texascavers Digest 14 May 2013 18:37:53 -0000 Issue 1755
Topics (messages 21759 through 21770):
Re: a personal story - blog style
21759 by: Mallory Mayeux
21762 by: Mark Minton
21769 by: caverarch
Texas Caver articles
21760 by: Jill Orr
21761 by: Mimi Jasek
Kur magazine 18
21763 by: Mixon Bill
KIWI SINK Dig
21764 by: Gill Edigar
update
21765 by: Karen Perry
Bat Bomb
21766 by: dirtdoc.comcast.net
Re: Photoshop
21767 by: Dale Barnard
21768 by: Preston Forsythe
Re: Karst conference in spectacular Dinaric Karst
21770 by: Geary Schindel
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--- Begin Message ---
I liked your blog David! Nice to see someone so excited about a caving project.
Glad you (and your ladder) got back underground.
Sent from my iPhone
On May 13, 2013, at 10:04 PM, David <dlocklea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I didn't see anyone post anything about the last Kiwi Sink dig, and I wanted
> to say
> some more than I previously posted, so the link below has my version of
> pieces of the events that
> took place.
>
> It is long-winded, so I thought I would try the blog style of presenting it.
> It has been about
> 3 years since I tried blogging, so I don't know if I am doing it right.
>
> http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/
>
> Just don't click on it please, if you are not interested.
>
> I am going to try to make next Sunday's dig at Kiwi Sink.
>
> David Locklear
> caver in Fort Bend County, Texas
> 281-995-8487 ( text-line )
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Sounds like this could be fodder for a Texas Caver
article. Maybe Gill and/or David could write an article about Kiwi Sink.
Mark
At 11:21 PM 5/13/2013, Mimi Jasek wrote:
Actually, Gill did post something - diggers, barrels and rocks
removed etc - and since it is his project, I would imagine that all
who help leave it up to the "pit boss" to post what he feels needs
to be put out there for public consumption. If folks want to know
more, let them come help:)
Mimi Jasek
On May 13, 2013, at 10:04 PM, David <dlocklea...@gmail.com> wrote:
I didn't see anyone post anything about the last Kiwi Sink dig, and
I wanted to say
some more than I previously posted, so the link below has my
version of pieces of the events that
took place.
It is long-winded, so I thought I would try the blog style of
presenting it. It has been about
3 years since I tried blogging, so I don't know if I am doing it right.
http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/
Just don't click on it please, if you are not interested.
I am going to try to make next Sunday's dig at Kiwi Sink.
David Locklear
caver in Fort Bend County, Texas
281-995-8487 ( text-line )
Please reply to mmin...@caver.net
Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Me, too, David. It was great that your ladder finally found a proper home! And
that you are enjoying the dig.
Roger G. Moore
-----Original Message-----
From: Mallory Mayeux <mmay...@gmail.com>
To: David <dlocklea...@gmail.com>
Cc: Cavers Texas <texascavers@texascavers.com>
Sent: Mon, May 13, 2013 10:33 pm
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] a personal story - blog style
I liked your blog David! Nice to see someone so excited about a caving project.
Glad you (and your ladder) got back underground.
Sent from my iPhone
On May 13, 2013, at 10:04 PM, David <dlocklea...@gmail.com> wrote:
I didn't see anyone post anything about the last Kiwi Sink dig, and I wanted to
say
some more than I previously posted, so the link below has my version of pieces
of the events that
took place.
It is long-winded, so I thought I would try the blog style of presenting it.
It has been about
3 years since I tried blogging, so I don't know if I am doing it right.
http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/
Just don't click on it please, if you are not interested.
I am going to try to make next Sunday's dig at Kiwi Sink.
David Locklear
caver in Fort Bend County, Texas
281-995-8487 ( text-line )
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hay all, I'm looking for articles for the next issue of Texas Caver !
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Ok, Texas cavers, I know y'all have been going underground and going to a
convention since the last issue, so let's help Jill out. Preserve and project
managers, send in a status-trip-project report with pictures if you haven't
done so in a while. Grottos, if you've been on a great trip, tell us about it!
Being topside during the convention, we missed all the presentations. Send
something in - I would love to see an article with pics on that Honey Creek
trip! What about the TCMA Auction? Results - pics - something? For those who
couldn't be there or missed parts, fill us in!
