Edward Vielmetti is inviting you to A2B3 lunch on Thursday at Eastern Accents in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

links for 2009-07-04

• Lunchtime Prowl: Grandy or Charlie, Fu-Te Ni's Pitches, Big Al's Back, and Shaving Cream Pies
  Here’s one of his latest posts at The Wayne Fontes Experience, about Dave Birkett leaving the Oakland Press’s Detroit Lions beat for a gig covering the Michigan Wolverines at the new AnnArbor.com. It's a big loss for Lions coverage, and it's troubling to see good reporters (Danny Knobler, Jon Paul Morosi) move on. Detroit sports fans are losing out.
  (tags: birkett,dave oakland-press annarborcom football michigan)
• Get Your API Right « Trek
  Every project I’ve worked on in the last two years has heavily involved the use of web APIs. Libersy at the time (no idea about now) had an architecture that was extensively API based, even for communication between internal applications (an architecture I strongly argued against, bee tea dubs). Since then I’ve futzed with web APIs almost exclusively. From very narrow focused uses like University of Michigan’s Bluestream Service, to more broad but still fairly local APIs like the Ann Arbor District Library’s soon-to-be-updated API, all the way to APIs of major web applications like Twitter and Flickr.
  (tags: api design howto restful rest webservices via:trek)
• Home - Whereabouts Project
  This work is funded in part by the National Science Foundation under grant EIA-0303587 as "An Infrastructure for Wide Area Pervasive Computing" and by a grant from Intel. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or Intel.
  (tags: michigan umich rfid)
• TalkingPoints: An RFID-based Orientation System for People With Blindness
  Its goal is explore the possibility of using technology as a means for blind individuals to orient themselves in both outdoor and interior spaces, and to learn more about their surroundings during their normal walking from place to place, or when they choose to explore an area to learn what's nearby. Currently, we do this by tagging objects of interest with an RFID reader, and providing an RFID reader and computer to read the tags. Unlike ordinary RFID readers, the TalkingPoints reader speaks the information conveyed by the tag to the user.
  (tags: rfid umich annarbor via:trek)
• The Ann Arbor Chronicle » Merchants Say Bring Back the Beat Cops
  Several people identified “Arthur” as one of the more aggressive panhandlers, known for walking with a single crutch. Rebecca Konieczny, owner of the Busy Hands yarn and gift store, said she’d gotten so mad that she followed him up and down Main Street, calling the police from her cell phone. Someone else suggested that perhaps merchants start carrying mace and pepper spray, to which Martelle responded: “I can’t condone the use of mace on the homeless population.”
  (tags: annarbor downtown main-street-area-association arthur pictures-not-words)
• Lard: After decades of trying, its moment is finally here. - By Regina Schrambling - Slate Magazine
  Only one thing may put lard back on the slippery slope: Google the word as news, and it might as well be lard-fearing 1969 all over again. Newspaper food pages still routinely advise using olive or canola oils rather than "fattening" or "artery-clogging" lard. Or they print idiotic utterances like "you get all the lard you need at McDonald's" (a chain that actually abandoned beef tallow for frying its fries only to be saddled with a trans-fatty substitute). Occasionally an article will make a valid point—lard is still anathema to vegetarians and halal observers—but more often there will be surprise that lard does not taste anything like pig.
  (tags: newspaper food lard fat bacon-butter warning:not-for-the-vegans)
• Handling CSV Files in Python | Linux Journal
  As a buddy of mine always says "the nice thing about standards is that there's so many to choose from". Take CSV files for example. CSV, of course, stands for "Comma Separated Values", more often than not though, it seems that CSV files use tabs to separate values rather than commas. And let's not even mention field quoting. If you deal with CSV files and you use Python the csv module can make your life a bit easier.
  (tags: csv python)

@a2b3 non-summary for July 2, 2009: how to introduce lots of people; day 4

Not a summary of what was said, but more of some observations on process.

Lunch was incredibly full today - we had upwards of 30, filled one entire side of the restaurant plus a second table of four.  And becuase I asked a question that allowed a long answer, it took a full hour to get through everyone, and some people left early.

In some sense that's OK, if you believe in the open space "law of two feet", and if you think that whoever shows up are the right people.  I had a great time but the dynamic was odd enough that I want to try to get to a 100pm stop time again instead of 130pm.  So here's some suggestions that came in from that.

1.  Bring introductions down to the completely minimal.  I've been in circles where the entire intro was full name plus three more words, nothing more, and the intros go around the table at something like two or three per minute.  If you have to condense your identity into three words you have to think hard, or be funny.

2.  Reach a larger audience in more smaller venues.  Promote a set of places to meet at the same time, and let people pick which of many places they want to show up; synchronize and coordinate so that someone organizes at each location at the same time. 

3.  Use some kind of token - like boarding passes a la Southwest - to hand out to people so that you know how many people are there and which order you handed them out in.  Use that both to plan how many seconds you have for each intro and to provide an order to things.

