The beauty of precision

GREENSBORO, NC — As the launch of the new Greensboro 101 approaches (tomorrow, 1.01 at 1:01 P.M.), I am performing some final testing and fixing the bugs.

There is something beautiful about creating with computer code, but such beauty isn't easy. It is unrelenting in its demand for perfect precision. A single comma in place of a single period can, and does, render thousands of lines of code completely inoperable. Find it and fix it though, and it's like piloting a homemade spaceship -- exhilarating and satisfying.

As much as I appreciate and respect precision in writing, imprecise thinking rendered in the written word doesn't suffer the same immediate and certain punishment as does imprecise coding. Presume a condition that isn't true in computer code and things break in a very noticeable way. The language arts have no such throttle on precision. Nor should they, human language has its own beauty in nuance, but anyone who has scripted code for a while can't help but start to notice imprecise thinking in other forms of writing and be influenced because of it.

#Greensboro trending

Current trends on Twitter:

Interesting.

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5 days and counting

Just over five days until the launch of the new Greensboro 101, on 1.01 at 1:01 P.M.

The process started with needing to make Greensboro 101 better suited for mobile devices, like phones and tablets. In examining how to do that, I recognized that many of the principles and means of interfacing with mobile devices could be used to enhance the desktop/laptop experience too. The results is something that looks and acts like an app no mater what the device. It's a web app. It looks and behaves a little differently at different screen sizes to create a native experience for the device being used, but it always has the same, hopefully intuitive, pathways to information.

I think you'll see Greensboro in a whole new light and in a way that is so easy it's fun.

It has been a real pleasure delving into this, even with it's maddening moments of frustration or schedule-busting detours while I learned how to do something previously unknown. Those moments are fewer and farther between than ever though, and my advancements in troubleshooting and efficient learning have made tackling the unexpected challenges more productive than ever.

As building was underway, new ideas kept popping up. Some were so intriguing that I stopped what was underway to design and code the new idea. Other ideas remain on the to-do list and will have to be gotten to after launch.

Well, the music's good and there are two solid hours until leftovers, so I better get back to it, I only have five more days.

1.01 at 1:01 P.M.

GREENSBORO, NC — The new Greensboro 101 will launch on 1.01 at 1:01 P.M.

New digs

I am moving Greensboro 101 and my email to a new server today — bigger, faster, better tasting. This may result in some intermittent connection or display problems. I apologize for any inconvenience you encounter.

A city revenue source dries up

The North Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the law that bans video internet sweepstakes  — what used to be video poker until the state outlawed video poker and the heartless fucktards who think steeling from people is a legitimate business changed the software so that the games were no longer poker but "sweepstakes ". Good for the judges. (Opinion here.)

These games are horribly misrepresented to the people upon whom they prey. Nobody plays them for "entertainment," as the industry claimed. People play them because they think they might win a lot of money when all that happens is they end up losing money. Of course, the odds are never revealed, even though, as the industry admits, the outcomes are predetermined before you even sit down to play.

If this was any other kind of consumer product, it would be banned as fraudulent and the operators jailed as thieves.

Some discussion had occurred with Greensboro City Council about possibly using licensing fees from the operations of these machines to help solve the perplexing funding problem of a proposed downtown performing arts center. Obviously, that's not going to happen now, making the financial picture for the PAC even murkier.

City not meeting records goal, media getting faster response than public

The spirit with which public officials work to comply with the law is as important as the law itself.
— North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on public records law

GREENSBORO, NC — State law demands that public records be produced "as promptly as possible." The city of Greensboro's records request training manual advises:

Goal is to fulfill all requests for records within 2 business days

Something has gone awry.


(Response times are in business days)

According to city records, reporters from traditional news organizations receive records from the city faster than other citizens but neither group is getting them, on average, within the City's goal or within what would be reasonably considered to be the legally mandated "as promptly as possible." For records requests from January 1, 2012 through December 1, 2012, these are the average response times:

Media requester: 6.4 working days
Other citizens: 8.7 working days

Some records requests have gone unfilled for months. Here are a few examples from 2012*:

• 23 weeks, 4 days:
  Request by Don Patterson of the News & Record for something identified as "Landport project."
• 24 weeks, 2 days:
  Request by blogger Kieth Brown, also for "Landport project."
• 39 weeks, 2 days:
  Request by William Hill for "Law enforcement/off duty arrests."
• 4 weeks, 1 day:
  Request by this blogger for "Emails that reference phone conversation with mayor."
• 8 weeks, 1 day:
  Request by George Hartzman for "Water/Sewer trust fund."
• 12 weeks, 2 days:
  Request by Ben Holder for "James Hinson info, directives, voicemails, etc."
• 2 weeks, 1 day:
  A request by Travis Fain of the News & Record for "Jordan Lake Rules request."
• 13 weeks, 3 days:
  A request by "D. Unknown" for "Latin Kings email search."
• 4 weeks, 4 days:
  A request by Yes! Weekly's Eric Ginsberg for "Police officer information."
• 4 weeks, 2 days:
  A request by James Gibson for "Occupy Greensboro."

