I've contributed tons of content to Wikipedia including dozens of my own photos. Whenever you upload any images to the Wikipedia Commons it is automatically released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All image files pages clearly state this fact below the photo and even give you the idiot-proof summary of "In short, you are free to distribute and modify the file as long as you attribute its author(s) or licensor(s)." So anybody can use my photos that I've uploaded to Wikipedia but they are required to give me credit for it - or else it's stealing.


I often see my photos show up while surfing the internet. Yet nobody has ever given a proper source credit to me, and although it bugs me when people break the rules, I generally don't care much because it's usually inconsequential uses. But I recently visited the website of my old high school and noticed one of my photos that I uploaded to the Wikipedia Commons was used in the header of no less than six of pages on the Northport High School website (squished disproportionally, no less).


Unlike other times I've seen my photos on other websites, this one bothers me because they are a school and they should know better. I work for a school district and I know how schools actively promote the responsible use of information obtained on the internet. So it really bugs me that a school (my old school) is teaching students about citing sources and not violating copyright regulations, but they're not practicing what they preach. In this case they aren't even required to ask permission, but they were required to give attribution. Heck, they link to a Citation Guide right on their website! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to help out my alma mater and I'm happy to have them use my photo on their website, but ignoring the clearly posted license just ain't right.

And the kicker is that they could do a lot better by just taking this photo themselves. I was in a huge rush when I took this photo in 2008 (actually 3 photos stitched together using Microsoft ICE) so I just took the photos from where I was parked without looking for a better camera location, and I also never bothered to correct the blatantly obvious color shift in the sky. But who knew that Northport High School would actually take my photo and use it in their website's header.

Labels: internet, New_York, rant

Today New York State unveiled a new license plate which generated a lot of controversy. The reason the state is replacing all the old license plates is to generate $260 million in revenue to help with their budget shortfall by charging car owners a mandatory $25 new plate charge, which many drivers see as an unfair tax. New York charged drivers for the last changeover too earlier this decade but this fee is 4½ times more. By contrast, California has never charged its citizens for a mandated license plate redesign. On top of this, drivers will also be charged an additional $20 fee if they want to keep their existing plate numbers.

The current New York license plates were introduced only 8 years ago, while the previous "Liberty" plates (introduced in 1986 for the Statue of Liberty's centennial) remained in circulation for twice as many years.

Aside from the financial controversy, a lot of people don't like the design of the new plates. I however like the new design. It's simple with solid bold colors, unlike so many plates nowadays with complicated artwork with details you can't even see while driving. Most people have noted that the colors are reminiscent of the old blue on gold plates used in the 70s and 80s, but it's doubly-retro since it is also reminiscent of the older gold on blue plates used in the 50s and 60s. The slightly curved upper blue edge gives the classic color combo a modern feel by hinting at the curved light gleams that are prevalent in so many of today's popular web 2.0 logos. And the pinstriping gives it a bit of a sporty feel too. (Hey, can you tell that I love graphic design?)

Bottom line: I hate the reason and way that New York is mandating the change, but I like the design of the new New York license plate.

Labels: New_York

I was recently watching this show online from the History Channel, entitled "MonsterQuest: America's Loch Ness Monster" . It's an entire show (6 parts) dedicated to Champ (a.k.a. Champy), the infamous lake monster living in Lake Champlain, which lies between Vermont and northeastern New York. I thought I knew the legend of Champ fairly well but learned plenty from this video. True and interesting facts about Lake Champlain, like how the entire region was once the Champlain Sea; salt water and directly connected to the ocean. Which explains how the Charlotte Whale (that's pronounced shar-LOT, not SHAR-lit) came to be found in Vermont. Many believe Champy is an elusive decendant of a prehistoric plesiosaur. If you ever lived near Lake Champlain like I did in Plattsburgh, I highly recommend watching this online episode.

But watching this video about Champy reminded me that I have yet to tell the story about the time I actually saw Champy myself. Yes, it's true and I'm not joking... but to be honest, what I saw was actually not Champy, but his close cousin, a lake monster that from this moment on I am now naming Schroony. ^{(All rights reserved)}


For several summers in the late 1970s and early 1980s my parents would take my sister and I to upstate New York to where my grandparents rented a vacation cabin along the shore of Schroon Lake. Schroon Lake is 18 miles due west of the southernmost tip of Lake Champlain near Ticonderoga. One of these summer vacations, around 1981, my mother, my aunt, and I took a short drive south of the village to a place where we were able to rent a row boat. We rowed out on to the lake about 100 to 200 yards from shore when we noticed something odd in the water a few hundred feet south of us. My aunt had brought good quality binoculars for birdwatching (a hobby of hers) so we took turns using them to looking at the strange shape on the surface of the lake. At first we weren't sure what it was, but it looked very similar to this infamous Champy photo above, only a bit smaller (like 'only' 10-15 feet long). When we saw it move we realized the object was alive and shortly thereafter we saw it submerge under the water. We quickly turned the row boat around hurried back to shore. The entire encounter was less than 30 seconds. It would be another 9 years before I moved to Plattsburgh and first heard the very familiar-sounding legend of Champy.

I don't know of any official register of Champy sightings so I can't be positive, but this is the only Champy sighting I've ever heard of in Schroon Lake.

