The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Friday afternoon my sister asked me if I had an American Express card.

I do.

“Did you get your free money?” she asked. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“If you have an American Express card you can get a $25.00 credit if you use the card to patronize any of their small business clients on Small Business Saturday.”

I didn't get that memo. Fortunately, it wasn't too late so I went to the website and signed up. Last night, after I got home, I picked up a six pack of New Belgium 1554 from Kelly’s Liquors in Ellicott City, realizing a net gain of about fifteen bucks.

That’s the good.

Last night Mama Wordbones and I decided to catch the eight o’clock showing of Lincoln at the AMC Theatres in downtown Columbia. I purchased the tickets around six o’clock on Fandango. Unlike the Regal Cinemas at Snowden, the AMC Theatres do not allow you to print out the actual ticket at home. For AMC you need to pick up at the box office or at one of their automated ticket stations outside the entrance. At the downtown AMC Theatres  there are five of these. Last night only one was functioning. The line for remaining machine rivaled that of the box office. We decided to split up to cover both in the event that one turned out to move faster.

They both moved slowed. After a time, a gentleman in an AMC shirt stepped out of the doors of the theatre and started talking into a microphone. The sound quality was on par with that a subway car announcement and nobody around me at least could make out a single word he said. Someone yelled out and asked him if the customer service window was open. He nodded, briefly, before retreating back inside.

That was the bad. You’d think that the theatre would gear up for the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, but apparently no one at AMC got that memo either.

About a month ago I started experiencing problems with Disqus, the commenting widget that I employ here at To2C. I thought that I could fix the issue by simply upgrading to the latest version. I thought incorrectly.

Several readers and a couple of regular commenter’s have told me that they continue to have problems posting comments.  I’m sorry. Please bear with me. I realize that the fix is beyond my limited technology skills. For all I know I might have made a bad situation worse with the upgrade.

That’s the ugly. Hopefully the offer of help from my friend Jamie Howard is still valid and a solution to this problem will soon be found. I hope he get’s this memo.

Various Stuff

To2C regularly receives suggestions and/or requests to write about this or publicize that. Some folks even send in stuff with instructions to “please post this to your blog” as if To2C were some kind of community bulletin board.

It’s not.

That being said I get sent good stuff too like yesterday when David Gertler contacted me about giving an assist to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

“My family and friends are still without power and the relief efforts are painfully slow (over half of LI residents are still without power).  I grew-up in Long Beach and Lido Beach NY (a small barrier island) and Long Beach is still without water and sewer services.  Gasoline is scarce (for generators) and it's hard for people to get around (also, in some areas, cellphone service is out so there is almost no way to reach people).”

It is getting a little desperate in some areas with shortages of gasoline only exacerbating an already bad situation. Donations are being accepted accepted by the American Red Cross and other local charities.

And speaking of desperate... I've also become aware of a new blog in HoCo, ukdesperatehousewifeusa, “a little taste of America through my UK eyes.” She’s a British expat, now living in Clarksville, with a wry sense of humor and an easy writing style.

"It’s a little bit adventure, little bit stream of consciousness, little bit Bill Bryson."

Check her out.

Recently I received a letter from an attorney claiming to represent school board member Brian Meshkin. The letter informed me that he had reviewed my blog and determined, in his opinion, that “many statements and insinuations made by you , and also by some of your correspondents, in the blog are clearly defamatory…” He has demanded I “remove all of the defamatory discussions concerning Mr. Meshkin, “Salugen”, and Proove Biosciences, Inc. from your blog site."

He did not specify which posts he found objectionable but I suspect they may have included this one, this one and this one.

Obviously I disagree. 

Disqus Interuptus

A regular reader and occasional contributor sent me an email yesterday saying that the Disqus commenting function on To2C was not working.

There does seem to be a problem. According to a notice from four days ago on the Disqus website “The Disqus embed is currently unavailable for some users. We're working to solve the problem as quickly as possible and will update our status when we have more information. Sorry for the disruption.”