4.  Get inspired by events like Ignite Ann Arbor and hold a rock paper scissors tournament to winnow out the crowd down to a reasonable size; only the last four or eight people standing get to say who they are, and they get more time to talk.

5.  Don't let people introduce themselves; rather, the host introduces everyone.

6.  Inspired by the Washington Post, host an exclusive event and charge a lot of money for access to "those powerful few". 

7.  Don't worry about it; it will work itself out somehow with something someone suggests on the spot.

links for 2009-07-03

• Parsing CSV
  In this tutorial you will learn how to parse a simple CSV (comma separated values) file. This is the sort of file produced by spreadsheets and other programs when a text-only, portable format is required for exporting data.
  (tags: perl csv)
• Michael Wolff on Politico | vanityfair.com
  Four old-media veterans may have solved the future of news with the Politico Web site, whose audience of six million obsessives and insiders consumes–and feeds–a real-time download of power data. The twist? Politico’s print version is what’s helped make it profitable.
  (tags: politics internet media journalism newspapers print the-late-age-of-print)
• freefromeditors: Crain's Bill Shea has pointed give-and-take with another journalist
  Found this column by Crain's blogger Bill Shea on some Michigan Citizen charges against the Detroit Free Press and its coverage of soon-to-be former Detroit Councilperson Monica Conyers.

  The story is one thing, but the comments back and forth between Bill and the subject of his story is also good reading.

  
  
  (tags: shea,bill conyers,monica journalism newspaper comments this-is-what-newspaper-comments-are-for)
  
  
• 
  
  Washington Post sells access, $25,000+ - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com
  
  
  For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, non-confrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

  The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

  
  
  (tags: politics economics journalism newspapers we-need-a-better-press-corps wapo)
  
  
• 
  
  Vrijdag 26 juni: Ann Arbor en Detroit
  
  
  Vandaag stond Ann Arbor op het programma, een charmant universiteitsstadje dat in gotische stijl is opgetrokken. Alweer geïnspireerd door de Engelse universiteiten, natuurlijk. Goed afkijken, is ook een kunst. In Amerika zijn ze trouwens ook dol op de Griekse en Romeinse bouwstijlen. Als ze ergens een zuil kunnen tussen wringen, zullen ze het zeker niet laten. Zelfs moderne gebouwen worden met klassieke zuilen versierd. Bij mij roepen al die zuilen eerder een gevoel van slechte imitatie op.
  
  
  (tags: michigan annarbor)
  
  

Amelanchier (Shadbush, Juneberry, Sugar Plum) inventory for Ann Arbor, 2009

Here's a complete list of where all of the Amelanchier (juneberry, shadbush, sugar plum depending on where you are from) trees are on the public streets in Ann Arbor.  The complete inventory shows 356 trees, each geocoded; rather than try to pin them on a map, this is by street name in alphabetical order, with quite a bit of duplicates eliminated.

The whole program to do this is

grep -i Amelanchier trees09.csv | awk -F, '{ print $3, "between", $4, "and " $5}' | sort | uniq > juneberry.txt

where the trees09.csv file is downloadable from the Ann Arbor Chronicle who originally sourced this data from the city of Ann Arbor; see their story about it here.

Alas this post is a little bit too late for this season; by July 2, 2009, many of the juneberry trees are completely ripe, so get picking.