Keep in mind, as I know from experience, these are the periods until the city closed the request, which does not always mean it was fulfilled. If the City determines that they have given you all the information they are going to give you, even if it is incomplete, a request will be marked closed.


* The quoted descriptions of these requests are as the City reported them, not as they were worded by the requester.

Do you know what the City of Greensboro needs?

GREENSBORO, NC — Thinking a little about yesterday's question for incumbent city council members of what they can say he or she has specifically done to increase local government transparency and public access, I asked myself what would I do. Here's what I came up with, and I offer it as a head start for sitting council representatives who may want to have a good answer to my question during next year's elections.

The City of Greensboro needs an ombudsman.

The ombudsman will be a citizens' advocate employed by the taxpayers, working in city hall with great independence from but intricate familiarity with and access to city government; someone whose job it is to navigate the bureaucracy on behalf of citizens whose needs and interests may have some friction with other city employees or elected officials or who otherwise find themselves dissatisfied with the city's response to them through normal channels.

The ombudsman would have two primary areas of focus:

Records Requests

The ombudsman would:

1. Be a single point of contact for all records requests — stay on top of them, make sure they get to the right people, are explained precisely with regular reminders to city employees of what the law demands of those in possession of requested records.
2. Monitor records requests for timely and complete fulfillment.
3. Instruct and guide city staff when responses to records requests are deficient.
4. Advocate for citizens when records are delayed or denied. He or she would know the law, maybe even be a lawyer, so that he or she can make cogent appeals for the release of records denied by the legal departments. 
5. Escalate denied, delayed or inadequately completed requests to City Council, where he or she would advocate for citizens' requests on behalf of the citizens at public meetings as agenda items on which council can make formal and authoritative decisions.

Unsatisfied Citizens

The ombudsman would:

1. Be a resource for dissatisfied citizens who are unable to get adequate resolution to their questions or problems with city government through normal channels.
2. Be an independent evaluator of the City's responses to unsatisfied customers; to encourage and advocate for a more satisfactory response from the City on behalf of citizens.
3. If, in consultation with the citizen, they determine there is some specific action the city could take that staff cannot or will not authorize, bring the issue before City Council, where he or she would advocate for the citizen on behalf of the citizen at public meetings as an agenda item.

The ombudsman would be the primary person responsible for records requests and a backstop for other types of complaints and frustration. Let the city's customer service and departmental employees continue to handle problems and complaints to the best of their abilities, but for the most difficult and seemingly unsolvable customer problems, the ombudsman would be there to take the side of the people and work on their behalf.

That's my idea.

City of Greensboro records request failure

GREENSBORO, NC -- I made a records request of the City of Greensboro on November 7th. I just learned it was forwarded to the employees in possession of the records on December 6th.

I seem to be unable to convince City Manager Denise Turner that she has a problem, or she seems unable or unwilling to fix it, so I'm taking it to her bosses. Come next year's elections, my first criteria for supporting any incumbent candidate, my question at candidate forums and to the candidates directly for publication will be:

What steps have you taken to increase government transparency and improve the public's access to city records? Be specific.

New council representative Wilkins' first order of business: crumble like a cookie

[UPDATE: Wilkins says he took down his blog on the advice of a "political consultant."]

GREENSBORO, NC -- Tony Wilkins was sworn in to City Council yesterday as a replacement for the departing district five representative Trudy Wade. Tony then promptly proceeded to delete his blog.

That's pretty craven... and dumb.

I endorsed Tony partially based on the fact that he was a blogger. When council members started to question his character during the nominating process for some of his blog posts, councilor Nancy Vaughan came to his defense and said that the fact Tony kept his blog up despite the heat showed his character.

Once he was officially ensconced though, he took it down and made fools of both of us. And it was a dumb thing to do, because his blog is archived here, so he hasn't accomplished anything other than quickly causing us to question his wisdom. Maybe I should have known better.

(Thanks to Sam Hieb for bringing our attention to the missing blog.)

