Author: Andrew

A Father, Photographer and Computer Geek living in Chester County (PA).

My Photo Journal of images taken in Chester and Lancaster Counties, including Covered Bridges, Barns, Nature, Fine Art and Events. Images can also be found on VisitPA.com and ExplorePATrails.com.

Categories
Blogging Chester County Downingtown Equipment eWaste Google Maps Hardware Information Recycle Reference

eWaste Recycling in Downingtown area

Like many folks, I want to do my part in trying to save the planet by recycling the various things that I use, and over the years, I have collected a few things…

Recycling 2005
Recycling 2011

Sometimes it is not easy to know what to do with a collection, and things like eBay, are not the best or easiest solution, so…

So I have put together a Post on where to Recycle eWaste in the Downingtown, Chester County PA area, for those that might be experiencing a similar situation.

If know of any other ways to locally recycle eWaste, please let me know!

Borough of Downingtown

The Borough of Downingtown also maintains a website for Recycling, which include such things as:

  • Trash & Recycling on Tuesdays
  • Bulk Trash on the LAST Tuesday of the Month
  • Tree Limb Chipping on the 2nd Monday of the Month (Appointment Only)

For more information, please check the website, or their Facebook page.

Chester County Solid Waste Authority

Bet you have never heard of these folks, but they help run many of the local recycling efforts, and should be first on your list of places to check.

The map below show what is going on currently in the Chester County area:


View 2013 Regional Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Collection Program in a larger map

Additional Links can be found at their main website, chestercountyswa.org.

There is also a Facebook page, where you can also “Like” them!

RecyclingCenters.org

Doing a quick search on recyclingcenters.org, can also be helpful if you have something more unique.

Best Buy

This was another national company that I found that has an eWaste program, and has a local drop-off policy.

I called the store in Downingtown, and spoke with someone in the Geek Squad about what to do when you bring in your 3 items per day limit.

You do not need to call ahead, but you are asked to bring items to the Customer Service people at Geek Squad desk, at the right when you walk in.

If you have more than one item or need help, it is requested that you contact the Security for further assistance.

§ § § § §

Hopefully, this information will help someone else in the area!

I do plan to up-date the page as needed, so please, if you find something, please let me know!

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Categories
Blogging Editorial Gedankenexperiment Ideas Rants Thoughts

The Extinction of the ‘Mentos Volcanoes’

Kiera Wilmot - Florida Teen Girl Charged With Felony After Science Experiment Goes Bad
Kiera Wilmot

Doing my morning reading, when this headline crossed my screen –

Florida Teen Girl Charged With Felony After Science Experiment Goes Bad

and I begin to read –

On 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida.

The reaction caused a small explosion that caused the top to pop up and produced some smoke. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.- miaminewtimes.com

and in further reading, it does suggest that the girl, Kiera Wilmont, did make some bad decisions, but at the same time: Where was the Teacher? Adviser? Adult?

What were the chemicals involved?

“Common household chemicals“?

If the chemicals were that volatile, in a room full of people, where was the oversight?

Kiera was lead away in “handcuffs and expelled from school” for her little experiment, and should complete her diploma through the expulsion program while in juvenile detention.

Basically, her life has been ruined…

Back when I was in grade school science class, there was always ‘talk’ of someone doing the classic ‘baking soda & vinegar’ (acid-base reaction) with food coloring volcanoes…

with todays equivalent being a substitution of ‘mentos and diet coke’ (nucleation)…

But they were Banned from my school…

Not because they exploded, as everyone knew they would, but because they had been done too many times before, as in boring!

Explosions and Science are not new friends!

One does have to wonder what we are saying to kids if you have an accident in science class, you might go to jail.

Then there is the possibility, that the ‘mentos volcanoes’ will disappear from the classroom, altogether  and generations of future kids will no longer understand the fun as seen in the old movies.

Maybe, if we wish to be safe, maybe we can just do all science with thought experiments (Gedankenexperiment)!

Here is one I just came up with!

A company located in western Texas, stores several thousands of tons of unreported chemicals at their place of business, and it explodes, killing several people in the area.

Who goes to jail this time?

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Updates

[5/17/2013 15:35 – Added]

No… what… wait a second…

She imitated something she had seen on the internet, knowing it would explode…

On school grounds…

and she is getting a scholarship to Space camp?

[5/17/2013 15:34 – Added]

This is VERY, VERY Cool!

“Homer Hickam — the writer and former NASA engineer whose memoir is the basis of the movie October Sky — started a Crowdtilt campaign to send Wilmot and her twin sister Kayla to the Advanced Space Academy program at the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.”

https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/kayla-wilmot-space-academy-scholarship

If you have never seen “October Sky”, I highly recommend it!

