Wednesday, April 25, 2007

ShortNews.com

Click on colored links to go there.
Today I wanted to bring a unusual news web site to attention. It is called ShortNews. I have been a member of ShortNews for about 6 years. ShortNews is a different kind of news web site.
The web site lets members find news articles from different sources on the Internet, then re-write the news article in their own words instead of copying it directly from the original web site.
You may ask what is unusual about that. Well you will find a very wide and diverse listing of almost any kind of news story on this planet ranging from present day news articles to technology features to really odd, strange and sometimes offensive news articles to political to entertainment, sports and just about anything else you can think of all on one web site.
Members can rate all news articles written or I should say re-written by members and critique the articles.
As kind of a competition amongst members, there is a ranking system as well and is done by the amount of articles a member submits. I personaly am ranked in the top 25 all time high points leaders on the web site.
Re-writing news articles may not be of interest to you, but check out the ShortNews RSS news feed to the left on this site for current submissions or visit the web site to get a full view of ShortNews stories all on one web site. http://www.shortnews.com/

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Let's Talk About eBay

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Today, I thought I would mention a little about eBay for visitors to this blog who may not be familiar with it. eBay is world famous for auctions, bidding, buying and selling almost anything you can imagine.
Many people still have never purchased or bid on items on eBay and many have never sold anything on the site either.
People do not realize that you can sell or buy your next car or house on eBay as well as sell any household items you may have. It’s kind of like having a yard sale without setting items in your yard.
Many people that have never visited eBay are under the impression that what is sold on there is all “used” or second hand items. Nothing could be further from the truth.. There are thousands of online stores on eBay where you can either bid, or Buy It Now on new factory sealed items.
When using eBay, you need to register and set up an account so that you can purchase and bid and pay for items you have obtained from the site. If you are somewhat familiar with eBay’s site but have never actually purchased or sold a item on the site, you may notice different ways to pay for your item.. The most popular and most recognized payment method for obtaining any item is thru an eBay company called PayPal. Cash, money orders, check, debit & credit cards can be used as well.
It is a good idea to go to PayPal’s web site and set up or register an account with them also.
eBay has many HELP sections on their web site to get you going in this interesting way of obtaining almost anything you can think of and also many HELP sections and a Learning Center to get you up and going with registration and bidding, buying & selling anything.

If you live in this local area and have something your interested in bidding on, or buying or selling and do not wish to go thru the hassle of using eBay yourself, Hoz has a eBay ME page and can sell or purchase items for you.. It is not done as a business, but just a way to help out friends.
Enjoy the eBay experience! :))

Friday, April 13, 2007

Our Camp

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This weekend we will be spending time at our camp. Some of you may know we have a camp and some of you have never seen it, so this post will give you an idea of what it looks like.
The camp is located about 3 miles from the East Branch Dam in Elk County. It's actually on the Rasselas Road which is located near the village of Wilcox. Most people say it does not look much like a camp. It does not have a "outhouse" which most camps in this area do have. It has complete indoor plumbing, a full septic system, water well, a full kitchen, bathroom, living room and 2 bedrooms. Two years ago we had new siding and side porch added to it plus a new septic system. We also added a Amish built shed to store items in since there is not much storage space. The camp has a fuel oil forced air heating system in it and a full fire place in the living room. The basement is not a full basement but is about 5 feet high.


(click on any picture for full size view)
The camp is located in Elk County about 3 miles from the East Branch Dam and near Elk State Park and also near Bendigo State Park.
The camp is located about 25 miles from our home in Gifford so it makes it easy to get away without traveling.