Is Greensboro preparing to block media coverage of mass Fourth Amendment violations?

GREENSBORO, NC -- The City of Greensboro announced in a Friday afternoon press release that city inspectors and police officers will be conducting a mass "room-by-room" search of all 177 units of Heritage House apartment complex beginning on Monday, tomorrow.

Constitutional Prohibitions
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as city ordinance require that tenants — not their landlords, but the occupying tenants — give their explicit permission before government officials and police can enter their homes for these kinds of searches (even if they are called inspections) or that the inspectors have a warrant. The City said in its press release that this action is in response to a petition by the building's residents, but they did not provide the wording of the petition or the names or the number of residents who signed it. A petition from your neighbors does not give the government permission to enter your home — not without your permission or a warrant.

I have asked the City for copies of records of each tenant's authorization and for any warrants issued authorizing these inspections as well as for a copy of the petition. Absent explicit permission from the tenants of any given home or a warrant, it would be illegal for the City to enter, no matter how many neighbors requested it, as it should be in a country where citizens are safeguarded by the Fourth Amendment.

Media Blackout
While the City has sent out a press release inviting media to cover the raid and announcing that city officials will be available for interviews, they also have announced that the media will be confined to a staging area and no media will be allowed inside the complex where the searches will be occurring, assuring that the actions of inspectors and police will remain hidden from public scrutiny. What will the response of the inspectors and police be if they encounter a locked door, a hesitant tenant or a tenant ignorant of her rights? Due to the media blackout, we will not know. What will the response of the police be if they discover other illegal activity unrelated to building codes?

The City said the media blackout is necessary "for safety reasons" and, ironically, "to protect the privacy of the residents." At the very least, a pool reporter and camera person, chosen by the reporters present, should be allowed inside the complex to monitor this unprecedented undertaking. (Pool reporters then share their notes and recordings with the other reporters by mutual agreement.) Alternately, since this raid is scheduled over three days, reporters could rotate in and out.

Elected Officials' Responsibilities
Two more people inside the building at any given time should not cause a safety concern and reporters can stay in the hallways while residents decide for themselves whether they mind reporters accompanying the government officials entering their homes. Failure to allow even this minimal degree of oversight would be an alarming warning to our elected officials that something is wrong and that their intervention is required.

Actually, our city council has two responsibilities here. One is to intervene if media will not be permitted to cover the actual undertakings of the inspectors and police inside the building, but first and foremost is to assure that these inspections are being conducted legally and with respect for the rights of our city's citizens in the first place.

WGHP reports City's assertions of cause for arrested man's hospitalization unchecked

UPDATE: (7:27 P.M.) In a fine example of a prompt and direct response, WGHP has replied that the assertion had not been substantiated beyond the police press release and they have updated their story to reflect that.

GREENSBORO, NC -- After an alleged struggle with Greensboro police that sent a man to the hospital, the police department issued a press release that attribute to unnamed "medical officials" a determination that the man had a preexisting condition that contributed to his need for hospitalization. This is how they put it:

Zenon San Martn Ramirez, 52, is in Moses Cone Hospital following surgery after EMS personnel determined he had dangerously low blood pressure when treating him for an abrasion to the face he received while resisting arrest. Upon arrival at the hospital, medical officials discovered Ramirez was suffering from a pre-existing [sic] medical condition that may have been aggravated by the encounter.  [Emphasis added.]

WGHP then regurgitated the assertion of a preexisting condition word-for-word:

Ramirez was taken to Moses Cone Hospital and medical officials said he was suffering from a pre-existing [sic] medical condition that may have been aggravated by the struggle. [Emphasis added.]

Did "medical officials" say this to WGHP? Or did a Greensboro Police Department employee write in a press release that medical officials said that and did WGHP just copy and paste third-hand unattributed information into their story without actually substantiating it? I've asked WGHP to comment and will update this post when I hear from them.

 

Lack of leadership, Mr. Mayor? Anybody seen my hip boots?

GREENSBORO, NC -- Sam Hieb notices that Mayor Robbie Perkins is wagging his finger at his city council colleagues for what he perceives to be "a lack of leadership" on the proposed performing arts center.

Under the current proposal, $20 million of the $60 million projected total cost of the center is supposed to come from private donations, an amount backers say they have already met in pledges, but which they refuse to document in any fashion, such as the obvious — a list of donors.

The only leadership I've seen from city council on this matter has come from council persons Zack Matheny and Nancy Vaughan who refuse to dance the Ol' Greensboro Okee Doke™ and have insisted on some kind of substantiation or guarantee that the $20 million backers say they have really is in place. That's leadership.

