August 30, 2005
VentureGSO: All heart but lost the way
Sue pointed out that VentureGSO is on its way, today. I have known about this Action Greensboro, Greensboro Public Library and RF Micro Devices partnership for a while now. And it won't work. Why? The heart is there, but everything seems to be going forward for the wrong reasons.
Now first a disclaimer. I am part of Action Greensboro, SynerG, and all of the other initiatives and I love what they do. Why am I against this venture? Because this isn't how to create more jobs although this is what people say it's all about.
When you first go to the VentureGSO site and go to the students section you see Jerry Neal's book. This seems to me a publicity stunt to sell his book more than help the city.
- The competitions include writing assignments based on the book Fire In The Belly: Building A World-Leading High-Tech Company From Scratch In Tumultuous Times by one of RF Micro Devices' founders, Jerry Neal and co-authored by Jerry Bledsoe,...
You don't find anything wrong with this? RF Micro is a engineering firm that happens to be in business with my employer. Yet, the written competition isn't based on entrepeneurship or how to market a product. It's based on Jerry's book. No offense to you Jerry, but look at it from a third party and tell me it doesn't look like a book signing rather than job improvement. Okay, moving on.
- ...and performance of entrepreneurial tasks, much like those seen in the popular TV show, The Apprentice.
Of all the shows to copy, Trump's is not one of them. Entrepeneurship might be about taking risks, but it's not about taking the type that Trump takes. What about doing an engineering competition with a budget and how to build useful things? How about doing things such as RoboCup to push people to think outside the box about robotics, or even how to achieve biotech through artificial skin made from a hacked textile machine? This isn't about the show, it's about how to get people jobs. Does "The Apprentice" actually help create jobs in a region? Not especially.
But here's the straw that broke the camel's back.
TELL THEM WHAT THEY WIN, JIMMY!
2 grand prize winners will receive paid summer internships with RF Mirco Devices. One will be awarded to the winning high school student and one to the winning college student.mispelling of RF Micro is on part of the website here at the time of this post.
First I went ooo... then I went ahhh... then I thought.. great. I had average grades in college and I landed two paid internships my freshman year (the hardest year to get internships). Corporations that tried to woo me to their doorstep included Netscape, Sun Microsystems, the CIA, and many more. All it took was filling out applications online, and persistence in chasing after my dreams.
The problem with this is that as an engineering firm, RF Micro should be offering paid internships anyways. This isn't something special like getting to work for Trump or having a six figure salary for a year. PAID INTERNSHIPS SHOULD BE A GIVEN when applied to technical firms. I can't speak for non-technical firms since I have never worked for one, but training an intern is a lot cheaper than training a full-time employee for three to six months.
So if this VentureGSO project isn't the way to get young people to stay in the Triad, what is? I'll tell you what I said when I first graduated. "Show me the JOBS." None of the jobs here are lit up with bright green NEON signs that scream, "TAKE ME TAKE ME!" Through friends and colleagues, I hear of technical jobs popping up here and there every so often, but as a recent graduate, there is no way to know without having the social networks in place already. The jobs must be publicized, just as Google has chased even the users in the Greensboro Linux User Group down with offerings.
There is only one single thing to do: Show those young people the jobs. Sell it to them. Make them want to stay in the area, or even come here because of this opportunity or that opportunity. Wave a signing bonus here, or a corporate facilitated living complex there (like the corporate dormitories in Japan). Show them you want them, just as much as they want you.
And they will come.
Posted by darkmoon at 04:39 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 08, 2005
Greensboro Linux User Group looks at Windows Vista Beta
The saying goes: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
ratchet of Greensboro Linux User Group, took a look at the latest beta installation of Windows Vista at tonight's meeting (8/8) and needless to say he was unimpressed. I unfortunately was unable to sit through the install and had to leave after 1.5 hours (apparently it took 2). Here are his initial reactions, and his latter reactions to the great and powerful new OS that the Redmond giant is pushing.
