WGHP MyFox8 brings local blogger's plight to light

MAYODAN, NC -- A Las Vegas law firm is targeting bloggers for alleged copyright infringement on behalf of the Denver Post and a blogger from Mayodan finds himself caught in their crosshairs. It's a big deal with implications for free speech, fair use and copyright protections that has gone unnoticed by local media and bloggers, until now. Good for WGHP for bringing it to our attention.

Sxip Shirey: "Moon in her belly"

Sxip Shirey.

XMG Guilford County website files released

GREENSBORO, NC -- I received a response to my public records request from Guilford County. I had requested the website files as provide by XMG to the county in their effort to produce a new website for the County. Those files were provided to me on CD today. The website was built for a Microsoft web server. I use a different server environment, so I am unable to offer a true end-user view of what was provided to the County. Nonetheless, if you are interested, you can see the files here.* Please be advised, these are the files delivered to me by the County, I do not know if XMG would agree that they constitute the entirety of their work.

If someone has access to an ASP server (which would properly display all of these files) I will gladly share the CD or you can request them from the county. And speaking of getting files from the County, although their response was not particularly speedy, I do want to thank County staff for eventually providing these files. There was some confusion about whether or not these files were public or confidential and I appreciate the legal staff's willingness to learn a little about the nature of websites and coming to understand why files like these do constitute a public record.

* [These files may be removed in the future.]

WGHP MyFox8 making it up

GREENSBORO, NC -- "School Test Results Skyrocket After Church Partnership" shouts the headline on WGHP's website. The unnamed "staff writer" explains:

Several principals were looking for possible "faith partners" Thursday after the success of a similar program at Smith High School. Smith has partnered with nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church for the past two years after receiving a $100,000 state grant.

Several principals? Really? Like who? Ah, never mind, let's get to the meat of the story, those "skyrocketing" improvements.

Dr. Noah Rogers, Smith High principal, said graduation rates have skyrocketed from 55 percent to 80 percent, fewer students are getting suspended and the attendance rate is up.

55 percent to 80 percent in just two years? Wow! Fabulous... but not true. According to the Guilford County Schools, since the church program has been in place, graduation rates at Smith went from 73 percent to 80 percent (we don't have the rates for this year, obviously). While still a nice increase in graduation rates are they attributable to partnering with the church? Smith has seen steady improvement in graduation rates since 2006, including an 8 point jump from 2007 to 2008 -- before the church program. "Graduation rates improve before church partnership" doesn't have the same ring, I suppose.

But what about the story's headline about those skyrocketing test scores? According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Smith's annual yearly progress showed year-over-year improvement from 2009 to 2010 in math and reading test scores, but not inconsistent with the kinds of improvements seen in years past, before the church program. The 10 point increase in proficiency in math last year is fantastic, but so was the 10 point increase in reading proficiency in 2008, before the church program.

Bottom line, the Fox8 story incorrectly reported graduation data and wrongly treats the improvements at Smith as attributable to the church program, ignoring that Smith has seen similar improvements prior to the church program. There is no reason to tout the church program as the reason for Smith's continuing academic improvement and so this story joins others from WGHP where they occasionally go off the rails and just make stuff up (here, here, here, here, here and here.)

News & Record predicts the future

GREENSBORO, NC -- The News & Record regurgitates more public relations hype and ends up sounding idiotic in the process.

Tonight's screening of "Rise" will have its largest audience in Greensboro.

Although the "report" also says the film is going to be screened tonight in 500 other theaters throughout the country, somehow the News & Record can divine which one will have the largest audience. Amazing!

"If they support the organization we will come after them"

From Wired:

Barr’s ideas about WikiLeaks went beyond attacks on their infrastructure. He wrote in a separate document that WikiLeaks was having trouble getting money because its payment sources were being blocked. “Also need to get people to understand that if they support the organization we will come after them,” he wrote. “Transaction records are easily identifiable.”

As an idea that Barr knew was being prepared for a major U.S. bank, the suggestion is chilling.

"Social media is a significant problem that should worry everyone."

(Hat tip: Fecund Stench)

Security experts employed by the U.S. government and the likes of Bank of America and the Chamber of Commerce are actively tying online "nicknames to real names and other personal data."

Why? Because, to them...

"Social media is a significant problem that should worry everyone."

