Google Wave Has a Big Fan

Jeff Jarvis likes what he sees in Google's latest invention to dominate the internet world.  He likes it a lot.

Wave takes this to the next level. It combines the notions of a process as people add and subtract and update; it has the benefit of a wiki - a snapshot of current knowledge; it can be live; it can feed a blog page with the latest; it can feed Twitter with updates; it is itself the collaborative tool that lets participants question each other.

Wave isn’t just the email we’d invent if email were invented today, as was Google’s goal. Wave is what news can be if we invent it today, as we must.

Wave is the new news. 

It does look cool and, like most things Google, they tend to do it right and do it free.  Here's the "What is Wave?" info and the signup sheet (yeah, it's not available just yet.)

Another Reason Why Health Care Costs Are Out of Control

God knows there are a raft of reasons why health care costs in the US are so high.  The New Yorker's Atul Gawande, though, takes a look at perhaps one of the biggest ones -- doctors lining their pockets at Medicare's expense.  "The Cost Conundrum" is a visit to McAllen, TX, one of the nations most expensive health-care market.

In 2006, Medicare spent fifteen thousand dollars per enrollee here, almost twice the national average. The income per capita is twelve thousand dollars. In other words, Medicare spends three thousand dollars more per person here than the average person earns.

It's a relatively long read, but well worth it.  The short version? Mayo Clinic way, good. McAllen, very bad.

Even the NRA Is Getting Tired of Governor Gibbons

The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action is emailing Nevada members regarding Governor Jim Gibbons' veto of AB246.  Titled "Governor Vetoes Apprentice Hunting Bill. Your Support is Needed to Help Override the Governor's Veto,"  the missive can't quite understand the Gov's reasons.

AB 246 passed the Assembly on May 15 by an overwhelming vote of 38 to 2 with 2 absent and passed the Senate on May 22 by a unanimous vote of 21 to 0. Even with the overwhelming support by the Assembly and the Senate the Governor still decided to veto this important legislation to help preserve Nevada's hunting heritage.

It looks like Nevada's Assembly has overidden the veto this afternoon.  It's now with the State Senate.

New Haven Newspaper Outsources Coverage to India

The New Haven Advocate recently decided to take a page from Pasadena Now and outsource some stories to India.  Theirs, however, was only a one-time experiment.  The end result?

Call us old-school, but we think good, old-fashioned shoe-leather journalism is worth the price. Outsourcing could certainly fill pages, probably very cheaply, but what's lost is the very essence of local newspapers: presence. At city hall, the local music club or out on the street talking up average folks, presence is what sets local newspapers (dinosaurs though they are sometimes) apart, and what outsourced news could never replace. But don't take our word for it. Have a read and decide for yourself.

The sex columnist was pretty funny though.

A Lazy Postman, Newspaper Problems, Jose Canseco and Daisy Redux

I guess there is always the chance the postman video, Special Delivery, was staged, but it looks real and, besides, who hasn't received a package from them that makes this seem plausible.

• Reason #7,654 why you should use FedEx or UPS instead of USPS (Flickr video).
• Another problem for troubled newspaper business. When you're bailed out by someone, they might just start asking for editorial changes too.
• With another pair of MLB sluggers falling under the steroid cloud, ever wonder what the original whistle-blower and admitted juicer Jose Canseco is doing nowadays (well, besides sporting a smug "I told you guys so" smile)?  He's fighting a 7' 2" South Korean mixed martial arts guy in Japan tonight.
• Not as powerful as the original "Daisy," but they're trying.

Vegas Number Nine for Worst Credit Card Debt

At least Nevada isn't number one for once.

Forbes ran some numbers on what cities had the worst credit card debt to income ratio and, surprisingly, Nevada only logged one in the Top 20.  Las Vegas was ninth with an average household credit card debt of $8,628.78 (or 15.14% of average household income).  Cities in Florida, California and Ohio fared the worst, with Miami taking top honors with an average $9,797.38 debt for a whopping 22.61% of income.

Of course, when it comes to underwater mortgage debt, the same magazine finds a pair of Silver State cities in the Top 10.  Reno/Sparks is No. 8 and Vegas No. 4.