Way to go Microsoft. More ammunition for us on a bloated half-operating operating system. Makes me actually want to install Fedora Core 4. Scary.
Posted by darkmoon at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 01, 2005
What's the deal with everyone wanting a biotech center?
Disclaimer: This thoughts are mine, and mine alone. Don't go busting Ed Kitchen's chops because of me. I'm just sharing what I remember and my thoughts on the topic. And on with the show.
I've asked this question a number of times but no one can ever give me a straight answer. It wasn't but a few months back that City Manager Ed Kitchen (this was right before he retired from his position) gave a talk at an ActionGreensboro Groundbreaker's meeting. In it, he asked a similar question:
Why is the Triad looking towards biotech?
Now don't get me wrong (nor Ed for that matter). I believe that the fledgling biotech corporations in the Triad have great products as well as great processes/procedures to offer. But trying to establish our Triad as the biotech middle of the world is ridiculous. Why is this?
My father is the CTO of a well established medical instruments corporation. Being such, I have been hearing about biotechnology for about as long as I can remember until my ears instantly bleed when the subject is mentioned. Large cities such as Denver and Seattle have been establishing themselves in biotech positions since the mid-1990s. Even the RTP area has a large biotech center with some well established firms residing there.
Competition with such cities is terribly futile. They bring in more capital, have more population, and not to mention rank higher in the Forbes' "Places to be for Singles" category. So why are we trying to compete?
I have no friggin' clue. Someone, somewhere got the bright idea that we could do it with our biotech firms in the Triad. So we keep pushing for it and we keep losing. Everyone loves the story of David versus Goliath, but in a betting world, the odds on David winning are about 100 to 1.
So what's the solution? Don't ask me. I'm not in biotech. If I was, I would probably look to establishing a niche market and surround myself with similar corporations to bolster the regional strength. In my opinion, forget a general biotech center. Believe it or not, there are plenty of businesses in North Carolina that I didn't even know had their roots here. Playing the general biotech game is like hoping for a royal flush on the river card.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:38 AM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
July 31, 2005
In the Sunday paper...AHHHH! It's my face!
Go figure. My face on the front page of the paper. Scary. I'm expecting a barrage of emails Monday morning. I love this community and where it's going and I love the people. One of the reasons that ratchet and I have partnered up to start business that will be functioning in this fair gate city.
Thanks to the News and Record staff (especially Elyse Ashburn) for writing such nice things about me and the rest of the community service people and to Ed and Sue for pointing out that I was on the front page.
Here is the article.
UPDATE: David makes a mention too!
Posted by darkmoon at 11:39 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 30, 2005
What is Quran and Shari ah?
I got bored and decided to catch up on some local political blogs over the weekend since my better half wanted to catch up with a college friend. So I wandered onto our favorite Greensboro Republican Party's blog, The Chairman's Corner.
Lo and behold, I find another baffling word as last time I wrote regarding his blog. This time it was the "Quran." This post also had a funny way of defining Sharia Law.
I have a friend who had an idea about allowing the Quran for the Swearing in Oath in court. This would be a new twist. He said he thought that we should maybe take it a step further and let those who want this to have their cases adjudicated under Shari ah Law. Robbers have hands cut off and so forth. Beheadings and the like. Interesting concept. don' think the ACLU would like it.
And so I went on another quest to search for this words and their meanings. I swore up and down that I thought it was Qu'ran but what do I know.
Here it is again:
Also I note you objection to the Bible, but not to the Quran....( so your view is also antiquated?)
So from context, it sounds like "Quran" is actually meant to be Qu'ran. I wonder if the Chairman decided to withhold the apostrophe because it wasn't important enough to respect the other religion's spelling. If so, then I would imagine he would not like it if other religions started spelling Bible, "bibl"... But benefit of the doubt is given yet again.
So back to educating myself on Sharia Law, since the Chairman said that it was about beheadings and the like. Obviously this sounds interesting.