 UPDATE: Here is the founder of the company that employs these practices:

I am only one removed from the President of the United States, I know multiple decision makers in both major intelligence community organizations, and my company has software installed in about 1/4 of all fortune 500 companies.

Escher on video

Pay attention:

This is not the America I was promised

This is not supposed to happen in America. It is close to Fascism.

The very idea of trying to threaten the careers of journalists and activists to punish and deter their advocacy is self-evidently pernicious; that it's being so freely and casually proposed to groups as powerful as the Bank of America, the Chamber of Commerce, and the DOJ-recommended Hunton & Williams demonstrates how common this is. 

Related:

The documents appear to include pitches for unseemly ways to undermine adversaries of Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like doing background research on their critics and then distributing fake documents to embarrass them.

Greensboro teen wins video news contest

GREENSBORO, NC -- (Hat tip, News & Record) Tyler Hardin, a ninth-grader at Guilford County School's Weaver Academy has won first place in Teen Kids News online reporter contest. Tyler has his own video production company. Here is his winning entry:

Hicksville

GREENSBORO, NC -- Why has Guilford County not put the minutes of Guilford County Commissioners' meetings online since October, 21, 2010? Joe Guarino is right to ask what in the world are we getting from the six County web developers at a cost of $647,200 per year.

And this is why I am an independent; proposed amendment to state constitution

RALEIGH, NC -- Ideologues piss me off more and more lately. Partisan filters are a surefire way to make sure one wallows in the shallow end of ideas. As a free-thinking unaffiliated citizen, I can applaud good ideas no matter where they come from. Here is a great one, an amendment to the State Constitution proposed by Republican Rep. Stephen LaRoque of Lenoir County:

The proposed constitutional amendment would say that every person has the right to inspect or copy any record connected to the official business of any public body or official.

Former judicial candidate cleared

GREENSBORO, NC -- Joe Floyd II withdrew from the race for a Superior Court judgeship last fall after his arrest for breaking and entering and harassment. It made the papers. Now a judge has cleared Floyd of wrong-doing. Good for the News & Record for following up with the same vigor as with which it reported the original charges.

UPDATE: SamH points out that the News & Record incorrectly states in their follow-up that Floyd was charged with domestic violence. He was not.

WFMY: American Express closing data center

GREENSBORO, NC -- One small consolation to the announcement that American Express was closing its Greensboro call center was that it is building a new data center here. Now, however, WFMY is reporting that American Express is closing its data center [But, considering WFMY's poor reporting standards, probably not.]. From the WFMY story:

There's another ripple effect from the closing of the American Express data center in Greensboro.

Back scratching exposed, newspaper publisher offers gifts to city council member

GREENSBORO, NC -- Keith Brown at Triad Watch uncovers an email from William Hammer, publisher of the local weekly newspaper The Rhino Times, offering Greensboro City Council person Mary Rakestraw free event tickets.

Sex change

The story is a convoluted mess to begin with, but funner for the gender re-assignment. (Robin Hayes is a man.) From News14 Carolina:

CHARLOTTE -- The North Carolina Republican party was quick to respond to the announcement Tuesday morning. Former 8th District Congressman Robin Hayes leads the state GOP party. He said they welcome the Democrats so North Carolinians can more clearly see the differences between the two parties.

"We're glad that they're here," she said. "The closer that you get to the Republican ideas and compare it again, and you can do that because the Democratic National Convention is here, Republican principals stand out. They are what jobs the economy and working people are all about. The Democrats again, being here, gives us a chance to make a very clear comparison."

Learning curve

GREENSBORO, NC -- I received a denial from the Guilford County attorney today for my request to receive the files delivered to the County by XMG in the attempt to build a new county web site. The reason given was that software is not publicly releasable.

I don't mind being patient with County staff on this one--I'm told mine is the first request of this kind--but two things:

1. There is a difference between software and files. Requests for documents in Microsoft Word format are not denied because they require software to be read. Web site files are documents, read by server software and web browser software. They require software to be used, but they are not software.*
   
2. Guilford County is already releasing web site files publicly. Our web browsers download and display them every time we visit www.co.guilford.nc.us. So of course web site files are publicly releasable, it's happening as you read this. If web site files were not publicly releasable, there would be no current County web site. 

(* For my geek friends, I recognize there are exceptions, but I think you will agree the vast bulk, if not the totality, of most web sites will be composed of files, not software.)