexico, but had never spent any time in Las Vegas. Cool town! My sister plans to visit again. According to my App, there's still 20 places to photograph in a 4.4 mile walk, which is pretty decent. But I haven't figured out how to time it to photograph places at the right time of day. Still kind of taking my chances... Faolin42 (talk) 16:11, 9 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Honorable Mention for the Most Sites added in a single state in the NRHP Fall 2013 Photo Contest[edit]
The Photographer's Barnstar
For adding 64 sites in both Connecticut and Maine, I hereby award you an honorable mention barnstar for having a high number of new sites photographed within a single state. Royalbroil 02:12, 8 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Honorable Mention for Most Sites added in a Single County/Community List[edit]
The Photographer's Barnstar
I hereby award this barnstar to you for photographing one of the most new sites on a specific county/community during the NRHP Fall 2013 Photo Contest. You photographed an impressive 28 new sites in Hartford Connecticut which was the most new additions in any city. Thank you for your strong effort! Royalbroil 02:01, 9 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
<font=3> National Register of Historic Places Photo Barnstar (honorable mention) given with respect and admiration to Faolin42 for your photo roadtrip going 2,198 miles from New Mexico to Maine (Challenge #6 - Interstate Traveler). Smallbones(smalltalk) 04:25, 15 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
<font=3> National Register of Historic Places Photo Barnstar given with respect and admiration to Faolin42 for finding sites in 9 categories of Challenge #12 - Scavenger Hunt in Connecticut, as well as 9 in New Hampshire, 8 in Vermont, 6 in Massachusetts, 6 in New Mexico and 4 each in New York and Rhode Island. Smallbones(smalltalk) 04:55, 15 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Happy New Year, John! I believe your photo of Brown's Manor in Ipswich is of the wrong house. The house is described in MACRIS (alas without pic) as a c. 1886 Second Empire house, which the picture clearly isn't. The house is also placarded (barely legible in your pic) as the Baker-Sutton House. If you look at Historic Ipswich's interactive map and compare it with a Google Street View, the Brown house is next door. There is some confusion about the addresses: MACRIS says Baker-Sutton is 115 High Street, the address in NRIS for Brown (Baker-Sutton is not listed). Historic Ipswich says Brown is at 117 High. Magic♪piano 21:25, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Whoops! Thanks for noticing that. I'm trying to go back over my photos and tie them to Macris. I think this is the MACRIS - Baker, William - Sutton House listed at 107 High St, so I'll put in a rename request. Happy New Year! Faolin42 (talk) 22:16, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
New England Wikipedia Day @ MIT: Saturday Jan 18[edit]
In my continuing quest to improve the articles on NRHP listings in Massachusetts, I note that the picture of the Smith Shoe Shop you uploaded is presumably the house at the address in the listing. However, the listing is for a "ten footer" shoe workshop, which would be an outbuilding on the property (see e.g. Shoe Shop-Doucette Ten Footer for a similar situation). I've updated the image description, but figured you'd want to know. Magic♪piano 19:59, 15 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Whoops! Thanks. I started the rename process for the house itself. Reading's just a hop skip and a jump from me, so I'll try to get a picture of the actual shop tomorrow. Faolin42 (talk) 20:18, 15 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It didn't jump out at me in the Google Street View, and the MACRIS pic isn't all that great either. Magic♪piano 21:11, 15 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
You're invited: Women's History Edit-a-thons in Massachusetts this March[edit]
Women's History Edit-a-thons in Massachusetts this March - You are invited!
