Author: BrianR

RDCH: Twitter users in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill

Last week I created a new user on Twitter called RDCH. It stands for Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. The idea is for this Twitter user to act like a group. I’ve been using Twittervision Map and Google to find people who’ve identified that they live somewhere in the Triangle aka RDCH. (That includes Apex, Cary, Carrboro, etc.) ex. Location: Durham

While I’m logged into the RDCH user account I goto the different Twitter users I find and add them as friends. So far in about three days RDCH has 88 friends and 33 followers. You make friends they decide to follow you.

I hope this helps people meet each other in person and make new friends. Another neat “feature” I’ve discovered is the with friends page. If you goto twitter.com/RDCH/with_friends you can read what all these people are doing. Its like a group micro-blog! This page has an RSS feed too at twitter.com/statuses/friends_timeline/6140022.rss.

I’ve been trying to use the contact medium in ways that could help all these neighbors of mine. So far I’ve shared info such as weather updates for Chapel Hill and Hurricane information. Going to build the friends list and hopefully the followers and announce a party or a flash mob.

What do you folks in RDCH want this user to do?

Its Smoky Outside

Smelled something odd this morning. Didn’t think anything of it. Then I got this email from the Town of Chapel Hill:

Smell smoke?

Due to the cold front passing through, the smoke from the Georgia wildfires has migrated to North Carolina. You may see a slight haze and smell smoke in the area from these wildfires, the Chapel Hill Fire Department reports.

If you feel your situation is different (if the smoke is abnormally thick or heavy in your area) do not dismiss it. Call 911.

Later came the more cryptic National Weather statement:

FPUS72 KRAH 161418
NOWRAH SHORT TERM FORECAST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1018 AM EDT WED MAY 16 2007 NCZ007>010-021>026-038>041-073>077-083>086-088-161745- PERSON-GRANVILLE-VANCE-WARREN-FORSYTH-GUILFORD-ALAMANCE-ORANGE- DURHAM-FRANKLIN-DAVIDSON-RANDOLPH-CHATHAM-WAKE-STANLY-MONTGOMERY- MOORE-LEE-HARNETT-ANSON-RICHMOND-SCOTLAND-HOKE-CUMBERLAND- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…ROXBORO…OXFORD…HENDERSON… WARRENTON…WINSTON-SALEM…GREENSBORO…HIGH POINT… BURLINGTON…CHAPEL HILL…DURHAM…LOUISBURG…LEXINGTON… ASHEBORO…PITTSBORO…RALEIGH…ALBEMARLE…TROY… SOUTHERN PINES…SANFORD…LILLINGTON…WADESBORO…ROCKINGHAM… LAURINBURG…RAEFORD…FAYETTEVILLE 1018 AM EDT WED MAY 16 2007 .NOW… STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS OF 35 TO 40 MPH JUST OFF THE SURFACE WILL SPREAD A SMOKE PLUME ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH NOON TODAY. THE SMOKE PLUME ORIGINATES FROM WILDFIRES IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND NORTHERN FLORIDA. AS THE AIR TEMPERATURES CONTINUES TO HEAT UP…THE SMOKE PLUME SHOULD GRADUALLY LIFT HIGHER IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND BECOME LESS CONCENTRATED. UNTIL THEN…THE SMOKE PLUME WILL CAUSE HAZY CONDITIONS…REDUCING VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS TO 3 TO 5 MILES. PERSONS WHO SUFFER FROM ASTHMA OR OTHER BREATHING AILMENTS SHOULD LIMIT OUTDOOR EXPOSURE TODAY.

The Florida fires raging now where said to have been started by lightning. The smoke here in North Carolina far away from Georgia and Northern Florida is an amazing effect. It demonstrates the truly global nature of our environments change. It got me wondering if the amount of lightning has increased and or decreased along with global climate change.

After a bit of google searching I found the document Possible implications of global climate change on global lightning distributions and frequencies. It says:

The results suggest a 30% increase in global lightning activity for the warmer climate and a 24% decrease in global lightning activity for the colder climate.

To me the smoke outside demonstrates the interconnectiveness of everyone on Earth. In this example all of the South Eastern United States. Will it be really hard for future generations to breath? Will we all be gasping for air?