If Mayor Perkins wishes to lead on this issue, as Vaughan and Matheny are, he will persuade the project manager for the performing arts center project, his former campaign manager, to provide some verifiable documentation that the project backers do, in fact, have $20 million lined up for the project. Otherwise, he can dance the Ol' Greensboro Okee Doke™ without us, thank you very much.

News & Record editorial dances the Ol' Greensboro Okee Doke™

GREENSBORO, NC -- Fast on the heels of complimenting the News & Record for not falling for some press release baloney, I am reminded by George Hartzman that the local daily still has a long way to go in tuning their B.S. meter.

George points to this claim from an unsigned (how quaint) editorial at the News & Record regarding funding for a proposed performing arts center in Greensboro:

"They have private pledges totaling $20 million."

That has come nowhere near being substantiated to any thinking person's satisfaction. It is an undocumented assertion.

In fact, the task force pushing the project has refused to identify any donors or otherwise provide any substantiation to their claims that they have $20 million to contribute to this project — as reported in the News & Record.

The anonymous writer(s?) of the editorial are trying to lead Greensboro in a whirl of the Ol' Greensboro Okee Doke™ and we're not going to dance along, thank you.

Kudos to the N&R

UPDATE: For some inexplicable reason, four hours after this blog post, the News & Record changed their headline to match the original deficiencies of its competitors now identifying the man who was a city employee at the time of the alleged crime as an "Ex-city employee."

WGHP MyFox8 changed their headline to "Summerfield man accused of exposing himself at Target." [end update]

GREENSBORO, NC -- It's a small thing, but an important thing, and amid the landslide of things going wrong at the local daily, it's good to find some glimmer of hope that someone at the News & Record still understands the fundamental importance of journalism: reporting an accurate portrayal of the truth.

Yesterday, a Greensboro city employee with the Parks & Recreation Department's cemetery crew was arrested for allegedly exposing himself. He was an employee when the events allegedly occurred, however, he resigned, according to the city, "immediately prior to his arrest."

This allowed the city to issue a press release that announced, "Former City Employee Arrested for Indecent Exposure" (emphasis added), which makes it sound like some guy who used to work for the city was arrested for indecent exposure, which has much different implications than what really happened which is that the guy was arrested for acts allegedly committed while he was an employee of the city.

Other news outlets dutifully regurgitated the City's headline.

"Former City of Greensboro Employee Arrested for Indecent Exposure," parroted the headline to a story at MyFox8.com (above) that has since been removed.

WFMY did nearly the same thing (below): "Former City Employee Charged With Exposure,"

The News & Record, however, saw through the City's attempt to manipulate the message and accurately reported, "City worker charged with exposing self to child, 2 others at Target."

This is one of the fundamental responsibilities of journalists: filter through the bull that accompanies the self-interested pronouncements of authorities and the powerful. I wish the N&R had more of an appetite for it. They could set themselves apart if they did this more often, but good for them for getting it right on this one.

Conservative values win

This is why I'm an independent unaffiliated voter. Today, in Washington state, it has became legal to smoke marijuana and for gay couples to get married, fulfilling the promises of the conservative ideals of states' rights, personal self-determination and limited government.

Tony Wilkins for Greensboro city council

GREENSBORO, NC -- With current district five city council representative Trudy Wade heading off to Raleigh as a newly elected state senator, the remaining city councilors must choose someone to fill her seat.

I don't know the other candidates who have nominated themselves to replace Wade, but I think nominee Tony Wilkins would be a good choice to replace her. Here's why:

Similar to Wade
Tony aligns with Wade politically. He's not a replica, but similar. It would be unfair to the citizens of district 5 for council to try to shift its composition significantly by selecting someone very dissimilar from the departing Wade. 2013 will bring an opportunity soon enough for voters to elect someone else if the council's choice is unsuitable to district five voters, until then, council should respect the last known preference of those voters: A mainstream conservative.

He's engaged.
Tony has experience serving on the War Memorial Commission, as executive director of the county Republican Party and as an active campaigner on behalf of others. He's politically engaged, aware and not likely to get buffaloed because of naivete.

He Blogs
Well, a little... lately. He used to much more and it is my hope he will resume if he's appointed. He has probably stopped because he's under consideration for this open seat, which is not admirable but probably practical. As a blogger, he knows the value blogs can contribute to the information stream as well as what it is like to be on the uninformed side of government secrecy. Those are insights we hope he'll not forget if appointed.

