September 2008

There were 79 posts published in September 2008 (this is page 1 of 8).

Outlook: snarky

When my officemate threw up his hands in frustration one time too many after Microsoft Outlook crashed, I felt the need to send a happygram to Bill Gates. Feeling prankish, I rattled off this email:

—–Original Message—–
From: Mark Turner [mailto:jmarkturner at blah blah blah . com]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 00:23 AM
To: Bill Gates
Subject: Thanks!

Mr. Gates,

Thanks so much for creating Microsoft Outlook. My life is so much better because of it.

Best Regards,

Mark Turner
Raleigh, NC

I about fell out of my chair laughing when I got this response back from his administrative staff just now:
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Raleigh’s rad new skatepark: Marsh Creek

I attended the groundbreaking ceremony at the Marsh Creek Skate Park this morning. It was my first ceremony as a Parks Board member. Board chair Eugene Weeks was the only other member present.

The park itself will be a jewel for the skateboarding kids of Raleigh. We’re not talking a few plywood half-pipes nailed together but an X-Games-worthy arena. What I didn’t see in the amazing renderings of the park is where the bleachers will be. I may be too old (and, uh, clumsy) to be catching air on a skateboard but I’d love to sit and watch!

To serve most of the kids who will use it, the park will need the CAT 15C bus route adjusted. Its just too far of the bus route as it stands. I attempted to ride the bus to the park this morning until GoTriangle.Org told me it would take an hour to get there. No thanks: I can walk faster. In fact, a half-mile walk was part of the route GoTriangle provided. Total buzz kill, dude.

Anyway, if gravity’s really holding you back then Marsh Creek will soon be your place.

Can’t get there from here

Looks like when the market tanked today it took The Google’s memory of my neighborhood with it. Typing my address into Google maps once showed me where I live. Not anymore. I’ve become a non-place.

I can understand how my neighborhood, being about two years old, might take a while to get into Google. Its kinda strange to have it in there and then have it dropped, however.

Why can’t Wake County’s Property Tax records work this way?

USS Elliot decomissioning video

I spent a moment last night watching the USS Elliot DD-967 Decommissioning Video that Ens. Jeff Underwood (now of MissionMediaUSA) was selling at the ceremony in December 2003. The video doesn’t show the decommissioning but it does show some of the ship and interviews from the last crew. Jeff gave me permission to post a copy of it, so I put it here. Its an MPEG4 file shrunk to … um, 160 megabytes, so start the download and go take a nap while it completes. You’ll probably only want to watch this if you served on the Elliot, truth be told.

I also went hunting and think I found a photograph from Elliot’s last day. A midshipman there for summer training posted pictures from the SINKEX that day. I originally thought the ship in the middle of this picture might be Elliot under tow, but its more likely another ship lining up to take a shot at Elliot.

The L word

Wachovia is being bought by CitiGroup. A CitiGroup spokeswoman declined to speak about layoffs, but the company “expects to realize more than $3 billion of annualized expense synergies through the consolidation of overlapping functions.”

Those of you who play Buzzword Bingo know that anywhere the word “synergies” appears it is never good news. And let’s consider “consolidation of overlapping functions.” Hmm. What could this describe … let me think … perhaps … um, layoffs!?!

I feel for my friends over at Wachovia. At the same time I know I would’ve left a long time ago: corporate doublespeak and I don’t get along.

Internet radio needs your help!

Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora, needs your help. Please call Senators Burr and Dole today and urge them to support the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 so that great online music sources such as Pandora can continue to thrive. It might not hurt to remind them that their pal Jesse Helms supported Internet radio.

I just called and I hope you will, too. Below is Tim’s email:

Hi, it’s Tim from Pandora;

Today, thanks to the extraordinary support of many Pandora listeners, we took a giant step forward when the House of Representatives supported Pandora and Internet radio and passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. Now we need your help so that the Senate will pass it also – and quickly… The finish line is in sight!

After a yearlong negotiation, Pandora, SoundExchange and the RIAA are finally optimistic about reaching an agreement on royalties that would save Pandora and Internet radio. The legislation would give us the extra time we need to finalize the deal.
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Lakehouse fun

We spent the day yesterday visiting the Naylors at their lakehouse. It was a fun, relaxing day, with a nice cool breeze and lots of laughter. Alas, it ended all too soon.

Got a busy week with a few PRGAB events and other things going on. How is it that tomorrow is the last day of September?