Dumb crook of the year

The Brainiac Burglar


I had to laugh when I saw this dumb crook had been arrested. He’s possibly the dumbest crook of the year. Walter Lee Martin, Jr. was arrested for breaking into the North Carolina Museum of Art, but not because he couldn’t get tickets to the latest touring exhibit. And Martin wasn’t intent on stealing the millions of dollars of art that adorn the museum’s walls. No, Martin allegedly broke in because he wanted to steal scrap metal.

I suppose Martin never visited the museum. If he had, he would’ve noted that it’s covered with video cameras and has its own armed security force that guard the museum day and night. He might as well have tried breaking into a police station.

Thigh volumes affecting trash pickup!

Just got this from Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services Department:

“Collection Update: The following YARD WASTE routes were not completed due to thigh volumes: NE4 NE10”

I know many Americans struggle with obesity but I had no idea it has gotten this bad!

Raleigh incubator, part deux

In my job quest, I began checking into Adzerk since I’ve got connections there. On Adzerk’s blog, Andy Schrader bemoans the (perceived) lack of pizazz that Raleigh offers startups:

Problem is that we’re barely considering a move to Raleigh because of its perceived lack of culture (we’re not a law firm or a government office).

Raleigh has made great strives to rejuvenate Fayetteville street and bring businesses back downtown but why no attention to startups?

Here’s your proof that Raleigh’s “stodgy” reputation is driving away promising startup companies.
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The “Mugged in London” scam

I was sifting through my Gmail spam folder when I found a message purporting to be from my friend. Let’s call him Bryan:

Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:02:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bryan bryan@bryansHackedEmailAccount.edu
Reply-To: Bryan scammersFakeEmailThatLooksLikeBryans@ymail.com
Subject: Urgent help…Bryan
To: Bryan bryan@bryansHackedEmailAccount.edu

How are you doing? This has had to come in a hurry and it has left us in a devastating state. My family and I had a visit to (UK) for a short vacation unannounced some days back, but unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed by some thugs, all cash, cell phones and credit cards were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.
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Smart guy

I was pushing a cart through Costco today when a man motioned to me from across the aisle. “Excuse me, sir,” he said politely with an Italian accent. “Could I get your help with something?”

“Sure,” I said, curious. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m having trouble figuring this out. You look like you’re smarter than me, maybe you can help,” he said.

“Well, I don’t know about that, “ I said, walking over.
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Raleigh startup incubator

I went to an job interview last week at a business in Durham’s American Tobacco Complex. The energy there was impressive. I couldn’t help but think it was cool that so many small companies are all right there, building the Next Big Thing.

It got me thinking that it’s high time Raleigh had a startup incubator of its own, bringing tech startups into downtown Raleigh and creating a buzz of its own. Raleigh’s downtown has a bit of a stodgy reputation, filled with lawyers, municipal employees, and electric company people. Until Red Hat announced its intention of moving downtown, there really hasn’t been a tech scene downtown. It’s time to change this!

When I Tweeted this last week a number of my friends immediately jumped on the bandwagon, asking how we begin. I heard from Councilor Mary-Ann Baldwin that plans are in the works for just this thing, which is fantastic. Too often the tech jobs locate in that desert known as Research Triangle Park when they should be feeding their own creativity in places like Durham’s American Tobacco (and, hopefully soon, Raleigh’s downtown too).

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene spent the day moving lazily up North Carolina’s Outer Banks, rolling ashore this morning and exiting into Virginia this evening. By landfall the storm had weakened to Category 1 status: just barely a hurricane. Even so, the storm cut a wide swath across the state, though reports of damage (other than power outages) seemed few. Last I heard, four people had died from flooding accidents.

I watched the TV coverage of the storm all day and then wondered why I bothered. There were only so many things one can say about Irene and after the first hour I’d heard them all. I did enjoy watching the live video uplinks from the beaches all up and down the East Coast, courtesy of my Free to Air (FTA) satellite dish. As soon as the studio would cut away from the soggy reporters getting blown around on the beach, those reporters would whip out their Blackberries.
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Iceland’s On-going Revolution

In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.

Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.

What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.

via Daily Kos: Iceland’s On-going Revolution.

Billie Redmond’s love/hate relationship with debt

The News and Observer published a letter today from Raleigh mayoral candidate Billie Redmond, in which she responded to mayor Charles Meeker’s reassurance regarding Raleigh’s debt.

Redmond’s letter closed with this:

Making our debt a high priority, based on a slowing economy, and demanding that we spend within our means – and not take on new projects we cannot afford – is not being critical. It’s being responsible.

Let’s take a look at Billie Redmond’s history with debt, shall we?
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