Today's Mighty Oak

Friday of Week 6

Yesterday's nut July 24, 2009

Just cheking in with everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here.

The July Project over at Pittsburgh Metblogs is still going strong, so make sure to take a look if you haven’t seen it yet.  I’d also like to work on some way to better link to the blogs that I read on a consistent basis, we’ll see though.  I’ll work on that in the fall, along with getting some more galleries up (including VGL and possibly Conclave).

Things at camp are going well.  We got some rain this week, which was much needed, so that was nice.  Dan left today for Botswana, I think I convinced him (or at least helped to convince him) to start a blog while he’s over there, so that will be cool to read about his experiences.  My parents sent me an awesome package of stuff, which has been keeping me entertained.

Tuesday, Ranger Ken kidnapped me at 5:30.  He came into the office, pulled me out and then put me into his car and we went to dinner and to see Harry Potter.  He has never read the books, and made some very funny comments during the movie.  We’ve also all agreed that we won’t tell him how book 7 plays out so he has to see the movies with us when they come out. 

It has been (knock on wood), a fairly quiet night, which is a nice change from this week.  I think if it stays like that I’ll head down to the dock and read for a while tonight.  That’s it for now, I’m heading across the way for dinner, catch everyone later!

Who wants concert tickets?

Yesterday's nut July 5, 2009

I have two lawn tickets to Def Leppard with Poison and Cheap Trick, this Friday at the Post Gazette Pavillion.  I won them at the Pirates game and won’t be able to make it, so if anyone wants them, let me know, first come first served.

Leave a comment and I’ll get them to you through the mail, unless you want to swing by camp of course.  This will post first on my blog, and then make its way over automatically to my Facebook notes, so leave a comment at either one, and the two tickets are yours.

Currently reading

Yesterday's nut June 30, 2009

As I posted before, I’m currently reading Infinite Jest, and in addition to that, I’m still working through The Wheel of Time (although I’m missing the book I’m on at the moment…), as well as Speaker for the Dead and Harry Potter 6 (to get ready for the movie).  However, this spectacular book arrived yesterday and has been tempting me ever since to drop everything else that I’m reading:

That’s right, the 10th anniversary of The Cluetrain Manifesto.  Cluetrain is, in my mind, the most important book about the Internet.  And that sentence itself, has so much to unpack, it makes me shiver sometimes.  Anyway, I’m trying to get through some other things first, but I already was flipping through the first part and was drawn to it.  Let’s see how this take shape, I’ll keep you posted!

Monday of Week 3

Yesterday's nut June 29, 2009

I was at home over the weekend for Matt and Melissa’s wedding, which was wonderful.  Very elegant, very classy.  I had a really good time.  It started Thursday with the bachelor party, we went to PNC Park to watch the Pirates take on the Indians, and suprisingly enough, the Pirates won!  Friday was the rehersal and then dinner, and then Saturday was the actual wedding and reception.  Everything ran very smoothly and was really a nice affair.  I almost drove off with the marriage license, but got it back to the best man, so thankfully, that crisis was averted.

Check out this awesome ad from Pringles, and keep clicking!  It actually is an enjoyable online ad.

Troop 215 is in camp this week, so I’ll be visiting them tonight and tomorrow, and probably again later in the week.  Right now though, I’m going to head off to dinner, and then playing a game of boccee on the lawn.  Not a whole lot is going on, other than me working through the mounds of paperwork on my desk.  Catch everyone soon, have a great one!

Checking in: Monday of Week 2

Yesterday's nut June 22, 2009

Just checking in with everybody.  What a crazy ride it has been so far.  But to be fair, let’s get this out of the way first:

Yes, my plant, Poe, is doing very well.  I brought him up with me from work and he is sitting on the mailboxes, enjoying the sunlight.  Every time I talk about him it also makes me want to read House of Leaves again.  Note to self: remind Kenny to finish it so I can have my copy back.

And of course, seen in the back of that picture is our flag from national inspection.  Here’s a close-up:

Yes, that is our pennant.  We fought long and hard for that one.  And when I look back and realize how much went wrong, and continued to go wrong getting ready for this summer and during staff week, I really do think that no other camp in America could have opened the way we did.  But hey, we made it, now we get to fully focus on the program…and I will continue with the paperwork and trying to keep everyone happy.

One of these days I’ll have to write down what all went wrong, changed or didn’t go anywhere near as smoothly as we expected, but that list is really way too long, and I’d rather focus on the good things anyway.

So, moving on, today is the first day of summer.  I’m CQ and stuck in Keystone and the Infirmary tonight, so while the kids play a game of Risk (I’ll be adding my own commentary, like any good sports caster), I’ll be starting Infinite Summer:

Infinite Summer is a where a bunch of people, from all over the world, are reading David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” during the summer.  I tried reading it once before, but school got in the way, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make it through.  I was actually given Infinite Jest as a birthday gift (well, I got to pick out any book I wanted and it’s the one I choose), so I’m really excited to finally force myself to read it.  It’s a giant book though, so I’m hoping that I can keep going and make it through.  It averages out to 75 pages a week of main story, but that does not include the end notes, which are also giant, so I’ll keep everyone posted on my progress.