In practice the new Sharia courts in Nigeria have most often meant the re-introduction of relatively harsh punishments without respecting the much tougher rules of evidence and testimony, such as the necessity of four eyewitnesses, with a woman's testimony counting no less than that of a man. The punishments include amputation of one/both hand(s) for theft and stoning for adultery. Such measures are usually introduced to gain support of local ulema who are often community leaders in rural areas. But overall in the eyes of Islam the the proper implementation of the Sharia law means a just society where the law and people live in complete harmony. Many Western views have considered the punishments described above as harsh, but if implemented properly these punishments are suppose to serve as a lesson to the society to abstain from crime, once the basic requirnments of the society are meet.
So basically this is no different than from some of the other European laws that I've studied in the past. Just as DUI carries a lot heavier punishment in EU, here theft and adultery are punished a lot more severely. What really got me was the next section under the Wikipedia entry:
Like Jewish law and Christian canon law, Islamic law means different things to different people in different times and places. In the hands of moderates, religious law can be moderate, even liberal. In the hands of post-Enlightenment readers of philosophy, religious law becomes associated mainly with ritual, theology, or history and no longer regulates society or the state.
In the hands of fundamentalists, it is legally binding on all people of the faith, and even on all people that come under their control. Islamic law to American Muslims in Dearborn, Boston, or Houston is a very different thing than Islamic law to religious Muslims in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gaza Strip, western China, Nigeria[1], Indonesia or Pakistan. All of them are following Islamic law, yet it varies as much as individual Muslims vary.
What this section meant was that such like Christianity, Baptist does not equal Catholic and vice versa. Even regionalization made a significant difference and it CANNOT be grouped together in a general sense.
What is most amusing about this whole research is that Sharia is not a law form, persay, but a way of life. This is where the lines of religion and actual day-to-day life blur together. Singling out points of the Sharia Law just shows that there are people out there that have not done their homework on whom they speak to and about.
It's a scary world out there, but it's even scarier when certain people perpetuate facts out of context because they only read the Cliff Notes.
Posted by darkmoon at 07:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
While Forbes' ranked us last, we're not Greensboroing anymore
While we dropped from 37 to the 40th spot (dead last) in Forbes' major metropolitan areas for singles, I suppose that it's at least nice to know that we're in a metropolitan area.
Compared to San Franscisco and New York, is like comparing a prodigal art student with da Vinci, Raphael, or Donatello. The masters are still the masters, but we are painting the strokes and starting our own masterpieces.
Raleigh was #4, Charlotte was #33. Winston-Salem? Do I hear... oh darn. They didn't even make it.
Posted by darkmoon at 04:27 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
What the heck is a "blogg"?
It's strange when I'm reading up on my latest blogs and find Marcus Kindley going off on some other tangent. He's the stupendously wonderful Guilford County Republican Party's chairman.
Intrigued, I venture over there to see if lightning has struck again at Google's Blogger servers.
I behold the word "blogg". I am baffled. Perhaps he means blog? No. There it is again.
As quoted:
For all you Republicans out there hoping that the MSM, especially the large print media in your neighborhood is somehow becoming more balanced and fair... don't hold your breath.
I've been doing this blogg for close to six months now. When I initially started I let one of the reporters at the Greensboro News and Record know and he mentioned it on the News and Record Blogg page in his writing.
and here in the comments again:
I alluded to the mention in the Inside Scoop in this blogg. But that is the last time it appreared in the N&R to my knowledge.
and here yet again:
I ask in all sincerity, do you really think that an elected official writing a blogg isn't thinking about the next election with every keystroke.
So from context, he obviously meant the word blog, and not "blogg", at least so I am to believe. Now go back to the first quotation. There, Marcus is going off on how the News and Record was blacklisting him because John Robinson, the editor, didn't blogroll him even after he's been going at it for six months. Here is John's response to the blogroll complaint.
So after this spectacular six months of technological wonder, Mr. Chairman, I only have one question for you. What the heck is a blogg?