Unfortunately my tech skills are rather limited in this regard so I am at their mercy to resolve the problem. If it doesn’t get fixed by this weekend I’ll give my friend Jamie call to see if he can help me out again.

In the meantime, to those who wish to throw in their two cents here, please hold those thoughts.

UPDATE 9:30 PM: It's working again. All it took was an upgrade to the latest version of Disqus and suddenly all is well. Thank you for your patience...

Pardon the Interruption

Recent visitors to To2C may have received a warning message from Google about malware on the site. It turns out that the feed from the Well & Wise blog was the culprit. Once I disabled the Well  & Wise feed, the problem went away.

According to the Google report on the Well & Wise site , “Of the 227 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 17 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2012-09-19, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2012-09-19.”

“In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.”

No doubt someone has hacked into this blog and created this mischief. The Well & Wise blog is a joint effort of the Howard County General Hospital and the Howard County library. I notified them of the problem this morning via facebook.

For the Want of a Hoodie

Approximately two years ago, at a blogtail party at Kloby’s, HoCo’s uber blogger David Hobby (aka The Strobist) arrived sporting a Blogger hoodie.

“How did you get that?” I asked. Blogger is the blogging platform I use.

“If you had a million page views on your blog you might get one too,” JessieX interceded.

Some time in the next few days that will likely happen. As of this moment, according to Bloggers own stats, To2C has registered 994,516 all time page views. It’s only taken about six years to get here. I suspect it took much less time for David to reach that milestone.

Still, it would be nice to get a hoodie.

We Interrupt This Podcast

We bagged the podcast today. This wasn't a decision we made lightly. Since November of 2009 we’ve produced 69 shows. If you do the math you’ll find that we’ve kept to our biweekly schedule fairly religiously.

Still, things happen. It was my job to line up our guest for this weeks show and by Tuesday I still hadn’t done that. All three of us try to juggle doing the podcast with our real jobs and in this instance I simply didn’t juggle very well. No one got upset. In fact, Dave and Paul eagerly gave me a pass. I suspect they were ready for a little summer break and my dropped ball provided the perfect opening.

So "and then there’s that…" is on vacation this week but all of our old shows are still available online if you still need that hyper loco HoCo fix. One of my recent faves was Episode 58 with Roger Caplan and Chris Oxenham. You can find that podcast here.

We’ll be back with Episode 70 in two weeks.

Writing Good

I stumbled across this neat little app yesterday that measures how well you write by using the Flesch-Kincaid system. All you need do is provide a writing sample and it will tell you what grade level is needed to comprehend your writing and how easy it is to read the stuff you write.

I was curious to see how some of our HoCo loco writers fare with this test. According to this chart from Readability Formulas, the lower the score the more difficult the read. This article by Sara Toth in Explore Howard earned a score of 33 (“Difficult’) at a 14th grade level while a blog post by 53 Beers on Tap on the same subject rated a 55 (“Fairly Difficult”). Both Marshmallow Man and I are writing blog posts at a 9^th and 10^th grade level respectively. My sample post also rated Fairly Difficult at 52. Tom Coale and Sara Toths writing is more college level stuff. This post by Tom was rated at a 13^th grade level with a readability score of 39 (Difficult).

It’s All about You

Regular readers of To2C may have noticed that I have not been that prolific with my posts lately. The other parts of my life have been a tad more demanding lately leaving me wanting for both time and inspiration. So tonight, as I sat down to steal a little time to scratch my writing itch, I found inspiration in you, the To2C reader.

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared what I know about you, well over a year in fact. As I have disclosed before, this blog employs three separate apps to determine readership, Google Analytics, Quantcast, and Site Meter.

So what do they tell me?

Some things haven’t changed much. The gender gap narrowed a bit from 55% male back in November 2010 to 51% male today. I may be getting older but you are getting younger. Two years ago 74% of the To2C readers were over 35. That has now dropped to 63%. Income dropped as well from 35% of readers making over $100K to 28% today.

