Monthly Archive for August, 2005

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Panera’s Weird WiFi Filtering

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2005 in Business. 3 Comments

David Sewell writes: “There has been a lot of grumbling about the fact that Panera uses the SonicWALL Internet content filtering service to block access to sites that patrons might deem objectionable. Problem is, it doesn’t just block graphic porn sites: it blocks, for example, sites that SonicWALL categorizes as “Cult/Occult”. These include innocuous sites like the parodic Church of the Subgenius, and freethought sites like the Brights Network and the Universist Movement. On the other hand, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family website is for some unknown reason currently put into “Category 46 – Vehicles”!

If you want to play with checking different sites’ SonicWALL rating: http://www.sonicwall.com/products/cfs.html (form on right-hand side)”

I see that my personal site is a “Usenet News Group,” and that cvillenews.com is, sadly, “Gambling.” In fact, every single site that I checked is wrongly listed. Good for Panera for offering free WiFi. But I could do without the censorware.

CBS-19/ABC-16 Debut Morning Show

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2005 in Meta News. 7 Comments

Branching out from their evening newscasts, new C’ville TV stations CBS-19 and ABC-16 debuted a new morning show last Friday, “Good Morning Charlottesville”. The two-hour long broadcast apparently appears on both networks (I don’t get either station, so I really don’t know). To make the show happen, the staff has to arrive at work in the middle of the night, which is either “torture” or it leaves the anchors “chipper,” depending on who you believe.

The two new stations are trying to chip away NBC-29’s decades-old market share. With the recent addition of Fox, it’s increasingly clear that the Atlanta-based Gray Television is trying to bludgeon NBC into losing market share through sheer number of stations.

Thanks to Jim Winthrope for the tip.

Girl Prevails in Police Collision Case

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2005 in Law and Justice. Closed

In June, the Daily Progress and WINA reported two different versions of the same story — in one, a police officer collided with two cars, while in another, two cars collided with her car. The family of the 17-year-old girl blamed in the accident accused the police of a cover-up, saying that the police officer was at fault. They’ve now been vindicated, as John Yellig reported in the Progress this weekend:

Traffic charges against a Charlottesville teen who crashed into an Albemarle County police cruiser were dismissed Friday, supporting the girl’s assertion that the officer was at fault, her family said.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard A. DeLoria declined to prosecute Alicia Parolisi, 17, on the charge of failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.

[…]

Two other charges, driving outside of restrictions and driving while not licensed, were dismissed at Parolisi’s hearing, which was held in Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Score one for the little guy.

A Sign of Things to Come?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2005 in Development and Transportation. Closed

In the Progress a few days ago, Kate Andrews had the amusing story of a Rt. 66 sign gone awry. Were it not on the wrong side of 250, they could have just covered the thing up for a decade until the sprawl runs clear to Gainesville, making the sign actually useful.

State of the C’ville Water Supply

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2005 in Development. Closed

From the Charlottesville Podcasting Network:

Does Central Virginia have enough water to quench the thirst of everyone who wants to live here? The community pulled together during the drought of 2002 to help conserve water, but will there be enough the next time weather patterns shift to deny rainfall? On the Sunday, August 14th edition of WNRN’s Sunday Morning Wakeup Call, a panel of experts debate plans to increase storage capacity, and the prospects of more pipelines bringing more water in from surrounding communities. Guests include Morgan Butler from the Southern Environmental Law Center, Liz Palmer from the League of Women Voters and John Martin with the Friends of the Moormans River. The governmental perspective comes from Charlottesville Mayor David Brown.

Available as a streaming MP3 or as a downloadable MP3.

By the way, David Hendrick had a nice article in the Daily Progress a few weeks ago about Sean Tubbs’ Charlottesville Podcasting Network that well worth the read for anybody wondering what the heck this thing is.

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