Posted by darkmoon at 11:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 10, 2005
Taste of the Triad with glowing review of local Chinese restaurant
The anonymous restaurant critic from the Taste of the Triad gave glowing remarks to Phoenix Asian Cuisine off of New Garden Road. Unfortunately, I'm wary of the authenticity and definition of "first-rate Chinese" when the critic compares the restaurant to P.F. Chang's China Bistro. Little bells went off in my head:
Warning!
Warning!
Reason behind the red flashing and warning bells. P.F. Chang's has always been mediocre Chinese food at best from every Chinese person I have ever met. That along with the nuevo riche atmosphere and slightly higher pricing made it a place not truly Chinese.
Even Chinatown back home was a tourist-ridden area where most Chinese people would stay away from when it came to truly great food. It was the little restaurants hidden away in the suburbs that were the best and advertising was strictly word-of-mouth.
While I will be venturing to Phoenix Asian Cuisine in the near future to tempt my tastebuds on a little something closer to home, I still have my doubts on how great it could be. I truly hope that I am wrong and that Greensboro finally has seen the light of good Asian cuisine. But we shall see.
Posted by darkmoon at 11:28 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
July 05, 2005
Yes! Weekly runs story on ConvergeSouth
YesWeekly's Jordan Green ran a great story on ConvergeSouth. Get it here.
Total embarassment and apologies from myself as I couldn't think of the right words that described "convergence" in my eyes. Probably why I never went into public relations and went down the path of engineering.
Oh, and there are a few corrections to be made:
- Sue John, Ed initially that I knew of.
SXSW is in its 12 year - not 20th year.I stand corrected.
- SXSW opens on four days not three.
Via YesWeekly
Posted by darkmoon at 01:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Senator Richard Burr on Real ID
Yesterday, I received another one of those interesting letters postmarked from the United States Senate. Ripping into the envelope, I realized that this was due to the e-mails and faxes when I was fighting to get Real ID canned from Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief of 2005.
For those that are wondering, that is the full title of the Act.
Amused as I read on:
There have also been some concderns associated with the REAL ID Act about a national identification card. The REAL ID Act does not create a national identification card, rather it increases the security surrounding drivers' licenses and personal identification cards by setting new minimal standards that states must meet in order to have their cards used for federal purposes.
Maybe I missed something. If you mandate states to meet requirements so that the drivers' licenses can be used for federal purposes, is that not a national identification card then?
Then the Senator begins on how the REAL ID Act was brought into legislation due to some immigration issues, particularly in North Carolina. There is no doubt that the Senator is correct in stating that we have issues with illegal immigrants working in this state particularly. But REAL ID won't solve anything if you have government workers that do not bother with checking if the paperwork is fake or not. Thus the issue with 9/11 terrorists with North Carolina licenses.
I have to admit that while I am disappointed that Senator Burr cannot see through the plain issues of this Act, it will eventually come back and bite the people in the behind. Thank you for writing back, Senator. It is much appreciated.
Those of North Carolina: Contact your Senator Burr here.
Posted by darkmoon at 11:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
ConvergeSouth Media Submissions
ConvergeSouth is looking for artistry to be submitted.
Yes folks, we're looking for short films, animations, photography, photojournalism, and music submissions.
So head over to the Media section of ConvergeSouth, take a look at the submission requirements. Browse through the current entries!
New media deadline is 7/31.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 07, 2005
ConvergeSouth - Registration
Register for ConvergeSouth starting today online! Registration is free and the speakers are exciting. Check the web site for specifics and by Friday, our travel agency will have a registration form just for conference participants. Direct link for registration here.
For photographers, musicians, and film makers, submit pieces to the virtual Media festival. We will be streaming data across the Net showcasing the music that will be played during the conference as well as anyone else that wants to get a word out about their art!
Thanks Sue!
Posted by darkmoon at 03:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 02, 2005
Local ISP Blocks traffic!
A local ISP has implemented restrictions on their customers without any upfront warning all in an effort to "be more secure" but what will be the impact?