I absolutely know there have to be some caver
poets/balladeers/storytellers/artists-cartoonists out there! Put that material
out there for us to enjoy! Don't be shy:)
The Texas Caver is our magazine, but it needs content to become something we
all can enjoy. Start typing or keyboarding or whatever you call it these days -
fb and e-mail will be there when you are done. I promise:)
Needing something to proofread!
Mimi
Sent from my iPhone
On May 14, 2013, at 12:00 AM, "Jill Orr" <jill...@swbell.net> wrote:
> Hay all, I’m looking for articles for the next issue of Texas Caver !
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Someone has the AMCS copy of Kur number 18 (from the La Venta group in
Italy). Please take or send it to the UT Grotto meeting tomorrow night
for me. -- Mixon
----------------------------------------
Nothing is better than complete happiness in life. A ham sandwich is
better than nothing. Therefore a ham sandwich is better than complete
happiness in life.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu
AMCS: a...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Kiwi Sink Dig is scheduled for this coming Sunday, 19 May 2013, at 444
Billie Brooks Lane, Driftwood TX. We have reached a point where only 6 or 8
people can work at a time in the floor removal portion of the Project. So
we rotate diggers through work and rest sessions (or they rotate
themselves). There are still a couple of formerly unctuous silt leads that
need digging in the quest for borehole cave passage. I bought some sand
bags to build retaining walls to put the mud in if you're interested in
that sort of sport. Questions? Call me 410-303-1177--no text messages. It
may be warm. Bring water and a sandwich.
--Ediger
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Here's the updated
scoop...........
I was scheduled to have surgery on the right knee
again, # 3, on this Thursday. OWCP Dept of Labor did not approve pending more
information. That request led to me having a bone scan that came
out with bad results. The surgery is now slated for the 23rd, next
Thursday. It may be a simple fix, but the doc, radiologist & I are
expecting for the not good version. That means everything that was done
last summer has to come out and be replaced. The scan also showed
infection in the prosthetic which can/may effect the heart and kidneys.
The dr. says I only have a 6 month window at getting this fixed before I either
become handicapped or end up having to possibility loose the leg. This is
only a brief description of what I may be facing. I ask for prayers....... Not
only for me but to guide the
doctor so I can FINALLY get this damned knee fixed!!!!! If any one can
plan on coming down Carlsbad way or that is local during the recovery period,
IF it is
going to be long, and help with my Mom I would greatly appreciated that. She is
not able to drive and we do have doctor appointments lined up
for her, not to mention the daily needs that will need looking after. Gosia,
Jenny & Emily are already on line to help but I may be in need of more help.
That is yet to be seen. I
can not stress how serious this is..........
There is a possibility the knee could kill me. I am not being an alarmist here,
only realistic based on Dr report.
And just think.... all this because of a bad supervisor out at the park who
did not want to take action at the time or do her job!
YES I am now getting VERY ANGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Karen
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Bat Bomb
An interesting aside to this thread is that Doc Adam's son, Bill , has been
close friend for many years. Bill ran gas station in Las Cruces, was a
skilled EMT and trainer for the New Mexico EMT system, and then was in charge
of the Professional Ski Patrol at the Sierra Blanca (now Ski Apache) ski area
in Ruidoso, NM. He married a wonderful woman, Verna, who was raised Amish.
Verna owned a home health service in Ruidoso. Sandy and I stayed in their
home in Capitan many nights and had business relationships with both of them,
as well as a close friendship and mutual involvement with ski patrol and EMT
work.
Bill had a lot of stories (and a few photos) from his traveling around with his
Dad as a teenager, especially in Bracken and Ney Bat Caves, locating and
collecting bats for the Bat Bomb project. (The suggested book, Bat Bomb, is
good reading: " World War II's Other Secret Weapon, by Jack Couffer, University
of Texas Press, 1992"). Some where I have a copy of an image showing the Bill
and Doc Adams in the entrance to Bracken.
Doc Adams did have an unusual mind and a very focused purpose. His scheme was
very well thought out and turned out to be quite effective. The biggest
engineering problem was building an incendiary device light enough for the
little bats to carry. The incident where some of the bats escaped at a
satellite airbase in New Mexico and burned the structures down was definite
proof positive. Without a doubt, a few bat bombs would have caused widespread,
catastrophic fires raging across the bamboo cities of Japan.
Doc Adams (nor any one without top secret clearance - and only a few of those)
did not know about the Manhattan Project and the resulting A-bomb, which
clearly (from Bill's statements) is why the Bat Bomb project was cancelled just
as it was being completed. The US had a much better secret weapon to end the
war without years more of massive casualties.
