February 2011

There were 31 posts published in February 2011 (this is page 1 of 4).

Public personas

A few weeks ago I was running an errand around town when I happened to spot graffiti on a telephone pole. As I’ve done perhaps a hundred times, I whipped out my phone and dialed Raleigh’s Graffiti Hotline. After giving my name and the graffiti location, we got into an impromptu conversation.

“Hi Mark, this is Elaine. It’s been a while since we’ve talked.” I’ve often said half-jokingly that I’m on a first-name basis with the Graffiti Hotline staff but it’s becoming less of a joke. “How are you doing?” she asked. “Everything all right? Your job going well?”

“Oh, sure,” I answered. “I work from home now and love my job.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Elaine said. “I remember you had lost your job and I wondered how you were doing.”

I laughed, thanked her for her concern, and said goodbye. Afterward, though, I marveled at how Elaine had remembered that I’d lost my job. It was over two years ago but I obviously had mentioned it to her and it obviously had made an impression. It blew me away that someone I’ve never even met would care about that – about me and my welfare.
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Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk plans

This is going to be my next cell phone plan. I’ve been mostly happy with my plain-Jane Net 10 service but I’ve been growing increasingly frustrated by Net 10’s lack of a bona fide smart phone. With my crazy schedule it would be nice to have an easy way to keep my calendar with me. Also, as I travel more with my job it becomes more important that I have a WiFi and 3G-enabled phone to keep me occupied in the airports.

Virgin Mobile’s $40-a-month plan for unlimited network and 1200 minutes a month will fit me just fine. With the LG Optimus V phone that runs Android, I’ll have all I need.

* 3G Nationwide Coverage You Can Count On

* All Taxes & Fees Included, except those charged at the point of purchase

* Pay with Credit, Debit or PayPal for worry free monthly service

* Buy Top-Up cards to pay with cash

via Cell Phone Plans – Pay As You Go and Prepaid | Virgin Mobile.

At The Abyss

I actually did something rare for me last week: I finished a book! The one is At The Abyss: An Insider’s History of the Cold War by Thomas C. Reed and published in 2004. It’s a book filled with Cold War incidents, many of which brought little attention when they occurred but looking back on them seem rather frightening. One of the incidents Reed recalled was the brilliant sabotage of a Soviet gas pipeline in the early 80s that I’d read about before (see: The Farewell Dossier).

Reed helped design nuclear weapons earlier in his career and a narrative runs through his book about the dangers of nuclear weapons. The most frightening parts detail the shocking lack of security that surrounded these ominous weapons during some of mankind’s biggest crises. We are all very, very, lucky to be here now.
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Drescher: How a blogger helped us tell a story

I got an unexpected shout-out from N&O executive editor John Drescher today about my work with the East CAC, quoted by Fiona Morgan in her New America report. We had actually all gotten together back in October after Fiona’s report was released.

I had no idea I would be the subject of Drescher’s column today, but I appreciate the shout-out. I hope other groups will be inspired to spread the word through technology!

The question to Mayor Charles Meeker came from a woman who lives in East Raleigh’s Lockwood neighborhood with her husband and two young children.

She wanted to know about the future of Powell Elementary, the school closest to her home.

Meeker harshly criticized the majority of the Wake school board. He said they were outsiders who didn’t share our values and were trying to isolate the affluent from others in separate schools.

Meeker’s comments last summer, which prompted weeks of community debate, were reported on the front page of The News & Observer. But they likely would not have received news coverage if it had not been for Mark Turner, president of the East Citizens Advisory Council, one of 18 such groups across Raleigh.

Turner, a tech professional and blogger, uses streaming video to broadcast his meetings online, where they are archived for anyone to see, including reporters.

Turner’s efforts show how citizens can help inform a community. His story was told by Fiona Morgan in a report on the availability of information in the Triangle.

via Drescher: How a blogger helped us tell a story – Drescher – NewsObserver.com.

Red flag rules poorly enforced

We went camping Saturday night at Falls Lake’s Rollingview campground. I’d checked the forecast before we went and saw that the dry air and wind conditions were likely to result in a ban on campfires at the park. Sure enough, when we arrived the winds were whipping around so much that the tent was blowing away before I could assemble it.

After the family and I put our tents together, our friends arrived and mentioned seeing a small sign at the entrance about the fire ban. I was surprised that we hadn’t seen a sign when we arrived: it must have been a small sign. Later, we saw an 8×10″ sign taped to the wall of the restroom building and it wasn’t very prominent. It said “Red Flag Warning: no fires except charcoal or gas.” The place it was posted was right in the middle of the building, though the restroom doors were on either end.
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Chris Colmer a CTE victim?

Since I began wondering about the ultimate fate of former NCSU football player Chris Colmer, I have discovered that I’ve not been alone. Many people have found this blog through Internet searches, looking for details about Chris’s death. A good number of these searches have included the keyword “suicide.”

First off, let me emphatically state that don’t know for sure the details of Chris’s death. I don’t know if he took his own life or it was a simple car wreck as others have stated. I only have the sketchiest of details and no communication with his family, so I only speak for myself here – this is my opinion only. Hell, I’m not even sure why I’m drawn to Chris’s death. I didn’t know him and I’m not the biggest football fan, either. Why this intrigues me is as much a mystery to me as it probably is to you.
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Germany and clean energy

I often wondered why Germany is a world leader in solar photovoltaic production and installations. After all, it’s a country that doesn’t get much sunlight, right? Then I learned about Bitterfeld, an industrial city in the former East Germany.

Bitterfeld is an ecological wasteland: a city where its former communist leaders paid no heed to the dangers of pollution. Instead, the state planning committee would deliberately poison rivers and streams to cash in on pollution fines.

With that kind of shocking, wanton destruction going on in the name of energy independence, I have a better understanding of Germany’s strong commitment to clean energy.

Warm, spring-like day!

A warm, spring-like day rolled into Raleigh today, pushing the temperature to a record level. Today’s official high at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport was 78°F, breaking a record that had stood for 68 years. The weather station at MT.Net was even warmer, reaching 79.2°F! The normal high for today is 55°F.

This warmth has been a nice reprieve from the dreary, cold winter we’ve been having (especially since I spent last week in below-zero temperatures in Chicago). We’re going to pay for this warmth, I’m afraid, by increasing our drought. The dry air and winds have also increased the fire danger this weekend. We were considering going camping tomorrow night but the fire danger might snuff our plans.

This taste of spring gives me hope that more comfortable days might be ahead.

ISS fades over Raleigh

ISS fades over Raleigh

I took this photo tonight of the International Space Station as it flew over Raleigh shortly after sunset. As the space station headed northeast it passed into Earth’s shadow, making it grow noticeably darker until it was almost completely invisible. It was pretty amazing to watch it fade out as it passed halfway through the sky.

The next, potentially spectacular pass is Sunday around 6:40 PM. Right now the weather forecast calls for partly-cloudy skies but we may get lucky with another good view.

Using DSLRs for video

Canon consultant Patrick Reese demonstrates shooting video with a Canon EOS 7D

I went to a conference last weekend that was being video recorded. Instead of the typical DV cameras I’ve come to expect, though, the videographers were moving around the room with DSLRs. Curious that they were doing this with what I thought were still cameras, I went up to ask about their equipment.

It turns out the higher-end DSLRs (also known as HDSLRs) from Canon and Nikon are now being widely used to shoot high-quality HD video, often to the chagrin of more traditional HD camera manufacturers. A DSLR’s relatively small size and its ability to make use of exceptionally high-quality lenses makes it ideal for shooting HD.
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