Quantcast figures that there are a little over 4,200 of you and that 253 of you are using the mobile web when you visit. According to Google Analytics, the top three mobile devices you’re using are the iPad, Nook and iPhone. The top five places you visit from are unchanged; Columbia, Ellicott City, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Laurel, in that order.

Many of you come here from other loco sites. The Baltimore Sun is now the top referral site for To2C followed by Google. The third highest referral site is HoCo Rising followed by HoCo Blogs. HowChow is the sixth highest referral site for To2C.

I appreciate all who stop by here, no matter who you are or where you come from, so this would be as good a time as any to say thank you for spending some time here. I’ll endeavor to keep you coming back. 

Civility and Comments

Comments made to blog posts are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, having a dialogue with readers, even those who mask their true identity, adds a dynamic element to a post or story and makes it more interesting. On the other hand, some commenter’s are much more caustic online than they would ever be in a face to face conversation. As Joshua Topolsky writes in this column in The Washington Post, “Despite years of attempts to massage, curate, coax and moderate, the unbridled “discussion,” the Internet still seems mired in the kind of discourse best reserved for a bar brawl. Or that bar’s bathroom wall.”

“I think the problem with commenters isn’t so much a technology issue as a social one. Somehow we’ve rewarded, or at least learned to tolerate, a world where the drive-by insult is the norm. As we crank up the ease and pace of our “social” interaction while cranking down our standards for what actual discussion should look like, we seem to be increasingly comfortable with people simply behaving badly.”

I can certainly relate. About three years comments started getting a little out of hand here at To2C. Increasingly I found myself using the delete button. I didn't take these actions lightly. I actually appreciate it when someone takes the time to comment, even if they vehemently disagree with what I’ve written. In my view there is a very thin line between deletion and censorship. In an attempt to address that I will usually allow a nasty comment or two from a reader before I hit the delete button. My reasoning is that this type of comment says as much about the intellect of the person making the comment as the issue being discussed. Once that profile has been established however, its time to ask them to leave the playground.

Adding the Diqus commenting widget has helped somewhat. Initially it came at the expense of a drop off in comments but that seems to have leveled out now. The one thing I like about Disqus is that it allows the moderator to see if a stream of comments with different anonymous labels are actually the same person.   

That’s really just a band aid. As Joshua points out technology can’t really solve this problem.

“Maybe the way to encourage intelligent, engaging and important conversation is as simple as creating a world where we actually value the things that make intelligent, engaging and important conversation. You know, such as education, manners and an appreciation for empathy. Things we used to value that seem to be in increasingly short supply.”

And then there’s that…

Pix Fix

Almost two years ago I decided to try and rely exclusively on my smartphone for photos. My old Sony Cyber-shot had been dropped one time too many and no longer could be relied upon to take a decent picture.

It wasn’t a decision I made easily. Early on, readers would occasionally comment on the quality of the pictures I posted here. That was cool feedback so I really wanted to maintain a certain level of quality. I was hoping the phone cam would be up to the task.

It wasn’t. Since I made the switch no one commented on the quality of To2C photos again until today. It’s understandable. The pictures I took with my phone just weren’t as good as the Sony and consequently I wasn’t happy either. Two weeks ago I finally broke down and bought a Sony DSC-W570. I posted my first picture with the new camera on April 5^th.

I don’t consider myself a photographer but I do enjoy taking pictures and sharing them. What I like most about this camera is that it takes a pretty good picture without much effort on my part. It is also compact enough to slide into a pocket.

I did take one last blog photo with my phone though. It’s the picture in this post. I suppose the phone camera will still do in a pinch.

Friday the 13th...Downtown

“It’s probably too late to get in at Tomato Palace.”

It was a little after seven this evening. Mama Wordbones and I had just finished our Friday cocktail hour. We were hungry.

Lately our Friday routine has revolved around getting seated at a HoCo loco restaurant by six thirty. On Friday nights, in Howard County, getting a table for two on a Friday night at a tier one establishment, without a reservation, after six thirty, is challenging.

