House o Groove

Uncreative Title Indicating More Random Links (Yeah, My Brain Dried Up, Sorry) - 2008-08-03 13:18:11

Get rid of a virus, pick up a cold - I just can't seem to win! Bah! This time I think I can blame it on the plane ride home because I seemed to be surrounded by people sniffling and coughing. So I was somewhat doomed. Since I'm having problems with linear thought (not that this is completely abnormal) it's just as well that I have random links to post. Just some random things I surfed over to and enjoyed reading.

Every Bite You Take: How Sysco came to monopolize most of what you eat.
Ulrich Boser, Slate, Feb. 21, 2007
"All of that seems relatively innocuous—restaurants need to make a profit, after all. But Sysco also hawks pre-packaged food. While chefs have long relied on shortcuts like freezing and using canned goods like beans and tomatoes, it's entirely different to pass off one of Sysco's thousands of ready-made items—ground beef burritos, vegan tortellini, quiche Lorraine pie, tiramisu cake—as homemade.

...It comes as little surprise that institutions like hospitals, universities, and military bases flock to Sysco's pre-cooked foods. But well-regarded bistros and pubs have also begun to offer such items to save time and money. Recently, New York magazine reported that Thomas Keller uses frozen Sysco fries at his Bouchon bistros. (While a company spokeswoman wouldn't confirm the brand, she confirmed the use of frozen fries.)...

...But many quality restaurants, like Tree Room, use Sysco responsibly—shying away from pre-made items they can disguise as their own. Bardia Ferdowski of Bardia's New Orleans Café in Washington, D.C., purchases only raw and unprocessed Sysco products such as flour, potatoes, and beef, and receives frequent deliveries so that ingredients are as fresh as possible."

This does not shock me. And it's something I'd expect of a Bennigans/TGIF/etc. type of place. However I can eat my own microwaved dinners at home, so if I'm getting something like this but paying up the snout - not something I'd be happy about. But then I'm also just as concerned about the hand washing habits of the restaurant folk (my recent virus makes me think a lot about these things) - and it comes down to the fact that no matter how much research you do about where you eat you just can't know. There's always that risk. There's your excitement! Take that, Bear Grylls (man who eats grubs and bugs on his "survivalist" tv show), we adventure by eating out!
(Someday someone will make a burger joint named Bear Grills, you just know it.)

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Suddenly an Earthquake to Wake Up Your Tuesday - 2008-07-29 16:37:38

So there I was, typing and updating my blog, feeling pleased with myself for remembering to make an appearance here - and then there was this loud noise, and the computers on Jon's desk across the room rattled a bit. Which was odd - I thought maybe we had neighbors moving in and someone had dropped a large piece of furniture. It isn't a big deal in an appartment complex to hear random bumping around caused by the neighbors. The cat flipped out over it, and ran off to hide. Of course he does the same thing when someone rings the doorbell.

Anyway so after the loud noise the internet service goes out. (Which is why the previous post is much shorter than normal, I was planning to babble on a bit more.) Then I check the tv - hmmm, it's out too. Odd. I get on the phone with the lovely Time Warner automated system and find out that their phone service is out in my area and they're "working on the problem." I figure this is just the same problem we've been having with our internet service the past few weeks, and wonder if Jon and I should start thinking about a new ISP. And then I go on to reading and doing non-internet type stuff.

When the tv comes back on a few hours later there's Wolf Blitzer in his most "wow, we have breaking news!" type voice sharing the excitement of the recent 5.4 quake in LA. Yet another example of how I'm never going to really be a true California resident - I'm never going to equate loud noises with earthquakes. Ah well.

Of course now that I really think of it, that idea of someone dropping furniture? It would have to have been something like a piano. Only the computers on Jon's desk seemed effected though, as they were the only things in the living room that seemed to vibrate - no huge shifting of furniture or anything. Earthquakes always seem to happen when I'm only half paying attention to my surroundings or asleep - then afterwards I try and figure out what the thing sounded/felt like. So far "neighbors moving furniture" is the best description I have.

Strong quake shakes Southern California
Robert Jablon, Associated Press, July 29, 2008
"LOS ANGELES (AP) — A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries."

'Major Seismic Activity': 5.4 Magnitude Quake Jolts Southern Calif.
Jolt Was Felt from L.A. to San Diego, and Slightly in Las Vegas
Russell Goldman, ABC, July 29, 2008
"...The earthquake struck at 11:42 a.m. local time and lasted for some 30 seconds. Residents reported that it was the strongest quake they had felt in the area since the 1994 temblor in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, which measured a magnitude of 6.7, almost ten times stronger than today's quake."

CNN is saying that cell phones went down initially in the area. So I imagine communication of all forms may have been disrupted.

So, hurricane and tornado when I visit my folks in Texas, earthquake today when I get back home... Wonder if anything will happen on our upcoming trip to Vegas?