In an email this morning, CarolinaNet (in downtown Greensboro) sent out this link:
http://carolinanet...details&i=18
The message states that port 135 for all traffic has been filtered at the perimeter of the CarolinaNet network...meaning it's filtered on their equipment before it ever reaches their client's machines.
That's good right?
Wrong. The whole point of having machines in a facility like that is that you have the ability to serve data on any port/protocol you wish. That means that if you want to serve something on port 135 then you should be able to. This also means that it is the CLIENT'S responsibility to secure his or her own network...not the ISP's. Normally ISPs only alert their clients to potential risks such as this one. They do not (and should not) implement restrictions and THEN send alerts as that is just bad business.
CarolinaNet also admits that it already blocks several ports and has plans for more ports to be blocked later this week.
On another point, the links in the article seem to point that the risk is only associated with Microsoft Windows servers. Even clients that don't have windows servers that have that port exposed to the Internet or use Linux-based software which is not at risk are being restricted. This just doesn't seem right.
This is yet another example of people taking on responsibility that is not (and should not be) their own and by doing so they are limiting the freedoms of others without justifiable cause.
It is also important to point out that other hosting facilities in the area (Bellsouth's Business Class service, SolidSpace in Winston-Salem, DataChambers in Winston-Salem, and Inflow in Raleigh) have not blocked this traffic.
Posted by ratchet at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 27, 2005
No one gives one damn about efficient money use in IT
Having personally had my fun times with GCS IT on the issue of open-source, a meeting that was planned and scheduled by my friends at the Greensboro Linux User Group between RedHat and the City of Greensboro that ended nowhere, and my latest e-mail transactions between my wonderful City Councilwoman that represents myself....
I've decided:
No one in this city gives one damn about efficiency when it comes to money being used for Information Technology.
Why the hard stance? It's been a long year. I have personally fought some very ugly battles to help break Weaver Academy out of the bureacracy of Microsoft driven wanna-be geeks. I had the support of the Business Council, the support of the school, the support of the students. Even so, that was not enough.
Everywhere else in the world, people are opening their eyes to uses of linux and how it could save some money if their IT staff used their brains a bit and hunkered down to get things working. The British government posted a study that a savings of up to 25% for software and hardware happens when using open-source.
My friends at Greensboro Linux User Group and other such are still going at it and trying to help any business willing to look into integrating open-source technologies.
Open your eyes, fair city of Greensboro. Embrace open-source and see the powers of academia bind with do-gooders, hobbyists, hackers and programmers around the world. Instead of throwing money at problems and hoping that they go away, why not actually solve the problem itself with the help of the masses of nerds and geeks.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:07 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 26, 2005
Greensboro City Budget coming up and I have a score to settle
And I want to know why we're not implementing open-source to save taxpayers money. Yes it requires some thought, and probably a bit more "smarts". But I've found one thing during the years that I've been in the Information Technology field:
"Those that use OSS were usually the ones that could get the job done with unique and low-cost solutions, than the ones that pushed for IT solutions sold by others."
Why is open-source so important? It's written by academics and others that are looking to better the field. It's a shared resource among the technical community. Large scale technology corporations such as Motorola, Lucent, Hitachi, Toshiba, and IBM implement open-source technologies not only within products, but within their own IT systems.
Update: Locally, News and Record Interactive also uses open-source technology (Thanks Herb!)
Being that we're an hour away from two of the largest supporters of open-source software, I find it almost blasphemous that the Triad has not picked this up and ran with it. Locally, many of the technical crowd has met severe defiance to open-source solutions.
So in the end, I'll give this to the taxpayers... why are you supporting people that are throwing money at problems instead of solving the problems? Take the initiative and make the city see that there are alternative solutions to use. If they don't understand that, I don't see why we as constituents of this beautiful city should be paying for people that don't think outside the box for our sake.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2005
FBI raid database hackers
LexisNexis, a data broker and competitor of ChoicePoint was hacked. FBI raids in California, Minnesota, and North Carolina of people suspected in involvement with the hacking.
Jason Hawks, 23, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told the newspaper: "They busted down the door and ran at me with guns pointed in my face."
