May 2009

There were 62 posts published in May 2009 (this is page 4 of 7).

Back from Fred Fletcher awards

Tonight was the Fred Fletcher awards ceremony, during which I presented two awards: one to Mordecai Historic Park volunteer Beth Cobb and one to Cub Scout Pack 314 for their cleanup efforts on the Durant Nature Park greenway. I greatly enjoyed meeting all the great volunteers and finding out about all they do for the city. And Fletcher Theater is a beautiful facility. The event was a lot of fun.

There was one drawback from tonight, and one I seem to get more and more. Travis was excited to see me (briefly) home from work and asked hopefully if I could practice basketball with him. I had to tell him no because I had to get ready for the presentation. He didn’t seem outwardly disappointed, but I felt bad about turning him down.

Community service is all fine and good but too often it comes between me and my family. I don’t want to be remembered as the dad who never did anything with his family.

House Bill 1180 will deregulate N.C. phone service

A bill is sneaking its way through the state legislature that will effectively deregulate telephone service in the state. House Bill 1180 will free telecom companies to charge whatever they deem necessary, without regard to citizens having any other choices.

Not surprisingly, the AARP is against the proposal, and urges its membership to let legislators know. If you don’t want telecoms having free reign to do what they want in this state (and we’ve seen how that works out, haven’t we?), please do the same!

Suiting up

If I thought I was busy the past few days (and I was), it’s about to get busier for me! Thursday evening I have my usual Mordecai House board meeting at 6, but will be leaving it before 6:30 on my way to the Fletcher Theater. I’ve volunteered to present awards at the Fred Fletcher volunteer awards ceremony Thursday evening, so I’ll be dressing up and introducing two award winners at the presentation. I get to stand in front of people and speak again: what could be more fun? Then next week begins my crunch week: East CAC meeting on Monday evening, Raleigh CAC meeting Wednesday, and Parks and Rec meeting Thursday evening.

Life: it doesn’t stop until it stops.

V-chip

Anyone remember the V-chip? That wondrous addition to televisions which would automatically keep televised Yucky Bad Stuff from entering our homes? Does anyone actually use it? And why does the FCC still think it needs to be a nanny now that every TV owner can automatically filter out “filth?”

Windows Live really, really cares

I reported a phishing scam that was using a Windows Live email address to Microsoft. Below is the response I got. While I feel better knowing the rep “can only imagine how inconvenient” the phishing email was, I don’t feel it rises to the “group hug” level implied by this response!

Hello Mark,

Thank you for writing to Windows Live Hotmail Customer Support. My name is Antonette and I understand that your concern about the message you received involving the customer-care-accounts-unite-dept@live.com account. I can only imagine how inconvenient this may be for you and I understand how important it is to resolve your concern as soon as possible.

Mark, I have checked the customer-care-accounts-unite-dept@live.com account and found that it has been already closed due to violation of our Terms of Use.

You can view our rules and regulations by visiting http://tou.live.com/

We appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide you with the highest quality service available. Thank you for patience and understanding on this matter.

Sincerely,

Antonette C.
Windows Live Hotmail Customer Support

NY Times visits MT.Net

This morning I noticed my work against car warranty scammers has garnered the attention of readers of the New York Times blog. Apparently, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been getting the calls as well. Schumer is calling for a national investigation.

For Schumer and any others who may be interested, I have collected a lot of evidence regarding these calls (browse my Meddling category for examples). I have also tried to get the North Carolina Attorney General’s office interested as well as the Florida Attorney General’s office. The result has been absolutely no action. No response, nothing. It seems that no one cares. Meanwhile there are plenty of little old ladies who have been bilked $3000 for a car warranty that in some cases exceeds the worth of their cars.

Should you be visiting my site for the first time and are in a position to actually do something about these shady calls, contact me and I’ll give you enough information to gain a warrant or subpoena.

Raleigh wiki page

Did you know the City of Raleigh has a wiki page? Neither did I until tonight! Apparently it’s been around since last year. Who knew?

Each department seems to have their own Mediawiki installation, which kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me. If you want to see what’s publicly available, visit the Raleigh wiki site and poke around.

52 beats per minute

Just spent a moment during a conference call to measure my resting heart rate. It’s 52 beats per minute, which is pretty darn good. I’ve been walking briskly for 20 minutes every morning since we got the dog and think it’s paying off.

Also, my cholesterol is measuring down now, which is great news. The overall numbers are in the normal range, though there’s still room for improvement. Being healthy rules!

Sunburn

Got a bit of sunburn yesterday. We were in Warrenton to surprise Kelly’s mother on her birthday. Kelly’s dad, the kids, and I flew two kites in the wind kicked up by a passing front. The combination of bright May sunshine, a cool breeze, little humidity, and forgetting to apply any sunscreen led to a lobster-like left arm.

Fortunately I had my ballcap on so my shiny dome didn’t cook, too.

Cheap thoughts: melting and freezing matter at will

During the beach daydream of the other day, I also had a strange but interesting idea flash through my mind. It was of a material that can change its state and density instantly through some sort of simple but as-yet-undiscovered process. When an electric or mechanical field is applied, the material changes from a solid, concrete-like density to a liquid form (or various stages in between). It’s like melting a block of ice and refreezing it, only instantly – with a flip of a switch. This change can also affects the material’s weight (but perhaps not its mass), so that it can be easily manipulated with the process is in effect but becomes heavy again in its natural state. The process involves harmonizing the material’s molecules or atoms in some way so that they’re all synchronized, a process which somehow suspends the material’s usual properties.
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