Shooting pirates

I ran into an Army friend today who, knowing I’m a Navy vet, praised the Navy for freeing Capt. Richard Phillips, skipper of the Maersk Alabama, from Somali pirates.

“It’s just a drop in the bucket,” I told him.

And it’s true. It would take a fleet much larger than the U.S. Navy has to prevent pirate attacks. It’s a huge area and there are hundreds of ships that travel through it. What’s more, these ships are practically defenseless. They cannot maneuver easily, they are easily ambushed due to the limited visibility around their hulls, and they have small, unarmed crews that can be easily overpowered. They are essentially sitting ducks, there for the plundering.

Picking off three pirates might have won one battle but the war continues unabated. Clearly we need a bigger solution.

LED lighting

On a pass through Costco Monday I saw my first pack of consumer-packaged LED lightbulbs. The bulbs were Lights of America Decor LED Accent bulbs in a three-pack package. I didn’t see what price Costco had them but Amazon sells the three-pack for $24.

One review of LED bulbs pans them completely, saying they don’t hold a candle (ha!) to incandescent bulbs. While that’s true, I recall it taking a while before the CFL bulbs could be mistaken for incandescents.

LED bulbs still have some niche uses. The accent lighting role, for instance, is a good one for LEDs until they get good enough to read by. I may have to buy one of these accent bulbs just to give them a closer look.

Chapel Hill urged to oppose Senate broadband bill

BY DANIEL GOLDBERG : The Herald-Sun
Apr 14, 2009

CHAPEL HILL — For the second time in two years, North Carolina municipalities are being urged to push back against legislation that would make it more difficult for local governments to provide cable and broadband services.

The Chapel Hill Town Council will receive a citizen petition on Wednesday that asks for a resolution in opposition to Senate Bill 1004, the so-called “Level Playing Field” bill. Small business owner Brian Russell, the petitioner, believes that the bill essentially prevents municipalities from providing broadband services and stifles economic development.

Read more behind the Herald-Sun’s idiotic RegisterWall.

Ty Harrell sponsors anti-municipal Internet bill

ty_harrellNow that Time Warner Cable feels secure enough in its near-monopoly of high-speed Internet access to greatly raise its rates, it has turned its attention to strengthening its monopoly by effectively blocking any N.C. city from providing alternatives.

N.C. Rep. Ty Harrell of Wake County has sponsored just such a bill, known as House Bill 1252. Just when high-speed Internet users stuck with Time Warner Cable (or its partners such as Earthlink) were dreaming of one day having what our neighbors in Wilson have, Time Warner Cable seeks to take that away.

I know Ty and consider him a friend, so it makes it all the more distressing to know he’s sponsoring this. Please contact Ty and other representatives and let them know how you feel.

Also, if you can attend Wednesday morning’s N.C. Science and Technology committee meeting, please do so. And add the Save North Carolina’s Broadband site to your daily reads!

Raleigh buses add digital TV

Looks like the mystery Raleigh announcement for today is indeed mobile digital TV on a Raleigh bus. WRAL posted the announcement 10 minutes ago. According to the story, riders of Raleigh’s R-Line downtown circulator will be able to watch digital TV as well as get city updates and real-time information on bus routes. By August 2009 four CAT buses will also provide the service. The article also mentions “two-way” and “interactive” but doesn’t provide details about what this means. WiFi on the buses?

Reunited

Kelly and the kids returned yesterday afternoon. Boy, did I miss them! It was lonely around home for the past few days.

I took Rocket out to Lake Gaston Saturday afternoon and attempted to sail with him. He was a great sport and really seemed to enjoy checking out the lake and wildlife there. Unfortunately for us I had to be back in Raleigh in the afternoon, so our trip was cut short. At least he’s got his “sea legs” now.

This is my “busy week” this month, though my meeting don’t all line up the way they usually do. Ordinarily I’d have had my CAC meeting last night, followed by the Raleigh CAC tomorrow night, followed by my Parks meeting Thursday night. As this month’s third Monday happens next week rather than this week, my CAC meeting will actually come after my other meetings, rather than before like it usually does.

Sounds like a lot, I know, but I’m having fun!

Happy birthday, CR-V!

Friday morning on the way to work my 2001 Honda CR-V finally crossed the 100,000 mile mark. Up until only recently I’ve left it in the driveway as I’ve either worked from home or I’ve biked to work. Since I began working in RTP I’ve put about 40 miles a day on it.

It’s a good car and hopefully will be around for years to come.

The Unemployment Channel

unemploymentchannelI was checking what programming is available on the satellites and I came across one that caught my eye: The Unemployment Channel.

Think about that for a minute. There is actually a television channel for the unemployed. If there’s a market segment that’s underserved, it’s the people with no money and no job. I imagine only the Prison Channel sells fewer commercial spots!

So who does pay the bills at The Unemployment Channel? Working stiffs (well, non-working stiffs) who pony up $25 for 30 seconds of fame played six times a day for one week. The channel does have a satellite transponder, so theoretically it could reach millions of viewers. But who watches? I can’t imagine a cable provider adding this to their lineup. And why wouldn’t a job seeker just post his or her “video resume” to YouTube, where it can be posted for free and is keyword-searchable?

It seems like a waste of good satellite transponder bandwidth to me. The video resumes they have are fairly amusing, anyway.

Cheviot Hills

I saw today that the old Cheviot Hills golf course has now been plowed under. All the trees on the middle of the property have been cleared out, leaving little trace of the fairways that were once there.

I haven’t heard much about how the property will be used. Last word I can find in the media is that car lots are going there. Since its owned by car dealers I am curious about the timing of the construction, as folks have all but stopped buying cars due to the economy. I suppose we’ll see in the next few weeks. Even so, I’m sad to see the old golf course go.