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If you're in Boston tonight, Graham Parker is putting on two shows at the Orpheum. It looks like they're part of the First Night program so you may be able to get in with a $15 button. (I can't confirm since the FN sites aren't responding.) If true, that's a pretty good deal.
The String Cheese Incident is a band that gets it. Cut out the middleman at the the record company, ticket agency and retail outlet, and keep the money for yourself. Fourteen million a year is no small potato.
Scooped!
I should have known better than to think the Herald would miss a story like that. I missed it, but the they didn't. As Jay rightly points out, the Herald knows everything around here.
Want to learn CSS to design web pages? Ryan Eanes over at BlogCritics has a review of the CSS Cookbook.
Rolling Stone, big on lists recently, proclaims the top 100 guitarists of all time. (Richard Thompson only at number nineteen?!? -A travesty.)
Who would want the domain name unamerican.com? (Apparently, people who call themselves "progressives" who use a PO box in Ashville NC.) It's probably named in a kind of branded post-modern ironic sort of way. Especially since it launches you to their catalog page where they try to sell you stuff. It's (progressive) old fashioned capitalism in action, whatever that is.
Today's article on chemical WMD wraps up the three-part series in the Washington Post. If you missed them, the first two were on nuclear and bio terror threats.
Cape Wind is right to be suspicious of regulatory stalling.
In a Globe op-ed, Michael Socolow makes a good point about the Y2K bug anti-climax. It was the daunting task of reviewing millions of lines of computer code while facing an impending deadline that led many companies in the late 90's to first utilize oversees programmers. Things haven't been the same since.
Dunkin Donuts has hired a chef. It doesn't think it can rely on people wanting to trade speed for quality when it comes to the foods it serves. Maybe that's because the food stinks and it still takes too long.
Service and quality have gone downhill at Dunkin's in the last few years. But. The coffee is still fresh, hot, consistent and better than anybody else's.
The more they "improve" the harder it becomes to just get a cup of coffee. If they really want to improve, they should make it easier for people who just want coffee, so we don't have to wait in line behind some connoisseur who can't decide on regular or soy milk in their latte, or whether they want their breakfast sandwich cooked medium or medium-rare.
Did I miss this story locally? It would have been a natural for the Herald.
Is it even real? As shocking as it seems, it appears to me that there may be a slight amount of embellishment in the NY Post version.
UPDATE: I did miss it.
From Silicon.com... Tech headlines you WONT see in 2005, starting with, "Gates: Longhorn 'bug free and on time'." (via Geek Press)
Lots of people had their video camera running as the waves came ashore. This site, Waxy.org, has a small collection of these amateur videos. The first, shot from inside a restaurant, is pretty scary.
As bad as it looked in the resort areas, I can only imagine that the places where video cameras weren't running - the fishing villages and small costal towns where people were going about their everyday lives - suffered even greater devastation and loss of life.
UPDATE: More video from this site.
Manhattan workers had the largest wage increases in the country last year, according to the Department of Labor. Guess who was second?
The Washington Post, in the second of three articles on WMD, concentrates on bioterror and again it's a mix of good and bad news. Good: It's hard today to make mass-casualty bio-weapons. Bad: It may not be so hard in the near future.
Two big stories about water today: A Times story explains that clean water is crucial to avoiding an epidemic in coastal areas hit by the tsunami; and the CSM looks into the future of water speculation as companies are moving to lock up supply.
The first retail use of a barcode scanner, according to the Globe, was in 1974 in Troy, New York. A 10-pack of Juicy Fruit gum rang up for 67 cents. I did not know that.
The striped codes (UPC-A) currently hold 12 digits of information (actually 11 and one check digit), with a trillion possible combinations. Soon we'll be moving to 13 to accommodate the global marketplace (one extra digit for the country). This site has more on barcodes if you're interested.
An article posted at Design Usability advises web designers to avoid "useless clutter" and too much "web knick-knack."
I was particularly impressed by their own subtle integration of 15 or so menus, various sized ads with flashing animations, search bars and form components, all surrounding the extra-wide-page article. Scroll down to get the full "quick 'wow" treatment.
This series of photos gives an idea of the surprise and effect of the waves coming ashore in Phuket. Note the guy standing in the forth shot, washed in, in the fifth and sixth photo.
Also: here's a comprehensive Wikipedia wrap-up on the tsunami. And, there's a group blog for coordinating relief and getting news out.
Experts are noticing that animals weren't as affected by the disaster as humans, crediting some kind of sixth sense. More likely is the fact that the shore is where all the human activity is, which animals tend to avoid, and that animals that do live along the shore tend to be swimmers or flyers or otherwise fast enough to avoid humans (and/or waves.)
