User talk:Engleman/2006

FHWA C or E?
The version of the SHS I go by specifies using FHWA C on the "INTERSTATE" portion for three-digit shields. Most interstate shields out in the field also go with using type C for the "INTERSTATE" text, however, it all depends on how the sign contractors will interperet the design. Personally, I prefer using the 1988 MUTDC standard when designing the signs, as it is still widely used nowdays and offers the best legibility (also, signs manufactured by a lot of states' DOT tend to follow the '88 standard fairly close). Outside contractors usually have their own design standrad to follow; I have seen some route markers that were designed rather poorly and it irks me every time I see them. ;] -Kamlung 05:12, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Your new Interstate shields
To get the text to display in the right font once uploaded, you need to convert it to a vector object. In Inkscape, select the text and hit Ctrl + Shift + C or do Path > Object to Path and it should render fine on Wikimedia servers. The downside is then the text isn't editable as text anymore. Scott5114 19:54, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, when I was making up some state road markers, I had to keep a template around with the text not converted. (I set it to read-only to keep me from accidentally overwriting it.) As for merging all the blue rectangles into one blue vector object, you could do that by selecting them all and using the Path > Union command. You should get one large blue path, but it might need to be tweaked to remove some of the extra nodes. Scott5114 21:33, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * There you go - I've uploaded a new version to commons. Rather than try to do something with the existing vectors, I just deleted them and redrew them from scratch. They still don't follow the white lines exactly but since the lines will be on top of the edge of the vector it won't matter much anyway. I gave you something you can tweak, anyhow. Oh, and I converted the word INTERSTATE to vector for you as well. Scott5114 23:12, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * That's caused by an obsolete font cache, probably. According to the Inkscape FAQ :

Q: I installed a new font on my Windows system, but Inkscape does not see it. This is a bug caused by Inkscape using an obsolete font cache. This cache is stored in the file called .fonts.cache-1. This file may be in your Windows folder, or in your Temp folder, or in "My documents" folder, or in the folder listed in the $HOME environment variable. Use file search by name to locate this file. Then simply delete this file and restart Inkscape; now it will see the new fonts.
 * Try that and see if it works. Scott5114 18:32, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I imagine the cache file would be a dotfile somewhere in your home directory then. (if you're running Linux, that is - I haven't ever used Mac OS X so I don't know how it stores its configs and stuff. Try doing a search for the file name, including hidden files.) I know the feeling about getting beaten by Spui. I had just made about 10 circular signs and he uploaded all from 0-200 to Commons. He must be able to script or something. :P Scott5114 22:28, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Shields
It was pretty much by hand, with some shortcuts to make it faster. I'm not sure about state names, as there are just too many. --SPUI (talk - don't use sorted stub templates! ) 20:52, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, I make them in Macromedia Freehand, and export into Illustrator format to convert to SVG. The alignment of the text gets rather off in the process if I don't convert to paths. --SPUI (talk - don't use sorted stub templates! ) 04:20, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Honestly, I'm not sure if this is a good idea. On articles about an Interstate in more than one state, would we have one shield per state? It seems best to simply use the neutered shields. Photos can be added for states that still use state names, or older shields on other states. (Like the photo on Interstate 4.) --SPUI (talk - don't use sorted stub templates! ) 05:38, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Can you please not upload the state name images on top of the neutered ones (like with I-678)? --SPUI (talk - don't use sorted stub templates! ) 10:01, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

I-105 (OR) and I-405 (OR) have no images... could you please upload them? --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs)  00:56, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Template:Project U.S. Roads
too big for my user page; will put here:

--Chris 15:52, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

TfD notification
Templates for deletion/Log/2006 January 25 Tedernst | talk 20:03, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Commons changes to images
I'm leaving you this message to advise you that this image: Image:Interstate24.png and many like it have been replaced by SVG images at Wikipedia Commons. Since you have a page there devoted to these, it will soon become a page of deleted images, and I thought you may wish to request deletion of that page so as not to be associated with a page of deleted images.  &#08492;  astique &#09660;  par &#08467; er  &#09829;  voir  &#09809;  20:16, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

US Collaboration of the week
You have voted for Transportation in New York City on WP:USCOTW. It was selected to be this week's winner. You are invited to contribute to improve Transportation in New York City in any way you can. Cmadler 13:34, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Tear of the Clouds - Hudson crossings
I think your Hudson River crossing project has merit, but I made some changes in order to keep what was there from being too confusing for those who may not be familiar with the river, her official source, and the many crossings.

First, for the Lake Tear of the Clouds entry, the reference to the 112th Street Bridge has no bearing on the lake itself as the official source. As someone who grew up in Essex County and went to school in Troy, I can tell you that the bridge is almost a world away. There are thirty crossings of the river before the Waterford-Lansingburgh crossing, and the fact that it is the northernmost crossing with a Wikipedia entry is not encyclopedic. Hence, the fact does not belong in the Tear of the Clouds entry.