Those concerned about the treatment of bats need to remember that this was a
desperate war in which many US men and women gave their lives. Bracken and
Ney contained massive numbers of bats at the time. The number of bats to be
collected for this project was miniscule by comparison with those in the caves.
As I implied above, Doc Adams was a bit on the strange side. Bills full, legal
name on his birth certificate is "Devil Bill Adams". When Devil Bill and
Verna were married, our marriage present to them included purchasing an
ordination from one of the better-known mail-order Churches, and presented them
with a framed Certificate of Ordination proclaiming that "Reverend Devil Bill
Adams" had all the ministerial authority necessary to perform marrials and
burials, and all other Church business as allowed by Law. Devil Bill and
Verna both though this was just great, and they had the certificate prominently
displayed on top of their TV in Capitan. That was all well and good, until
Verna's Mom (a very devout Amish woman) visited, and they had failed to put the
certificate away.
DirtDoc
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Nice little video clip about the bat bomb scheme (but a pox on people
> who put ads in front of videos that can't be skipped, at least in no
> way that was obvious to me). There is a whole book about it: Bat Bomb:
> World War II's Other Secret Weapon, by Jack Couffer, University of
> Texas Press, 1992. The weapon was never used, perhaps because 500-
> bomber raids with conventional incendiaries proved to do the job just
> fine, or perhaps because there was another secret weapon in the
> wings.... -- Mixon
http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=4&from=en-us_msnhp#/video/a028c91e-8f5e-43bf-a6a3-4fa70c9f4613
See also 50 Years of Texas Caving , page 22, first paragraph.
“The story of Dr. Lytle S. Adams and what was eventually named “Project X-Ray”
is truly a Texas-size tale. Briefly, the time was 1942-1943, the US was at
war with Japan and the idea was to capture bats, attach incendiary devices and
release them over strategic areas of Japan. The bats would take refuge
wherever they could and the resulting simultaneous fires would wreak havoc on
the enemy. It is reported that the search for the largest concentrations of
suitable bats included 1,000 caves and 3,000 mines. Eventually, Bracken and
Ney caves were selected as best suited and their entrances were screened to
collect the free-tailed bat, Tadarida mexicana . This bat, weighing only
one-third ounce, was selected for its ability to carry a bomb-load of one
ounce. Although never put into action against Japan, the idea was proven
viable when a couple of bomb-equipped bats escaped and the resulting fires
burned most of a military installation near Carlsbad, New Mexico.”
===Carl Kunath
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I drew the Kiwi Sink map using Inkscape. I like the app a lot, and I like
the fact that it's open source, but it did crash at least 50 times while
working on the map. The saving grace is that it does a great job of
creating a backup of your project when it detects that it has crashed.
Crashing was inconvenient, but I never lost a bit of work. I just kept
having to go delete the primary file and rename the backup to be the
primary and then continue.
I think that the main reason it crashes it that I had embedded a bunch of
300 dpi sketch notes in the document, making it rather large. Perhaps if
you link to files rather than embedding them, it won't crash as much. I'll
try that next time.
Dale
On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 4:45 PM, Mark Minton <mmin...@caver.net> wrote:
> A free program that is roughly equivalent to Illustrator is
> Inkscape <http://inkscape.org/>. I have not used it for anything but
> reading files sent to me by others, but I know people who use it
> exclusively to draw cave maps.
>
> Mark
>
> At 04:23 PM 5/13/2013, Ted Samsel wrote:
>
>> GIMP is free (from GNU). http://www.gimp.org/
>>
>> Instructions are less cryptic than Adobe's. One could try that.
>>
>> At USGS I used Photoshop from 1995 to 2011. The CS packages were
>> overkill. WTF does one need? and Adobe Illustrator from 1998 to 2011. PS
>> 3.0 was fine by me. Digital wanking gets old. <snork>
>>
>> I used Adobe Illustrator to edit ESRI GIS (ARCMAP) compositions as
>> registered layers. It was easier to do text with AI than with ESRI which
>> kept changing the underlying SW. We kept hearing ESRI and ORACLE were going
>> to merge. even in 1987. Still hasn't happened.
>>
>> Ted
>>
>> On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 2:29 PM, James Jasek <caver...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
>> Yes, I wanted it to go out to everyone. The important part is the link to
>> Adobe. They have a Q&A that answers all the questions and clears up
>> misconceptions.