The Snuggie Really Is Infomercial Junk

Everyone makes fun of the Snuggie, but is it really a piece of junk?

Yes, according to Consumer Reports.

Male Strippers and Hookers Trump Politics at RGJ.com

It's kind of sad that on a day Anjeanette Damon is seriously doing a kick-ass job blogging Nevada's legislative showdown, her employer, the Reno Gazette Journal, decided to have "Ask a Male Stripper" and the ubiquitous Metromix T&A pics (in this case, the Stiletto Bordello party) above the fold on their website.

Granted, while we're awfully fond of Holly, Ali, Kate, et al. and their red-light stylings, would it have been that difficult for the RGJ to put Damon's breaking posts front and center?  After all, isn't that what newspapers brag about providing so much better than anyone else -- real news, not Maxim-esque pictorials.

Was Todd Taxpayer Shut Down By Cease and Desist Order?

You probably don't remember Todd Taxpayer, but he started LowerNevadaTaxes.com and made brief splash earlier this year.  I had forgotten about him until reading Thomas Mitchell's blog over at the Las Vegas Review-Journal (he's the editor).  Apparently Todd's had to shut it down, as it now redirects to the state legislature site.

"I’m told he was served with a cease and desist order Thursday. Being a young, ordinary family man who can’t afford to pay lawyers and sit in depositions the rest of his natural life, he ceased and desisted," writes Mitchell.

At this time there doesn't seem to be any other info on this out there but, if true, what kind of reason could be used for the cease and desist?  Bad mouthing politicians?

Curveballs, Cupcakes, Credit Card Psych and Eric Odom

I figured I clear out my bookmarks again and do one of those lazy bullet posts.  That said, there are some interesting tidbits to be gleaned or, in the case of the curveball, just some cool stuff to look at.

• If you ever wondered why hitting a curveball was so hard, take a look at this illusion.
• I wonder if Reno's Batch Cupcakery has thought of going mobile like these guys (or these)?
• The NYT had an interesting article on how collectors use psychology to, well, better collect.  But the best part about the story was how a guy, J.P. Martin, with Canadian Tire figured out if a customer was a good or bad risk simply by looking at what they used their card to buy.  Booze and "Mega Thruster Exhaust Systems" bad; furniture felt pads and premium birdseed good.
• Remember former Reno conservative activist Eric Odom (some past stories here and here)?  Apparently he's changing the Don't Go Movement to the American Liberty Alliance.
  

A Local Online News Site That's Working Now

While everybody is wondering how newspapers are going to survive going digital, here is an example of a little paper (well, website) that is doing it now.  David Boraks describes how he is successfully providing local news for a community shunned by the usual media outlets.  Granted, it is a small town (pop. 9,000) in North Carolina, but DavidsonNews.net shows that it can work.  It's even generating some revenue.

Bob Conrad's Reno Bystander Effect Story Is, Sadly, Painfully Right

Bob Conrad over at The Good, The Bad and The Spin just ran a series of posts on The Bystander Effect with the provocative subtitle "Why Reno's Free Speech Champions Don't Have Your Back."  And, like a good storyteller, he spread the article out over four days. That would be very important, at least in my case, in how it played out and my daily reaction.

His first post hit Friday and was an explanation of the unfortunate phenomenon of The Bystander Effect, where crowds essentially do nothing when action is needed.  With that tidbit, and the post title itself, it left the reader to wonder what would come next.  Would it be Reno war protesters, politicians, or something of that ilk?

Saturday arrived and the reveal was the story would be about the Terri Patraw vs. Ryan Jerz battle, where the former UNR soccer coach threatened legal action against the MrJerz.org blogger if he didn't remove some posts about her that she didn't particularly care for.  In the end, Jerz lost his site host, when Joyent said they didn't want to fight for him, and ultimately removed the posts to avoid a pile of legal fees.  Reading that round-up again prompted a "Damn straight, he got shafted!" response.  Apparently I had forgotten the prior day's set-up.