ABBOTT AVE between MONTGOMERY AVE and S REVENA BLVD
ALLMENDINGER PARK between ALLMENDINGER PARK and ALLMENDINGER PARK
ANTIETAM DR between CUL DE SAC and LEXINGTON DR
ANTIETAM DR between LEXINGTON DR and CUL DE SAC
ARBANA DR between W HURON ST and MARK HANNAH PL
ARBOR OAKS PARK between ARBOR OAKS PARK and ARBOR OAKS PARK
ARBORDALE ST between W STADIUM BLVD and EVELYN CT
ARDMOOR AVE between CUL DE SAC and MARTHA AVE
ARDMOOR AVE between MARTHA AVE and CUL DE SAC
ASCOT RD between CHAUCER DR and CHAUCER DR
BADER PARK between BADER PARK and BADER PARK
BANDEMER PARK between BANDEMER PARK and BANDEMER PARK
BARDSTOWN TRL between LARCHMONT DR and MIDDLETON DR
BIRD RD between NEWPORT CREEK DR and W HURON RIVER DR
BIRK AVE between PAULINE BLVD and SNYDER AVE
BLAIN CT between CUL DE SAC and SHADOWOOD DR
BRANDYWINE DR between GALLWAY CT and PACKARD RD
BRIAN CT between CUL DE SAC and MEADOWSIDE DR
BRIARCLIFF ST between PRAIRIE ST and AURORA ST
BROOKS ST between MIXTWOOD RD and MILLER AVE
BROOKSIDE PARK between BROOKSIDE PARK and BROOKSIDE PARK
BUHR PARK between BUHR PARK and BUHR PARK
CAMBRIDGE RD between DAY ST and HILL ST
CATHERINE ST between N FOURTH AVE and N FIFTH AVE
CATHERINE ST between N INGALLS ST and GLEN AVE
CHARLES ST between BROOKRIDGE RD and DANIEL ST
CHAUCER DR between SCIO CHURCH RD and WEMBLEY CT
CHERRY ST between SPRING ST and FOUNTAIN ST
COLONY RD between ESSEX RD and PACKARD RD
COLUMBIA AVE between KIMBERLEY RD and DEAD END
CORONADA DR between LAS VEGAS DR and ALHAMBRA DR
CRANBROOK PARK between CRANBROOK PARK and CRANBROOK PARK
CREEKBEND CT between CUL DE SAC and MEADOWSIDE DR
CRESTLAND DR between HALL AVE and CARHART AVE
CUMBERLAND AVE between HAMPSHIRE RD and CANTERBURY RD
DEVONSHIRE RD between ARLINGTON BLVD and AVON RD
DHU VARREN RD between LESLIE PARK CIR and OMLESAAD DR
DHU VARREN RD between PONTIAC TRL and LESLIE PARK CIR
DONEGAL CT between BRANDYWINE DR and CUL DE SAC
DOUGLAS PARK between DOUGLAS PARK and DOUGLAS PARK
DUNDEE DR between DEAD END and MOREHEAD DR
E ANN ST between N STATE ST and N DIVISION ST
E KINGSLEY ST between DETROIT ST and N DIVISION ST
E LIBERTY ST between S DIVISION ST and S FIFTH AVE
EDDY ST between DEAD END and VERLE AVE
ELI DR between YOST BLVD and LILLIAN RD
ELLSWORTH PARK between ELLSWORTH PARK and ELLSWORTH PARK
EMILY CT between CUL DE SAC and MEADOWSIDE DR
ESCH AVE between PAGE AVE and PINE VALLEY BLVD
FALCON CT between HICKORY POINT DR and CUL DE SAC
FARMERS MARKET between FARMERS MARKET and FARMERS MARKET
FERNDALE PL between HENRY ST and GARDNER AVE
FIFTH ST between W DAVIS AVE and W MADISON ST
FIFTH ST between W JEFFERSON ST and W LIBERTY ST
FIFTH ST between W LIBERTY ST and W JEFFERSON ST
FOUNTAIN ST between W SUMMIT ST and SUNSET RD
FOURTH ST between W LIBERTY ST and W JEFFERSON ST
FRANKLIN BLVD between SNYDER AVE and BIRK AVE
FULLER PARK between FULLER PARK and FULLER PARK
FULLER RD between CEDAR BEND DR and MAIDEN LN
FURSTENBURG NATURE AREA between FURSTENBURG NATURE AREA and FURSTENBURG NATURE AREA
GALLUP PARK between GALLUP PARK and GALLUP PARK
GEDDES AVE between OSWEGO ST and ONONDAGA ST
GEDDES AVE between S HURON PKWY and RIVERVIEW DR
GEORGETOWN BLVD between YORKTOWN DR and YORKTOWN DR
GLAZIER WAY between WOLVERHAMPTON LN and HURON PKWY
GLENWOOD ST between DEXTER AVE and VALLEY DR
GOTT ST between PEARL ST and W SUMMIT ST
GOTT ST between W SUMMIT ST and HISCOCK ST
GRACE ST between WESTWOOD AVE and ALICE ST
GREEN RD between WATERSHED DR and FOX HUNT DR
HAISLEY DR between N MAPLE RD and CARBECK DR
HAZELWOOD AVE between CENTRAL AVE and SUNNYWOOD DR
HEMLOCK DR between CHAMPAGNE DR and SHADOWOOD DR
HEMLOCK DR between SHADOWOOD DR and PLAINVIEW CT
HENRY ST between FERNDALE PL and WESTMINSTER PL
HEWETT DR between REDEEMER AVE and RUSSETT RD
HICKORY POINT DR between OTTER CREEK CT and BIRCHWOOD CT
HILL ST between GREENE ST and S DIVISION ST
HILLDALE DR between BREDE PL and DELAFIELD DR
HOLYOKE LN between NEWPORT RD and LOWELL RD
HUNTINGTON PL between ONAWAY PL and HUNTINGTON DR
HURON HIGHLANDS PARK between HURON HIGHLANDS PARK and HURON HIGHLANDS PARK
INDEPENDENCE BLVD between JAMES ST and VICTORIA AVE
IROQUOIS PARK between IROQUOIS PARK and IROQUOIS PARK
JONES DR between PLYMOUTH RD and BROADWAY ST
KELLY PARK between KELLY PARK and KELLY PARK
KEMPF HOUSE between KEMPF HOUSE and KEMPF HOUSE
KIRTLAND DR between GLEN LEVEN RD and W STADIUM BLVD
LAKEVIEW AVE between W LIBERTY RD and DEAD END
LAWTON PARK between LAWTON PARK and LAWTON PARK