Monday, April 9, 2007

Planet Smethport

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Today's post will be about a web site that was brought to my attention by a reader of this blog. Actually I had known about this site and had used it on several occasions in the past but forgotten about it. The web site is called Planet Smethport. The web site is an ongoing project by a local school teacher who is the Smethport History Project Director, students of Smethport Area High School and citizens of Smethport and the surrounding areas.
This site has all the history that a person could ask for and is a very informative site with maps and interactive pages relating to many of the old small towns located around Smethport in McKean County.
If your a older citizen looking to find information about Smethport and the surrounding area from the past or a younger person just looking to find information and learn about the history of this county, then this is the web site for you!
Plan on spending some time at this web site because it is such a vast wealth of information about the local area and you will not be able to cover it's entire contents in a short amount of time.
You can go to the Planet Smethport web site by clicking HERE or going to the following web address if you would need to type it into your web browser. http://www.smethporthistory.org/
Enjoy the memories! :))

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Kane Weather

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Today Kane woke up to about 4 inches of snow on the ground and 25 mph winds and a temperature of around 20 degrees.. It's hard to believe that 2 days ago it was around 70 and lots of sun and everyone was wearing shorts and sitting out on their porches. According to the National Weather Service (NOAA) this late snow is suppose to continue with higher wind and cold temperatures until at least Easter Sunday.
On blog related items, I have removed the Google Newsreel service with McKean County that was on the left side of this page under the PA Links of Interest. It did not operate correctly and did not update as I had expected it would.
I have replaced it with a "The Weather Channel" RSS feed which is also under the PA Links of Interest section to the left of this page. It updates daily and you can check the weather conditions here in Kane by clicking on any of the particular links listed with it.
I have also added a "Top World News Stories" feed to the left of the page. Clicking on any of the subjects will bring up a page relating to that story.
You may have noticed that I have also changed the actual theme of this web page to something more colorful and which will let me display pictures in a better order when I do post pictures.
If you have any comments on today's post, please add them to the "Comments" which is at the bottom of each daily post. Also to the left is a E-mail address that you can send comments or suggestions to if you do not wish to have your name displayed in any of the comments sections.
Enjoy the snow! :(

Monday, April 2, 2007

Eli the Wonder Dog

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Today we took our Miniature Schnauzer "Eli" to the vet to get some of his annual shots. Eli is the spoiled member of the family.. He gets his way with most everything.. He even has his own wardrobe of sweaters.
We do travel some and cannot take Eli with us so we board him at a local kennel in Smethport called Rainy Day Kennels.
Since dogs can get what is called Kennel Cough, he had to have a annual Bordatella shot. Bordatella or kennel cough is a virus dogs get much like a virus or cold that humans get.
Also because we have a camp, we let Eli wonder around in the woods sometimes and he does pick up a tick every so often. Ticks can cause Lyme Disease in dogs so Eli also has a annual Lyme disease shot. This protects him year round and so far we just pluck off any tick we may find on him.

The above left and center pictures were taken at our camp on the front porch while Eli was in his "trimmed" hair style. The above right picture was taken several years ago in the woods when Eli was in his "shaggy" hair style.
Eli was born in November of 2001 in Coudersport, PA and we brought him home the day before Christmas. He has been spoiled ever since.
(click on any picture for full size view)