Sunday arrived and part three raced out the gate with "The public response to Ryan Jerz’s situation, despite it being well known and well documented in the Reno area, was little to none."  Again, I nodded in agreement and thought "That was a travesty."  A sentence later, Conrad wrote "But nobody – journalist, blogger or any number of free-speech activists – publicly came to Jerz’s aid."  I started a knowing nod again, but then suddenly realized "Hey, I'm a blogger."  Had I done nothing?  Impossible.

So I quickly went to my site and ran a search for "Patraw," certain it would pull up at least three or four posts.  Nada.  Not a single story.  Thinking perhaps I just went with "Jerz" I did another search.  Quite a few stories but, except for this lame mention near the end of this recent Cash4Gold post, nothing in 2008 regarding his problems with Patraw.  Then I started searching post by post through the spring and summer of last year, hoping beyond hope I had had the guts to actually say something.

Finally, I found it in an April 29th post.

I hadn't.

Oh, I used "Cyber Bullies" in the title, but it was one of those "bullet" posts where you just combine a couple various topics into one lazy article.  In this case it shared space with a "stupid California laws" link and a couple observations on the neverending 2008 presidential election.

This was the extent of my defense for Jerz.  A lead sentence and one bullet:

Cyber bullying isn't just posting gossip on Juicy Campus, it can also involve blowhard lawyers threatening the little guy.

• How to close down a blogger -- The local version of the flipside to cyber bullying. We would mention names, but not sure how strong Google fights lame DMCA threats.

I didn't even have the stones to name names.  Not even Ryan's.

Needless to say, suddenly I wasn't so eagerly awaiting the final posting in the series.  In it, Conrad talks to Jerz and reading it now is uncomfortable.  I mean, up until Sunday night I would have swore on a stack of bibles a mile high I was out there publicly making a stink about what was happening.  But I wasn't.

I think your mind sometimes plays tricks with you as far as history goes.  I clearly remember emailing Jerz in support and even launched an ill-fated plan where I would eventually convince Patraw that attacking a blog wasn't the way to go (it didn't work, as the only real result was a snippet of a line I had written her ended up on one of her sites as coming from a "supporter").  But publicly, I was pretty much a bystander.

Apparently Even Heidi Gansert Is Getting Sick of Governor Gibbons

It's a given Nevada Democrats can't stand him, but you have to wonder if there are even any Republicans left who would be willing to go on the record saying Governor Jim Gibbons is their guy.  I mean I know some pretty hardcore Republicans, and to the person they are praying he sits out 2010.  Which brings us to another edition of Republicans who are sick of Gibbons.

In the May 7th issue of the Reno News & Review Dennis Myers once again has a pretty good wrap up of the ongoing state budget problems.  And, as always, some of the more juicier tidbits tend to be Republican legislators complaining about Gibbons and his, umm, apparent lack of a work ethic.  These are almost always unattributed, but it's not too difficult to figure out who said the following:

“He’s out there campaigning while …” she shook her head in exasperation without finishing the sentence. She was referring to a tour of the state the governor announced last week. “Do you know how much I get to see my kids?” she asked. “He doesn’t even keep office hours.”

Considering the fact that there are only three GOP women in the Nevada Legislature, and Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury doesn't have children, while state senator Barbara Cegavske's have left the nest (though you probably wouldn't have guessed that from her youthful picture [.pdf]), that just leaves one -- State Assembly Minority Floor Leader, and mother of four, Heidi Gansert.

Cobb Tele-Conference Tonight, But Why the Annoying 712 Area Code?

I like those telephone town hall meetings politicians hold.  Nevada Congressman Dean Heller (NV-2) has run them quite frequently and, while a lot of the questions leave something to be desired, the process is painless and doesn't run up your phone bill (he's calling you).  So, perhaps following in his footsteps, Nevada Assemblyman Ty Cobb (AD-26) is having a Town Hall Tele-Meeting of his own tonight, May 7, from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.

But the rub is, the phone number to participate with (712-432-0075 #471086) not only isn't his district's local number, it's not even a Nevadan number.  It's in Lake Park, Iowa and probably from a firm like Free Conference Call.  They set up in Iowa with a rural telephone company, in this case Great Lakes Communication Corp., offer you the conference call for free and then split the fees the locals stick the national companies with for all the participating incoming calls.  In 2007, AT&T and others started blocking long distance calls to the 712 area code because of these schemes.  USA Today had a nice rundown on the whole mess.