As we drained our happy hour drinks, we laid out a strategy. Our first stop would be the long shot, our first choice, the Tomato Palace. Experience told us to expect a one hour wait. We were seated, in our favorite spot, within minutes. That Friday the 13th mojo was seemingly working for us.

“It is slower than usual tonight,” the host guy admitted.

Indeed it was, and we were the luckier for it.

As we settled into an elevated booth, beneath the star lit skylights, with glasses of wine in our hands, I mentioned to Mama Wordbones that I hadn’t written a post on To2C today.

“That’s not like you,” she noted.

True. I’ve been otherwise occupied today as they say. Sometimes it is difficult to juggle being a dad, a partner, and a blogger. The blog has the weakest position in that three way contest.

“I could always just write about getting into Tomato Palace after seven on a Friday night,” I posited.

“Really?”

Spring Fundraising Season

Though it may seem like only yesterday that we were going through the last round of HoCo politico fundraisers we are already jumping into another one. Much like the swallows returning the mission at San Juan Capistrano, familiar faces have returned to the loco fundraising circuit with the crickets. A county exec who wants to be guv and a county councilperson who wants his job, have both announced early spring events in HoCo.

They are within two weeks of each other.

Courtney Watson is first out of the shoot with an event at the Shanty Grill on March 28^th. She bills it as a “Spring Reception.” To be fair, the last fundraiser she held was back in late October. That was when she kinda sorta announced that she wanted to be the next exec. She has a lot of friends who think this is a good idea.

She has some other friends among the loco Dems who don’t. They would rather see Guy Guzzone become the next exec. Pam Guzzone also thinks this is a good idea.

Not that he is the most aggressive fundraiser to begin with, but even if Guy wanted to he couldn’t hold a fundraiser until after the session is over, on April 9^th.

Advantage Courtney.

She could use it. Despite his seemingly laid back approach to raising money, Guy still has more in the bank.

And then there’s that…

Ken Ulman, on the other hand, is simply following a well thought out plan. He surprised some skeptics with his fundraising prowess which appears to follow a strategy of location and timing. His last loco event was back in early November in Town Center. He held one in Federal Hill in early January.

 His spring event has been dubbed the “Mingle in Maple Lawn” and will be held on Tuesday, April 10^th.

I’ll likely attend both which will run me a little over a hundred fifty bucks. It’s worth it. I actually have fun at these gatherings. I see people I know and have a few laughs. The evenings inevitably result in blog posts too.

There is no cost too high or burden so heavy I wouldn’t bear for the readers of To2C.

By the way, “To2C” was coined by my friend Jessie Newburn (JessieX). I like it. You’ll be seeing more of that here.

Time Out

I won’t be posting for the next few days. I have some personal business to intend to and I need to take a little  blogging break.

It’s just a few days, no big deal but I just wanted to let the regular readers of Tof2C know what was up. I’ll miss you.

Back soon.

A Seat at the Table

The Maryland Department of Transportation held a “Media Roundtable” today to give members of the press a preview of the information that will be presented in a series of public intermodal workshops scheduled for this week in Beltsville, Jessup and Elkridge.

They also invited a couple bloggers to the somewhat rectangle roundtable, specifically, Brian Dunn and yours truly.

No doubt we were included because our blogs have weighed in on the issue but I was still a bit surprised at the invite. From my perspective this speaks volumes to the perceived influence of loco blogs.

I think it’s a good thing. The more writers covering a topic like the proposed intermodal facility the more chances for the public to be informed.

Afterwards, in the parking lot, I had a brief conversation with Elizabeth Janney, the editor of Elkridge Patch.  

“We’re you here for HoCoMoJo?” she asked.

Actually I was there for the readers of Tales of Two Cities. I told her that my report on the information presented would likely be different than hers since mine would include the obligatory blogger personal opinion. In fact, I’ll likely wait to see what the working press has to say before I write a post about it. That way I can link to their words as well.

After all, that’s the luxury of blogging.

My Motherboard Mambo

When my laptop imploded earlier this month I fully anticipated that the repair situation was going to be stressful and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

The first diagnosis was a failed DVD drive but a new DVD drive did not resolve the problem. The next suspect was the motherboard and so that was replaced as well yet the problems persisted. As a last resort, the hard drive was replaced and that seemed to do it.

