Category: Uncategorized

I needed to find out all zip codes within VA senate and house districts. I obtained the zip codes from Fairfax County GIS data repository as a KML file. House and Senate maps were retrieved from the VA Redistricting Commission as shapefiles. These were added as Vector layers in QGIS. The Union operation (Layer>Geoprocessing>Union) was used to create a new layer with the merged data. Edit>Select>Select Features by Expression was then used to select Fields & Values>SENATEN = 35 for Sen. Saslaw’s 35th District, or any other district could be selected.

Hidden Creek Country Club in north Reston.

Reston National Golf Course in south Reston.

Washington Post article about possible development of Reston National Golf Course: ‘But this case is about more than a golf course. The Metro is coming to Reston, and lots of large development decisions are coming down the pike there. How will Reston’s master plan, using concentrated density to create green space elsewhere, fit with those who would build the next Ballston around Reston’s stations at Wiehle Avenue and Reston Parkway?

Reston’s creator, Robert E. Simon, told me recently [see below] that it fits fine, so long as you still have the recreation.’

Robert Simon to the Washington Post in 2012: ‘He said density was not a bad thing. “Density is good,” Simon said. ”It makes open space possible,” when you use apartments or high-rises to create density vertically. “High-rises are not anti-community,” he said, and he noted that the Stratford apartment complex near Reston Town Center has a community of engaged residents that is “really fabulous.”’

In iMovie, under All Projects, Create New, Movie (vs. Trailer).

Under Preferences, set Photo Placement (Fit), Photo Duration (0.5s), Transitions (0.5s).

Under My Movie, Import Media and select all of the photos to be included.

Drag photos in sequence to the timeline at the bottom.

To save the movie, File>Share>File…

I needed to remove carriage returns from a Google doc. The best way I found was by using a regular expression. In the Find box I used [\n] which found all returns. I used a blank space in the Replace with box.

Raise Them Up High LD
Cruisin’ for couples
Shotgun Jenny LD
The Shadow couples
Move LD
Sweetheart Schottishe
So Just Dance Dance Dance LD
Lover Please Come Back couples
My Tshirt EZ LD
Boots Over Head LD
Handyman LD

The app DVD.player is not available in the Applications Launchpad. To view a DVD, use Spotlight to search for dvd.player, then open the dvd.

I have a large collection of files that are used by a nonprofit. The nonprofit now has a Google for Nonprofits account and I wanted to move the files that I own to that nonprofit account of which I’m an admin. I logged into the G4N account and created a new folder called Test. I shared that folder with my personal account.

I then logged into the personal account and navigated to a folder that contained a test file. I selected the file and clicked on “Move to”, navigated up to “Shared with me” (by clicking on the left arrow to reach the top folder level), then selecting the new folder called Test and clicked on “Move”. The test file was moved to that folder. Permission will need to be reset for the copied files.

I have two tables, one with email address (Column A) and a number of other columns, and one with email address (Table 1, Column A) and zip code. I wanted to move the zip code column to the first table linked by email address. The Numbers Lookup function makes that happen:

Lookup(A,Table 1::A, Table 1::Postal Code)

If text columns need to be merged, use the following formula:

=A1&” “&A2

I had two spreadsheets, one with email address and a couple of values. The other had email address and several more values. I wanted to link the two spreadsheets based on the unique email address, and copy items from one table to the other. I used Mac Numbers and entered the tables as two sheets. I used the Lookup function. In one table I created a new column. In that column cell I entered “=Lookup”, then clicked on the email address in that table, then clicked on the column in the second table where email addresses were located, then clicked on the column where zip codes were located (or other values I wanted to transfer). Then hit return and the values were transferred.

Lookup – Search for, Search where, Results.

I don’t remember how I developed an interest in cycling back in the early 1970’s. At one point I lived in East Lansing, Michigan and worked in nearby Lansing. Without a car and with intermittent bus service I needed a reliable way to get to work. I bought a Schwinn Varsity back when Schwinn made decent bikes. That bike was stolen but I enjoyed riding enough that I searched for a new bike. I came across a reference to a bike shop catalog published by Gene Portuesi called Cyclopedia. I pored over the drawings of bicycle parts and the articles about all things bike. I vaguely remember traveling to his shop and buying imported bikes for my wife and me.

Today I found copies of the 1974 Cyclopedia catalog that I owned on Sheldon Brown’s site. I think Gene was an early importer of quality European bikes but there is not much info on the web that I’ve found other than a few references to his bike shop in Detroit and later Caddilac, Michigan. Maybe it’s time for a wikipedia entry…