LENNOX ST between CUL DE SAC and ARBORDALE ST
LESLIE SCIENCE CENTER between LESLIE SCIENCE CENTER and LESLIE SCIENCE CENTER
LIBERTY PLAZA between LIBERTY PLAZA and LIBERTY PLAZA
LONG SHORE DR between AMHERST AVE and BARTON DR
LORRAINE ST between FERNWOOD AVE and LA SALLE DR
LOYOLA DR between CUL DE SAC and COLGATE CIR
MARSHALL ST between SPRINGBROOK AVE and VERLE AVE
MARY BETH DOYLE PARK between MARY BETH DOYLE PARK and MARY BETH DOYLE PARK
MARYFIELD DR between PINE RIDGE ST and WESTWOOD AVE
MARYFIELD WILDWOOD PARK between MARYFIELD WILDWOOD PARK and MARYFIELD WILDWOOD PARK
MEADOWSIDE DR between WOODCREEK BLVD and WOODCREEK BLVD
MEDFORD RD between MANCHESTER RD and ST FRANCIS DR
MEDFORD RD between NEEDHAM RD and MANCHESTER RD
MELROSE AVE between BELMONT RD and DEVONSHIRE RD
MERSHON DR between DELAWARE DR and SCIO CHURCH RD
MERSHON DR between HANOVER RD and SCIO CHURCH RD
MERSHON DR between HARTFORD ST and HANOVER RD
MERSHON DR between NORMANDY RD and GLEN LEVEN RD
MERSHON DR between SCIO CHURCH RD and DELAWARE DR
MILLER NATURE AREA between MILLER NATURE AREA and MILLER NATURE AREA
MINER ST between W SUMMIT ST and ELMCREST DR
MOREHEAD DR between NEWBURY CT and PICADILLY CIR
MORTON AVE between WOODSIDE RD and HARDING RD
MT PLEASANT AVE between SUNNYSIDE BLVD and W MADISON ST
N FOURTH AVE between E ANN ST and CATHERINE ST
N FOURTH AVE between E KINGSLEY ST and CATHERINE ST
N MAPLE RD between PAMELA AVE and HOLLYWOOD DR
N REVENA BLVD between LINWOOD AVE and HARBROOKE AVE
NOTTINGHAM RD between MANCHESTER RD and INDEPENDENCE BLVD
OLIVIA AVE between CAMBRIDGE RD and MINERVA RD
OLSON PARK between OLSON PARK and OLSON PARK
ORCHARD HILLS DR between CUL DE SAC and EVERGREEN PL
PARKWOOD AVE between JEANNE ST and FERNWOOD AVE
PEAR ST between APPLE ST and TRAVER ST
PILGRIM PARK between PILGRIM PARK and PILGRIM PARK
PLYMOUTH PARKWAY between PLYMOUTH PARKWAY and PLYMOUTH PARKWAY
POMONA RD between RED OAK RD and LOYOLA DR
REDEEMER AVE between HEWETT DR and RUSSELL RD
REDEEMER AVE between RUSSELL RD and RUSSETT RD
REDWOOD PARK between REDWOOD PARK and REDWOOD PARK
RIVERSIDE PARK between RIVERSIDE PARK and RIVERSIDE PARK
RUNNYMEDE BLVD between COVINGTON DR and SUE PKWY
S ASHLEY ST between W WASHINGTON ST and W HURON ST
S DIVISION ST between E WILLIAM ST and E LIBERTY ST
S FOREST AVE between GRANGER AVE and WELLS ST
S FOURTH AVE between E LIBERTY ST and E WASHINGTON ST
S FOURTH AVE between E MADISON ST and PACKARD ST
S FOURTH AVE between E WASHINGTON ST and E LIBERTY ST
S FOURTH AVE between PACKARD ST and E MADISON ST
S MAPLE RD between DICKEN DR and PAULINE BLVD
SCIO CHURCH RD between GREENVIEW DR and S SEVENTH ST
SECOND ST between W MOSLEY ST and W MADISON ST
SENECA AVE between OSWEGO ST and ONONDAGA ST
SEQUOIA PKWY between N MAPLE RD and PATRICIA AVE
SEQUOIA PKWY between PATRICIA AVE and N MAPLE RD
SHADFORD RD between FERDON RD and HARDING RD
SHADFORD RD between PACKARD ST and BALDWIN AVE
SHADFORD RD between WOODSIDE RD and HARDING RD
SHADOWOOD DR between HEMLOCK DR and CHAMPAGNE DR
SIXTH ST between W MADISON ST and W JEFFERSON ST
SOUTHEAST AREA PARK between SOUTHEAST AREA PARK and SOUTHEAST AREA PARK
SPRING HOLLOW CT between CUL DE SAC and FOXWAY DR
SPRINGBROOK AVE between MARSHALL ST and SHARON DR
SUGARBUSH PARK between SUGARBUSH PARK and SUGARBUSH PARK
SYLVAN PARK between SYLVAN PARK and SYLVAN PARK
TACOMA CIR between KING GEORGE BLVD and KING GEORGE BLVD
THOMAS CT between SUSAN DR and THOMAS CT
TREMONT PL between WALDENWOOD DR and CUL DE SAC
TURNBERRY LN between MONUMENT DR and MONUMENT DR
VERLE AVE between DEAD END and EDDY ST
VERLE AVE between EDDY ST and PLATT RD
VERLE AVE between MARSHALL ST and DEAD END
VERLE AVE between MARSHALL ST and MARSHALL ST
VERLE AVE between PLATT RD and MARSHALL ST
VICTORIA AVE between RIDGE AVE and INDEPENDENCE BLVD
VIRNANKAY CIR between PAULINE BLVD and PAULINE BLVD
W DOBSON PL between CUL DE SAC and WOLVERHAMPTON LN
W JEFFERSON ST between SIXTH ST and FIFTH ST
W SUMMIT ST between GOTT ST and MINER ST
W WASHINGTON ST between S MAIN ST and S ASHLEY ST
WALDENWOOD DR between PENBERTON DR and TREMONT PL
WESTOVER AVE between RHEA ST and PORTER AVE
WHITE OAK DR between ENGLISH OAK DR and NEWPORT RD
WOODCREEK BLVD between CHALMERS DR and MEADOWSIDE DR
WOODCREEK BLVD between MEADOWSIDE DR and CHALMERS DR
WOODDALE CT between CUL DE SAC and WOODCREEK BLVD
WOODDALE CT between WOODCREEK BLVD and CUL DE SAC
YELLOWSTONE DR between YELLOWSTONE DR and BLUETT DR

