Index of 2012 Macon County Commissioner Meetings

It's been both fun and tortuous covering the meetings of the Macon County Commissioners. Fun because I'm a political junkie and tortuous because I've had a lot of technical challenges. I hope to do a better and more consistent job of it in 2013. Here is the index of the meetings of the Macon County Commissioners that I covered this year in reverse chronological order. Macon County Commissioners 12-11-2012 Macon County Commissioners...

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A Christmas Message from the Moon

At the end of a turbulent 1968, the first manned mission to orbit the moon sent back a message on Christmas Eve that is still a good message for people to reflect upon today, 44 years later. Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts; Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television...

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Who Does the US Constitution Apply To?

I think most people entirely miss the point when they discuss what rights we have or don't have in our Republic, the United States of America. The recent debate on gun rights is proceeding under the assumption that the federal government has the right to put restrictions on the citizens as to what type of firearm they can own and what they cannot, and whether or not it is to be registered, or if certain types can be banned. The federal government...

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The Old Man and The Sea

Here is a classic piece of literature that has made the transition to film very well. If you've never read the original, you can read the full text at Classic English Literature Notes. For a gloss of the story and background on the author, check out Wikipedia. The Old Man and the Sea is a 1999 paint-on-glass-animated short film directed by Aleksandr Petrov, based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film won many awards,...

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Alternatives to Instagram

Instagram just set off a bomb inside its new privacy policy and terms of service. New wording essentially makes it possible to turn people’s photos posted after Jan. 16 using Instagram into advertisements. In other words, that sutro-toned picture of your beloved Lhasa apso freshly coiffed after her grooming might well become an ad for Classy Canine Dog Salon. Source: Forbes||Did You Really Think Facebook Wouldn't Turn Your Instagram Photos...

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Music Monday: A Three Tenors Christmas Concert

The Christmas Season is a lovely time of year for lovers of music. In this week's installment of Music Monday, I'm sharing a recording of a Christmas Concert that took place in Vienna Austria in 1999. I hope you enjoy it. Recorded live at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, on December 23, 1999, the three most popular male vocalists in contemporary opera - Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras. Track Listing: 1. White Christmas 2....

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Facebook Suffers Service Disruption: (alternatives to use when it goes down)

There has been a widespread service disruption this morning on Facebook. I've been accessing the site via the Mobile log in, but have seen very little activity from other local people, so I'm guessing they don't know about the alternative method for using the social media website. As a reminder for local people, I run a local news page called Macon Media (click here to see it) on Google Plus that mirrors the content I put on my two local...

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Collectiques in Oil

A digital painting of the exterior of a shop (website) in downtown Franklin, NC. ...

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Dr. Rhett Jackson to Speak to the Macon County League of Women Voters on Thursday

The Macon County League of Women Voters will be hosting a program by the Coweeta Listening Project focusing on applicable information on the links between land use and ecosystem health and on developing effective collaboration between the community and the institution. Dr. Rhett Jackson, Professor of Hydrology at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, will speak and lead the conversation. Please follow...

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Macon County Commissioners 12-11-2012

The Macon County Commissioners are meeting tonight at 6pm in the county courthouse. I will be there to provide a nearly live play by play on Macon Media Google Plus Account. The agenda and meeting minutes from the last meeting are below. I will try to have the video embedded on the article by sometime tomorrow afternoon. 12.11.12 BOC Agenda Packet 11.20.12 Board Minutes ...

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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Essential Value of a Classic Education

Dean Brenzel, Philosopher, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University, argues that not only can reading the great classics like Plato's Republic and Dante's Inferno enrich your education, it can actually make your life better. Pointing out that we can't possibly read all of the books in the world, Brenzel makes a case for reading the right books the right way in order to get the most intellectual bang for your reading buck. Which books...

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IBM Demonstrates Feasibility of Silicon Nanophotonics for Chip Manufacturing

IBM has announced that it is ready to mass produce a new class of computer chips that utilize both copper and optic fiber routing of information on the same computer chip. A single CMOS-based nanophotonic transceiver is capable of converting data between electric and optical with virtually no latency, handling a data connection of more than 25 gigabits per second. Depending on the application, hundreds of transceivers could be integrated into a...

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Franklin TDA 12-10-2012 Meeting Agenda

The Franklin Tourism Development Authority will be meeting tonight at 5:30 in the Town Hall (enter through the lower level). I will be there to video the meeting and provide a nearly live play by play on Google Plus. Also, please note that there are two vacancies on the TDA Board. You can pick up an application at the Town Hall or download a PDF Application. I've re-written an agenda from the embedded agenda below: AGENDA MONDAY...