New England Wikimedians is excited to announce a series of Wikipedia edit-a-thons that will be taking place at colleges and universities throughout Massachusetts as part of Wikiwomen's History Month from March 1 - March 31. We encourage you to join in an edit-a-thon near you, or to participate remotely if you are unable to attend in person (for the full list of articles, click here). Events are currently planned for the cities/towns of Boston,Northampton,South Hadley, and Cambridge. Further information on dates and locations can be found on our user group page. Questions? Contact Girona7 (talk)
I was contacting you to inquire about using one of your photos as a book cover. My father-in-law is writing a book which takes place in the Worcester area and we love your photos of the triple-deckers. Thecrumb (talk) 00:07, 7 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, I'd be flattered if you used it! I don't know if you found this page, but this is the Wikimedia category for triple deckers in Massachusetts - Triple-decker houses in Massachusetts. There are several of us photographers who've been very busy in Massachusetts. Faolin42 (talk) 02:09, 7 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I need to apologize for biting you with your edit to this article, as you do great edits. I have an issue with the painting and I should have explained that to you. Sorry about that. Please see here. Cheers. Magnolia677 (talk) 04:25, 11 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
No problem. I was going through the articles I had added images to, to see if there were any better images available. And I took a fancy to the painting of the church. On the plus side, it's kind of a thumbs up to my original image, so that's nice. But don't hesitate to replace one of my images or undo one of my changes. Faolin42 (talk) 14:32, 11 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, it's definitely reconstructed. I can find some articles on the web about it. thelandmark.com/news/2008-07-10/front_page/002 for instance. It did look awfully new when I photographed it. I'll have the file renamed. Thanks for noticing! Faolin42 (talk) 14:09, 16 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
At our meeting on Saturday, we discussed photo documentation of buildings. Since there was very positive feedback for doing this, would you be interested in writing the Unvisited app for iOS? Kevin Rutherford (talk) 00:46, 20 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yes I would. I've gotten a lot of requests for an iphone/ipad version. I've got a development environment all set up for ios, and have done a couple of simple apps. The toughest thing about ios, is that apple has to approve the app. Faolin42 (talk) 01:23, 20 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Is there anything that we need to do in terms help, or will it just take time? Kevin Rutherford (talk) 23:26, 23 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Just time, as far as the coding goes. I'm guessing it'll take about a month to have a beta version available for iOS devices. But a couple of things that might help are... 1) Suggestions for a better name for the App, if anyone thinks it's necessary. I have mixed feelings about the name 'Unvisited'. Nice in a way, but misleading. 2) Suggestions on how the user interface could be improved. 3) Suggestions on missing features (if any). For 2 and 3, someone would need to use the Android version. No guarantee I would take the suggestions, but they would be nice to have. I've implemented about half the suggestions I've gotten so far. Faolin42 (talk) 23:33, 23 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
At first, I thought, "Oh, the Places to Go," but then I realized that wouldn't fit. Maybe "Go to It!" or, "On the Go," would be good starts, since they imply the purpose of the app, and are short enough to fit. Lpgeffen might also be interested in this, as he is a photographer who came to our last meeting. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 04:32, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Not only a photographer but a software engineer and professional beta tester. Please keep me informed! Paul (User:Lpgeffen) (talk) 02:17, 30 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
There's an android version of the app already available at Unvisited. If you have an android device it would be useful to me to get some feedback on the android version before I port it to iOS. See points 1,2,3 above. Faolin42 (talk) 03:09, 30 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Do you happen to have an update on iOS development? Kevin Rutherford (talk) 23:06, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'm actively working on it (a little bit at a time). Today I was working on the layout part so it would automatically adjust for different devices and orientations. In keeping with Apple's design philosophy, it'll be stripped down to the essentials. Not as many settings/help screens/bells and whistles as the Android version. I think I'll stick with the name Unvisited. I like the name in German "Nicht Besucht". Or the Italian "Deserto". I'm pretty sure I can make a version available for beta testing next week. I'll try to post some screen shots this weekend. Faolin42 (talk) 00:18, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, that's great! I know I would love to do a photo documentation session this summer with the Boston folk if possible, so having this would certainly make things easier. Also, if you're going to be down on the Cape before July 4th, Harwich High School is scheduled to be demolished shortly after that date, so if I don't get a photo of it before then, it might not be a bad idea to target this in a sweep. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 14:58, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Got some preliminary screens for the iOS version of Unvisited. Still many details to implement. Faolin42 (talk) 01:58, 7 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, those look great, and I cannot wait to use that in the future! If it is ready, I will be going to Berlin tomorrow, so I would love to use the beta app if it is available then. Kevin Rutherford (talk) 17:30, 8 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The odds are slim, but we could give it a shot. How long will you be in Berlin, and will you have a Mac with you or access to a Mac? The standard Apple ad-hoc testing depends on the testers having a Mac in addition to the iPad/iPhone. Anyway, the first thing I would need is your iPad/iPhone device name and device id (Also known as UDID or identifier) On my iPad the device name is "John's iPad" and the id is a 40 digit hex number. If you have a Mac you can connect the iPad/iPhone to, the instructions are at apple.com/MaintainingProfiles in the section titled "Locating iOS Device IDs Using iTunes". You can email the info to faolin42@ymail.com. Faolin42 (talk) 18:57, 8 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
NE Meetup #5: April 19th at Clover Food Lab in Kendall Square
Dear Fellow Wikimedian,
New England Wikimedians would like to invite you to the April 2014 meeting, which will be a small-scale meetup of all interested Wikimedians from the New England area. We will socialize, review regional events from the beginning of the year, look ahead to regional events of 2014, and discuss other things of interest to the group. Be sure to RSVP here if you're interested.
Also, if you haven't done so already, please consider signing up for our mailing list and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