That’s it for now, I think.  My parents are coming up tomorrow and we’re going to dinner, and then I’m CQ again on Tuesday, then I’ll be home Wednesday night for Matt and Melissa’s wedding, hopefully I’ll be able to post again soon.  In the meantime, have a great one!

Maybe I’ve been wrong about Twitter

Metblogs Global Conspiracy June 17, 2009

I’m not a huge fan of Twitter.  I never have been.  I think partly it has to do with its dependency and prevalence through text messaging, which I’m very slow at, as well as find very costly (I don’t have a texting plan, so I pay per message).  I also think that Twitter is a fad.

At least, I used to.

 

Currently, I’m writing this from the middle of the woods.  Work takes me to a camp for the summer, with limited internet access, so I have not been following the Iranian election as closely as I would like.

However, the little bit that I am reading, typically comes back to the fact that when students and other young people are demonstrating, or organizing rallies, they use text messaging and Twitter to quickly get the word out.  Details are flying and people are organized and mobilized faster than ever before.

But the real stories, the real pieces being run with by citizen journalists are what happens at and after the protests, rallies, marches, forced evacuations and so many other things happening.  Once again, the power of ordinary citizens have taken root, and the mantra of the day seems to have taken hold:

One Person = One Broadcaster

To that note, Twitter has postponed scheduled critical maintenance until tomorrow, so that updates can still keep the world informed about what is happening.  Not only does that prove a fine example of sensitivity and community involvement, it also speaks to how important citizen journalism is, especially in this particular situation.

And as much as it may pain me to say it, because for whatever reason I still resist, I think this may be one of those pivotal events that propels Twitter past being a potential fad, and transforms it into a medium we all look to for on-the-ground citizen journalism.

Quick video, then gone for a bit

Yesterday's nut June 4, 2009

Sorry for the delay in posting anything, May is always a super crazy month.  Now that we’re into June, I’m heading to camp full -time (although it seems like I was already there full-time since Easter).

But in the meantime, enjoy this hilariously awesome video, and I’ll post again soon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

Data.gov opens

Metblogs Global Conspiracy May 23, 2009
The mainpage of data.gov

The mainpage of data.gov

What once was a blank page featuring a box that said “coming soon,” now is the beginnings of what could potentially be a very useful reference not only for people who love data, but also citizen journalists looking for more in-depth information.  I’ve actually been waiting and wondering when this would open, and I’ll be jumping in when I get some free time and poking around with some of the data (already my favorite title is “World Copper Smelters”)

The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

When I worked on my college newspaper, I worked on a piece that examined the tax records of my school (I’ll post about that later, but suffice to say, we made a lot more money from pay phones that I ever expected, considering we only had one on campus).  A lot of what looks to be accessible seems to be in the same vein: confusing at first, but offering a lot of information if you’re willing to keep digging.

Currently, there are 47 data catalogs and 27 tools available with the promise that more are on their way.  The search function seems to work fairly well, although with such a small amount of data sets at the moment, most of the searches result in a majority of the data catalogs coming back as hits.  There is metadata with each catalogue and users can rate the data’s usefulness, utility and ease of access.

Hopefully this will continue to grow quickly and we’ll have access to more information sooner rather than later.  Check it out at data.gov.

Slate V weighs in

Metblogs Global Conspiracy May 21, 2009

I’m not sure if this will work or not (playing with embed code features typically gives me grief), but hopefully the awesome editorial cartoon from Slate V will show up below.  If not, check it out here.

Update: Ok, I’m going to slowly back away from the Metblogs before I blow it up more than I probably already have… Check out the link above to see Slate’s Newspapers v. the Internet, it’s well worth it. And I’m going to go find the fire extinguisher…

Digital photography, how not to be me

Metblogs Global Conspiracy May 20, 2009

Somehow, without me even realizing I fell into this category, I’ve become “the guy who is always taking all the pictures wherever we go.”  And I generally fine with this.  Typically I can amuse myself by taking pictures of random signs and things that are funny out of context.  However, I’m not a photographer.  And more importantly, I’m not a good photographer.

However, a couple items were passed my way that I felt I should pass on.  Citizen journalism includes not only researching and writing, but can be greatly enhanced by decent photography.  This article by PC Magazine goes over a lot of basic information, and it’s goal is to get you to a place where you don’t rely on the auto settings.  Get ready to read and understand words like ISO, aperture, shutter speed and f-stops.

I discovered this article while reading JOHO, and this entry has more information to share with you, including use of flashes and diffusers.

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