(Some reptiles actually seem to be thriving under the circumstances.)
CarPundit has a Martha update. Life on the inside isn't all that bad, but it's still prison.
Which reminds me of a semi-related Gilbert Gottfried joke: Charlie Manson turns to his cell-mate and asks, "Is it hot in here, or am I crazy?"
Apple, apparently, is readying a sub-$500 Mac for release.
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I recommend the Mac for disgruntled Windows users. I also understand that price, combined with a fear of the unknown, has caused many people to hold back and stick with their bogged-down Windows systems. Apple, by removing one of the two disincentives, may finally start to see some gains in market share. (And on a selfish note, I'll have less adware infected PCs to fix.)
In the first of three articles on WMD threats, the Washington Post looks at the viability of a nuclear attack by terrorist groups. The short version is mostly good news: There are significant hurdles that have to be overcome for terrorists to obtain or build nuclear weapons. But then again, there's Pakistan and North Korea.
Safire runs through the possibilities that the coming year has to offer and makes a few predictions. Here are his options for for Iraq:
...Iraqis will see the: (a) election of Ayad Allawi and progress on the bumpy road to democracy; (b) comeback of Ahmad Chalabi dreaded by the C.I.A.; (c) insurgency's sudden collapse with the capture of bin Laden and killing of Zarqawi; (d) beginning of the U.S. troop drawdown; (e) judgment of not guilty in Saddam's trial; (f) bloody Shiite-Sunni civil war and Kurds' independence.
Not guilty in Saddam's trial? I hope they check the jurors for records.
(A, was Safire's choice. C, mine, is mostly wishful thinking.)
Some people just can't give it up. it's over!
And, I'm sure Kerry just loves having this crew parade outside his house as a reminder of how things went.
The good news for a 94 year old ex-waitress from Pier 4 is that she won $5.6 million in the lottery. The bad news is that it will be paid in installments over 20 years. Her lawyer, Dorchester Court denizen James Dilday, is trying to speed things up by asking a judge to step in and order a lump sum payment.
It's a neighborhood tradition. If you shovel out a spot, you own it in perpetuity. Or, until you find a better spot, whichever comes first.
Councillor Kelly is gearing up for a showdown with Menino over the mayor's plan to collect the cones, chairs and other parking-spot holders that denote seasonal ownership. Menino says he has to redistribute the shoveled-out wealth to prevent fisticuffs. Kelly sides with the street justice crowd. It's classic Boston neighborhood politics.
I took these photos early yesterday morning. Then I came home and inadvertently deleted them from the memory card. Using software from Media Recover, I was able to undelete them from the card.
Off 3A in Marshfield.
A broken branch rests on the power wires.
Lines tangled in snow covered branches.
Some people work very hard to position themselves into jobs with no responsibilities. This woman isn't one of them.
How did the supermarket tabloid psychics do in their predictions for 2004? Well, Martha Steward did go to prison, but she didn't release a prison-theme line of women's clothing. Castro is still kicking, dinosaur bones haven't been discovered on Mars, Hoover Dam is still intact, anti-gravity hasn't been discovered and Colin Powell is not the president.
For the psychics to score, the next three days will have to be pretty eventful.
If you're interested in the dispute over global warming, there's a blog, by scientists, that promises a scientific discussion that "will not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science." A tall order, but it looks good so far.
I hadn't been seeking out nominations for the Worst Analogy of the Year contest until this morning when I came on this from a Times story on supermarkets and South American farmers:
"It's like being on a train with a glass on a table and it's about to fall off and break," said Prof. Thomas Reardon, an agricultural economist at Michigan State University. "Everyone sees the glass on the table - but do they see it shaking? Do they see the edge? The edge is the structural changes in the market."
I think we have a winner.
Keep the sharp objects away from James Carroll. He's had a bad year, with the election and all.
An encouraging story in the Globe Living section tells us that rich kids these days don't have to do what their parents apparently did: give their money away willy-nilly. How common. Now, thanks to a new organization, this generation can direct their write-offs in ways that will encourage social change.
I suppose that's better than buying Bentleys and Maseratis.
They're cool looking, user friendly, compatible with existing systems, powerful, and loaded with home entertainment software. But if all that isn't enough to bring people over to the Mac, virus and spy-ware problems on Windows computers may be.
Blogs reporting on the Tsunami: Ernest Whirrled from Phuket Island in Thailand. From Sri Lanka: Extra Extra, Wayward Mutterings and Ceneus blog.
UPDATE: Radio Australia is reporting just over 14,000 fatalities. The AP says it could be 22,000. Meanwhile, you can donate to relief efforts using Paypal (Note: this collection is being coordinated by a Sri Lankan newspaper of unknown reliability.)