[5/17/2013 10:34 – Added]
Good News and Bad News!

[5/1/2013 14:43 – Added]

I am into physics, and still like to watch things go boom!

Arresting her and being taken to jail… a little much…

Bring her into the Headmaster/Principals Office and having a LONG conversation with the Parents and Child… Priceless and would have caused allot less of an issue…

[5/1/2013 13:56 – Added]

ScientificAmerican.com – “Florida teen charged with felony for trying science”

Riptide – “Florida School Responds To Criticism For Expelling Student Over Science Project: “There Are Consequences To Actions””

[5/1/2013 12:56 – Added]

In continuing to read through the various comments, there appears to be another side coming out… Drano Bottle Bombs…

[5/1/2013 12:32 – Added]
Bartow High School Principal – Ronald Pritchard
http://www.bartowhighschool.com/
Address: 1270 S Broadway Ave Bartow, FL 33830
EMAIL: Ronald.Pritchard@polk-fl.net
PHONE:(863)- 534-7400 Fax: (863)534-0077

Polk County Superintendent – Dr. John Stewart
http://www.polk-fl.net/districtinfo/contactus/default.htm
Address: 1915 South Floral Avenue, Bartow, FL 33831
Phone: (863) 534-0521 Fax: (863) 519-8231

Polk Regional Juvenile Detention Ctr/Bartow police
http://www.cityofbartow.net/index.aspx?page=60
ADDRESS: 2155 Bob Phillips Road, Bartow, FL 33830
TEL: 863-534-7090
FAX: 863-534-7024

Here is an interesting link to the “Polk Regional Juvenile Detention Ctr”
– P.O.L.K “Protect Our Lost Kids” in Polk Co, Fl

Original Thread of ideas

Original G+ Conversation

Categories
Brain Farts Ideas Note to Self Photography Studio Thoughts

Coffee Shutdown…

Coffee Shutdown
Coffee Shutdown

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Categories
Announcements astronomy Ideas Information Long Exposure Marsh Creek State Park Photography Reference Science space Water

Astronomy, Photography & Marsh Creek SP

During the past several CCPaPhoto meetups, one of the more common questions has been –

Where is it legal for Astronomy and Photography types allowed to group during the night?

I finally sent an email to “PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources” asking…

A couple of days later, I got the following back –

“The park manager said that basically any approved parking lot can be used at night – the Dorlan Mill lot, the west side lot, or the Chalfant Rd. lot. Just make sure that no one is parking on the grass, or blocking a gate!”

which is great news, especially with the Summer months coming up!

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Categories
Information Online Life Tech Talk Website WordPress.com

Corrupt Header Image Issue – SOLVED

WordPress.org logo

I’m having one of those smack my head moments right now…

Seems that when I transferred hosting companies, not all my root level path names transferred cleanly, and it has caused little issues over time, and finally today, I solved a long-standing issue with Corrupt Header Image!

Normally, one can customize their WordPress Header by using Appearance > Header to add an image or several, and then have the Header area display Random images.

This can be a very cool idea, but what if you wanted to Delete one of those images?

In my case, one of my Random images had become corrupt, or should I say, the link had been broken…

When a web page displayed, and the Random feature was turned “On“, you had a 1 in 5 chance of seeing a Large Default Broken Link Icon, which is very ugly to first time visitors, so I had to resort back to a Single image for my Header.

In my basic research into this, several Posts suggested that I should check my

wp-content/themes/twentyeleven.child/images

for the images (Note – this is a Child theme).

In my case, none of the Five header images where there.

Where to look next…

Finally having some time to dig into the code, the Images in the Custom Header section can be found by when the images were Posted!

wp-content/uploads   <- Year/Month

Which makes sense, but there is not direct link in Appearance > Header, or ‘float over’ info on the source/pathname of the Images.

In Media manager, a Header image is shown in Bold, “– Header Image“, but there is no filter to find them all at once.

To find my Image in question, I used the Appearance > Header page, and then using the Show Code feature, I was able to trace back to the correct uploads folder.

Unfortunately, once at the correct image, Edit Media, there is no way to Edit the base filename path to fix the broken Link, so I had to Delete the entire image.

Broken - ecbiz135.inmotionhosting.com/~aseymo5/
Correct - www.aseymour.com/

Once done, and a quick Refresh, the Appearance > Header page displays the rest of the Header images correctly, and you are now able to use the Random button without a Visitor Display issue!

Hope this helps another Admin/User!

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