Month: April 2006

  • Practical Technology Activism

    AudioActivism’s Brian Russell has taken the best practical step to advancing work on the “digital divide” I’ve seen in awhile. What has one of our great local technology activists done? Created Chapel Hill Wireless, a site whose goals are: …to help you find good wireless access points (aka WiFi) in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North […]

  • Ruling in favor of Judge Baddour

    May 2nd, the good folk of Chapel Hill have an opportunity to keep Allen Baddour on the Superior Court bench.

  • War, what is it good for?

    “We are the silent majority now, and we haven’t done a damn thing.” “We’ve stood by and watched this happen. But there’s more of us than there is of them, and we have to do something. When people start talking and see they can get away with it, it’s going to happen everywhere. It’s going […]

  • Tapping into our community’s aggregate wisdom

    My April 26th Daily Tar Heel guest column: During the November campaign, I spoke of tapping into Chapel Hill’s “talent, innovation and creativity,” a reflection of my belief that good governance flows from maximizing citizen involvement. How best to tap Chapel Hill’s wisdom?

  • Catch the NextBus VII – Stone knives and bear skins…

    A Web 2.0 nod to Spock and Kirk. What if I endeavored “to construct a pneumonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins”? To wit, could I recreate the NextBus system using “off the shelf” Web 2.0 infrastructure and cheap gear? For a modestly discounted fee of $850,000? Yes! Yes! Yes! My tinkertoy Web […]

  • Catch the NextBus VI – 24 Hours Later

    If I wasn’t focused on bridging our community’s digital divide, I might be tempted to ignore the ridiculously high price Chapel Hill is paying for NextBus’ proprietary system, avoid the recalcitrance of some of our staff and forgo the hassle of trying to undo a “done deal”. Yet, while alternatives exist, I can’t stand by […]

  • Catch the NextBus V – Fairly Balanced

    Near the end of my day of NextBus posting, here’s a quick overview of my and others impressions of the NextBus system.NextBus provides near realtime tracking of vehicles by analyzing their predicted movements, modeling traffic conditions, estimating location and then verifying position. In 2003, this combination of GPS, cell and computer technologies probably had a […]

  • Catch the NextBus IV – New Hope?

    Thank you town staff, Ms. Hall especially, for the assistance in assembling this information. April 24th, 2006 – two days ago – after concerns were raised about the NextBus, Inc. deal – the town signed a contract with NextBus, Inc. for their proprietary system. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you’re my only hope. The schedule of […]

  • Catch the NextBus III – ACTransit’s Better Deal

    Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District …an innovative, modern bus system, owned by the public of the East Bay. Its family tree dates back to 1869…the year America’s two coasts were joined by the transcontinental railroad with the driving of the golden spike. In the same year, 1869, the Suez Canal opened, linking the Mediterranean with the […]

  • Catch the NextBus II

    From today’s DTH editorial board: Coming this August, Chapel Hill, in cooperation with the federal government, will have found a new way to waste your money.

  • Catch the NextBus

    I’m curious about both the process our town went through selecting NextBus, Inc. and the “real-world” results of other communities. I’ll be documenting more of what I find over the next couple days, including why the town’s Technology advisory board, in spite of staff knowing of our particular interest in this technology, was shut out […]

  • Is it safe yet?

    Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster – with Lessons for the Triangle When: Wednesday, April 26th, 7 to 9 pm Where: McDougle Middle School, 900 Fayetteville Rd., Carrboro Hosted by NC WARN: Click here for more info Images from NC-WARN and 180mph.com

  • Sandy Carmany’s Balancing Act

    Sandy Carmany, District 5 representative for the Greensboro City Council, has set a high standard of public outreach for elected officials with her ‘blog . This blog is my attempt to have an ongoing dialog with citizens and keep you up to date on issues I deal with on the Greensboro City Council and other […]

  • Where’s the Thrill of Apple Chill?

    I’ve attended Apple Chill and Festifall since their inception. In years past it was a local affair – local folk displaying local crafts to other local folk. That’s not the case anymore. I spent 3 hours on a beautiful afternoon walking around Downtown looking at the motorcycles, listening to a bit of music, eating at […]

  • Wifi – For a few dollars less….

    One of the issues the soon to be disbanded Technology Committee discussed in the last year was a proposal for digital signs along our bus transit routes to report bus ETAs. Just a week after voting to dissolve the group, the Town is poised to make an extremely expensive technology mistake. While other municipalities, like […]