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May 1, 2008

May Day; Nestcams; Local bloggers; Historic '78s as podcasts

May Day: May breakfasts seem to be the last fossilized vestige of a bawdy spring tradition. Maypoles and Mayhem - The Traditions of Mayday at Dark Dorset, "The Official Blog to Dorset's premier website devoted to local folklore,customs, mysteries and the unexplained." Dorset is in Olde Englande, of course.

The sexual symbolism of the maypole and all the immoral revelry that went along with it led the Puritans to out-law the maypole custom in 1644. However, this prohibition was soon repealed after the restoration of Charles II in 1660.

Barn owls in Italy, Tx., were awake and noisy at 3:30 a.m. when I grabbed this screenshot.

It's baby bird season: Nestcams, via the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Current streaming broods include barn owls, Eastern blueblrds, a chimney swift and more.

More nestcams elsewhere.

Local bloggers: Media rebels in the Internet age is Providence Phoenix news editor Ian Donnis's take on the Rhode Island blogosphere. (Ian's own blog is Not for Nothing.)

Politics gets the bulk of it, but Providence Geeks founder Jack Templin (R.I. Nexus) chimes in on the community aspect of it all.

The bottom line (literally) about blogging, from Marc Comtois at the conservative group blog Anchor Rising:

“You have to do it because you love doing it for its own sake. Lots of blogs flame out. People get bored or realize how hard it is. But I think that so long as you are passionate about something — whether politics, music, food or whatever — you will be able to keep it going. Just don’t ever look at it as a way to make money or gain power.”

If you start a blog, don't expect to sleep as much as you used to. I feed this blog in my jammies at 3 a.m., when the world is finally quiet. Feeding the monster never stops.

Live then: The Sound of 78s. Roger Wilmut's podcasts of 22 (so far) old platters. The offbeat collection kicks off with 14 minutes of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Dan Leno and Enrico Caruso and includes, in the September 2007 podcast (mp3), Henry Hall's famous recording of the Teddy Bear's Picnic. .

A monthly podcast featuring 78rpm records from my collection, including music-hall comedians, operatic vocals, spoken word, jazz, dance bands and unusual recordings: available both in a plain audio (MP3) version, and an enhanced (MP4) version with illustrations.

Protoblogger Rebecca Blood started Rebecca's Pocket nine years ago this week. Here's what's leading: Women are socially rewarded at work for being nice; punished for being angry or for negotiating

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That's my conclusion upon reading All Terrain's a discussion of a couple of studies on women in the workplace. First, there's anger. Women who get angry at work tend to be pegged as "angry people", while men are assumed to be responding to external forces. Then there's negotiating at work:

[The study] found that men and women get very different responses when they initiate negotiations. Although it may well be true that women often hurt themselves by not trying to negotiate, this study found that women's reluctance was based on an entirely reasonable and accurate view of how they were likely to be treated if they did. Both men and women were more likely to subtly penalize women who asked for more--the perception was that women who asked for more were "less nice."

There are so many ways to go with this - from work in general, to the current presidential campaign, to the gender disparity in salaries, and the dearth of female CEOs (and speakers at conferences).

None of this is to downplay the effects of actual discrimination: read Dalia Lithwick's enlightening discussion of the recent Supreme Court decision to bar women from filing for discriminatory pay if they complain more than 180 days after their first paycheck.

We told you so: Also from Rebecca, Red light cameras too good for their own good? Some cities rethink devices as drivers pay heed, reducing fine revenue

Dallas lawmakers originally estimated gross revenue of $15 million from their 62 cameras this fiscal year, which ends June 30. But City Manager Mary Suhm estimated last week that the city would fall short by more than $4 million.

So last week, the city turned off about a quarter of the least profitable cameras, saying it couldn’t justify the cost of running them...

...Nor is money the only reason cameras have been removed. In Lubbock, Texas, the City Council shut down all its cameras last month, citing a report that showed statistically significant increases in rear-end collisions at intersections, including those with cameras.

Because they'd rather get rear-ended than get a ticket.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 4:23 AM | Permalink