Via BBCNews
Posted by darkmoon at 12:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
Converge 2005 Conference: Oct 7-8th Greensboro, NC
Converge 2005: Creativity and Diversity on the Web. This conference will focus on digital publishing (blogging) and how to market digital expression (film and music).
We're still planning it out, and have contacted some of the speakers in mind. We will also be bringing in some bands to play and hopefully a record label or two.
We're blasting away at the planning and hope to have some new and improved updates soon!
Posted by darkmoon at 09:33 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 05, 2005
Charlotte might not be blogging capital, but porn?
Apparently Charlotte is home to AEBN (Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network), a five year old company that has a staff of 125, and generates about $50 million a year. AEBN provides video-on-demand and owns approximately 75% of the adult video-on-demand business. With over 30,000 titles to choose from and they have even moved to the mobile phone business for those that want portable porn. Who knew.
If you don't want to register, use bugmenot.
Fleshbot < CharlotteObserver (registration required)
Posted by darkmoon at 02:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 06, 2005
NC Lottery passes House
North Carolina State Lottery passes the House 62:58. Where's my ticket! I need a ticket!
Posted by darkmoon at 02:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 23, 2005
Piedmont Bloggercon 2005 Wiki in place
Due to some interest by parties (Shu, SR, Ed and others), PBC2005 Wiki has been set up at request.
Feel free to edit the wiki to plan it out.
Posted by darkmoon at 05:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
State of North Carolina considering ban on solitaire
The ban would consist of state-owned machines. Why? Apparently state workers are wasting too much time playing the game instead of working.
Slashdot < ChristianScienceMonitor
Personal note: I have a slight issue with the research done by CSM since the DMV department is at the state level, but IRS is at the federal level. Makes a big difference when both are covered by completely different IT standards and departments. Otherwise, this shouldn't be a surprise. Most management staff at corporations play Solitaire often.
Posted by darkmoon at 08:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 02, 2005
Spam zombies run on NC's Research and Educational Network THIS easily
What I found most amusing today.
2005.03.02 13:41:39 198.85.20.64 MT-Blacklist comment denial on 'LUX.ET.UMBRA'.
Author: Texas hold em; Email: absinth1285@hotmail.comNorth Carolina Research and Education Network NETBLK-CONCERT-CIDR1 (NET-198-85-0-0-1)
198.85.0.0 - 198.85.255.255
Forsyth County MIS NETBLK-FORSYTH-C (NET-198-85-16-0-1)
198.85.16.0 - 198.85.23.255
Forsyth County MIS FORSYTH-C5 (NET-198-85-20-0-1)
198.85.20.0 - 198.85.20.255
Looks like Forsyth County MIS can't even keep their IPs clean. I suggest they read Adam Wenner's The Free way of ridding your computer of spyware, adware, malware in general, and viruses [Weaver Academy].
Posted by darkmoon at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 24, 2005
40 Leaders Under Forty
The nominations have been sent in, and the forty have been picked. If you're interested in attending the seventh annual award banquet, it will be at the Embassy Suites on March 17th. Sponsored by the Business Journal, Jefferson Pilot, Sean Dunn, 107.5KZL, and Classic Rock 92.
Tickets to the event are $30 per person or $275 for a package of 10. RSVP by March 11th.
Posted by darkmoon at 08:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 11, 2005
Southern utilities don't make any sense
melinama of Pratie Place stirred up some old annoyances when I moved here from the West Coast. She talks about plans for consumer's to feed power into the power grid so that the consumer is only charged for the net power that is taken from the grid. Makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately Duke Power didn't think so. To have her initiate her project under their pilot "residential" system, you have to insure ANY line worker in anywhere. Thus, it was denied.
This amused me to no end. Besides my annually rising bill due to fees, and them putting in wireless meter readers that turned off my electricity for a week (I didn't realize since I was on a business trip) and not paying for the damages to all the spoiled food. This was about a year ago. More recently, I realized that the so called efficiency of the wireless meters were pushed back onto the consumer. Joy. But what are you going to do?