Right now everything is fine. It just smells bad for most folks. But just when you think you can be at a safe distance from the problems in the world…

Heroine Astronauts

JerrieCobb_MercuryCapsule
Jerrie Cobb, public domain image from Wikipedia.

NPR had a great segment on this morning about women who were secretly trained for the Mercury 13 space flights. Then NASA and Lyndon Johnson stopped them from serving. Five years ago via the Freedom of Information Act it was discovered that the then Vice President delivered the “last nail in the coffin”.

I was so impressed with Jerri Truhill this morning. She described how they became part of the testing program, where tougher than nails, and “came out better than the men did as far as being suited for spaceflight.” You could hear her strong mind and confidence. Such an amazing interview. Even after decades of discrimination, you are a REAL heroine Ms. Truhill!

Over at NPRs page for the story Women’s Space Dreams Cut Short, Remembered you can listen to the audio and at the bottom of the article/transcript you can check out a time line of the history of women in space.

Wubi installs Ubuntu to a file

Wubi sounds pretty damn cool. No longer do you have to repartition your PC hard drive to install Linux. Dowload a Windows exe file to guide you through an Ubuntu install.

Is this running Ubuntu within a virtual environment or something similar?

No. This is a real installation, the only difference is that Ubuntu is installed within a file as opposed to being installed within its own partition. Thus we spare you the trouble to create a free partition for Ubuntu. And we spare you the trouble to have to burn a CD-Rom.

I haven’t tried Wubi. I already have Ubuntu Feisty Fawn installed. (The upgrade was a cinch btw… but that damn network install took HOURS.) Will report back when I get a chance to check this out.

Town of Carrboro Charter Printed in The Citizen

In this weeks Carrboro Citizen you’ll find the Charter of the Town of Carrboro. You may wonder who besides a politician or bureaucrat would enjoy reading this document? Well me for one.

Why? Because within this ancient legalese lies answers to why things happen in Carrboro. Time and time again here on OP people ask why a Town does this or that. Most, but not all, answers to these questions can be found in this document. Barring interpretation and enforcement of-course.

Now I may not sit down and read the whole thing at once. But I will digest this document in small chunks. Plus I’ll use it as a reference. Its so much easier to read a big paper folded long ways like a city bus rider than a 8 1/2 x 11 PDF IMHO.

I am particularly impressed by The Carrboro Citizen’s willingness to use so much valuable space in their paper. In my mind its a important duty of media to educate the public. Now that The Citizen has set the stage I hope they refer to this document often as they explain and editorialize. May they find many creative ways to help people learn about local government.

So I’ll end this post with a question. What would our local democracy be like if everyone in Carrboro knew this document inside and out?

Cross posted from OrangePolitics

Nocturnal Barred Owl Music

Strix Varia
A few nights last week we slept with our windows open. Sometime after midnight but before dawn a LOUD chorus of birds starts making a serious racket. The sound that woke me up first was “hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO, ooo”. Last year at our old house I remember hearing something similar. (I didn’t see the birds but I guess it might have looked like the animal in the picture above.)

What made this spooky night time show by some Barred Owls (aka Hoot Owls) different was the sheer number of calls. I swear there must have been at least three or four of them. Just when one set of Hoo Hoos would start another would chime in. Like a round of row row your boat. It is spring here in North Carolina so maybe those where matting calls.

Once I woke up enough not to think I was dreaming I thoroughly enjoyed their music. Before I had only heard one or two calls at a time. This was a full on symphony performance! Over and Over again. Each time with a short gap in between the calls. I waited annciously for each new set of Hoo hoos. We are so luck to have all the trees near us that birds love. Cardinals, Red Headed Woodpeckers, morning doves, finches, etc.

Gota set up some recording gear in the future and make it easy to start when asleep. 🙂 Until then this webpage titled Barred Owl Vocalizations has a ton of great recordings. I think I must have heard some Simultaneous Calling.

Barred Owl – Strix varia

Bike to Work, Get a Free Theme Song

Famous local musician and fellow blogger Billy Sugarfix informs me that Friday, May 18 is National Bike to Work Day. He says:

I will do a free theme song for the blog/podcast/ webpage (yes myspace included) of anyone who in fact does give up their car for the day and kicks it pedal style. If interested, let me know. Work on the song will not start until AFTER the 18th when you have completed your two wheeled fossil fuel free commute.

You can contact him at billysugarfix (AT) gmail [DOT] com