On 25 January 02012 with 1 comment
Earlier this month, in the last few days of his term, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour pardoned five men, including four convicted murderers, who worked in his mansion. The AP FOIAed the records about their pardons and—darnedest thing—there aren’t any. The attorney general says that they’re nowhere to be found. This is headed to court in a couple of weeks. →
On 25 January 02012 with 2 comments
Chicago recently announced that they’d be sharing the GPS-tracked positions of snowplows online, for people wondering when their neighborhood would be plowed, and what roads are cleared. Now VDOT is doing the same in Virginia, although only upstate. →
On 24 January 02012 with no comments
The 71-year-old paper isn’t convinced that endorsements mean much anymore, and are worried that the practice gives the appearance of bias in their coverage of politics. So they’re giving it up. I wonder if this is the beginning of a trend, or of the Sun-Times will stand alone? →
On 21 January 02012 with 5 comments
Discussion hosting service Disqus has crunched the numbers on their enormous database of comments and found that people writing under pseudonyms (as opposed to anonymously or under their real name) contribute substantially more comments than others, and those comments are rated more highly than others. People writing under a real name are a close second, and people writing anonymously are a distant third. Fascinating! →
On 20 January 02012 with 1 comment
Remember that blog entry I wrote last month about trying to make a cheeseburger from scratch? Scientific American has a short article based on it in their February issue. Page 24. I haven’t picked up a copy yet, but I’m sure going to. →
On 13 January 02012 with 18 comments
I publicly launched Richmond Sunlight five years ago this week. Upon its launch I gave it to the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy because, as I wrote, “they’re non-partisan, they have an attention span longer than a housefly, and they have access to resources that I don’t.” I concluded: “I’ll run it for them for the next six months, while we train an editor and a webmaster to take it over. Then I can move on to my next project.” Richmond Sunlight is something that I want to exist, but not something that I actually want to be my problem. But nothing ever changed: the website was Virginia Interfaith’s in a legal sense (on a handshake deal), but in all other practical senses, it was mine. Every bit of the website was mine to run, from stem to stern…which was the opposite of my goal. It occupied enough of my time I couldn’t move onto that next project. In March, I informed the Virginia Interfaith Center that I had just worked my last session—they’d need to finally hire that webmaster. And I walked away from Richmond Sunlight, which is what enabled me to get started on Virginia Decoded. (Which is on hold briefly while I’m working for the White House.)
A few weeks ago, the Virginia Interfaith Center decided that they couldn’t operate Richmond Sunlight. The cost of paying somebody with the appropriate skill set would be too high and, besides, they’re between executive directors, and have more important things going on. So I asked for them to give it back, which they did cheerfully.
So I seem to have this website. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do with it. Giving it away hasn’t worked out, so now I need to chart a course that will allow it to grow and thrive, and also be financially sustainable.
Perhaps I could start a 501(c)3 to house Richmond Sunlight, Virginia Decoded, Open Virginia, and my other nascent efforts towards open government in Virginia? But then what—where does the money come from? I worry that advertising could make Richmond Sunlight appear disreputable. I think I could get some grants, but that’s ultimately not a business model. Maybe a few site sponsors (advertising lite), though I don’t know that anybody would be willing to pay enough to hire somebody to run the site during session. I do have a mostly completed “pro” version of Richmond Sunlight, but I’ve hesitated to launch it because I can’t provide the support that customers would deserve. (“Sorry it’s broken for you, but I’m at work now. And I’m busy tonight. How’s Saturday for you?”) While there’s a bit of a horse-and-cart problem there, the revenue from that could well make it possible to hire somebody to provide that support and also run the website. Perhaps there’s a partnership waiting to happen—some organization with whom the site could have a mutually beneficial relationship?
I’m soliciting ideas. What should I do with Richmond Sunlight? How do I ensure that it continues to exist, fulfills its potential, but doesn’t keep me from moving onto other projects?
