Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,524 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 95 of 153).

RIP Andy Griffith

Fans leave flowers at the foot of Andy Griffith’s statue in Raleigh’s Pullen Park


Knowing this was coming doesn’t make it any easier. RIP, Andy Griffith: a North Carolina icon.

Andy Griffith’s broad shoulders carried a heavy load for more than 50 years. In 1960, he created an iconic fictional character so noble that today, church groups still seek moral guidance in Sheriff Andy Taylor’s every televised word, deed and gesture.

And over the years, when Griffith insisted that Mayberry, the perfect little town he invented, was absolutely not based on his hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., fans nodded, winked, said “Sure, Andy, whatever you say,” and went right on believing what they wanted to believe.

What they wanted to believe was that around the next bend or over the next hill was a place like Mayberry and a man as fair, wise and decent as Sheriff Andy.

Griffith died Tuesday at 86.

via North Carolina legend Andy Griffith dies at 86 – News – NewsObserver.com.

Church, neighbors meet to seek fixes on noise

I was mentioned in today’s Midtown Raleigh News regarding the Glorious Church.

Another neighbor of the church, Mark Turner, said he also has heard noise – while in his house with the windows closed.

Turner, chair of the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council, offered to act as a mediator to help the two parties find common ground.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t offer to mediate so much as I was recruited to mediate! It’s all good, though, if we get this worked out.

I was asked to set up a meeting with all parties within the next two weeks. Right now I’m looking at Monday, July 9th but it all depends on what works for the parties involved. I was first looking at Wednesday, July 11th but most churches have services on Wednesday nights so that’s not convenient.

Incidentally, I cringed each time the church’s services were called “noise” at last week’s Law and Public Safety meeting. Even Bishop Spain did it. Whatever it’s called, though, I think it’s only fair that if one goes inside one’s home, one no longer hears it.

The ideal solution would be for a Raleigh window company to read this article and offer a deal to the church on new windows. It would be a great way for that window company to do a good deed as well as get some free publicity. I wonder who will step up?

via Church, neighbors meet to seek fixes on noise – Raleigh – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Shaffer: How much does your soul weigh?

The N&O’s Josh Shaffer takes a look at the upcoming experiments at the Rhine Center in Durham, attempting to weigh the soul. Shaffer calls it an “oddball” branch of science, but I prefer to call it “offbeat,” myself. It is science and no one knows what the experiments will find until they’ve been tried.

I look forward to the results!

DURHAM — For at least 100 years, the more oddball branches of science have struggled to answer this metaphysical head-scratcher: How much does the human soul weigh?

In 1907, a Massachusetts doctor named Duncan MacDougall settled on the figure of 21 grams – the average weight loss experienced by six terminal tuberculosis patients he strapped to a scale at the moment of death.

A dozen years ago, an Oregon rancher named Lew Hollander tried to measure the souls of one ram, seven ewes, three lambs and a goat. His findings: The animals actually gained weight as they shook off this mortal coil – anywhere from 18 to 780 grams.

Now this summer, the Rhine Research Center in Durham will host the latest experiment aimed at nailing down the intangible essence of mankind.

The method: 1.) Stand on a scale. 2.) Have an out-of-body experience. 3.) Record weight.

via Shaffer: How much does your soul weigh? – Shaffer – NewsObserver.com.

Computer Security Session 1: Passwords, Overview

In light of LinkedIn’s password disaster, I found this advice on choosing passwords to be very helpful:

Passwords are like housekeys for computer services. They are intended to be secrets that allow you to access resources, but deny access to others.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about passwords:

What are the passwords protecting?

If one password is breached how many other computer services become vulnerable?

Who else knows your passwords? How much do you trust them?

What services have your passwords? How much do you trust them?

How many passwords do you have to manage?

How do you manage your computer passwords?

via Computer Security Session 1: Passwords, Overview « KW FreeSkool.

Coyotes and deer in Raleigh

A discussion on the Mordecai email list about our urban deer got me wondering about their natural predators. It just so happens that the rumors about coyotes in our area appear to be real.

I found this interesting report from an exotic animal veterinarian of a coyote brought in last December. It’s cool that so many critters are finding room to live here in downtown Raleigh.

Well, the guy comes back in carrying a canine of some sort by the armpits, rear end dangling, with a large bunch of towels wrapped around the head to keep him from being bitten (Good idea!). The animal was in bad shape: skinny, wet, matted fur, lice crawling all over, and a strong odor of filth. I had him lay his bundle on the exam table, donned a pair of leather falconer’s gloves, and began to unwrap the front half of this dog to see what we were dealing with. To my surprise, staring back at me was a genuine, bonafide, roadrunner-eating COYOTE!

via It’s a Coyote, for Real! | Avian and Exotic Animal Care, Raleigh, NC.

Warren Buffett’s letter to his editors and publishers

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett wrote a wonderful letter to the newspaper editors who became his employees. He touted the value of local journalism.

I thought about his words this week when, as I was read the Raleigh News and Observer, I realized I had learned of 90% of its stories from other sources. That’s fine for a newspaper, actually, if (and only if) the newspaper brings me depth I cannot get from other sources.

I expect to get the full story from the paper, not just a “teaser” for which the TV news is infamous. If all you’re bringing me is an abridged version of a story I’ve already read online, you’re not bringing me any value.

Though the economics of the business have drastically changed since our purchase of The Buffalo News, I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future. It’s your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town.

That will mean both maintaining your news hole — a newspaper that reduces its coverage of the news important to its community is certain to reduce its readership as well — and thoroughly covering all aspects of area life, particularly local sports. No one has ever stopped reading when half-way through a story that was about them or their neighbors.

via Warren Buffett’s letter to his editors and publishers | JIMROMENESKO.COM.

High Speed Rail at Pullen Park

My buddy Reid Serozi has dreamed up an amuzing alternative universe where high-speed rail replaces the Pullen Park choo-choo. That Matt Furner character hits close to home, too.

There is confidence that compromises between city planning and local park goers can be worked out in the years to come, and the hope is to have high-speed rail running around Pullen park by 3080.

Matt Furner, the city’s parks board chairman and a community organizer in East Raleigh wasn’t available for comment due to his "open source email solution" being accidentally blacklisted, but rumors suggest the high speed rail idea originated after a Furner Family visit to Disney Land.

via Reid Serozi – Open Raleigh: High Speed Rail at Pullen Park.

Wikipedia’s article on the USS Iowa turret explosion

USS Iowa's turret two explodes


My meeting General Shelton got me researching some flag officers I’ve known. On the way I happened to land on the Wikipedia article about the 1989 turret explosion aboard the USS Iowa. The article is one of the best I’ve read on Wikipedia. It’s as riveting as a novel. The book about the incident, A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the USS Iowa and Its Cover Up, is equally compelling, as this excerpt shows.

I was in the Navy at the time and I remember well this incident and the subsequent whitewash. It was a lesson to me that the term “military justice” will always be an oxymoron.

The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) on April 19, 1989. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret’s crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Two major investigations were undertaken, one by the Navy and then one by the General Accounting Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. The investigations produced conflicting conclusions.

via USS Iowa turret explosion – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.