UPDATE: More links and news from Jeff Ooi, a roundup from Jeff Jarvis and complete coverage at the Command Post.
Most people don't realize that their cars record driving behavior for post accident analysis - or to be used as evidence in a prosecution.
Here are the traditional "other side of Christmas," Christmas Eve photos, taken around the city last night.
The lights are burning in the jewelers building (left) to accommodate last minute shoppers in Downtown Crossing.
Stemin' Santa gives a thumbs-up outside Newbury Comics on Newbury Street.
A prize-winning display at Humboldt and Walnut Ave in Roxbury.
Not much open downtown, but a few people are out on Tremont Street. (For more photos click continue....)
On Warren Street in Roxbury, a makeshift sidewalk shopping mall appears each Christmas Eve.
A homeless guy takes a nap outside a convenience store near Park Street.
Another greets customers at the Store 24 in Fields Corner.
The light was good for night photos, with a moon showing through the clouds.
At Eldon and Washington Streets in Dorchester, a band set up on the sidewalk to entertain passersby with holiday music.
The tree in Grove Hall.
Flowers were available into the night at Columbia Road and Mass Ave.
A sign of vacant lot revival on Hollander Street in Roxbury. Only one problem. If you look close you can see the name of the Mayor promising the renewal: Kevin H. White.
A prize winning house display on Elm Hill Avenue.
The Phantom watched over the Theater District.
And finally, one employee was working late at the check cashing store at Mass and Tremont in the South End.
Have a happy Hanukah, merry Christmas, nice Kwanzaa and, for the rest of us, happy Festivus.
Letterman performs in Iraq on Christmas Eve. Good for him.
The Google Zeitgeist for 2004 is up, and apparently it was the year of the blond. The most popular search queries were, in order, britney spears, paris hilton, christina aguilera and pamela anderson.
When a midwestern man went to collect the $4000 he just won at the slots, the guy at the payoff window reminded him of the Gambler's Anonymous contract on file for him. The signed contract stated that any money he won would go to charity. Litigation ensues.
In one story, the Times takes a negative view of Giuliani's legacy. In another, crime statistics encourage a alternate view.
Kicked out of school for wearing a Santa suit? What is this, France?
It was a rough week in Iraq. The post by a chaplain in Mosul, linked below, was one of the saddest things I've read in a long time. Hopes are pinned to the election, just a month away. But some are taking a hard look at the road ahead. How long a road? This story from the CSM isn't very encouraging, reminding us that "history shows that most insurgencies, whether the Vietnamese against the French and later the US, or the Afghans against the Soviets, last from 10 to 30 years."
10 years is too long if that's what we're talking about in Iraq. What is the plan exactly? Are we going to wind down after the election or hang in for the long run? Even those of us that support the war are beginning to ask these questions. And, as the article notes, more attacks like the one in Mosul - and we know there will be more - are going to cut hard into the political will to fight this war without real Iraqi involvement, at this level, much longer.
Two new (for me) local blogs: Squaring the Globe, a Globe-watch blog and The Everett Mirror, a group blog covering Everett and the region.
Need ideas for Christmas mix CD's? Check these out.
How bad is gang violence in LA? According to this author, a civil rights lawyer, it's bad.
Murder is up and Bill Bratton is working hard, trying out new approaches in the war on crime. But there were 267 homicides in the city in only the first half of 2004 so there's lots more work to be done.
(For some local perspective, Boston will likely have less than 70 murders for the whole of 2004 (fingers crossed.) Granted there are more people in the LA metropolitan area, but still, with 3.2 homicides per 100,000 residents (2003 numbers), not only does Boston beat out LA (10.6), it beats out Myrtle Beach (6.2), Orlando (5.0), and even Naples/ Marco Island (3.5).)
The integrity of a jury, especially in a high profile murder case, is crucial. How long does it take to do record checks of jury members and alternates? Not long, really. Less than an hour.
I'm curious as to whether other counties do these checks as a routine part of trial prep in important cases. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that they absolutely, without a doubt, do. But that's just a guess on my part.
Jay Fitzgerald (and Armchair Gen. Savin Hill) get to the heart of the Rumsfeld problem. Reforming the military is a good thing and Rummy has been at war with the old military over his plans to do just that. But a radical reworking in a time of war? Are we seeing failed battlefield experiments in Iraq or just political opportunism by the old guard? Or both? And if Rumsfeld is forced out, what happens to the modernizing effort?
If you liked the Grey Album, you should meet the Beastles.
Blog Critics offers a list of the best movies of the century.
Are Canadians more gullible than Americans?
Yahoo Canada reports that about one out of three Yahoo e-mail users said they opened spam messages because they had interesting subject lines. Forty-eight per cent of users respond to spam messages by uns