Imagedump
posted 2009.03.27 at 10:23 | comment
Bits of camera data from the last three months, including the only two images from the superbowl madness that aren't out of focus:
Noise
posted 2009.03.23 at 10:23 | comment
Swiped from here and possibly out of date, the Pittsburgh noise ordinance:
AN ORDINANCE
Amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code, Title Six, Conduct, Article I, Regulated Rights and
Actions, Chapter 601, Public Order, Section 601.04, Unnecessary Noise and Sound Amplification
Devices, by changing the threshold and penalties for violation.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1.
The Pittsburgh Code, Title Six, Conduct, Article I, Regulated Rights & Actions, Chapter 601,Public Order, Section 601.04 is hereby amended as follows:
601.04 UNNECESSARY NOISE AND SOUND AMPLIFYING DEVICES.
(a) No person shall unnecessarily and repeatedly sound the horn of any vehicle or use any loud signaling device thereon except an emergency vehicle or a vehicle on emergency business.
(b)No person shall operate or cause to be operated, any audio amplification or reproduction device, including but not limited to an oversized hand carried radio, cassette, compact disc player, or one that is installed in or audio powered by a vehicle, on a city street or sidewalk, in a city park, on a public conveyance. or in any other public property which generates an A-weighted sound level in excess of [85] 68 dB(a) in a residential area measured at, or adjusted to, a distance of 50 feet from the source . If an A- weighted sound device is not present, a violation has occurred if the disturbance is audible to an officer standing in excess of 75 feet away from the source of the disturbance. This subsection shall not apply to audio amplification devices used for open air musical concerts or any other private or public events.
(c) No person shall operate, or cause to be operated any audio amplification system on public or private property, which generates an A- weighted sound level in excess of 68 dB(a) in a residential area measured at, or adjusted to, a distance of 75 feet beyond the boundary of the property in which the audio amplification or reproduction system is located.
(d)Sound levels under subsections (b) and (c) hereof shall be measured with a sound level measuring device, either Type I or Type Il as defined by American National Standards institute Specifications. Section 1.4-1971.
(e)A person operating an audio amplification or reproduction device shall be exempt from this section provided that:
(1) The device is being operated to request assistance or warn of a hazardous situation; or(2)The device is an authorized emergency vehicle or a vehicle operated by gas, electric, communications or water utility; or
(3) The device is being used in connection with a parade, political activity, amusement activity or communit.v event that is being conducted under any permit issued by the city and is otherwise in compliance with the applicable sections of the Pittsburgh Code provided that the recommended sound level in the applicable subsection is not exceeded between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 am.
(f)Violation of subsection (b) shall result in the mandatory fine of $150 for a first time violation and a mandatory $300 fine and booting of the vehicle for the second offense.
Booting of the vehicle shall occur if the fine from the first violation is outstanding. The owner of the vehicle shall be responsible for all costs associated with the booting. Violation of subsection (c) [Noise and sound as prohibited herein] is a public nuisance, disturbing the peace and injurious to the public interest, and may be abated forthwith.
(Ord. 17-1991, effective 5-24-91)
SECTION 2.
Prior to the effective date of this legislation, the Director of Public Safety shall develop a comprehensive noise education program for the purpose of informing, educating and soliciting voluntary cooperation in noise
reduction.
SECTION 3.
The effective date of this legislation shall be October 1, 1998
SECTION 4.
That any Ordinance or part of Ordinance conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance, be and the same is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.
Ordained and enacted into a law in Council, this 3rd day of
AUGUST A.D. 1998
Bob O'Connor, President of Council
ATTEST: John R. Mascio, Deputy City Clerk of Council
MAYOR'S OFFICE August 12,1998
APPROVED: Tom Murphy, Mayor
ATTEST: M. Linda Gangewer, Mayor's Secretary
Recorded in Ordinance Book, Vol.78 Page 244 26th day of August, 1998
EFFECTIVE DATE:
October 1, 1998
For personal reference, this handy FAQ on how to deal with these things, and the froogle search for decibel meters.
Mail Theft on the South Side.
posted 2008.04.07 at 08:59 | comment
According to my roommate (who's had a check stolen and another piece of mail tampered with) and a neighbor (who, according to said roommate, shooed this guy out of the mail drop area of his apartment building), there's a thief going through mailboxes on the South Side. He's active in the 2200 block, and if he's poking around there it's a good bet he's active elsewhere.