Although there must have been some sort of agreement amongst the telecos, since the story all but disappeared from Google in April 2007, it doesn't change the fact that for Cobb's Reno constituents if they want to participate in his Town Hall they have to do it on their dime, even though they may literally be just down the road from him. 

While I'm sure the person who organized this was probably thinking "Sweet, this isn't going to cost us a thing!" they should have been considering the possibility of annoying voters.  Quite simply, you shouldn't have to pay to call Iowa to talk to your Nevada assemblyman.

Ty Cobb E-mail and Survey Results

About two months ago Assemblyman Ty Cobb (AD-26) sent an email with a survey regarding his job performance (leadership and no taxes stance) and his views on the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository.  Today we have the results and, yes, it's not scientific and is skewed by those who received it in the first place (i.e., people who have signed up to receive email from Cobb), but still is interesting in the fact that contrary to most media reports there are some Nevadans who aren't opposed to the project.

In fact, Cobb's father and a group called Alliance for Nevada's Economic Prosperity have made a $5k TV buy for pro-Yucca ads featuring Nevadans like boxer Joey Gilbert.  You can watch them here.

Here are the current survey results:

1. 78% Overall, how satisfied are you with my leadership this session so far?

2. 82% Do you agree with my no new taxes policy?

3. 89% Are you in support of my bill to open up a dialogue regarding honest answers about Yucca Mountain and consider our options to benefit from the site?

4. 43% Would you prefer to continue fighting the Federal Government to block any additional waste transported to Yucca Mountain to the cost of over $10 million dollars per year?

5. 86% Do you support transforming Yucca Mountain into a reprocessing center with a robust, state of the art high-tech R&D Center and receiving payments from states and/or the federal government?

Disneyland's Best Job Axed

Another sign of the recession or just not as many exhibitionists nowadays?

Apparently the latter.

Disney Parks Stop Scans for Topless Riders (Time)

Charter Customer Service vs. Jack In The Box's Most Dedicated Employee

I've been reading the Consumerist a lot lately and finding some interesting stuff.  Since the folks from Consumer Reports are behind it that's probably not that big of a surprise.  Anyway, here are couple of recent stories from the site and an art project that needs to be seen to believe.

• A Charter customer service rep spills the beans on why the company sucks and how to get around it (well, sort of).
• One hell of a dedicated Jack in the Box employee. Perhaps Charter could use him.
  
• Sara Watson is one hell of an art student.
  

The Ultimate Cell Phone App -- A Shaver

Not even Apple's iPhone can match the, well I'm not sure the actual name or brand of this cell phone (Deal Extreme also sell Samkungs, Noklas and iFones), but it has a "Phillips energy-efficient shaver included for your convenience" attached to the bottom.  All for just $84.50 with free shipping from Hong Kong.

Wolfpack Football to Face My Bruins

When a friend of mine emailed about our Bruin football team signing to play the Wolfpack for a three-game series I wondered why I hadn't heard about it in the Reno market.  Then I looked at the actual details.  The series doesn't start until 2013 and UCLA won't come to UNR until September 17, 2016.  So, in other words, the starting QBs are probably in jr. high right about now.

Renoites Turn Out for Butcher Boy's Buy Local Event

I took our six-year-old to Butcher Boy's first "Buy Local" event and it was officially considered a success before we even stepped foot on the Reno property.  Having told him there would be music there, and under the mistaken impression it would be a radio station, I had asked if he would have the courage to request a song.  While the courage part went unanswered, he did say he wanted Van Halen and, specifically, "Jump."  So as we hiked it over from the Los Tres Hombres parking lot what did we hear floating over the air? Jump!  And from a live band to boot.

Throw in the bounce house, ice cream from Tahoe Creamery and Cold Stone, ChocoRocks and Sunbursts from Kimmie Candy and the chance to eyeball an 11.5 lb. live Maine Lobster (by my calculations, yours for about $230) all for free and it was given an official "thumbs up" from a member of the easily bored kindergarten crowd.