On 12 January 02012 with 3 comments
“The transcripts of the 2006 [Federal Reserve] meetings, released after a standard five-year delay, clearly show some of the nation’s pre-eminent economic minds did not fully understand the basic mechanics of the economy that they were charged with shepherding.” It’s a significant understatement to say that they didn’t “full understand” the economy. Their discussions make it look like a dozen econ 101 students were gathered in a room and put in charge of the economy. “Ender’s Game” made real. →
On 12 January 02012 with 17 comments
The Times’ public editor is asking, in the form of a blog entry, whether the media should be in the habit of pointing out when a subject is lying. That is, a politician says that black is white, should the reporter covering it point out that, in fact, black is black? It’s shameful that this question even needs to be asked. Websites like Richmond Sunlight are in the business of reporting straight-up facts. That has value, no doubt. But the job of media outlets is to take that information, review it, interpret it, package it up, and provide that to readers, to help them to understand the world around them. And the Times is wondering if it’s necessary to point out when their facts are wrong? Yes, yes it is necessary. Get on it, Times. →
On 8 January 02012 with 2 comments
“Shotgun Golf will soon take America by storm,” said Hunter S. Thompson in this 2004 article. I would definitely play this, though I’d be even more likely to play it with Bill Murray. →
On 3 January 02012 with 1 comment
The fence between Mexico and the U.S. isn’t always on the border. Sometimes it’s over a mile away, leaving Texans’ homes on the wrong side of the fence, sandwiched against the Mexican border. They’ve had their property split in two by the fence, and some homeowners have found that the Border Patrol guards not the actual border, but the fence, leaving these folks as the first line of defense, and the fence second. →
On 2 January 02012 with 1 comment
There has been increasing concern over the past year that hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) can cause earthquakes. I don’t understand the seismology well enough to understand the specifics, but the premise is simple enough: pumping millions of gallons of water, diesel, brine, and other liquids into the ground is liable to have an effect on the weight, shape, and distribution of land masses relative to fault lines, and could be the tipping point that causes a quake. Now a Columbia University seismologist investigating the unusual string of earthquakes in east Ohio over the past year has come to the conclusion that they were almost certainly caused by fracking. →
On 2 January 02012 with 6 comments
Remember how Blackwater changed their name to “Xe Services,” to outrun their reputation? Well, it caught up with them, so now they’ve changed their name again—they’re “Academi.” Nowhere on academi.com does the word “Blackwater” even appear. →
On 25 December 02011 with 2 comments
- New York Times: Climate Scientists Hampered in Study of 2011 Extremes
“'I’ve been a meteorologist 30 years and never seen a year that comes close to matching 2011 for the number of astounding, extreme weather events,' Jeffrey Masters, a co-founder of the popular Web site Weather Underground, said last month. 'Looking back in the historical record, which goes back to the late 1800s, I can’t find anything that compares, either.'” - Brent Simmons: ‘Gamification’ sucks
Yes, yes it does. - Wikipedia: J. W. Westcott II
This little boat, sailing out of Detroit, is the world's only post office boat that delivers mail to other ships under sail. It's got its own ZIP code: 48222. There can't be very many post offices that actually come to you.
On 19 December 02011 with 20 comments
- New York Times: Nearly a Third of Americans Are Arrested by 23, Study Says
30.2% of us have been arrested for something more serious than a minor traffic violation. (I say "us," but I haven't been arrested.) As Sen. Webb points out, either Americans are the most evil people on the planet, or something is fundamentally wrong with our criminal justice system. - AP: Tennessee home burns as firefighters watch
When a couple in rural Tennessee found their home on fire, they called 911 and got out. When the firefighters arrived, they stood and watched as the home burned to the ground. The couple couldn't afford the annual $75 firefighting subscription fee that the county charges, so the responding crew wasn't allowed to so much as turn on a hose. - Maciej Cegłowski: Don’t Be A Free User
The developer of Pinboard explains the importance of relying on businesses that have a business model that involves actually making money. Comes with a handy chart. When I grow up, I want to be Maciej Cegłowski.
On 15 December 02011 with 20 comments

Henry Capron Jaquith, born last week. Six pounds, eleven ounces, and just under twenty inches long.