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Man Eating Bears, and other Random Links - 2008-07-29 14:54:58

Back home and from the trip my favorite Overheard Moment:
Small child to mother: "Give me your cell phone, I want to play games!"
Because it's not really a communication device, it's a toy! Not that I don't secretly think of my cell phone the same way. And yes, from the rest of the conversation I could tell that the mom wasn't going to bother to teach the child the word please. I'd say that I've now become a crotchety old fart by noticing that - except that I noticed that kind of thing when I was in my teen years as well. What can I say, my parents were always big on raising me with the whole Be Polite mantra, and it probably sunk in a bit too deeply. As in I simply can not leave a checkout line without saying thank you to the cashier. Really. Large (imaginary) guilt hammer follows me ready to pounce if I do.
Er, anyway... lots of random links here.

I read this story in my parents local paper and just had to stop to reread the thing:

Starving Kamchatka brown bears eat two men, leave Russians in fear
LA Unleashed (LA Times blog), 3:06 PM, July 24, 2008
"Hundreds of terrified workers at an isolated mining compound in Russia are refusing to return to work after a pack of hungry bears killed and ate two guards. A pack of up to 30 Kamchatka brown bears has been prowling the area around two mines in Russia's Pacific Kamchatka region, searching for food. Now, a team of snipers is being dispatched to hunt the bears after receiving authorization from the government."

A Bear Menace in Russia, Where They Are Revered
The Lede (NY Times blog), July 24, 2008
"Russia’s bears have traditionally been a national symbol of pride and potency, mythologized in fairy tales and depicted in advertisements and on the flag of Russia’s top political party. They are as hallowed in Russia as the bald eagle is in the United States. Today, however, Russia’s bears are on the attack.

Some thirty gigantic and ravenously hungry Kamchatka brown bears have already killed and eaten two men at a platinum mine in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka region and appear to be hunting for more. People in the region have been forced to cower in their homes waiting for hunters to dispose of the animals, which can stand 10 feet tall and weigh up to 1,500 pounds."

Starving bears eat Russian guards
Sydney Morning Herald, July 25, 2008
"Bad weather is thwarting efforts to rescue a group of mine workers trapped by hungry bears in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka. The bears have already eaten two of the workers.

The bears - apparently starving - killed the men on July 17, it was reported in Russia. As many as 30 bears have surrounded a platinum mine. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.

About 400 geologists and miners are refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed because of poor weather, it was reported."

Sounds like a very cheesey movie you'd catch on late night tv, but apparently true. I'm sure that the film's being plotted up in Hollywood even as I type this, and shooting will begin in a month or so. Er, filming that is. Not actual bear shooting. Unless they're looking to go all documentary on us.

Meanwhile after googling around for the story I find it interesting that the two major US newspaper links I checked out are in fact blog links on their sites. Hmmm. Probably doesn't mean anything, except that it didn't get much play in the newspapers themselves. In my parents's paper (San Anotio Express) it only got a one paragraph mention in a column of Non US News stories. In other words, international news that we in the US can happily ignore, as we don't have a gang of 30 hungry bears anywhere near us.
Er, that I know about anyway.

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Visiting At the Same Time As Dolly Drops In: Surprise, a Hurricane! - 2008-07-24 19:39:37

When I was getting ready to fly to San Antonio to visit my parents a few days ago my mother called to warn me "there is this hurricane headed towards us, just so you know." I assumed it'd not be any more bother than a bit of turbulence and some rain, since hurricanes aren't usual for southwest Texas. Oops, not this time. It's been raining on and off since I got here and today we had a bit more serious weather.

Twister spawned by Dolly reported in San Antonio
Hilary Lehman, Houston Chronicle, July 24, 2008
"Emergency personnel are investigating reports of a small tornado that caused roof damage and knocked down trees and traffic signs this morning near downtown as storms spawned by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly move through South Texas."

Dolly forces thousands to shelters
UPI.com, July 24, 2008
"BROWNSVILLE, Texas, July 24 (UPI) -- Thousands of people slept in shelters and more than 100,000 households were without power in parts of southern Texas hit by Hurricane Dolly. The hurricane's 100-mph winds tore away roofs of hotels, condominiums and homes in coastal communities lying in its path, the San Antonio Express-News reported Thursday. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he would ask U.S. President George Bush for a disaster declaration for 15 counties to hasten relief for the area."

Currently all we've seen of the weather (besides rain) is the usual high water in the flood prone areas - low water crossings are all over San Antonio. Actually the wind didn't even seem to blow very much today. Since we once lived in Kansas for many years we're pretty mellow over the phrase "tornado watch." We're still under that watch, but only for another hour or so. Though we've started assessing which areas of the house have the least glass - in Kansas we had a basement to go to, but that's not the case here. Annoying - it's nice to have a basement "safe" place. Still, we're the lucky ones in this - it looks like it's the people to the south of us that really are suffering the worst of this weather. The power outages and evacuations are mostly happening around the coastal and the Brownsville areas, as far as we can tell.

