Archive for July 10th, 2007

There are many ways to find out your Internet Protocol address (IP address).  Probably the easiest way is to go to this page.

http://www.whatismyip.com

This will give you the IP address that the outside world sees when you visit web pages or other Internet resources.  It’s like caller ID for the Internet.  Anyone you connect to knows who you are based on the fact that no two computers on the Internet have the same IP address.

If you have a hardware router, this is actually the IP address assigned to the router.  If you have multiple computers in your house it is likely they all use the same IP address (assigned to a router) when going to the Internet.  Each of your computers is given an “inside” IP address that can’t actually connect to the Internet.  To find out your computer’s IP address, do the following.

Windows Key - R
CMD <enter>
IPCONFIG <enter>

This will list your IP address with some extra information - subnet mask and gateway.

If you don’t have a router and connect your computer directly to the Internet, the two methods above should give you the same IP address.

TSPY=0.02

If you are travelling around the state during the summer and happen across an Ohio historical marker, take a picture and add it to our map.

http://www.flickr.com/map/?&q=remarkableohio&fLat=39.842666&fLon=-82.650146&zl=11

Today I added the 100th picture tagged “remarkableohio” to the map.  There are a few duplicates and some places have markers with different information on each side.  The picture above is the “Side B” of the “Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad” marker in Tiffin.  We don’t quite have 100 different markers, but we should soon.

The main reference for Ohio historical markers is the Ohio Historical Society’s site: http://www.remarkableohio.org

Some of the markers in the database don’t have addresses.  There have been several markers that I haven’t been able to find at all.  Camp Ball was three or four blocks from Frost and Perry.  Arlington’s marker simply says - South of Findlay in the town of Arlington.  With the Flickr map I can usually get within 50 feet of the actual location.

Today we went for a ride to a town about 20 miles away - New Riegel.  I thought this one would be an easy one because the OHS site says the marker is at 41 N. Perry St.  The guy that lives there said he didn’t even know the town of 226 people had an historical marker.

I went to the store next door and they said the post master might know where it was.  No luck there.  The post master pointed me back to the house where I started, explaining that guy had lived in New Riegel all his life.

According to the OHS, the marker says something about the Parish and Convent, so my last trip was to the Catholic church on N. Perry Street.  They didn’t know anything about the marker either.

The search is half the fun.  I have met a lot of interesting people while looking for these markers.  The funniest thing that happened was out on Put-In-Bay.  A lady at a shop said she knew someone that would know where to find a marker.  She asked if I had a cell phone and then pulled out a 8.5 x 11 piece of card stock to find his phone number.  I asked if that was the “official” Put-In-Bay phone book.  Her comment: “White pages and yellow pages.” It did have printing on the front and back.