Duke Power also does NO maintenance work on trees on the power lines or poles. How I know this? A certain someone I know has called a multitude of times complaining about the trees behind her apartment. The power pole had the safety light out for over six months, even after complaint after complaint. This is the service we have to deal with in the Piedmont area.
On the flip side, Duke Power helps in many disasters and getting Floridians up with power when hurricanes strike. That brings up another brilliant concept for power companies in general. If you know geographically, that area has hurricanes, why don't you move your lines underground? What a waste of federal disaster funds to pay these corporate people their bonuses.
However, it's not all in vain for I'd like to see utility corporations look after the community and perhaps champion efforts to make the area a better place. Why? If there is ever a smaller power company that begins to serve the Piedmont community, Duke as a whole is going to regret screwing with their customers.
You know what's even more amusing than my personal rant above? I haven't even begun to talk about BellSouth.
Posted by darkmoon at 03:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 09, 2005
Conservative education institutions miss the sticker
Just a little personal observation after reading all the talk about creationism versus evolution in educational institutions. Here is the breakdown:
Science sticker reads:
"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Religious advocates are saying that this does not go signify that they're justifying religion in classrooms. This is the same as the argument with Intelligent Design, versus intelligent design.
From my observations, no one has brought up the fact that this implements reverse psychology. The wording draws you towards creationism. Also, none of the religious advocates are willing to place this sticker in their Bibles during Sunday school although this would basically even out the playing field.
Religion sticker reads:
"Warning this book promotes the dogma of creationism. Because experts disagree about the scientific basis of creationism, it and the rest of the material in this book should not be taken on faith. One should approach this material with an open mind and study it critically."
The way I look at it, if you're not willing to play ball, then don't play at all. When a religious advocate starts placing those stickers in their Bibles, then schools should also place the science sticker in but never before. Just a thought.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 05, 2005
Real-time traffic cameras and traffic information
If you didn't know already, the State of North Carolina has real-time traffic cameras up. These are the same ones that are on the television watching the major highways (I-40, US77, etc). For some odd reason, the Forsythe County cameras are all offline.
In any case, NCSmartlink can direct you to up-to-date construction and accident information. Very useful, especially in the latest bout of storms.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 01, 2005
Live-work units gaining popularity
With technology becoming more available to allow home-style businesses, live-work units are becoming absolutely wonderful for small-time entrepeneurs. For anywhere from two thousand a month or more, an apartment on the upper level while having a business on the lower level.
Technologies such as WiFi/Internet/VoIP and others are creating a better environment for small businesses to start out with less expenditures.
Asheville, NC has similar small businesses that are set up the same way. This type of business has taken off and made the area around Wall Street in Asheville very appealing to younger professionals.
Live-work units are gaining popularity in Greensboro. And what a wonderful thing.
Via bizwomen.com
Posted by darkmoon at 09:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 29, 2005
Will the News and Record open its archive?
Jay Rosen, over at PressThink, asks: "Will the Greensboro Newspaper Open Its Archive?"
Via PressThink
Posted by darkmoon at 01:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 27, 2005
Nonprofits with a wedding registry type wishlist?
Lex points out an idea that Sue directed at me yesterday. And I pointed out that if nonprofits worked out a "wedding registry" type format for their wishlists where you could select what to provide and that would update the database, do-gooders would not going into this black hole of giving the same things!
Original post by Sue. Lex on the Stroble Paradigm. And shameless self-patting of back.
Posted by darkmoon at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 30, 2004
Triadblogs
As GiT points out, blog aggregators are popping up everywhere. Dave (Hogg's Blog) points out that " The owner(s) will show him/herself soon enough I'm sure... but they are sure hip to the latest." Ed Cone has also posted on it here. Created on December 10th, there's are still some technical difficulties such as adding blogs automatically and the color scheme needs a bit of work. Definitely the thought patterns behind community blogging are becoming a reality.