Anyhow, just wanted to pass on that we're all ok here. In case anyone wondered!

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The Boing Boing Violet Blue Thing - 2008-07-01 15:40:52

I first read about this from an email I get from the Romenesko column at Poynter - but I'll just cut to the chase and link to Update: BoingBoing explains why Blue posts were removed. And here's the Boing Boing link in question: That Violet Blue Thing.

The gist as I see it - Boing Boing removed all posts by author Violet Blue (who writes about sex and sexuality) without comment, then made this post days later.

That Violet Blue thing
Posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator, July 1, 2008 8:48 AM

"...Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her. It's our blog and so we made an editorial decision, like we do every single day. We didn't attempt to silence Violet. We unpublished our own work. There's a big difference between that and censorship.

We hope you'll respect our choice to keep the reasons behind this private."

Why it matters - Boing Boing and its authors have set the expectation that they'll be for open, informative writing that is on the side of full disclosure. Though apparently that's what we should expect of major companies like the telcoms, or for government, and not bloggers, if we're to follow the logic of what appears to be happening here. This post leaves me thinking that well, either there's a legal issue or oooo, someone is dating someone else or perhaps someone posted some snark someone else took personally. (Those last two are standard blog/internet drama material.) Until there's more of a disclosure here it's yet another reason why I'm going to laugh at anyone who uses the words blogger and journalist simultaneously. Journalism isn't what I look to Boing Boing for anyway - but information, and links to interesting places. However this is going to color my impression of their content from now on. Seriously all it would take would be one more sentence "there's a legal issue involved" or "we have an objection to use of nouns" - frankly it could be a legit reason, or it could be some ridiculous drama. (I particularly love the commenters at the Boing Boing thread who say "well, thanks for this, now we know and there's no drama" - please, that post makes for even more speculation-fodder.) But the manner that they handled this has already made me see them as less of a legitimate resource for information/news. And yes, in the past I've had several news stories that were brought to my attention via the site. Now, I'd pay less attention - or at least give their information less value than before.

Not to mention the fact that hey, Boing Boing, you have issues with author Violet Blue's credibility? Isn't it important that the readers know about those issues? And be able to assess if they're legitimate? If it's important enough to take the trouble to pull all those posts - shouldn't we all know about what's up? If it's a legal matter - why not just say "legal issues make it inadvisable that we comment further." Press Releases 101, there are countless ways to infer that legal matters are why you can't say more.
(Disclosure: I've read one or two Violet Blue articles via links. Otherwise know nothing of her, nor care honestly. I have enough bloggers to follow.)

Apparently Boing Boing has been editing out comments of some people who were trying to complain about this issue prior to their July 1 Violet Blue posting. I'm more of the MetaFilter crowd as far as comment moderation goes - Boing Boing seems a lot more heavy handed. But Boing Boing playing the "we're just a personal blog" card (wanting to keep the Violet Blue reasons private) - when they're really just as much of a business, employing people to write and taking in ad revenue - seems a bit weird to me. Especially in light of this link (first posted by MeFi commenter who I'll link when I can find it) - here's Doctorow quoting on Boing Boing from an article he'd just authored(Feb. 26, 2008) about the Sony DRM rootkit:

"Companies aren't charities. They're businesses. It doesn't matter why they're offering an unacceptable product -- all that matters is that the product is unacceptable.... Even weirder is the idea that companies shouldn't be criticized because in a market, you should just take your business elsewhere. Free markets thrive on good information. For a market to function, customers need to have good information about which goods are worth buying and which ones should be avoided -- that's why we complain in public, to help companies make better decisions."

Epic Length MeFi Thread: Boing Boing Finds 21st Century Trotsky?
You'll have to skip over the parts where a few MeFites immediately hop to the rescue of the Boing Boing crowd. As usually people are all too ready to tar and feather - which makes others quick to defend and perhaps not realize that some of this isn't passing the smell test. (I'm not really sure who jscalzi is, but he definitely takes on the "I'm speaking up for BB" role in a "I am posting too much today, and possibly am not aware of it" taking-over-the-thread manner. This is a very MeFi thing, and why I love reading the site. Also Languagehat went a little wild too, but apologizes later, love and hugs all round.)

Best comment so far still is adipocere's summing up:

Doctorow has in his words (both fiction and non-fiction), come out against DRM, censorship, and all of that jazz. And he links to such items. Not just a little, but a lot. He has tried to make himself one of the frontmen about these issues ... and that's where the responsibility kicks in. He's almost unavoidable when you start digging around on these kinds of issues. This is a guy who just wrote, from what I can tell, a book about sousveillance and using technology against Big Brother - surely 1984 might be somewhere in the forefront of his mind. When you put forth a cause, when you support it so vocally, expect that people will bite you on the tushie if you turn around and do the opposite."

The rest of that comment is also worth a read.

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