Labels: flashback, New_York, vacation

On Saturday we visited Northport. First we briefly stopped by Northport High School where Patty and I first met. (No, we never dated back then.) Then we had lunch at Shipwreck Diner on Main Street and walked around the docks and Northport Village Park.

Our trip to Northport made us a bit late for our plans for the rest of the day. We met up with my fraternity brothers, Flintstone (Mike) and Steve in Port Jefferson. I pledged with Flintstone in 1991 and we have 1001 great stories. Steve pledged in 1992, we were roommates our senior year, and he was the best man at my wedding in 1997. The last time I saw either of them was when I traveled up for homecoming in 2003, so it's been five years - and we didn't skip a beat. It was immediately like old times like we had seen each other just last week. Aside from some gray hairs, the boys haven't really changed much.

All the wives and all the kids were all there. Patty's known Flintstone and Steve as long as I have but she didn't go to homecoming in 2003 so she hadn't seen them since Maegan was one year old in 1999 (aside from a few minutes at my dad's funeral). Maegan's now 10, and all the other kids were 4 or younger. Maegan spent hours playing with the kids and pulling them around in a wagon. It was great to see all of our kids playing together but who'd-a-thunk this scene 16 years ago.

Back in the day we wouldn't have even gone out before 9:30pm, but with wives and kids and just being older (out of shape, not wiser) 9:30pm was now staying out late, so we had to head back to Queens. It was great to hang out again, even while having to watch the kids. I hope we don't go another five years before doing it again.

Labels: Alpha_Sigma_Phi, friends, New_York, vacation

On Friday we went into the city and acted like tourists. We went to South Street Seaport with my sister Amy. We enjoyed walking around Pier 17 and got great photos of the Brooklyn Bridge but we were completely disappointed to discover that the historic Fulton Fish Market is now just one big Gap store. Apparently Fulton Fish Market moved to The Bronx in 2005 but it never crossed our mind that it could not be there after 188 years. That's like Quincy Market leaving Faneuil Hall in Boston.

Then we hopped on the Circle Line Liberty Zephyr for a boat tour around lower Manhattan. The one-hour tour brought us under the Brooklyn Bridge (which currently has a cool waterfall beneath it), around Battery Park, and past Ellis Island. Then we came up on what Maegan's been wanting to see her whole life: The Statue of Liberty. Phenomenal views of the statue from the harbor, even better than visiting the island (especially since you can't go inside anymore).

Labels: New_York, vacation

I'm back in New York, Queens to be precise. We flew in to LaGuardia this morning. We had nothing in particular planned for today, but the most exciting moment of our trip so far was when my mom picked us up from the airport. As I was about to put our luggage in the car, I looked up and saw the Google Street View car right next to us! I recognized it immediately and started waving at the car. Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to find myself waving at LaGuardia airport in the next Google Street View update.

Labels: cool, New_York, vacation

• Darah's home-based childcare notified us that they're suddenly shutting down. We had to find a new child care pronto and were lucky to find an ex-teacher who just received her license to open up a new home-based childcare. Darah begins going to her new child care on Monday.

• Since last year we've been planning to make a trip to New York to go to a game at Shea Stadium before it's torn down at the end of the season. This week we finally purchased our airline tickets (we already had the Mets tickets lined up). So now it's official that we'll be in New York this August. This will be the first time I'll be in New York in several years, and the first time during the summertime in ten years.

• Today I played my first full game of disc golf all year. Perhaps my first game all year shouldn't have been in a tournament. I started poorly but finished strong so maybe that's a good trend for next time.
  

Labels: Darah, disc_golf, New_York

Yesterday ESPN reported that Yankee Stadium will host the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in its final year before being replaced by a new Yankee Stadium in 2009. Just like Yankee Stadium, 2008 will also be the final season Shea Stadium before the Mets begin playing at their new stadium, CitiField, in 2009. By no means am I suggesting that Shea deserves the same send-off honors as the historic House That Ruth Built, but it occurred to me that the last All-Star Game held in New York in 1977 was also at Yankee Stadium. Shea last hosted in 1964, so Yankee Stadium is the New York host twice in a row. What a jip. Plus, since I don't see MLB returning to the same city too soon, this will most likely delay the likelihood of the Mets hosting an All-Star Game in the near future. It took 30 years for the mid-summer classic to return to the big apple so I hope I won't need to wait another 30 years before I see the Mets finally play host in my lifetime.

On a side note, I saw a list of Major League Baseball ballparks listed by their age and noticed something odd. I never realized that the recent trend of new stadium construction has been overwhelmingly dominated by the National League lately. An astonishing 50% (8 of 16) of National League stadiums have been built since 2000. In comparison, Detroit's Comerica Park which was built in 2000 is the only American League stadium built during that same timespan.

Labels: baseball, New_York

Patty, Maegan, and I all went up to New York this Labor Day weekend for the wedding of Patty's sorority sister Janet LaMagra. The wedding was in White Plains / Purchase and we all had a great time. Patty was the Matron of Honor and Maegan was the flower girl.

We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Queens to visit my mom, sister, and aunt on Saturday morning.

Labels: friends, Maegan, New_York, Patty