In the case of my roommate, one piece of mail has been tampered with and one piece of mail has "never arrived" (and has as a result had to be reissued, causing him and his employer undue inconvenience). For some reason the interwebs has "mail theft" tightly wound around "identity theft," both of which are federal offenses. I've had mail "fail to arrive" at my house before. It's one of the reasons I get things shipped to work whenever possible. I've also had mail just sit in the mailbox for weeks at a time - my house revieces a nearly endless stream of junk mail, tax information, credit card applications (and sometimes bills) and other miscellanious garbage for the last half a dozen tennants. There's a pile of the stuff in the kitchen. But it's been quite awhile since I've failed to receive an expected piece of mail, and I've never had mail in my name arrive in tampered condition. A mutilated UPS order in 2001, but that hardly counts. That's background noise, the price of city living. But my roommate getting fucked with - and my neighbors getting fucked with - in such a short period of time isn't background noise. It's suspicious. And as much as I dislike having neighbors, I dislike the possibility of a thief in the neighborhood even more. Hopefully this is a freak apparition - but on the off chance that this isn't, the guy was dumb enough to almost get caught before... so he'll probably screw up again. Hopefully on somebody else's block.
Combine this with the recent theft of a pair of headphones from my office at work and I'm feeling a bit more paranoid than usual.
Which is pretty damned paranoid, really.
Yes, a mail slot in the door would completely solve the problem - but this isn't a high tech house - and that would only solve for this house, not the neighborhood.
More construction headaches.
posted 2007.12.29 at 09:44 | comment
From my work inbox:
BOULEVARD OF THE ALLIES TO CLOSE JANUARY 3, 2007!The Boulevard of the Allies will be closed to all thru traffic between January 3, 2008 at midnight, and November 21, 2008. All Northbound traffic approaching the bridge will be directed onto Craft Avenue and onto the new North Ramp from 5th Avenue. All Southbound traffic approaching Oakland will be forced to take the Parkway East exit ramp just past Mercy Hospital. Again, the new North Ramp will be in use and traffic leaving Oakland can access the Blvd of the Allies North bound and the Parkway East Westbound via the new ramp.
Special NOTE: Commuters will not see any changes in their evening commute on Thursday, January 3, 2008. However, they should be PREPARED for new traffic pattern the morning of Friday, January 4, 2008.
More information is allegedly here, in the form of a buzzword compliant brochure.
Dark City.
posted 2007.08.07 at 13:02 | comment
1300 hours. 78°f, 87% humidity, dewpoint 74°.
Don't let the publicity photos fool you. This is Pittsburgh.
Utrecht (20th and Carson)
posted 2006.05.12 at 14:12 | comment
I shop at Utrecht because the prices are about half that of Top Notch. That and they're three blocks from my house. I do not, as evinced by the following account, shop there for the service.
< clerk> do you have an artsmart card?
< solios> no.
< clerk> do you want an artsmart card?
< solios> no.
< clerk> they're FREE.
< solios> no. (worried about sputnik, irritated with Idiot Clerk)
* clerk stares into a space somewhere off to the right of the register for about forty seconds.
* solios tosses a $20 on the counter.
< clerk> do you want an artsmart card?
< solios> NO.
* clerk processes order.
* clerk stares into register drawer.
* clerk pulls out two fives.
* summer passes and fall arrives.
* clerk pulls out four ones, double-checks.
* fall passes clean into next fucking year.
* clerk manifests change, counts it out, drops it on counter.
< solios> ...
* clerk remembers receipt.
* solios, having made three separate trips to his pocket, isn't about to wait for this dipshit to remember how to bag product. He stuffs the bristol pad in his bag and leaves.
While the above account is atypical, Utrecht service has gotten laggard and belligerent since they've started the "artsmart" thing - if you don't have a card, they treat you like a second class citizen. The store was much more pleasant before the program started, I think - nevermind the fact that the last half a dozen microns I've bought there seem to be "pre-owned."
Pittsburgh Roars.
posted 2006.03.27 at 13:53 | comment
10:58 < mdxi> ...