acorn pie

Acorn pie, acorn pie,
Everybody wants a piece of
Acorn pie.
       from the Acorn Pies weblog

I don't have a recipe just yet.

links for 2009-07-02

• Save journalism? Beats us, panel says - Patrick Gavin - POLITICO.com
  “At any given moment, there is a panel taking place somewhere in the world discussing the future of journalism,” Aspen Institute president and longtime journalist Walter Isaacson said at the end of Tuesday night’s panel discussion titled, “What’s the News Worth to You?”
  (tags: journalism future but-what-about-the-past-of-journalism)
• The Day Reagan Was Shot - CBS News
  Haig answered the reporter: “Constitutionally gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president and the secretary of state, in that order, and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, he will do so. As for now, I’m in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.”
  (tags: haig,al reagan,ronald what-is-the-role-of-the-mayor-pro-tem party-like-its-1981)
• Some Community Tips for 2007 | fortuitous
  If I had to give a reason why most newspaper blogs are filled with cranky screeds posted anonymously, I'd have to say having a generic blank comment form is key. Most every community that I contribute to offers a comprehensive user profile/history page, letting members customize to their hearts content and allow their profile to reflect their personality. When I think of mainstream news, TV, and newspaper sites trying to solicit comments from readers, I've yet to find something close to even a basic community site. The New York Times requires me to register to read most stories, but their blog system gives me a blank generic comment form when I want to comment on a blog post.
  (tags: design community howto mefi newspaper party-like-its-2007)
• Writer - Windows Live
  Writer makes it easy to share your photos and videos on almost any blog service—Windows Live, Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and many more.
  (tags: blog writing windowslive)
• Free Music Archive: The Dirtbombs
  Live at WFMU on The Cherry Blossom Clinic on 7/12/2002
  (tags: music detroit dirtbombs mick)
• the collective brines.net: Chickens and Political Will: Part Deux
  Back in December, my friend Andrew Cluley, a news reporter at 89.1 WEMU FM, interviewed my friend KT (Kristin Tomey) after she spoke out in favor of Ann Arbor ordinances favorable of chickens. Since I could not find the archive of the audio that ran on WEMU's website I decided to post it myself below:
  (tags: cluley,andrew wemu chicken tomey,kristin chicken-chicken-chicken)
• Family Learning Institute - Ann Arbor, Michigan
  First Gens is a group at the University of Michigan made up of students who are the first in their family to attend college. The group's President Chyrisha Brown (also an FLI work study office assistant!) led the discussion, talking about the challenges they faced in middle school and high school, preparing for a college education that no one else in their family had ever achieved. Their message inspired the FLI students, families and coaches that attended the seminar. Our thanks to Dwight Lang, U of M faculty advisor to the First Gens group, Jeff Harrold (FLI Board Member and U of M Academic Advisor) and to all of the First Gen students who presented.
  (tags: college lang,dwight first-gens)

on the media and government - watching the DDA, day 3

day 3 notes

I ducked out at the end of the second day of MT training and headed off to the DDA meeting downtown.  The meeting had started on time, but I didn't get there on time, so I missed some of the initial public commentary.

In addition to the usual crowd of developers, city staff, and other interested parties, there were three reporters in attendance: Dave Askins from the Ann Arbor Chronicle; Andrew Cluley, a news reporter at 89.1 WEMU FM; and Dave Gershman from the Ann Arbor News.  Some part of the DDA meeting was also recorded by video cameras; I haven't figured out yet how to replay that.