>>
>> I started with Adobe Photoshop when it was only written for the
>> Mac,version 2.0, an never paid more than $199 for an upgrade. To me, being
>> unemployed is an outrage.
>>
>> I am currently using CS3 as it is the only version I am able to use on my
>> Mac G5, I bought CS6 last year, for $199, and will use it when I upgrade to
>> a new Mac Pro Desktop. Apple keeps promising a new Mac Pro.
>>
>> I am running CS6 on my wife's Macbook Pro and there are NO problems.
>>
>> You are out of luck as Adobe cut off an upgrade from CS3 to CS6. You will
>> have to go to the cloud or buy the full version of CS6 as a new customer.
>> This was why I bought CS6 upgrade as I knew Adobe was about to cut it off.
>> For once I got lucky :)
>>
>> Those jerks that download pirated versions of Photoshop is one of the
>> main reasons Adobe moved to rental. They are making all of us pay for
>> steeling software.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com>
>>> Date: May 13, 2013 2:02:22 PM CDT
>>> To: James Jasek <caver...@hot.rr.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Photoshop
>>>
>>> James (only) -- Not sure whether you meant to send that link about the
>>> Adobe Creating Suite rental scheme to the whole Texas Cavers list or not.
>>> If there's been an inquiry about it there, I didn't see it. (Sometimes I
>>> think I don't get quite all the posts.)
>>>
>>> Seems like not such a bad deal, really. I bought CS3 for over $2100 back
>>> in 2007 (would have been more if I'd bought a more complete suite of
>>> programs, including the web stuff). True, I've used it for 5.5 years, but
>>> I'm still stuck with CS3, not the latest versions. And it would have taken
>>> me almost 4 years to pay that amount at the rate of $50 a month, so I'm not
>>> terribly far ahead of where I'd have been had I been paying subscription
>>> all this time. (No doubt the list price of the more recent versions has
>>> gone up, too, and I doubt there's much of an upgrade discount from CS3 for
>>> CS7.)
>>>
>>> And since I've been stuck with CS3, I haven't upgraded my Mac system to
>>> OS 10.6 (Lion) because I heard that some of the CS3 programs have at least
>>> cosmetic problems with the newer operating system. That sort of thing
>>> wouldn't arise with a subscription that allows one to upgrade at no extra
>>> cost.
>>>
>>> But then I know people who have the whole latest version for nothing.
>>> Not hard to find on the web programs that will unlock pirated versions from
>>> disk. I imagine people will figure out how to patch subscription versions
>>> so that they'll continue to run after you stop paying, too.
>>>
>>> If there has been a significant thread about this on Texas Cavers, feel
>>> free to post this if you want to. -- Bill Mixon
>>>
>>
>> Please reply to mmin...@caver.net
>> Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------**------------------------------**---------
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> To unsubscribe, e-mail:
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Please submit map and article to the Texas Caver.
Preston
----- Original Message -----
From: Dale Barnard
To: Mark Minton
Cc: * Texas Cavers
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Photoshop
I drew the Kiwi Sink map using Inkscape. I like the app a lot, and I like the
fact that it's open source, but it did crash at least 50 times while working on
the map. The saving grace is that it does a great job of creating a backup of
your project when it detects that it has crashed. Crashing was inconvenient,
but I never lost a bit of work. I just kept having to go delete the primary
file and rename the backup to be the primary and then continue.
I think that the main reason it crashes it that I had embedded a bunch of 300
dpi sketch notes in the document, making it rather large. Perhaps if you link
to files rather than embedding them, it won't crash as much. I'll try that next
time.
Dale
On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 4:45 PM, Mark Minton <mmin...@caver.net> wrote:
A free program that is roughly equivalent to Illustrator is
Inkscape <http://inkscape.org/>. I have not used it for anything but reading
files sent to me by others, but I know people who use it exclusively to draw
cave maps.
Mark
At 04:23 PM 5/13/2013, Ted Samsel wrote:
GIMP is free (from GNU). http://www.gimp.org/
Instructions are less cryptic than Adobe's. One could try that.
