YouTube - Andrew with ROTC at Ohio State vs Indiana raising the Flag of the United States

Posted via email from Tony Burkhart

Ubuntu 10.10, Maverick Meerkat, Now Available

Ubuntu 10.10, Maverick Meerkat, Now Available

via Slashdot by timothy on 10/10/10

teeks99 writes "The latest version of Ubuntu — 10.10, called Maverick Meerkat — has been released. This release contains new improvements, like an update to the Ubuntu One online service (with music streaming), Shotwell instead of F-Spot, the new Unity interface (for netbooks), and an upgrade to just about every piece of existing software. The announcement e-mail has more details."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Posted via email from Tony Burkhart

Investor couple makes killing on Apple, without owning shares | ITworld

October 8, 2010, 08:27 PM — 

Donnie and Kathy Fulbright of North Carolina will tell you: Real estate is all about location.

Back in the mid-1970s the young couple was shrewd enough to snatch up a tiny parcel of land in Maiden, N.C., and build a modest home, knowing full well that 34 years later, a three-person computer start-up no one had ever heard of but which would become the biggest personal technology company in the world would require that very plot of land for part of a massive data center it urgently needed to build.

Whether prescience or luck, the Fulbrights recently turned their $6,000 investment into a new life. As this Bloomberg News article explains, Apple paid the couple $1.7 million for their land (less than one acre).

But the couple didn't just grab at the first offer like a pair of goggle-eyed hicks. The Fulbrights said they rejected two previous offers from Apple before being told to name their price.

Apple intends to build a $1 billion, 500,000-square-foot data center to help store and manage the digital content Apple streams through its iTunes online store.

The Fulbrights used the $1.7 million to buy 3,400 iPads. Just kidding. They bought a 4,200-square-foot house on 49 acres of land a couple of towns away. Good for them.

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via itworld.com

Posted via email from Tony Burkhart

No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn - U.S. news - What's your opinion?

via msnbc.msn.com

Firefighters in rural Tennessee let a home burn to the ground last week because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee. Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in the Sept. 29 fire, along with three dogs and a cat. "They could have been saved if they had put water on it, but they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. The fire started when the Cranicks' grandson was burning trash near the family home. As it grew out of control, the Cranicks called 911, but the fire department from the nearby city of South Fulton would not respond. "We wasn't on their list," he said the operators told him. Cranick, who lives outside the city limits, admits he "forgot" to pay the annual $75 fee. The county does not have a county-wide firefighting service, but South Fulton offers fire coverage to rural residents for a fee. Cranick says he told the operator he would pay whatever is necessary to have the fire put out. His offer wasn't accepted, he said. The fire fee policy dates back 20 or so years. "Anybody that's not inside the city limits of South Fulton, it's a service we offer. Either they accept it or they don't," said South Fulton Mayor David Crocker. The fire department's decision to let the home burn was "incredibly irresponsible," said the president of an association representing firefighters. "Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up," Harold Schaitberger, International Association of Fire Fighters president, said in a statement. "They get in their trucks and go." Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee. Story: 'No pay, no spray' case: Firefighters 'threatened' "They put water out on the fence line out here. They never said nothing to me. Never acknowledged. They stood out here and watched it burn," Cranick said. South Fulton's mayor said that the fire department can't let homeowners pay the fee on the spot, because the only people who would pay would be those whose homes are on fire. Cranick, who is now living in a trailer on his property, says his insurance policy will help cover some of his lost home. "Insurance is going to pay for what money I had on the policy, looks like. But like everything else, I didn't have enough." After the blaze, South Fulton police arrested one of Cranick's sons, Timothy Allen Cranick, on an aggravated assault charge, according to WPSD-TV, an NBC station in Paducah, Ky. Police told WPSD that the younger Cranick attacked Fire Chief David Wilds at the firehouse because he was upset his father's house was allowed to burn. WPSD-TV reported that Wilds was treated and released.

So tell me, what is your opinion?

I am siding with the fire department here. The family was well aware of their circumstance before this fire happened. It is a community based pay-source for the service... if you don't pay, don't expect the service when it comes time.

I also completely agree with South Fulton's mayor that they can't let people pay on the spot, otherwise no one would pay, unless their house was on fire.

That being said doesn't mean I don't feel bad for the family, for the loss and the way it happened. I do. It stinks and there is nothing good about it... but maybe it will be a lesson to them and others that don't want to pay for the service.

Posted via email from Tony Burkhart