NSA spying on Americans proves not too effective

I was reading this Wired article from last year, well before Edward Snowden’s leak that revealed to the world the massive overreach of the NSA. Kevin Paulson pointed out these terrorist incidents the NSA failed to uncover:

And while there is little indication that [NSA’s] actual effectiveness has improved—after all, despite numerous pieces of evidence and intelligence-gathering opportunities, it missed the near-disastrous attempted attacks by the underwear bomber on a flight to Detroit in 2009 and by the car bomber in Times Square in 2010.

You can also add the Boston Marathon bombing and the Fort Hood mass shooting to this list, too. News came out earlier this week that the FBI monitored Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan’s communications a full year in advance. The mass murderer even sent emails discussing jihad to a cleric in Yemen, which would be a kosher intercept in anyone’s book (even mine). Yet, he still committed his crime.
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U.S. allows states to legalize recreational marijuana within limits

This is great news. I’ve said it before but I hope North Carolina’s leaders will become enlightened and the guns will disappear from Raleigh’s streets. Yeah, that’s asking a lot but this is a huge step in the right direction.

The Justice Department said it would refocus marijuana enforcement nationwide by bringing criminal charges only in eight defined areas – such as distribution to minors – and giving breathing room to users, growers and related businesses that have feared prosecution.

The decisions end nearly a year of deliberation inside President Barack Obama’s administration about how to react to the growing movement for relaxed U.S. marijuana laws.

Advocates for legalization welcomed the announcement as a major step toward ending what they called “marijuana prohibition.”

via U.S. allows states to legalize recreational marijuana within limits | Reuters.

Busing blues

Hallie boards her bus on the first day of school

Hallie boards her bus on the first day of school


Hallie has taken the bus to and from school for a week now and it’s been a bit of a rough ride for her (and not only from the traffic whizzing by her stop). She’s enjoying life in middle school but complains at how rude and unruly the kids are on the bus. On the bus, these kids play their music loudly when they’re told not to, then pretend not to hear the bus driver. They curse frequently, throw their trash out the window. They’re basically hellions.

This is so foreign to Hallie as she’s mostly ridden her bike to school until now. So today I took her through the carpool. While she still has to take the bus home, at least she doesn’t have to begin her school day in a bad mood.

Thinking about her observations made me shake my head at how some of these kids are being raised. Hallie quite astutely said she knows that some parents can be great parents and their kids still act up, but she has a feeling that the kids on her bus have parents who are just like them: parents who have no respect for others.

I don’t judge people based on how much money they make, what they look like, where they live, or any other external factor. I do divide people based on one thing: how they treat others. You can be filthy rich or dirt poor and still be a self-centered asshole. If you treat others fairly and with respect, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, odds are pretty good that you’ll succeed in life. I consistently remind my kids that the most telling thing about one’s character is how they treat others.
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Distracted driving day

As if to prove yesterday’s point about distracted driving, on my way home from work I had the unfortunate luck to be driving next to a young woman busy texting. Her car was weaving over both sides of her lane, on Wade Avenue, nontheless, where opposing traffic whizzes by only a foot or two away. I honked the time she nearly nudged me off the road and spent the rest of my drive glowering at her in my rear-view mirror, hoping she had enough sense to notice if I stopped.

I have never before called the cops on anyone texting while driving but I swear that drivers doing this might as well be driving drunk. The next dumbshit driver that weaves into my lane, hunched over his or her phone, is going to be promptly referred to authorities. I don’t feel like playing Russian Roulette on the roads anymore.

Warner Herzog created a short, powerful film that addresses this texting problem. I’m going to make sure our kids see it.

Getting the zombie band back together

As a family we’ve participated in some fun events over the last few years. I’ve mentioned our musical performances as “The Highlanders,” where we’ve played at a few recitals. That’s been fun and I’ve kinda missed the chance to play. I’ve been kicking around the idea of just inviting my neighbors over for regular jam sessions.

This week, Travis’s piano teacher told us that she was working on another gig for the Highlanders, this time playing at some event. I don’t have the details but I think it’s fun to think about!

Yesterday, we got contacted by our friends over at Mordecai Historic Park. They’re lining up zombies already for their Haunted Mordecai Trolley and wondered if we as a zombie family would be willing to perform again. One of the chosen dates is Halloween and another is Travis’s birthday, which would be hard to pull off, but the other, the 19th, at least would work for us. Both kids were enthusiastic about the idea.

