Welcome to my Gateway


Unicode Text Formatter1

What’s that site running? / Netcraft2

Phone Number Parser Demo for LibPhoneNumber3

The trusted source for IP address data, leading IP data provider - IPinfo.io4

URL Expander — Unshorten Any Short URL To A Long URL5

GitHub Status6


Rare Celestial Event

Rare star explosion will be visible for a week • Earth.com
Once-in-a-Lifetime Viewing Opportunity: Nova Explosion, ‘New’ Star in Northern Crown
Astrophysicist explains science behind once-in-a-lifetime nova outburst that will light up the sky this year
Visibility Location
Star explosion in the Corona Borealis constellation

This event, set to occur this year, will see T CrB lighting up the Corona Borealis constellation, shining as brightly as the famed North Star, Polaris, for approximately one week.

The exact timing of this stellar spectacle remains uncertain, with NASA forecasting its occurrence sometime between now and September. T CrB is nestled within the Corona Borealis constellation, lying in a semicircular pattern between the Bootes and Hercules constellations.
2024-03-16 (now) — 2024-09 (September) Corona Borealis constellation, lying in a semicircular pattern between the Bootes and Hercules constellations

Briefly About Me | [ Details About Me ]

Follow me on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=ralphhightower

Personality Tests

Test/Website Result
Top Gun Call Sign Lt. Ralph ‘Tahoe’ Hightower7
Myers-Briggs Personality Test® INTP8
CliftonStrength 34™ Ideation | Deliberative | Learner | Input | Strategic
Leaders with great Strategic Thinking strengths are the ones who keep us all focused on what could be. They are constantly absorbing and analyzing information and helping the team make better decisions. People with strength in this domain continually stretch our thinking for the future.
Game of Thrones Personality Test9 Primary Character: Mance Rayder10
Secondary Character: Ser Jaime Lannister11
Tertiary Character: Ygritte12

I freeze time; I photograph. I have 50++ years of computer programming and software development; most recently using C# and .Net. Athough I am retired from software development as a vocation, I am still active for personal projects. I have witnessed two final space flights: the US half of the Apollo/Soyuz Test Project, and Space Shuttle STS-135 Atlantis with the Final Four [CDR Chris Ferguson, PLT Doug Hurley, MS1 Sandra Magnus, MS2 Rex Walheim], as well as the final landing next to the control tower of the Shuttle Landing Facility (200 yards from the runway).

Photography is another creative endeavor that I have enjoyed since 1980. My first camera was the Canon A-1 which was an innovative camera for the 80’s, which I still use. I added one of my bucket list cameras in July 2013, a Canon New F-1 with the AE Finder FN and the AE Motor Drive FN. December 2013, I added a DSLR, the Canon 5D Mark III with the EF 24-105mm f4L. I enjoy photography period. It doesn’t matter if I am shooting film or digital.

Where I Can Be Found

Content Website
CodeProject RalphHightower
Facebook RalphHightower (I spend more time on LinkedIn than I do on Facebook.)
GitHub RalphHightower (Primary Website)
GitLab RalphHightower
GitLab Permanent Vacations
Google Dev RalphHightower
Gravatar RalphHightower
Hackster.io ralph-hightower
IEEE Collabratec RalphHightower
LinkedIn Profile RalphHightower (LinkedIn is where I spend the majority of my time.)
Photography Portfolio (Flickr) RalphHightower
Stack Overflow ralph-hightower
Twitter RalphHightower13
YouTube RalphHightower

Authored Websites

RalphHightower Description
Azure-Resources Useful Documents for Azure
GM-Canada-OnStar-2G-Sunset Canada sunsetted cellular CDMA 2G technology in 2015. GM Canada figured out how to retain OnStar functionality in affected vehicles without using a dongle like GM USA. Documents from NHTSA (US) nhtsa.gov.
RalphHightower GitHub Repositories Primary Website
NANPATelephoneFormatDetection North American Numbering Plan
SpaceShuttleMissionSchedule14 NASA Space Shuttle Mission Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar
RalphHightower/minimaUSCGamecockSandstorm USC Gamecock Sandstorm theme derived from jekyll / minimaa, a one-size-fits-all Jekyll theme for USC Gamecock writers. [Production Ready]

USC Gamecocks

USC — University of South Carolina
USC — College of Engineering and Computing
USC Alumni Association
USC Gamecock Sports
WUSC-FM 90.5 FM15
Carolina Band
University Band
Jazz Bands

Malfunction Junction Revamp16

South Carolina Electric Cooperatives Outages Map

 
Ralph Hightower Repository’s Stats
GitHub Streak
RalphHightower's GitHub activity graph
   
 
Metrics

https://api.github.com/users/RalphHightower/following

<button title=”List Following” onclick=”// Octokit.js // https://github.com/octokit/core.js const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: ‘GITHUB-TOKEN’ })

await octokit.request(‘GET /user/followers’, { headers: { ‘X-GitHub-Api-Version’: ‘2022-11-28’ } })” />

  1. Handy website to convert plain text for display in Italics, Bold, and Bold Italics 

  2. Very useful tool to get information on websites. I use this for gathering information on websites that SPAM me.
    GoDaddy has a strict policy that prohibits domain names registered with them from sending SPAM. Report domains registered with GoDaddy.
    Shopify also has a strict policy prohibiting by websites that they host. Report an Issue with a Merchant hosted by Shopify. 