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Pure Maple Syrup Production

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Today we took a trip up to Portville, NY to Sprague's Maple Sugar Farms. They have a wonderfull restraunt which we eat at whenever we are in that area. Sprague's is mostly know for it's NY State Pure Maple Syrup production and this is the time of year when maple syrup is produced. We took a small tour of Sprague's production facilities to see how it is actually made and even got a demonstration on how it was done in the early days by the Indians. Won't go into a lot of detail about that part but let me say it has to do with dropping very hot rocks into maple sap to get it boiling and burn off moisture.
Anyways..Below are excerpts from
Sprague's production web site page describing how it's done.
Maple syrup is made from pure maple sap, collected from sugar maple trees in very late winter and early spring. The sap is a very dilute liquid containing from 1% to 7% sugar, varying from tree to tree and usually averaging around 2% sugar. It takes approximately 40 gallons of this sap to produce 1 gallon of pure maple syrup.
Next comes the tapping of the sugar maples. A 7/16 inch hole is drilled into the tree to a depth of about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches. Into this is driven a "spout." These spouts are rather like modified pieces of pipe from which the bucket is hung or pipeline is run. A cover keeps dirt and rain water out of the buckets until collection; pipeline carries the sap directly from the tree to the storage tank.
To make top quality maple products the sap must be fresh and cold, which means it must be gathered and boiled often. In some modern sugar orchards small plastic tubing is attached directly to the spouts. The sap then flows through the small plastic tubes to larger pipes, and directly to the storage tank, thus saving the labor of gathering the sap.From the storage tank the sap flows, to the "evaporator". Evaporators are large pans, varying in size according to the size of the operation. A popular size is 5 feet wide and 16 feet long. Most evaporators have two pans; the flue pan and the syrup pan. The sap flows first to the flue pan, which has a bottom made of flues to provide a greater heating surface, and then to the flat bottomed syrup pan. The pans are divided by partitions, which creates a continual but very slow movement of sap from the point where it enters the evaporator around the many partitions and finally out of the evaporator as syrup. To evaporate the tremendous amount of water in the sap, a large quantity of fuel must be burned. Sugar makers use a modern reverse osmosis machine in conjunction with an energy efficient 4' X 14' Lighting Evaporator.It takes a long time for the 2% sap to be condensed by the evaporation process to the exact density of maple syrup. If cooked too thick the resulting syrup will crystallize. If the syrup is too thin it will be apt to ferment. Sugar makers use a hydrometer to check the density. When the hydrometer settles in the liquid syrup to a mark designating the correct density, the syrup is drawn from the pan. It is then filtered again to remove the nitre (or sugar sand) which has developed in the boiling process. From the filtering tank the maple syrup flows into small retail containers or into 35 and 50 gallon drums to be packed later. The syrup is packed hot and each can must be sealed according to state law
s.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Wild Leeks

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Today we went digging leeks down by Westline. I have been going to the same area to dig leeks for at least 20 years. Leeks are a popular item in this area. Either you love them or you hate them if you can get by the smell. Actually Westline has been known for years for having a annual leek festival and now Bradford has what they call Stinkfest every year with a lot of events and many recipes containing leeks cooked in many different ways.
The technical story relating to leeks is as follows from the online encyclopedia called Wikipedia.
The name Wild leek can also refer to Allium ampeloprasum, a native of Europe.
Wild leeks (Allium tricoccum), also known as ramps, are a member of the onion family (Alliaceae). Both the white root and the broad green leaves are edible. They are found from the U.S. state of South Carolina to Canada and are especially popular in the cuisine of the US state's of West Virginia and Pennsylvania when they emerge in the springtime. A common description of the flavor is like a combination of onions and strong garlic.
In central Appalachia, ramps are most commonly fried with potatoes in bacon grease or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans, and cornbread. Ramps, however, are quite adaptable to almost any food style and can also be used in soups, puddings, ketchup, guacamole and other foods, in place of onions and garlic. Some people like them raw, but others say the aroma of raw wild leeks stays with one for days.
Communities in this area hold annual leek festivals and local fire departments and even some church's have "Ham & Leek" dinners which bring hundreds of leek aficionados from considerable distances to sample foods featuring the plant. During the leek season (late winter through early spring), restaurants, bars, fire departments and church's in local towns serve a wide variety of foods containing wild leeks. Leek dips seem to be a favorite with everyone and each person has their own special recipe which they consider the best.


Leek Trivia
The name of the U.S. city Chicago originates from "Checagou" (Chick-Ah-Goo-Ah) or "Checaguar," which in the Potawatomi language means "wild onions" or "skunk." The area was so named because of the smell of rotting marshland wild leeks (ramps) that used to cover it.
The strong smell of leeks is also said to keep away vampires in folklore, much like garlic.
Ramps (leeks) appear quite often on the Food Network show, Iron Chef America, used by Iron Chefs and challengers alike.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Links of Interest

Today I have added PA links of interest over to the left side of this blog page. Hopefully you will find something of interest here. As I have time, I will add more to the list. Please feel free to click on any of the links to go to that web site. I hope these will be of help to some of you. :)