Personal note: I find it rather amusing that a day after the posting from Zack Rosen (Civic Space Labs) on their modules on top of Drupal, that this site shows up on a Drupal base. Also, I'm waiting for Shu to fess up his involvement in Triadblogs, since the little techie in me tells me that he's had a hand in at least some of this [for those that are geeky, you'll know how to look this up also].
Posted by darkmoon at 11:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 23, 2004
Dell selects Winston-Salem
The N&R reports that "Dell selects Winston-Salem". With $30 million dollars in cash and services and a 189-acre land offer, there was hardly much competition. Guilford has said that it's still a "win" for them. The N&R also reports that in the first five years, Dell is expected to hire 1200 employees. Building of the plant will start in January so that opening can be scheduled in fall of 2005.
Personal note: Again, where was the "Triad" in all of these negotiations? It became a battlefront worse than siblings fighting over chocolate cake. In a sense, I'm glad that it's here to stay to help the economics and that Greensboro residents won't have to pay extra taxation to pay for the incentive packages. On top of this, we can get some unemployed people back on the grind. When all is said and done, we still need to work on playing together in the sandbox.
Posted by darkmoon at 02:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 15, 2004
Greensboro Blogger Meetup
Interesting phenonmenon when I went to the Greensboro Blogger Meetup tonight. It brought memories of the geeky kids back in high school and college. Definitely something that I can associate with being one of the left out kids back in those days. I went with Southern Rants and met some people that I've been meaning to get in touch with for a while like Ann, Shu, and Billy and others. Tara, if you read this, I really would appreciate leaving my picture and audio off of the video/audio clip for personal reasons. Will definitely look forward to the next blog event although I still believe that there is only specific blogging that can be driven towards an enterprise and personal blogs just doesn't cut it. Just my two cents.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 08, 2004
Leadership Greensboro
Every year, Greensboro puts out a new team of leadership consisting of business, community, and government. Since 1976, LG has had over 900 members striving towards a city development initiative. Many LG projects have turned up to be viable resources for the community. The HealthServ center for Moses Cone was the result of a LG project in the 1980s. Action Greensboro stemmed from another Leadership project.
Personal note: This year, I'm part of the Leadership class of 2005. There are so many things that people can do for the community and I urge that anyone that lives in the Triad should push to join in the efforts to make our community a better place. I have to say that I've met some wonderful people through this class, and it has definitely increased my network and community efforts by at least ten-fold. Only slight annoyance? While wanting to push LG out to the community, there is no website information on it that was easily found through the Greensboro Chamber. Thank goodness for Google for the above link. Run to your nearest community effort group, (ActionGreensboro, LG, etc) and sign up and help make this Triad into "OUR Triad".
Posted by darkmoon at 09:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 01, 2004
State of the Triad
Attended an interesting function: State of the Triad. Steve Little (INC. Magazine) presented "The 7 Irrefutible Facts of the Triad". The surprise comes from all these chambers not realizing this earlier. From moving here three years ago, from the beautiful city of Seattle, these "facts" were fairly obvious.
Met with many of my Leadership Greensboro classmates at this function. There was also the unveiling of the "Triad Masterpieces Series" coffee table book.
Personal opinion: I think that landing Dell will definitely be better for the community, as is FedEx and the rest of the new business launches here. But we also have overlying issues like the Triad Internship Initiative. I pointed this out to my ActionGreensboro colleagues a while back. You can't keep interns if they don't know that the tech jobs are there. Being that I'm not from the Triad region, the first place I would go would be "triadcareers.com". Sorry. No tech jobs there. I know of plenty being part of community leadership, but this scares me. There is a deeper rooted issue that no one bothers to tackle.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 30, 2004
Bless her heart
Read a link from The Shu on a blog that he's been following for a while. This gal is exactly the good hearted people that I wish I could meet on a daily basis. Ann has a wonderful story here. Need to find more of these people to join Leadership Greensboro. If half the world felt like she did, we wouldn't have so many problems. AND she's a good poet. My hat's off to you, Ann.
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