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Nov 18, 2019 18:51:05 GMT -5
Post by van on Nov 18, 2019 18:51:05 GMT -5
Does anyone have a good source for lists of names, cities, rivers, ect. in the search area, that can be put into excel. I googled a few lists, but they are not typically in a convenient format.
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Deleted
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Nov 19, 2019 0:01:28 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2019 0:01:28 GMT -5
Does anyone have a good source for lists of names, cities, rivers, ect. in the search area, that can be put into excel. I googled a few lists, but they are not typically in a convenient format. I have a couple of old books, like my cheat sheet lol. #1 American Rivers #2 The magnificent continent American Rivers is awesome, I included a picture of the contents, so if you see anything interesting feel free to ask me, I'd be glad to help.
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Nov 19, 2019 2:45:24 GMT -5
Post by zaphod73491 on Nov 19, 2019 2:45:24 GMT -5
Does anyone have a good source for lists of names, cities, rivers, ect. in the search area, that can be put into excel. I googled a few lists, but they are not typically in a convenient format. Some time ago, I don't remember on which blog, someone posted a link to a website that I think does something similar to what you're looking for. I'm guessing you're looking for a digital database of place names within a geographic region. While I don't want to dissuade you from taking this course of action, let me at least share with you my own experience along those lines.
Starting about 4 years ago, I visually scanned every 7.5-minute USGS topographical map in the search areas of Montana, Wyoming, and about 2/3rd of Colorado, oxplowing my way west-to-east, then down a couple arcminutes and then back east-to-west, snaking my way from the Canadian border south. I built up an Excel spreadsheet with one square per quadrangle, jotting down any features within each quad that reasonably could be interpreted as a WWWH, home of Brown, blaze, meek place, water high, etc. I covered thousands of 7.5-minute maps, taking nearly a year to do so, until one day (or rather, night) I stopped cold: my subconscious had figured out (my) WWWH in my sleep. And assuming it's right, it's not something that my brute force approach would have ever solved. And really, that's not too surprising since Forrest would have anticipated that such an approach (if it was workable) could have been solved by a GIS computer attack soon after the Chase started, and he wouldn't want that.
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Nov 19, 2019 6:40:54 GMT -5
Post by van on Nov 19, 2019 6:40:54 GMT -5
You are correct, I am looking for information in a database. I am creating my program mostly for fun; I am not a software engineer so this project is limited in scope (I am teaching myself python) and it seems to be a good mental exercise. I agree that FF would have anticipated searchers using computers and could have intentionally made adjustments if he placed hidden clues with the text. Having said that, I recently made a new discovery (at least new to me) that will give a unique approach for looking for hidden text within the poems; it basically involves using multiple images(mirrors) of the poem.
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Jeff
Full Member
Posts: 160
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Post by Jeff on Nov 19, 2019 9:20:11 GMT -5
Does anyone have a good source for lists of names, cities, rivers, ect. in the search area, that can be put into excel. I googled a few lists, but they are not typically in a convenient format.
Hi Van, check out the USGS U.S. Board on Geographic Names to see if it meets your particular needs. It contains a search option for domestic names; you can import search results into Excel through some easy manipulation (easy for a software engineer).
Let's say you want all features in New Mexico that this Board has tagged as a "dam" because that's your solution for WWWH. Search this database and you now have a list of 516 such things.
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Nov 19, 2019 18:29:06 GMT -5
Post by van on Nov 19, 2019 18:29:06 GMT -5
Thanks Jeff, This was perfect.
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Nov 21, 2019 19:39:57 GMT -5
Post by van on Nov 21, 2019 19:39:57 GMT -5
So, I am running some tests on my program looking for hidden text. It comes up with "Circle I Waters". So I do a google/map search, and of course its not in the search area in Colorado, lol. I need to do some more testing.
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