  3. google/libphonenumber: Google’s common Java, C++ and JavaScript library for parsing, formatting, and validating international phone numbers. 

  4. Geolocate IP Addresses and ownership. 

  5. Status Check of GitHub 

  6. Get the expanded URL of any shortened URL without clicking on the link. 

  7. I’m a Chevy guy and Tahoe is a model name. I love it! 

  8. People with INTP preferences are quiet, thoughtful, and analytical. They tend to put a great deal of consideration into everything they do. INTPs are generally easygoing and genuine. They might seem to “zone out” from time to time while they consider new concepts or explore how something works. They are often happiest laying low and working hard behind the scenes. While they may seem impersonal with people they don’t know well, they like to have a close group of people they open up to. They are naturally adept at building structural models or coming up with new concepts for solving problems. They tend to see the world as a system that can be analyzed, and this is how they approach just about everything in life.
    • 4.8% of the population • 5.8% of men • 4.0% of women •
    × analytical × conceptual × logical ×
    × quiet × independent × easygoing ×
    × complex × driven × curious ×
    × questioning × methodical × values competence ×
    × self-critical × thoughtful × innovative ×
    × problem solver × reflective × autonomous × 

  9. I had to Google the GOT Personality Test. Oh, I don’t subscribe to HBO, so all I know of Game of Thrones is that’s it’s sorta like King Arthur set in medieval times.
    I took the GOT Personality Test. I saw that reference in a LinkedIn news article about using personality tests to get the right balance of different personalities. I think using a personality test to determine employment is a form of discrimination and I use that rather strictly because there’s race discrimination and gender discrimination. 

  10. Primary Character: Mance Rayder
    Nickname: King Beyond the Wall
    Traits: Inspiring, Formidable, Pioneer
    Your primary character is Mance Rayder. You are a charismatic, calm, and determined man with strong leadership qualities. You tend to rise quickly through the ranks of any organization you enter. You have good social and diplomatic skills, allowing you to collaborate with many different types of people. You have an honest yet stern persona which earns you respect and admiration of those around you. You are very trusting which can be your greatest weakness. You value freedom above all else. 

  11. Secondary Character: Ser Jaime Lannister
    Nickname: The Kingslayer
    Traits: Arrogant, Sarcastic, Apathetic
    Your secondary character is Ser Jaime Lannister. You are charming and capable of impeccable politeness in the right circumstances. In the wrong circumstances, others perceive you to be disdainful, sarcastic and arrogant. However your arrogance may just be confidence, as you excel in a number of areas, including intelligence. You don’t mock others over minor failings but you are usually very blunt. You typically just say what you are thinking without regard to the feelings of those that you perceive as incompetent. You regard ruthlessness as a virtue and behave in an unapologetically amoral way. You’re not politically ambitious and sly maneuvering is not your way. 

  12. Tertiary Character: Ygritte
    Nickname: Ygritte
    Traits: Wild, Uncoventional, Determined
    Your tertiary character is Ygritte. You are brave and unconventional. You have a mind of your own and prefer not to conform with the demands of societu’re cunning and value freedom above all else. You’re loyal, but also very passionate and you follow to your heart much more than your head. You live a very fulfilled life, chasing your dreams but this sometimes causes others to mistrust you although you have little enmity in your heart. 

  13. As of April 27, 2023, I deactivated my Twitter account based on this Elon Musk tweet:
    @ElonMusk: Anyone making materially false statements on this platform will get Community Noted, including you, me, Tucker, advertisers, head of state, etc. No exceptions.
    Convince the people and let the chips fall where they may.

    @RalphHightower: Seriously? Yet you welcomed back a pathological liar, Donald Trump, who incited and welcomed violence in an attempted coup d’état on January 6 in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Twitter has gone to HELL! 

  14. Support ended with wheelstop of Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 21, 2011 with the end of the Space Shuttle fleet. 

  15. WUSC-FM was an AM Radio 📻 broadcast station when I was a student. 

  16. South Carolina Department of Transportation DOT prefers that this massive revamp project to minimize the wrecks and traffic jams at the junctions of I-26, I-20, and I-126 be called “Carolina Crossroads”