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Kane

Click on colored links to go there.
Kane is a borough in McKean County, Pennsylvania, 94 miles (151 km) east by south of Erie. It was founded in 1863 by Civil War general Thomas L. Kane at an elevated site 2210 feet (674 m) above sea level. In the early part of the twentieth century, Kane had large glassworks, bottle works, lumber mills, and manufactures of brush handles, saws, cutlery, screen doors and windows, etc. In 1900, 5,296 people lived here; in 1910, 6,626; and in 1940, 6,133 people made Kane their home. According to the 2000 census, the borough population was 4,126.
Kane is a rural community which is rich with outdoor entertainment. Hunting and fishing are very popular forms of entertainment for some people. Other people enjoy visiting such scenic areas as the Kinzua Dam, and the recently destroyed Kinzua Viaduct Bridge (this railroad bridge was destroyed by a tornado in 2003). In the long winters, people enjoy cross-country skiing, sled riding, winter hiking, and snowmobiling. For children, the local Evergreen Park has the Evergreen Enchanted Playland Creative Playground. People of all ages enjoy swimming at the high school public pool that is open various times of the year to give swimming lessons as well as holding recreational swim times.
Kane is site of an outdoor
drive-in theater which is open during the summer months, playing current movies.

(Click on any picture for full size view)
The Kane Republican is the area's only daily newspaper containing both local and national news.
WLMI-FM is Kane's country music station.
WQLE-AM was Kane's first radio station, first signed on the air as WKZA at 960 AM back in 1954. It fell silent in 1993 and has not returned to the air since. Its tower and studio building, located south of Kane, were dismantled back in the late 1990s.


Kane is known as the Black Cherry Capital of the World because of its logging industry.

On May 31, 1985 a tornado destroyed many homes in Kane and neighboring East Kane. The F4 tornado passed through the town at approximately 8:15 PM. There were 3 deaths as a result of this tornado. This is the worst natural disaster in Kane's history.

Kane was started by the Kane family. There are still relatives of the Kane family today. Some of them live in Ford City Pa, and Kittanning, Pa. The Kane family can be traced all over Pennsylvania.

Related Kane Links:

Kane Chamber of Commerce
Kane Republican Newspaper
Kane Area School District
WLMI-FM Radio Station
Vacation information for Kane, PA

Monday, March 26, 2007

Downloading Torrents

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This post will be related to downloading Torrents. Torrents are a file which is any audio, video, a program or pictures and can be very large in size. Torrents are the modern way to download files like the early Napster, Limewire or Kazaa use to be. To down load a torrent, a program (client) is needed to download the file. Several torrent clients I have found to be of good quality are programs called "Bitspirit" & "Azureus". There are many others but I use these particular ones.
Once you have downloaded and installed one of these programs, you will need to go to torrent search web sites and type in what file (music title, video title, program title) you would like to download. **Please note that at this present time you are not SUPPOSE to download any copyright material.
When you chose a title to download, you then chose to "Download Torrent" and this will bring up your torrent client program and the download will begin. Depending on the size of the file and other Internet conditions,this can take from hours to days to complete the download.
Each torrent client has it's own settings that can help in download speed and performance.
If this subject is of interest to you. Links to the torrent client programs and to torrent search web sites can be found below.

Torrent Search Web Sites


Introduction

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Welcome to the first entry on the Hoz's Home blog. This blog is to share items of interest to family & friends and will show different family related matters as well as items of interest ranging from local areas of interest to computer related topics. It is hoped that you will enjoy the contents of this blog and this blog will always be a "G" web site with content suitable for any age.
Several years ago, I had a full 12 page web site also called Hoz's Home, but after 2 years it became to much of a chore to keep it updated so it was closed. Hopefully this blog will be a very mild version of that web site. In case you do not know me, this blog is based in Northwest Pennsylvania around the Gifford, Bradford & Kane areas, but will show interesting items from anywhere.
Please save or add this blog to your Favorites in your web browser and check back on a regular basis for updates, my thoughts, subjects of interest, links of special interest or anything else I can think of.