He is a business person, but not a developer
Like Wade (a veterinarian), Tony owns his own business (Furniture Connections) which he has operated for the past 30 years. I think business experience is helpful, although not required, for elected officials. It gives them a certain kind of insight and, unlike developers, retail business owners do not think that economic development means cut, plow and build.

I've also had lunch with Tony a couple of times. I respect a man with a hearty appetite and culinary curiosity, but I have even greater respect for a man who has an interest in sitting down and talking with someone with whom he knows he has some significant disagreement. To be able to do so cordially and to maintain mutual respect throughout is a sign of maturity that is appropriate for city council. He'd serve us well.

A big, slow, dumb hippopotamus sitting on our chest

GREENSBORO, NC -- A big problem with this town? Entrenched institutionalized mediocrity and incompetence suffocating innovation and new ideas. (Another problem, the people who think it's only polite to defend it. "It may be a big, slow, dumb hippopotamus, but it's our big, slow, dumb hippopotamus and it's rude to point."

The following post was originally published on October, 24, 2008. In light of the News & Record's new website fiasco, it could have been written again today. Hippopotamuses are hard to move.
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News & Record history online goes "poof"
October 24, 2008

This morning I was trying to research some of the media coverage of the events surrounding stripping former Greensboro Police Chief David Wray of his authority and his subsequent resignation. I am frustrated and disappointed to find that search result links to News & Record articles lead to page after page of broken links: "Page not found. We're sorry, but the page you've requested does not exist."

This blog post by News & Record editor John Robinson about the N&R's reporting of the Wray affair has seven links to what the editor purports to be relevant News & Record articles. Each one is broken.

The local newspaper should serve as an historical record. It doesn't. It sucks. The whole enterprise should be gutted, torn down and rebuilt from the ground up with the goal of some modicum of competence; or someone should start a new media enterprise to replace the N&R. That could probably be done for a quarter of the rumored sale price of the N&R and without the drain of a legacy culture and financial overhead that weigh like an anchor of perpetual incompetence around the neck of the N&R.

Newspaper editor on website fiasco: "My soup's cold."

GREENSBORO, NC --

Reviews have not been good. The paper takes a beating all week about its functionality-challenged website and in his Sunday column editor Jeff Gauger writes about cold soup. During the Amendment One debate he wrote about blue yard signs. Right before the election he wrote about grits.
-- Sam Hieb

Sam is right, since arriving from Ohio this spring, News & Record editor Jeff Gauger's hokum has been an insult to the people of Greensboro. We are a city of five institutions of higher learning, two of them historically black, of inspiring participation in the civil rights movement and of national renown for our blogging and citizens media. Quaker influences still resonate as we stake a claim to a progressiveness that separates us from most of the rest of North Carolina. Our economic history is of a city built on a triumvirate of tobacco, textiles and furniture powerhouses and the subsequent challenges of having that base disintegrate in quick order by globalization. Our present is about us keeping our heads above water while we remain ever hopeful of revitalization. That's Greensboro.

Grits, Duke blue v. Carolina blue and our soup not hot enough for his liking? Gauger sounds like he's writing to his meemaw back in Akron while passing through, not to the people of his new hometown of whom he has apparently yet to gain any significant understanding, insight or respect.

skeuomorphs

In product design, the simplest thought exercise is to make additions. It’s the easiest way to make an Old Thing feel like a New Thing. The more difficult exercise is to reconsider the product in the context of now. A now which may be very different from the then in which the product was originally conceived.
-- Craig Mod, in his essay Subcompact Publishing

Skeuomorph [skyoo-uh-mawrf] — a design element of a product that imitates design elements that were functionally necessary in the original product design, but which have become ornamental in the new design.

It's hard to let go of skeuomorphs, they're cozy and familiar, and sometimes they are intentionally maintained, as Steve Jobs was apparently fond of for iPhone designs. But there are some really interesting things happening out there by people who are eschewing old things and thinking completely "in the context of now."

 The News & Record's new website design utilizes a lot of skeuomorphs. Do they enhance the user experience or are they the product of legacy thinking layered on an old thing to make it feel like a new thing? Do these leftovers from newspaper design help or a hinder the use of the site?

• A masthead 
• Columns (layout, not written pieces, although those too, perhaps).
• Sections
• A division between writers and readers
• Galleries
• Editions

I wonder what the News & Record would look like on the internet if they stopped thinking about putting the "paper" online and asked themselves what is the most interesting and valuable digital product their resources are capable of producing.