But for those slightly older, there were plenty of other vendors.  Some of the more popular were Buckbean Brewing Company (pouring a lot of Orange Blossom and Black Noddy), Nothing Bundt Cakes and How Do You Take Your Coffee? (their Javaz candy, especially the red ones, were fantastic). 

Even Sam Shad was there, promoting "The Dining Show", though he graciously let me pester him on matters pertaining to his other creation, Nevada NewsMakers.  No surprise, he knows his stuff and had some interesting insight into what's taking place in Carson City now and what 2010 holds.

Overall, attendance seemed high.  The lady handing out Butcher Boy bags said they had to print up more of the poker run forms because of the turnout. Hopefully that translates into local sales as well.

Butcher Boy Buy Local Event This Saturday

Butcher Boy has organized a "buy local" event for this Saturday, May 2, at their Reno and Sparks locations.  Over 60 local businesses will be on hand to offer samples of their wares from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Giveaways, live music, raffles, a vendor poker run and even pig races are on tap for the event.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Some of the vendors slated to attend are BJ's BBQ, Buckbean Brewery, Kimmie Candy, The Purple Bean, Truckee Sourdough, Tahoe Creamery, Burgarello Alarm, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Tahoe Ridge Winery, Wildflower Village and others.

Butcher Boy Prime - Reno
7300 South Virginia St.

Butcher Boy Market - Sparks
1073 N. Rock Blvd.

There Are Some Odd Folks On Those Heller Town Hall Calls

I like the fact that Nevada Congressman Dean Heller does town hall telephone calls.  Some may say it's not the most high-tech way to communicate, but I think it is pretty effective and a lot better than just receiving franking letters a couple times a year from your representative.  That said, I have to wonder about the constituents that end up on these.  I've been on a few of them and they seem to always end up with the same damn questions, most of the wacko variety.  This past Monday it happened again.

About 7 p.m. or so we received an automated call asking if we wanted to participate in a Heller town hall, so I stayed on and entered the queue to ask a question.  But it was like every other time I've participated -- time ran out before I could ask and some of the questions I had to listen to were more of the ilk you'd hear from some bearded dude in a bunker with a year's worth of c-rations at his side.  For every "I've got a social security or mortgage problem" question, for which Heller helpfully referred to his Reno office, there would be a couple of the "Get us out of the U.N.!", "Close our borders now!" or "They're coming to get my guns!" variety. 

However, none of those could top the caller who wanted Heller's opinion on news that Nancy Pelosi plans to tax her 401K earnings at 100% for the sole purpose of giving those dollars to illegal aliens.  You could almost imagine Heller's eyes roll as he had to stumble out a "I haven't heard that."  He should have just sent the nut to Snopes.com where the caller could see this chestnut has been around since 2006 and, whether you like or dislike Pelosi, is obviously false.  (In fact, a person should always run any kind of wild claim or story, whether it's from the internet or some friend of a friend, through Snopes before blindly passing it on as gospel.  Not only will you look a lot smarter, but it will help cut down on needless email forwards too.)

I doubt there is a call list of nutcases out there, if so what's that say about me, so I can only guess that much like most (but not all) political bloggers tend to represent the more extreme partisan views so do the people who when given the opportunity to listen to politics on their phone for a an hour or two say "Cool!" instead of 'click.'  Well, except for present company of course.

Requisite Reno Swine Flu Info and Gibbons Bumble

I almost get the feeling it's more a case of it being a relatively slow news period that is driving the H1N1 flu story than anything else.  That said, some Reno citizens may be catching a little hysteria instead of the virus.

• A Reno Safeway not only had a run on all their hand sanitizer Wednesday but has been wiped out of face masks too.  One customer was actually seen wearing one.
  
• Do you think posts like this from Anjeanette Damon make Joe Heck, Barbara Buckley and any other 2010 Silver State gubernatorial hopeful smile (and Nevadans just shake their head sadly).
• This has to to be one of the more brutal movie reviews this year.  Christy Lemire's opening lines for "Limits of Control" are priceless (and the 405 stunk back in the '80s!).