It's instructive to see the different viewpoints that these three media channels provide, and to figure out what added perspective you could get from it.

Dave Askins was twittering out notes on @A2ChronicleMeet with a running play by play.  I'm certain that it will be part of the raw materials for a long, descriptive, detailed account of the meeting, complete with bits of reflection on logos on garbage cans and the ins and outs of what roles and responsibilities flow to the mayor pro tem.  Dave gave a great talk at Ignite Ann Arbor 1 the previous night about how the extremely descriptive style of news that the Chronicle publishes serves them well in reviewing things long after the fact, even if wading through 7000 words seems like a bit long for right now in a world where reporters are used to publishing 500 or 1000.

Andrew Cluely from WEMU was in the back taking a few notes, and he had his recorder out front at the end of the meeting with one of the board members.  I looked online really hard for where the story might have been posted already, and came up at best with this page where it might be, buried deep on a search string.  There's some wasted opportunity here, since the same-day audio clip is going to give you a perspective on decisions later - if, and only if, you can find it again.

Dave Gershman filed two stories from the Ann Arbor News - one on how the DDA's decision on public arts funding impacts the murals proposed by Fire Up Downtown, and one on how federal stimulus money will save $1.5 million in financing costs for the Library Lot underground garage.  The mural story attracted MLive's usual crowd of incredibly lame, rude, and anonymous commenters - people who didn't add any value to the story.

Now I know that there were a lot more stories to be told out of that event - the continuing saga of somewhat confused people figuring out how e-Park meters work, the continuing series of anecdotes about how the Maynard St structure is always full without any supporting data or analysis, and the parliamentary maneuvers about whether Leigh Greden should be able to vote in the seat reserved for the mayor as mayor pro tem. 

Where do you start with news?  Small town politics of parking meters.  I'm told that new employees at the New York Times and returning international correspondents once worked the sanitation beat as their first stint (and I can't source that quote, even though I'd like to, because I didn't bookmark that link).

Movable Type rich text editors and stripping weird tags

Another part of day 3 -

We're going through Movable Type training again today (thanks Natalie!)  And the question came up, because it's going to be part of the process, what are people going to do so that the workflow of someone pasting in what they write in some other text editor gets published in such a way that it doesn't include weird tags, weird HTML, or funky or smelly javascript.  Microsoft Word is one version of that process; there's lots more paths that get there.

I know that when I used to use Typepad, that the rich text editor I had was pretty good about stripping out tags and attributes that were weird.  Font tags disappeared, for instance, which made it possible to be sure that stuff didn't show up as Comic Sans unless I really wanted them to be in Comic Sans.

Here's what I've found out so far.

MT supports multiple kinds of rich text editor abstractions.  There's currently support for the YUI editor, for TinyMCE, and for FCK.    The relevant bit of configuration code is wrapped in
      <mt:setvarblock name="editor_content">

Here's the TinyMCE MT plugin source posted on Google Code.  The current release, supporting Japanese and English, is in active development and is at version 0.1.11 as of 29 hours ago.

Richard Benson wrote and supports the YUI MT plugin, which is at version 1.3.

Now, to the actual MT rich text editor:

A rant from François Nonnenmacher about the HTML generated by the MT rich text editor:

The Rich Text Editor produces tons of ugly fucking code behind the screen, especially when using Safari. So it's an old-school editor such Midas, only a slight improvement over WYSIFUC in the sense that it hides it from you (unless you select "none" in the Format menu or "HTML Mode" and scream in horror at the FUC it generates, like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">...</span> instead of <em>...</em>!). For example, on Safari it generates a DIV per paragraph, while on Firefox it just spits out <br> tags or cosmetic <i> or <b> tags (not even <br />, or <strong> or <em> tags, mind you).

And generally that's my experience to date; weird tags, bad semantics, and unpredictable behavior.  What I don't know yet (and hope to figure out) is what the data path is through the system that would let things be cleaned up and filtered on the back end so that they are consistent, or fixed on the front end so that the generated code from the rich text editor is better.

The funny thing is, this used to work better: old versions of Typepad, and old versions of MT, both had a very conservative rich text editor that denatured the text quite a bit, removing a lot of tags and operating in "safe mode" much more so than "rich mode".

a puzzle...

links for 2009-07-01

• Bob Frankston - Opportunity for Innovation
  Perhaps the most difficult concept is the need to invert our usual “procurement” model of problem solving – we can’t dictate the solutions but instead need to create (generative) opportunity and then accept the solutions that arise.

  We can only dictate solutions for the short term but we’re rewarded for short term thinking. This makes it doubly difficult to “sell” the idea that we need to create opportunity. Not only is the reward deferred but we can’t say what it will be.