Second, the Hudson River crossings template. I like it. I like it a lot. I would like to improve it if I can. But listing two bridges in one when the next bridge does not have an entry is confusing. In the 112th Street Bridge article, one could look at that and assume that another name for the Collar City Bridge was the Patroon Island Bridge, which isn't true, they are different bridges. I know the intent was to link to the next bridge with a Wikipedia article, but the manner was potentially confusing. The answer, really, is to flesh out the Hudson River crossings project a bit.

Which leads to my third and final point - perhaps an article on Minor Hudson River Crossings is in order for less distinctive bridges, like the crossing at Tahawus and the Riparius Bridge. That way each link would at least link to an anchor point in that article with a short description of the bridge, its location, and what it links.

Drop me a line on my talk page - let me know what you think. -- RPIRED 03:53, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I beg to differ. The templates are for information AND navigation. As I mentioned, putting two names on the box is confusing, and putting just the next one with an entry is wrong. I have already volunteered to write an amalgamated entry on minor crossings in order to satisfy the navigation issue that you have. But returning them to the way they were is just a cluster, confusing, and really not in line with encyclopedic methods. - RPIRED 17:34, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I removed the "navigation functionality" because it is misleading, as I mentioned before. The format in which it was presented made it appear that there were alternate names for a single bridge. Its presence also interfered with its general informational viability. I wouldn't worry about it too much, as I have already begun work on a page listing minor crossings - I have information on every road bridge between New York and Newcomb. I'm still looking for information on the three Tahawus bridges, the trail footbridge in Newcomb, and several railway bridges, in use and abandoned. But I suspect your issue with the navigational use of the templates will soon become moot. - RPIRED 18:44, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Still working on it. It's something that I'm doing in my spare time. - RPIRED 14:45, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

SHS-compliant SVGs
I was wondering how you made the Interstate shields so they conformed exactly to standards. I'm wanting to make an ALT plaque, and got a copy of the SHS, but I'm unsure what to do to in Inkscape to get all the measurements exact....Scott5114 19:20, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * All right, I've got them done. They're on commons as Image:Alt_sign.svg and Image:Alt_sign_blue.svg. ...Scott5114 03:08, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Template:Routeboxny
I just noticed your change on 13-Feb altered the Legend from imbedded to linked. While I agree with this in principle, the problem this created is that the colors used in the NY route boxes do not agree with the US legend you linked to - altho they should for the sake of consistency. So now there are a number of NY routes with improper coloring. For example, "FFDEAD" used to mean "runs concurrent with", now it means "does not have an interchange with". Quite a different meaning, which causes alot of cleanup work for others. When making a global change, you should look at what gets affected and rectify the ramifications, or better yet, start a discusion by notifying previous contributors when a change has an affect on so many pages. --Censorwolf 17:06, 27 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Chris - Please see Template talk:Routeboxny and Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_New_York_State_routes/Routebox_legend. Let's discuss. --Censorwolf 13:20, 12 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Chris - added discussion at Template talk:Routeboxny --Censorwolf 14:13, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

List of NY Routes
Chris: Hope you're ok with me tablizing the routes list List of State Routes in New York. It looks nicer, but it makes it more difficult to modify. --Censorwolf 17:30, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I started building a table in "Category:New York State articles needing work" to show status of each route page. All NY route pages now comply to the current standard name "New York State Route N" --Censorwolf 19:57, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Fair-use images removed from your user page
Hello, Engleman. I've removed some images from User:Engleman/contrib images, as they are copyrighted images that are being used under claims of fair use. Unfortunately, by Wikipedia policies, no fair-use images can be used on user pages; please see Removal of fair use images. These images have not been deleted from any articles. If you have any questions, please let me know. —Bkell (talk) 23:05, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Final state highway naming conventions debate
Engleman, your participation is welcome in the State route naming conventions poll. Please give your input as to the process by 23:59 UTC on August 8.

Regards, Rschen7754 (talk - contribs)  21:39, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

NY Route shields listed for deletion on the Commons
Shields listed for deletion:
 * Image:NY Route 117 Shield.svg
 * Image:NY Route 133 Shield.svg
 * Image:NY Route 134 Shield.svg

To voice your opinion regarding the entry for these shields, please visit its entry. Thanks! -- T M F T - C 22:18, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

new RFC
You may be interested to know that an RFC has recently been initiated regarding Fair use images of Canadian politicians. Many images of Canadian public figures are about to be deleted, including ones you have uploaded. Please feel free to participate. - Mcasey666 05:44, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

NYSR-NYCR Newsletter - Issue 1

 * Want to help on next month's newsletter? Don't want to receive these in future? Don't want it subst'd next time? – It's all here.  T M F Let's Go Mets - Stats 06:53, 16 December 2006 (UTC)