Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,524 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 99 of 153).

Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Coming to 919 Region Mar. 31

Went to the city’s website today and found out that Raleigh will require 10-digit dialing by the end of the month. I didn’t hear anything about this until now.

The March 31st deadline doesn’t leave a lot of time for phone system vendors, alarm vendors, and others to update their equipment. This could be a trainwreck in the making.

The growing population in central North Carolina and addition of devices that require a phone number is exhausting the available numbers in the 919 area code. The North Carolina Utilities Commission has announced a new area code is coming to the 919 region. The 984 area code will overlay the 919 area code bringing 10-digit dialing to the region. You won’t have to change telephone numbers, just the way you dial in the 919 area code. The 984 area code will be assigned only for new telephone numbers within the area code.

Effective March 31, 2012, 10-digit dialing – the appropriate area code (919 or 984) + the seven-digit number – will be necessary for local and expanded local calls. It will not be necessary to dial a "1" or a "0" when dialing your local and expanded local calls. Local calling areas and rates will not be affected by this change.

via Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Coming to 919 Region Mar. 31 – The Official City of Raleigh Portal.

The joys of blogging

A neighbor approached me after school yesterday and began the conversation with “I was reading your blog…” I can’t help but cringe when I hear this, thinking okay, what did I write that pissed someone off? Lately, though, the feedback is positive and I’m pleasantly surprised at how many folks agree with what I’ve written. In my neighbor’s case, she was excited to read about the Little Raleigh Radio project and wanted to find out more.

This morning I discovered the budding blog of an old friend of mine, Deidre Armstrong. Deidre and I were pals in our high school journalism class. Our lockers were also near each other’s. I even took her out on a date once, though we mutually agreed that staying friends was best.
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All the Advertisers Who Are Sticking by Limbaugh

As the parent of a daughter I am furious with Rush Limbaugh’s slandering of women. Any company that still does business with him is on my official shit list (you listening, Netflix?)

Rush Limbaugh said he wasn’t motivated to apologize to Sandra Fluke by the number of companies pulling ads from his show. He insists he’s turned away “millions” in ads and he can always “replace” the ones who’ve left! But it made us wonder exactly who does advertise on Limbaugh’s show. We paid close attention to Limbaugh’s ad breaks on Monday’s broadcast on D.C.’s WMAL. Limbaugh’s sponsor base reveals a lot about how those angry white men of the 1990s are aging — they care a lot more about weight loss, teeth, and gold. So far seven advertisers have pledged to pull their ads: AOL, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Sleep Number beds, Sleep Train, Citrix Systems, LegalZoom. Here are all 31 advertisers we heard on Monday’s show.

via All the Advertisers Who Are Sticking by Limbaugh – Politics – The Atlantic Wire.

Update 6 March: Netflix says they don’t advertise on Limbaugh’s show. Good.

WRAL interview about recycling theft

Renee Chou rummages through my recycling


WRAL’s Renee Chou came by the house this afternoon to do a story tonight on Raleigh’s proposed recycling theft ordinance. As far as interviews go I was a bit uncomfortable as I was seated and I’m not used to doing interviews that way. I was also uncomfortable with having the contents of my recycling bin displayed for all the world to see. Then again, watching Renee rummaging through my recycling bin reminded me that this ordinance will actually help protect everyone’s privacy by keeping people out of bins. That’s a good thing, I think.

As typical, I though of my best talking point after the interview concluded, and that’s this: just like when I put a letter in my mailbox I expect that a postal employee will collect it, when I put something in my recycling bin I expect the city’s recycling crew will collect it.

Look for the interview to air at 6 tonight.

Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts

The N&O’s Matt Garfield wrote up a story in the Midtown Raleigh News about the city’s response to recycling thefts. My blog got a shout out, too.

Mark Turner thought it was odd when a blue pickup truck stopped in his neighborhood one recent morning. A man hopped out, collected aluminum cans from a curbside recycling bin and continued down the street.

When Turner returned home later in the day, he spotted a man in a different truck doing the same thing.

The banditry was unusual for its brazenness. But city officials say recycling theft is becoming more common as marauders seek an easy, if time-consuming, way to make money.

via Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Update 8:55 PM: My friend Mitchell in Santa Cruz, CA tells me the City of Santa Cruz has had a big problem with recycling theft. The city passed an ordinance similar to Raleigh’s proposed ordinance, making anything put in city bins city property and a misdemeanor to remove anything. Mitchell sent a link to a recent City of Santa Cruz newsletter which discusses the problem (PDF).

I think some of the dire warnings by the Santa Cruz police chief are way overblown (“gateway crime?” Come on.) but it is absolutely true that pilfering aluminum cans jeopardizes the entire recycling program.

Making the “Open Source City” a bit more open

I was away from my home the other day and wanted to tune into the streaming video of the Raleigh City Council meeting using my smartphone. Lo and behold, the proprietary Microsoft Silverlight video format that the Granicus service uses to stream Raleigh’s government channel does not have a player for my Android phone. I’d be surprised if a client exists for iPhone, either, for that matter. It seemed I would need to be glued to my desk if I wanted to keep up with Raleigh politics.
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Republicans need more than rhetoric on defense

George Will takes aim at Republican blustering about defense.

Osama bin Laden and many other “high-value targets” are dead, the drone war is being waged more vigorously than ever, and Guantanamo is still open, so Republicans can hardly say that Obama has implemented dramatic and dangerous discontinuities regarding counterterrorism. Obama says that, even with his proposed cuts, the defense budget would increase at about the rate of inflation through the next decade. Republicans who think America is being endangered by “appeasement” and military parsimony have worked that pedal on their organ quite enough.

via Republicans need more than rhetoric on defense – The Washington Post.