  
  
  (tags: opportunity innovation)
  
  
• 
  
  About us | tweentribune.com
  
  
  newspaper for "tweens"
  
  
  (tags: newspaper tween)
  
  

Ignite Ann Arbor 1 a rousing success

There were a ton of people twittering from the event, held tonight at the Neutral Zone.  It started promptly at 7pm, ended promptly at 9pm, featured a single-elimination rock scissors paper tournament (A2RSP, of course), and was generally and genuinely awesome.  Attendance was about 200.

Trek Glowacki:

Best event I've attended all year. Nearly perfect execution from both speakers and organizers. Congrats to all involved.

A few high points: Eli Neiburger from the AADL on hacking your library; Eric from the Ann Arbor Go Club on the game of Go; the friggin lasers at the A2 Mechshop; high flying balloons; backyard satellite weather, and two versions of News 2.0, at least one of which should be better than News 184x where the publisher accepted payment in potatoes.

I hope I'm not going to get paid in potatoes.  (Well, maybe a bonus in potatoes.)

how to post photos from a blackberry to the net

So, I have a new Blackberry replacing my old Blackberry.  The new device has a camera in it, which I never had before in a phone.  So therefore I need to figure out how to get pictures from the phone to the various places I put pictures now and understand the path.

Facebook: My phone has a Facebook app - it was even pre-installed.  So the camera has a "Send to Facebook" menu entry, which sends it up.  Here's a few docs.  I've used this already, it's fast and easy.

Twitter.  The service that I've seen people use that seems like it works pretty well is Twitpic; it was good enough to capture a plane landing on the Hudson.  To make it work, the consensus seems to be that the best way to go is to send the photo via email to your Twitpic address.  Haven't gotten that far yet.

Typepad.  Typepad has a Blackberry app; haven't tried it yet.  

Flickr.  There's an existing "email your photos to Flickr" process; Flickr also allows you newly to announce new photos to Twitter.  Here's a Flickr / Twitter tutorial.  Again sounds like a good thing to work my way through, again haven't done it yet.

overall - my todo list looks like "set up email" next, which gets me Twitter/twitpic; then install the Blackberry app for Typepad; then dig into Flickr's config to post to Twitter.  If things work right, I will be able to show things they way they should be.

south u. restaurant changes - four bits of Asian restaurant news

I got a chance to walk down South University this morning and noticed four restaurants underway with work but not open yet.

Momo Tea's owner and a contractor were in the store working on things, and didn't yet have a date for when they were going to open.

Miki is taking the space in U Towers where NYPD used to be, or where Orange Julius used to be, depending on your reference point for geography.  I didn't see any work going on in the place.

Ayaka had a sign in the window saying "Now Hiring" and there was enough paper over the window to make it impossible to see in.

And Chef Jan's China Gate on the corner of South U and Church has a sign in the window "Now serving Pho" (but they used the proper spelling Phở.)

These four, plus all of the other asian restaurants in that neighborhood, makes it quite a concentration.

Here's a list of all of the permits in the City of Ann Arbor's Trakit system on South University, so you can figure out where everyone stands with occupancy permits (haven't decoded it all yet).

Learning Movable Type on day two

day two of my new position at annarbor.com :

Full day of training on Movable Type.  We started with a mostly empty install (hosted on a temporary EC2 instance; nice setup) and the team added users, made comments, posted entries and worked through the admin screens.  I know that most people won't be working at this level most of the time, but it's also really good to give people some sense of what is possible with the tool and how the workflow and process starts to work.

I can only imagine what it would take to run a newspaper in the era before content management systems, the world of green screen terminals and baroque editorial process.

I'm also incredibly happy that I have been using Typepad, because the full MT system looks and feels familiar in many ways.

Some references for MT admin details:

• movabletype.com home page
• managing a community with Movable Type
• MT 4 documentation
• major league baseball blogs runs on MT
• talking points memo runs on MT

links for 2009-06-30

• The Social Customer Manifesto: Is "Community" a Lie?
  "Create the ability for community members to communicate as they want to. Brand managers and most companies want to control the conversation. If your users are truly part of the community, they will do nothing to hurt and/or destroy the community in which they live.
  (tags: commuity socialmedia)

Twelve things to update when you get a new job

A checklist for Monday.

1.  Blog.  Put a new photo in the sidebar, and update "about me" page.
2.  Twitter.  New mini-bio, new photo, update the link as appropriate.
3.  Arborwiki. edit the Edward Vielmetti page; that will be the "about me" link.
4.  LinkedIn.  Create the new position, new title.  Get a recommendation.
5.  Facebook.  Make some clever remark, update photo, bio.
6.  Google profile.  Google is probably keeping track of something.
7.  Google search.  Look at all the results from the first page; update.
8.  Short URL.  Find a URL shortening service, create a suitable landing page.
9.  Identify the canonical place where comments should go; link to that.
10.  Email lists.  You're on some; announce there.  Be brief.
11.  Update your signature.
12.  New greeting on phone message.

