Your transaction abilities were suspended

Zonkers! My transaction abilities were suspended, according to this breathless email I just got, straight from the Secutity Department of the FDIC!! I do all my corporated and business banking with the FDIC and now I can’t!!! I guess I should try to save and install the newest installations, by browsing this link!!1!!!

Oh, thank you Secutity Department, for watching out for me!1!!1!!eleven!!

Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2012 14:49:11 +0200
From: “FDIC” cautiono@yhbia.com
To: markt at markissupercoolbutthisisnthisemailaddress.edu
Subject: Your transaction abilities were suspended

Your Corporated and Business Banking
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

Your ACH & Wire transaction abilities have been temporarily disabled in order to ensure your security, because of the expiration of your security version. Please save and install the newest installations, by browsing this link.

As soon as update being installed, your account entire features will be completely restored.
Faithfully yours, Secutity Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Broadie Tata fired by Wake County school board | Parents Across America

Here’s another look at Tony Tata’s firing. I have to say as likable as the General is, I think his lack of experience in education was one of his biggest flaws.

I’m hoping the board can find a Bill McNeal type to be the new superintendent.

It is telling that the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Wake County Tax Payer’s Association, Wake County Republican Party, and Tea Party members of the BOE are supporting Tata. They are calling the firing a partisan distraction. Nonsense. First, a vote along party lines isn’t necessarily a partisan vote, and not all partisan decisions are necessarily bad decisions. Second, how is it a “distraction” to ensure WCPSS has a qualified, effective superintendent?

via Broadie Tata fired by Wake County school board | Parents Across America.

Mark Turner: Horse sense – Letters – NewsObserver.com

My letter to the editor ran in today’s N&O.

Horse sense

Contrary to what the N.C. GOP would have you believe, you won’t find any horses on Raleigh’s 80 miles of beautiful greenways. What you will find are citizens of all political stripes appreciating one of Raleigh’s more popular and unique amenities.

While the N.C.GOP has backed off a bit for implying Sig Hutchinson “raised taxes” (which is, um, interesting as he’s never held public office before), it has not apologized for insulting our city by calling greenways “horse trails.”

(Looks like they didn’t fix my typo, where I wrote “support” instead of “supported.” Oh well.)

via Mark Turner: Horse sense – Letters – NewsObserver.com.

Twitter Updates for 2012-10-03

  • I tried to reserve party room at Buffalo Rd Aquatic Center yesterday & was told fees weren't ready. Today I'm told I have to come in. Argh!! #

Twitter Updates for 2012-10-03

  • I tried to reserve party room at Buffalo Rd Aquatic Center yesterday & was told fees weren't ready. Today I'm told I have to come in. Argh!! #

Gus Gusler gets hacked by Mitt Romney

I found out last night that Gus Gusler, owner of Raleigh’s Player’s Retreat, discovered to his surprise that he was now a fan of Mitt Romney’s Facebook page. Anyone who knows Gusler knows how ludicrously improbable it is that he chose to do this willingly.

“I wouldn’t vote for that empty suit phony for dog catcher,” Gusler says.

Still hoping that the media starts taking this Mitt Romney Facebook hacking seriously.

Bibi’s Chutzpah | Foreign Affairs

Speaking of Foreign Affairs, I was delighted to see a writer make the same point about Israel as I did.

Israel is an ally, true, but Netanyahu needs to shut his piehole.

But it is Americans who ought to be incensed with Netanyahu. By insisting on red lines and threatening to launch a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Netanyahu is trying to commit the United States to fighting a preventive war on Israel’s behalf. In effect, he is demanding that the United States do far more to protect Israel’s security than it does for any of its other allies. Netanyahu is also inserting himself into a U.S. presidential campaign to a degree unprecedented for the leader of a close American ally, implicitly echoing the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s charge that the Obama administration is “throwing Israel under the bus.”

via Bibi's Chutzpah | Foreign Affairs.

Holding China back

During a recent visit to the wonderful Quail Ridge Books (boy how we need more local bookstores), I picked up a copy of the latest Foreign Affairs magazine. I used to subscribe to Foreign Affairs as an enlisted sailor in the Navy, trying to learn more about why the military was doing the things it was doing. It’s a wonderful (if pricey) magazine. Anyhow, the latest issue has an essay that says China sees America as a bully out to block its rise.

I don’t think that’s an accurate view of America-China relations. If America really wanted to thwart China, however, here’s how it would be done:

  • Keep selling Buicks to Chinese as fast as we can make them. The goal is to make China so car-dependent that its already notoriously-overcrowded streets become permanently gridlocked and the country becomes ever more dependent on oil. Chinese were once happy using bikes and scooters to get around but Buicks and Mercedes are the new hotness. It’s hard to live large on two wheels, right?
  • Export movies to China reinforcing the car-centric culture. See above. It’s all about face and keeping up with the Joneses.
  • Encourage China to build up an oil-dependent military, building a fleet of gas-guzzling ships and aircraft.

With the rest of the world going green by reducing car dependency and building greener military fleets, this strategy should set China back for decades.

Virtual treadmill run with Google Maps

I’ve started running again after going a long time avoiding it in favor of biking. Turns out I enjoy it more than I thought I did, though it’s certainly a lot more fun running with someone else.

For those times when I can’t run with someone else (for instance, when I’m stuck at home with the kids) it would be nice to jazz up the usually-dull running on the treadmill. Running while staring at a wall is pretty boring, you know.

Then I remembered how cool I’ve always thought it would be to build my own flight simulator. Why not apply this concept to the treadmill? What if I could connect a mouse or other control to my treadmill and use it to drive a moving Google Maps image on a screen in front of me?
Continue reading →