On 5 December 02011 with 3 comments
- Planet Money: Why Burn Doctors Hate Instant Soup
Styrofoam "Cup Noodle" style containers turn out to be wildly dangerous. They spill easily, and hospitals throughout the country get a never-ending series of little kids who have been burned as a result of these things falling over. Companies that make short, squat containers don't have any problem—it's the tall, thin containers that are really hazardous. - Marc Newlin: You should probably start burning your mail—What I learned from the DARPA Shredder Challenge
Last month DARPA sponsored the Shredder Challenge, an open competition to develop software that can take crosscut shredder scraps and reassemble them. Marc Newlin, who came in third place, wrote up this helpful description of how his program worked. It functions just as I had sketched out my own idea for it, proving yet again that any dope can come up with ideas, but real developers ship. - The New York Review of Books: Defending an Anthology by Rita Dove
Some pretty great spats have been played out in the pages of the New York Review of Books, and Rita Dove's rebuttal to Helen Vendler's review of her her poetry anthology for Penguin should certainly be categorized as such. Rita is an acquaintance, and I'm inclined towards siding with her in the first place, but I really think she lands some pretty good punches on Vendler.
On 3 December 02011 with 163 comments
If you came here having been told that this is an article about how the cheeseburger was “impossible” until recently, please note that it is not. It is about how the cheeseburger as we know it today was an impractical food until relatively recently. (Ref: the title.) A time-traveler with unlimited resources could probably pull it off. –WJ
A few years ago, I decided that it would be interesting to make a cheeseburger from scratch. Not just regular “from scratch,” but really from scratch. Like, I’d make the buns, I’d make the mustard, I’d grow the tomatoes, I’d grow the lettuce, I’d grow the onion, I’d grind the beef, make the cheese, etc.
It didn’t happen that summer, by the following summer, my wife and I had built a new house, started raising chickens, and established a pretty good-sized garden. I realized that my prior plan hadn’t been ambitious enough—that wasn’t really from scratch. In fact, to make the buns, I’d need to grind my own wheat, collect my own eggs, and make my own butter. And I’d really need to raise the cow myself (or sheep, and make lamb burgers), mine or extract from seawater my own salt, grow my own mustard plant, etc. This past summer, revisiting the idea, I realized yet again that I was insufficiently ambitious. I’d really need to plant and harvest the wheat, raise a cow to produce the milk for the butter, raise another cow to slaughter for its rennet to make the cheese, and personally slaughter and process the cow or sheep. At this point I was thinking that this might all add up to an interesting book, and started to consider seriously the undertaking.
Further reflection revealed that it’s quite impractical—nearly impossible—to make a cheeseburger from scratch. Tomatoes are in season in the late summer. Lettuce is in season in spring and fall. Large mammals are slaughtered in early winter. The process of making such a burger would take nearly a year, and would inherently involve omitting some core cheeseburger ingredients. It would be wildly expensive—requiring a trio of cows—and demand many acres of land. There’s just no sense in it.
A cheeseburger cannot exist outside of a highly developed, post-agrarian society. It requires a complex interaction between a handful of vendors—in all likelihood, a couple of dozen—and the ability to ship ingredients vast distances while keeping them fresh. The cheeseburger couldn’t have existed until nearly a century ago as, indeed, it did not.
* * *
The weekend before Thanksgiving, my wife and I had some friends and family members over to the house to slaughter turkeys. We’d raised eight of them from poults, letting them free range around our land for most of their lives, and their time had come. It took the bulk of the day to slit their throats, bleed them out, pluck them, gut them, and put them on ice. Everybody got to take home a turkey that, by all accounts, was delicious. (Nearly everybody has already asked us to do this again next year.) Accompanied by cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and apple pie, it was a meal that could have been produced almost entirely at our home (and very nearly was). There was no mining of salt, of course, but it proved to be a meal that made sense for the place and the time. It’s really the only such ritual meal in the U.S. for which that’s true.
The Pilgrims established this standard, although in their case they probably had their meal in early October. The Thanksgiving menu at Plymouth Plantation was described by William Bradford:
They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.