I'm not sure about the order of these; the phone might be the first on the list.

links for 2009-06-29

• 20 Visualizations to Understand Crime | FlowingData
  While a lot of this crime data is kept confidential to respect people's privacy, there's still plenty of publicly available records. Here we take a look at twenty visualization examples that explore this data.
  (tags: crime datamining visualization journalism infographics)
• Pittsburgh Needs Eated.: Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
  I tried the "Rhubarb upside-down cake" on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised when the cake turned out perfectly. If other recipes turn out this well, I might buy the book. The content is well balanced and conveniently organized by season and ingredient.
  (tags: cake rhubarb recipe)
• SPECIAL REPORT: When There's No Print Edition, Do Readers Flock to the Web?
  Those interested in the vitality of newspapers — a topic that extends as far as the White House these days — are keeping a close eye on the P-I's experiment, as Seattle is the first major newspaper to fully pull the plug on print and try to make a go of it online. Many other newspapers are tentatively moving in this direction. Perhaps they're not kicking print to the curb completely, but they're cutting back on editions and dropping weak days in print.
  (tags: newspaper print online)

links for 2009-06-28

• Aggregate, Curate, Publish To Create Local Media
  The good news is I wouldn't have to build that aggregation and curation system. Our portfolio company Outside.in has built it and they launched it earlier this week. It's called Outside.in For Publishers (OIP). If you are interested how it works, you can click thru and read that post. If you want to see what the curated pages created with OIP look like, here's one from Milwaukee Wisconsin.
  (tags: outside.in aggregation newspapers hyper-fricking-local)

Ann Arbor Farmers Market report for June 27, 2009

mostly pulled from twitter, but also from some field reporting from your fearless market reporter.

The Farmer's Marketer (Kim Bayer) notes

"Committee forming to determine if year round indoor farmers market viable in downtown Ann Arbor." Open House 7.8.09. 3:30-7pm. Eaton Bldg.

I don't have a URL to point to for this one for more details but you could ask Kim.

Jeff McCabe is on a misson to create "as many hoop houses in our area as these efforts can muster"; he has resources to support two of them to be built this fall, contact him for the application due July 10.

At the market this week: cherries (tart and sweet), gooseberries from Wasem's (we got there too late, they were sold out), pea shoots from Gardenworks (again we got there too late), squash blossoms, some very wonderful radishes, little potatoes, several kinds of kale, peas in the shell, peas where you eat the shell, peas out of the shell, strawberries, eggs, horseradish, coffee from Roos Roast.  It was a very busy summer market day with every stall full or nearly so. 

What to do with all of this bounty?  Erica (erksnerks) says
    pitting tart cherries right this minute got 3 quarts pie for dinner!
mmm, pie.

Tiger Stadium, 1984

The National Anthem from the 1984 World Series from the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club at Tiger Stadium - there's a lot of good stadium shots here to help you remember the old ballpark.

links for 2009-06-27

• Mediactive » What Pays for Newspaper Journalism? Not the “Cover Price”
  Cowell doesn’t mention that the advertising is the most important part of the financial equation in paying for journalism, not the cover price. It has been so for as long as he’s been a journalist. The word “Advertise” appears three times on this Web page (and “Advertisements” once), but not in Cowell’s column.
  (tags: newspaper journalism advertising money-its-a-gas)
• Ombudsman Blog - Froomkin Departs, Leaving Angry Loyalists And Questions
  Froomkin acknowledges the drop but told me much of it can be blamed on a change in format and poor promotion. He said that shifting White House Watch from a column to a blog when Obama took office was disruptive to his audience and "dramatically reduced the number of page views per reader.” He also said poor promotion, especially through links from the home page, had caused traffic to dip. “I felt that with adequate promotion, page views would have been much higher,” he said.
  (tags: froomkin page-views paper-paper dotcom wapo)
• Alan Cowell: Letter from Britain - The New York Times
  Here, I should disclose an interest. I worked at Reuters for almost a decade. To my knowledge I was the last - or, as journalists prefer to say, one of the last - Reuters correspondents to file a dispatch by carrier pigeon. That was some years ago (or, as journalists prefer not to say, many years ago) and the birds that flew my dispatches in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland revived the means of pretechnological communication first used by Reuters in the mid-19th century.
  (tags: cowell,alan matabeleland reuters carrier-pigeons news)
• Letter From Europe - Is Free News Really Worth the Price? - NYTimes.com
  If this sounds highfalutin’, let me offer a personal counterpoint. As the last Reuters correspondent known to have to sent dispatches by carrier pigeon many years ago from Matabeleland, I thought, until events in Iran, that twittering was, quite literally, for the birds (birds other than my cooing messengers, of course).
  (tags: news reuters carrier-pigeons matabeleland)
• awk.info » Naive Bayes Classifier
  Is less more? Can a few lines of gawk developed in a day or two stand in for a sophisticated state-of-the-art JAVA package? In the general case there may be software engineering advantages to working with rich languages like JAVA. However, in the specific case of a Naive Bayes classifier for discrete data, it is interesting to test if less is indeed more.
  (tags: classification awk bayesian minimalism)