At least for a few days anyway. Before long my computer blues returned and I was no longer able to connect my network cable at work.

Today I got another new motherboard.

The good news is that when I purchased this machine I bit the bullet and signed up for the extended warranty that covered everything but my personal angst.

It was a close call though. The warranty expires at the end of next month. 

The Mobbies Are Back!

Nominations are now being taken for the The Baltimore Sun's Mobbie awards recognizing the best in the Baltimore metro blogoshere. This year they made some changes to the categories, notably the addition of a best HoCo blog and elimination of the Best Politics Blog.

The Best Politics Blog was a HoCo favorite. In 2009 Tales of Two Cities took home the politico Mobbie and last year The Hedgehog Report took the honors. It now looks like this particular Mobbie honor will be retired in HoCo.

You can nominate your favorite blog until next Wednesday.

WAPO and the Blogs

When The Washington Post unveiled their redesigned web presence back in March, I noted that they appeared to have dropped their local blog directory. As it turns out the directory eventually reappeared, though it was buried deep within the site. Consequently, the Post barely registers as a referring site for Tales of Two Cities. By comparison, The Sun is now the top referring site here.

That may be about to change. Earlier this week I received an email from Andy Smith and Katie Rogers announcing that The Post will soon “launch a Local Blog Directory with new navigation and a new design that will help us better feature links to your sites and posts.”

That would be cool.

HoCo is a real tweener market with roughly half of the population aligned with DC and half with B-More. It would seem to make good business sense for a media company like The Post to reach out to the voices in the HoCo loco blogging community.

Stay tuned.

Tales Turns Five

Five years ago today I started this blog. Appropriately enough that day was a Friday the 13^th.

The first post was actually the one and only time I’ve had a guest post. My long time friend Jim Binckley had written a letter to the editor of the Columbia Flier that the paper wouldn’t print. He was told it was too long. I read the letter and liked what he had to say so I ran it here.

And thus my blogging journey began. I have now written over 2,100 posts. I’m obviously enjoying myself.

At the blogtail party on Monday, Mickey Gomez told me she writes a blog because she enjoys writing and uses blogging as a way to “practice”. She’s right about that .I learned long ago that the best way to improve your writing is to write something everyday. Before blogs came along that usually meant keeping a journal.

I never got much satisfaction from the journal thing.  Blogging is much more interesting and fun.

When I started this blog I was inspired by the original HoCo loco bloggers, Ian Kennedy, Dave Wissing, and David Keelan. Today, a whole new breed of HoCo bloggers like HowChow, Tom Coale and Sarah Husain enriches my HoCo experience.  HoCo loco blogging has opened me to world of new writers and ideas. For that I am grateful.

I am also most grateful for those who read and comment here. You are the ones who make this better than keeping a journal. Thank you. I hope you’ll stick around for another five years…or so…

Computer Blues

My computer sort of crashed today. It seems to be having some difficulty getting through the boot process. This meant that I spent the better part of my day on the phone with our company tech guy while he tried to troubleshoot the thing remotely.

That didn’t work. Tomorrow he’s going to pick it up and take it back to his shop for some intensive care. That means another day of improvising…or not.

Tonight I’ve commandeered Peanuts iMac in an attempt to get caught up on all the things I couldn’t get done today.

This isn't going so well either. I’m a longtime PC person and the Mac is a decidedly different animal. I keep trying to right click the mouse. 

Another Best Blog Thing

Yesterday, as I was creating a link for loco storm stud Mike Hellgren, I discovered that WJZ is running a “Most Valuable Blogger” contest. Actually the contest has been running since July 25^th and the finalists have already been chosen. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tales of Two Cities had made the cut in the “Local Affairs” category.

I was also happy to see that fellow HoCo blogger HowChow is a finalist too.

I have no idea who nominated my blog but I always appreciate the gesture. Thanks. The voting ends on September 9^th.