At USGS I used Photoshop from 1995 to 2011. The CS packages were
overkill. WTF does one need? and Adobe Illustrator from 1998 to 2011. PS 3.0
was fine by me. Digital wanking gets old. <snork>
I used Adobe Illustrator to edit ESRI GIS (ARCMAP) compositions as
registered layers. It was easier to do text with AI than with ESRI which kept
changing the underlying SW. We kept hearing ESRI and ORACLE were going to
merge. even in 1987. Still hasn't happened.
Ted
On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 2:29 PM, James Jasek <caver...@hot.rr.com> wrote:
Yes, I wanted it to go out to everyone. The important part is the link to
Adobe. They have a Q&A that answers all the questions and clears up
misconceptions.
I started with Adobe Photoshop when it was only written for the
Mac,version 2.0, an never paid more than $199 for an upgrade. To me, being
unemployed is an outrage.
I am currently using CS3 as it is the only version I am able to use on my
Mac G5, I bought CS6 last year, for $199, and will use it when I upgrade to a
new Mac Pro Desktop. Apple keeps promising a new Mac Pro.
I am running CS6 on my wife's Macbook Pro and there are NO problems.
You are out of luck as Adobe cut off an upgrade from CS3 to CS6. You will
have to go to the cloud or buy the full version of CS6 as a new customer. This
was why I bought CS6 upgrade as I knew Adobe was about to cut it off. For once
I got lucky :)
Those jerks that download pirated versions of Photoshop is one of the
main reasons Adobe moved to rental. They are making all of us pay for steeling
software.
Jim
Begin forwarded message:
From: Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com>
Date: May 13, 2013 2:02:22 PM CDT
To: James Jasek <caver...@hot.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Photoshop
James (only) -- Not sure whether you meant to send that link about the
Adobe Creating Suite rental scheme to the whole Texas Cavers list or not. If
there's been an inquiry about it there, I didn't see it. (Sometimes I think I
don't get quite all the posts.)
Seems like not such a bad deal, really. I bought CS3 for over $2100
back in 2007 (would have been more if I'd bought a more complete suite of
programs, including the web stuff). True, I've used it for 5.5 years, but I'm
still stuck with CS3, not the latest versions. And it would have taken me
almost 4 years to pay that amount at the rate of $50 a month, so I'm not
terribly far ahead of where I'd have been had I been paying subscription all
this time. (No doubt the list price of the more recent versions has gone up,
too, and I doubt there's much of an upgrade discount from CS3 for CS7.)
And since I've been stuck with CS3, I haven't upgraded my Mac system to
OS 10.6 (Lion) because I heard that some of the CS3 programs have at least
cosmetic problems with the newer operating system. That sort of thing wouldn't
arise with a subscription that allows one to upgrade at no extra cost.
But then I know people who have the whole latest version for nothing.
Not hard to find on the web programs that will unlock pirated versions from
disk. I imagine people will figure out how to patch subscription versions so
that they'll continue to run after you stop paying, too.
If there has been a significant thread about this on Texas Cavers, feel
free to post this if you want to. -- Bill Mixon
Please reply to mmin...@caver.net
Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Thought you all might like to see this.
Geary
From: Kresic, Neven A [mailto:neven.kre...@amec.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:08 PM
To: zstev_2...@yahoo.co.uk; Neno Kukuric
Cc: Kresic, Neven A
Subject: Karst conference in spectacular Dinaric Karst
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that call for papers for the international karst
conference "Karst without Boundaries" is now out. This conference is organized
within the UNESCO's DIKTAS project framework and will be held in June 2014 in
the lands of spectacular classic Dinaric karst. Details can be found at the
conference site:
http://diktas.iwlearn.org/international-conference-and-field-seminar-201ckarst-without-boundaries/call-for-abstracts-1
As you will see, everyone is welcome and the topics are quite diverse. There is
also an international, accredited academic course (including practical field
work) offered before the main conference, and a post-conference field trip no
one should miss. And, of course, there will be a program for interested
speleologists as well, kindly hosted by the Trebinje's famous speleological
club "Greenfields".
I look forward to seeing you all next year in Trebinje and Dubrovnik as there
will be lots of fun for karstologists of all ages...
Best regards
Neven Kresic
Chair of the Scientific Committee
Co-chair, Karst Commission of IAH
Neven Kresic, PhD, PG
Hydrogeology Practice Leader
AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, Inc.
14424 Albemarle Point Place, Suite 115
Chantilly, VA 20151
USA
Tel: +1 (703) 488-3767
Cell: +1 (703) 472-0389
VOIP number #28-3767
www.amec.com<http://www.amec.com>
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