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Black Marble added to Google Maps

Google Earth has added the recently released Earth at Night 2012 to Google Maps and you can explore the imagery to see how your area looks at night. The above photo is of the area where I live, with my residence marked with a red marker. The photo below is an annotated version of that with the major cities labelled. Check it out for yourself at Google Maps. Source: Google Maps **update**  More info, including the KML File, is available...

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This Week in Tech #383: Mennonite Madness

Here is TWIT-TV's weekly show that discusses the week in tech... Hosts: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Jolie O'Dell, and John C. Dvorak. Tim Cook talks, G4 Esquire, assassins everywhere, Ingress data mine, badge lust, and more. Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/twit. Running time:: 2:08:49...

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Music Monday: Richard Arnell Symphony No. 3 "The New Age"

Here is a piece of music that I haven't heard in a long time, Richard Arnell's "Sympnony No 3 The New Age." Composer: Website  Wikipedia Works CD Universe  Works on Amazon The Conductor: Website  Wikipedia The Orchestra: Facebook  Youtube Wikipedia From the video description: Conducted by Martin Yates with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Painting Info - "Emperor at Dusk" by ~ChaoyuanXu on deviantart....

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Decay (2012) - The LHC Zombie Movie

A Zombie Film shot by students at the Large Hadron Collider . How awesome is that? From the video description: Decay is a 75 minute zombie film, shot and set at the Large Hadron Collider, CERN, by physics PhD students. www.DecayFilm.com CC-BY-NC Trapped underground at the world's largest particle accelerator, a group of students make a deadly discovery. Twitter: www.twitter.com/DecayFilm @Decay Film Facebook: www.facebook.com/DecayFilm ...

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Macon County Commissioners 12-11-2012 Agenda Packet

Here is the agenda packet for the December 2012 regular meeting of the Macon County Commissioners... DECEMBER 11, 2012AGENDA1. Call to order and welcome by Chairman Corbin 2. Announcements 3. Moment of Silence 4. Pledge of Allegiance 5. Public Hearing(s) – Macon County Transit – Kim Angel, Director     (A) Section 5310 – Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Program Grant Application     (B) Macon County Community...

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Remembering Pearl Harbor 71 Years Later

Seventy One Years ago today, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Four years later, the bulk of the Japanese Imperial Navy was on the bottom of the ocean and Japan lay in ruins. May we never forget the men and women who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and may we never forget to honor those who answered the call to go to war in the aftermath. We owe them a debt that can never be repaid, we can only be grateful for their...

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The Earth at Night in 3D

Here is a 3D version of the earth at night. Please use your red/blue glasses to see the earth spin in 3D. **note** I am currently trying to fix some issues with this blog, so things may randomly change during the day today. ...

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Macon County Commissioners 12-03-2012 The New Board is Seated

The Macon County Commissioners met on December 3, 2012 and, pursuant to state law, the re-elected and newly elected commissioners were sworn by Judge Downs, elected a chairman and vice chairman of the board and set it's regular meeting schedule for the coming year. Here is the full video of the meeting, ably recorded for me by Bill Vernon. I would like to thank him for stepping in for me. Macon County Manager Jack Horton chaired the meeting...

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Franklin Aldermen 12-03-2012

**10.20pm** The video of tonight's meeting of the town board is now available: The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen are meeting tonight at 7pm in the town hall. I have embedded the agenda packet at the bottom of this article and will be posting a nearly live play by play on Google Plus (GPLUS LINK) and will embed the video as soon after the meeting as I can. Agenda Packet 12-3-12 ...

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This Week in Tech #382: The Pump and Dump

Third world cloud, PR $, Chromebook push, fly-touch, vacuum-packed gadgets, and more. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Tim Stevens, Mike Elgan, and John C. Dvorak. Running time: 1:59:06 See the show page for more information. ...

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Macon County Commissioners Meeting Agenda for 12-03-2012

The Macon County Commissioners will be meeting tonight at 6pm to swear in the newly elected and re-elected commissioners and conduct a little business. I have posted the agenda and the preliminary meeting schedule for 2013 in this article for your convenience. Since the monthly meeting of the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen is beginning an hour later, I'll have to miss this meeting unless I can find someone to babysit a spare video camera for...

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2012 Granite Falls NC Christmas Parade A Homegrown TV Video

2012 Granite Falls NC Christmas parade from Homegrown Television on Vimeo. Here is video of the Granite Falls Christmas Parade as only Homegrown TV can bring it to you! To see more videos from HGTV, check out their pages on Vimeo and Facebook....

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The No Words Cooking Show Episode One: Potato, Onion and Eggs

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