10:58 < solios> I got an elipsis out of shawn. Do I WIN?!
10:59 < mdxi> you win ONE INTERNET
11:00 < solios> :o
Parking
posted 2006.01.04 at 13:25 | comment
The best part (aside from the fact I've seen this sort of Expert, Alley-Blocking Parking dozens of times on the South Side) is that this dude was being tailed by an Allegheny Sheriff's Department minivan. And I don't mean connect-the-dots subtlety, either - I mean the mini was right up the guy's ass - when this was taken, the van was parked in a similarly inconvenient-for-everyone-else position next to the PNC ATM on the corner of 18th and Carson, and the driver looked either really pissed or extremely constipated.
The car sat there until I got out the camera and took a picture, at which point he rolled out into traffic and the van shot up his ass again.
Subtle.
Weather
posted 2005.10.21 at 18:37 | comment
Can you tell what time it is?
It's been like this all week. It's going to be like this all of next week. And probably for all of November, December, January, February and March. And probably April. If we're lucky, it'll stop there.
Feels like it's midnight. Looks like LV426.
21:13 < solios> [ The five-day, which is five days of 100% humidity, no sun, "chance of showers." ]
21:13 < solios> >_<
21:14 <@ejp> why the hell'd you pick such a shittastic place to live anyway?
21:16 < solios> o_o
21:16 < solios> fagbot: pittsburgh?
21:16 < fagbot> pittsburgh is an aggregator for the ugly, the unfit, the retarded, and the geriatrics.
21:19 < solios> sunday-tuesday : "a chance of showers"
21:20 < solios> fuckers.
21:20 <@rjbs> THE PITT
21:20 < solios> every station in the burgh is all OMFG WE GOT THE BEST WEATHER COVERAGE!!!!!
21:20 < solios> and they can make something out of it because the forecast changes every twenty minutes.
21:20 < solios> Until we get one of these freezing wet clam chowder shitfunks.
21:21 < solios> fagbot: doot this town's weather
21:21 < fagbot> HORRIBLE ANAL SEX
Update, 15 hours later:
South Side, 0800:
Oakland, 0900:
Brosville Street
posted 2005.09.20 at 13:00 | comment
South Side Slopes : 20050919, ~2300:
The third time I've been tackling-distance from deer on the slopes, but the first time I've had enough time to snap a few exceedingly low quality images - the Canon shit its pants trying to figure out what to do about the ambient light, resulting in a decidedly 'night vision' effect.
Pittsburgh Port Authority
posted 2005.09.19 at 15:49 | comment
Not so much a writeup as an excuse to post the following image of the PAT sign outside the Pitt library in Oakland:
Read the rest of Pittsburgh Port Authority.
A 2 Ton Heavy Thing
posted 2005.09.18 at 17:58 | comment
I have absolutely no idea what this thing is. It Just Appeared in front of the office at some point on Friday. It looks like it's going to be very, very loud. I'm assuming it does unspeakable things to either pavement or elephants. Possibly both.
======================
Update, 20050922 : Smith informs me of the following: (a) that's a drill of some sort (a BFD!), and (b) The hardware apparently lists at 750k$ and the guy running the thing is self-employed (owns the drill) and bills 450$ an hour.
Sunset : Panther Hollow Bridge
posted 2005.09.16 at 21:17 | comment
Unlike the Schenley Park golf incident, I wasn't harassed while scouting my location (such as it is) for this one - joggers and cyclists being somewhat lacking in the projectile weapons and general assholery.
Great view. Love it. Also the only shot out of a half dozen or so that came out relatively clear. :)
Sunset : Schenley Park Golf Course
posted 2005.09.16 at 21:12 | comment
Mellon and the US X are kind of fuzzy, probably due to the lack of contrast. Wish I'd thought to take pictures of the asshole golfers who thought it would be fun to take pot-shots at me- I happened to be standing between said golfers and a Thicket O' Woods, so ignoring their assholery seemed like the thing to do. They quickly tired of not being able to thwack me with golf balls and eventually went back to their hole, which they happened to be standing some three meters away from.
Assholes are like asphalt in this town - the place is paved with 'em. Good views are much harder to find. File this one under "reasons I love Schenley park."
