January 2010

There were 36 posts published in January 2010 (this is page 3 of 4).

Google threatens to leave China, quits filtering results

I read this morning that Google is threatening to pull out of China in response to what Google says are coordinated attacks against the email accounts of human rights activists. Google has also stopped filtering search results to users of its Chinese site. Word of the changes has apparently spread quickly among Chinese Internet users, many of whom see this as a positive move.

I’ve lost count of how many Internet attacks my website has received from computers in China. It is almost impossible to say for sure who is responsible for the attacks. It could be government-sponsored or it could be independent Chinese hackers. It could also be foreign attackers taking advantage of the language barrier and lazy system administrators who don’t keep their computers patched. If those attacks seem to target activists, however, that becomes a powerful “smoking gun” for implicating the Chinese government.

Some Chinese say this will hurt Chinese Internet users. Personally, I found the so-called Great Firewall of China to be quite porous. I suspect savvy Net users in China will have little problem steering to their favorite Internet sites, regardless of what Google and the Chinese government do.

Chilly, active weekend

It’s been a chilly but quite active weekend for me.

Saturday morning, I slipped out of the house and hopped on a Parks and Rec bus for a tour of the proposed Honeycutt Creek greenway. It was quite an enjoyable tour of the proposed greenway routes, though when we got out of the van to view a particular site more closely we got cold quickly. My toes felt numb for the first hour. The tour gave us new perspective on the issues and nice to see the neighbors out in the cold with us, expressing some of their concerns. I think we all want to do the right thing with this project and I think folks will be satisfied with the outcome.

Well after noon I returned home to thaw out and get some lunch. Kelly brought the kids home from Marbles not much later and we hung around inside for a bit. It was fun watching an episode of Mythbusters with the kids – their first one.
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Where I’ve worked: Hechinger

My Hechinger Badge

After my shoddy treatment at Dart Drug and my detours at the W. Bell and the computer store, I circled back to the Sugarland Run shopping plaza and applied to the hardware store where we always shopped: Hechinger, also known as the “World’s Most Unusual Lumber Yard.” Boy, was I glad I did!

It was May 1987: one month away from my high school graduation. I walked into the store, inquired about a job, and was walked back to the employee lounge in the back to fill out the application. I was then shown into the office of the store manager. The manager was a portly man with impeccable manners and a friendly, gentle, fatherly manner. He sat me down and asked a few general questions, most not directly related to hardware, from what I recall. It was more about my longer-term goals, just feeling me out. I seem to recall I set my sights high at that meeting. I was feeling pretty confident.

I can still recall the thrill I felt when he told me I was hired. I’d be making about $5 an hour – a nice jump from my Dart Drug days – and I would be assigned to the hardware department. I thanked him and walked out. I couldn’t wait to get to work!
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My webpage from 1995

I’m probably going to regret this, but I put my old homepage from 1995 online again. Surprisingly it renders very well on modern browsers. As for me, I don’t render as well as I used to!

The pic above shows my brother Jeff and my friend Scott (with, uh, me in the middle). We were roommates at the time and working as roadies for Soundgarden. Ok, not really, but we sure do look like it!

The account name “buddha” was the one my roommate Scott picked out. I’m not sure where the “Flea Forum” came from, but there it is. You can see what my life on the Internet was like in 1995 here.

There weren’t many webpages back in those days, kiddies.

Netflix continues to make cable companies irrelevant

World domination: coming soon

I added a movie to my Netflix queue today and noticed that Netflix tells me this movie will soon be available for streaming. Awesome! I hope Netflix’s entire catalog becomes available for streaming, and soon.

As my friend Tarus said yesterday, all video will eventually be delivered over IP, not broadcast networks or cable systems. The companies that get on this runaway train will be the ones left standing 10 years from now. Those that don’t will be flattened.

Ah, I love the free market.

Planning Commission

I was nominated Tuesday for a seat on Raleigh’s Planning Commission. For those of you who don’t know, the Planning Commission is a volunteer board that makes major decisions on the city’s growth, including rezoning changes and development code. It’s a very important board. Our city councilors consider these appointments very, very carefully as the Commission works very closely with city leaders, city staff, developers, and community leaders. It may not quite be the major leagues in the realm of city politics, but it’s definitely triple-A ball.

Getting a seat on the Planning Commission has been my goal for quite some time. Lately, though, I’ve been totally focused on my work with the East CAC and the Parks Board. I wasn’t aware of this recent vacancy until I was encouraged to apply. It’s a huge responsibility and one that I do not take lightly. After some serious thought I put my hat in the ring.
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Highlights of 2009: Public service

It makes me laugh when I think of my coworkers seeing me rush to take a call during the day. They have no clue that I’m often talking with city councilors, police officials, company bigwigs, or reporters. That was the case in 2009: another banner year for me for public service. I did things this year that I’d never done before and those challenges paid handsome dividends.

I began to really come into my own as chair of the East Citizens Advisory Council (East CAC). The presentations were interesting, the fedback was glowing, and people began to take notice. Several of my initiatives resulted in the largest attendance ever at the CAC. I created CAC business cards, started a CAC blog, ordered signs for putting out days before our meetings, and even dabbled in streaming video of the meetings on the Internet. I even held a “history night.” I believe these were all firsts for a CAC.

The chairpersons of other CACs began to take notes on what I was doing. It’s becoming a leader of leaders. And it seems now our area earns more respect from city leaders. Plans are being drawn up right now to completely revitalize East Raleigh’s major thoroughfares. It’s an exciting time to be in East Raleigh.
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