There’s some fundamental good in eating honestly, I think. Of knowing where your food comes from—raising it yourself, when you can—and trying to eat foods that could theoretically have existed a century ago. But you can’t take that but so far, or else the whole thing breaks down. As Carl Sagan wrote in Cosmos, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
On 30 November 02011 with 2 comments
- Christian Science Monitor: Way cleared for horse slaughter to resume in US after 5-year ban
Congress has passed a bill, and the president has signed it into law, that re-legalizes the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Banning that practice was a huge mistake, for reasons that were obvious at the time, but it took a five-year ban to show that to be so. Even PETA supports the change. The problem was that horses were either being abandoned to starve to death or shipped in crowded trailers to Canada or Mexico, where they were slaughtered (under terrible conditions in Mexico) and their meat sent back to the U.S. It actually increased animal suffering. Good for Congress for making a necessary—sure to be unpopular—change in the law. - ACLU of Virginia: Norfolk Man Who Refused to Stop Videotaping Police at Demonstration Is Not Guilty of Disorderly Conduct
A Norfolk man was charged with disorderly conduct for videotaping an on-duty police officer back in April. I'm glad to see that he's been found not guilty by a Norfolk General District Court judge. There's been a strange rash of arrests, all around the country, for the non-existent crime of videotaping police officers. Decisions like this will help bring this to an end. - Print Free Graph Paper
Just what it says on the tin. - Wikipedia: Point Roberts, Washington
A tiny exclave of the United States is found off the coast of Washington State. "Point Bob," as it's known, is the southernmost tip of a Canadian peninsula, which extends just barely south of the 49th parallel that defines the U.S./Canadian border. To get there by land, one must go through two international border crossings. There are just over 600 households there, and one elementary school. After third grade, kids have to take a bus through Canada and back to the U.S. to get to school.
On 25 November 02011 with 5 comments
- BBC News: CO2 climate sensitivity ‘overestimated’
Of all that is very clearly known about global climate change, the one connection that is not well understood is the quantity of climate forcing that results from each unit of CO2. That is, exactly how much additional heat can the atmosphere store for each each ton of CO2 that is added to it? One new study proposes that the existing model might be too pessimistic, basing that on the authors' theory that the last ice age wasn't as cold as has been believed. Their theorized rate of increase is still globally catastrophic, but comparatively speaking, it would be good news. The team's paper is published in Science magazine. - Wikipedia: Franksgiving
In 1939, President Roosevelt made the annual declaration of a day of Thanksgiving—as had been done such President Washington—but selected the third Thursday in November, rather than the traditional last Thursday. That was at the request of retailers, who didn't want to violate the taboo of starting Christmas sales before Thanksgiving, but were worried that the fourth Thursday would fall too late in the year—November 30—to give them enough sales time. The moved date split the country, both along partisan lines and along state lines. Many states declared Thanksgiving holidays on the third Thursday, some on the fourth. This was repeated in 1940 and 1941, but it was settled by Congress, who officially designed the annual holiday as being the fourth Thursday, as of 1942. - American Radio Relay League: US Amateurs Now 700,000 Strong!
There are more ham radio operators in the U.S. than ever before. Over 700,000 now. When I got licensed, in the early nineties, there were just under 500,000 licensed operators. I was one of the first people to get a codeless license, meaning that I didn't need to learn CW (aka Morse code); if that new class of license hadn't been established, I couldn't have passed the test. These days, I don't think CW is required for any of the three license classes—Technician, General, and Amateur Extra—which has surely helped this surge in licensing. (Fun fact: Long-time ARRL president Harry Dannals, aka W2HD, is a Charlottesville resident.)
On 23 November 02011 with 7 comments
- New York Times: Who’s on the Line? Increasingly, Caller ID Is Duped
Telemarketers are faking Caller ID information with apparent impunity, so that people believe that the IRS or the FBI is calling. (Just like spam!) The FTC has just filed their first complaint against a company for doing that. The FCC wouldn't comment as to what they're doing about it. - Wikipedia: List of nicknames of United States presidents
John Tyler, Rutherford B. Hayes, Warren G. Harding, and Richard Nixon are the only former U.S. presidents who did not have a (non-derisory) nickname as president. ("Tricky Dick," for instance, doesn't make the cut.) President Obama does not yet have a nickname and, given how unusual his name is, I suspect he won't get one. The heyday of nicknames was the early 20th century, when a few popular given names reigned supreme—when three friends are all named "Michael," nicknaming is inevitable. The most popular names today are far less common than a century ago, making nicknames linguistically unnecessary. - The Atlantic: What If the Law Required Campaign Contributions to Be Kept Secret?
If the process of collecting, tallying, and refunding campaign contributions was turned over to a blind trust, the effect on politics could be quite positive. Lawrence Lessig argues that it would become implausible to buy influence.