I’m so glad we have these quirky opportunities to be total hams together.

Al Jazeera disappears from American viewers

I learned tonight that part of Al Jazeera’s deal with what precious few cable companies that will carry it’s new Al Jazeera America channel involves completely removing its Al Jazeera English channel from American airwaves. My friend Doc Searls laments this change in a recent blog post:

On that last topic, I have to wonder what the calculus of the “deal” to kill the live AJE stream was. That was not only an awful lot to pay for very little in return; but it isn’t even clear who it was paid to. Comcast? Cox? AT&T? None of them carry @AJAM at all. And the others hardly seem to give a damn about the channel anyway. I can imagine this dialog between Al Jazeera and the U.S. cable companies:

AJ: We killed our firstborn so it would not offend you. Will you carry our channel now?

CABLE GIANTS: No.

CABLE SECOND-TIER PLAYERS: Um, okay, maybe on one of our high-priced tiers, in lo-def.

AJ: Okay.

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Tigo responds

It didn’t take long before I got a response from Tigo when I complained about needed a subscription to my data. I got emails from both the cofounder, Ron Hadar, and the VP of Professional Services, Scott McCalmont. Ron’s email came in around noon and Scott’s followed soon afterward.

I give points to both Ron and Scott for their quick, personal responses. Both of them acknowledged my viewpoint but emphasized their need to run a business. Scott’s response barely hid his contempt, however, which is not what I would expect from someone in a customer-facing role:

For example, we send an alert to customers when their Management Unit goes offline. You clearly don’t think this is useful or valuable, but many customers do.

On the other hand, I am an irritated, snarky customer and my type is not always fun to deal with, so touché.

Perusing the Tigo forums, I see other Tigo owners are also unhappy with the subscription aspect: Continue reading →

Tigo bye bye

Tigo_Logo_small

Recently I posted how I’m irked that Tigo wants me to pay to access data that belongs to me. In disgust, I removed my Tigo from my network yesterday.

Lo and behold I got this dramatic email from Tigo’s datacenter early this morning:

PV System Alert

Turner, Mark – System ID: blahblah

Monitoring and Maximizer system not accessible

Details:

The monitoring and Maximizer system has not checked in to the Tigo Energy Data Center recently. This usually indicates a problem with the network connection, meaning that current data for the system will not be displayed on the Summary Page. However, it could also indicate a problem with the Tigo Energy Management Unit.

Troubleshooting Suggestions:
– Verify that the network is working properly (Network Troubleshooting Guide)
– Verify that the Management Unit is receiving power

Please visit the Summary Page to view system performance.

For additional help, please contact your installer or Tigo Energy Technical Support.

Since I couldn’t care less about Tigo not getting the data they want me to pay for, I send them this snarky response:
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Distracted driving

I had a scary moment this morning as I waited in my car at Hallie’s bus stop. I had just leaned over to the passenger window to hand Hallie her lunch box when I happened to look up in the rear-view mirror. A tricked-out grey Honda Civic was barrelling down on me, its driver jerking his car back into the lane mere feet from smashing into me.

What if my car hadn’t been between him and the three kids waiting at the bus stop, one of which was mine? What if he had smashed into me and sent me barrelling into the kids? What happens when I’m not there to witness or protect against these terrifying incidents?

We’re a family not accustomed to riding the bus, being within walking distance of Hallie’s last school (and Travis’s current one). Taking the bus avoids the long wait in the school’s carpool line, true, and perhaps I’m being a helicopter parent. Still, this morning’s near-disaster makes me wonder if putting a safe, steel box around my child during her school commute isn’t the way to go.

On a similar note, Kelly and the kids witnessed a scary car wreck on Sunday. They were in our old Windsor Forest neighborhood, taking a look at our old home, when a drunk driver came roaring around the corner, smashing into a car at the curb and bouncing off of it to smash into another neighbor’s car. He never hit the brakes and his bare wheel rim gouged a ten-foot hole in the pavement.

It was 10 AM and the guy could barely stand up.

Maybe as a society we need to better stress the responsibility that comes from being behind the wheel.

First day back to school

It was the first day back to school for both kids. Hallie began middle school at Ligon and Travis entered fourth grade at Conn. Both kids were beaming this afternoon, very much where they need to be.

I feel like it’s going to be a great year for both of them!