Seven Days Blogs: 802 Online

Exit Voices in Seven Days

Clinton or Obama? McCain or Huckabee — or Paul? Should the school budget pass? What about the Moran plant?

Vermonters will decide these questions and more on Tuesday. And this year's Town Meeting Day promises to be an exciting one.

All the more reason to share your election day stories on the Exit Voices blog!

Exit Voices is a "Vermont blogging experiment" sponsored by the Burlington-area cable access channels — 15 (VCAM), 16 (RETN) and 17 (CCTV). It's moderated once again by Vermont blogger and filmmaker (and VCAM producer) Bill Simmon.

Here's how it works:

Exit Voices is a forum for Vermont voters to come together and discuss the issues and candidates on the ballot.

In the comments section of the Exit Voices posts, answer these two questions:

1. What motivates you to go to your town meeting or polling station and vote?

2. If you could add a comment on your Ballot for your elected officials to read, what would you say?

Alternately, tell us what you said at your Town Meeting, why you refused to vote, or what makes you crazy about our system of democracy.

I've participated in Exit Voices in the past. I love checking in to read other peoples' accounts of their polling places. In fact, I love it so much that I convinced our editors to run some of the comments in the paper.

Next Wednesday's edition of Seven Days will reprint some of the content from the Exit Voices blog.

I've got to start curating these comments by 2 p.m. on Tuesday — sadly we've gotta send the paper to print before the election results are in. So consider this my first plea to all of you Vermont bloggers to post early (and often!). Your words could wind up in Seven Days.

VT Blogger on Homeless Marathon

Vermont blogophiles will guess that the headline refers to Morgan Brown of Norsehorse's Home Turf.

Morgan is an activist, a blogger and a fearless communicator. I've lost count of the number of times he's emailed to alert me to a new Vermont blog, or an important news story.

On Wednesday, Morgan will be taking part in the national Homeless Marathon:

WHAT IS THE HOMELESSNESS MARATHON?
It is a 14 hour radio broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the U.S. The Homelessness Marathon features live call-ins all night long via a national toll-free number. The Homelessness Marathon is available for free to all non-commercial stations.

Morgan sent me this message via Facebook:

WGDR 91.1 FM in Plainfield, VT will be airing the 11th annual homelessness marathon from 8PM to 1AM and I will be in the WDGR studio from 9PM to 1AM.

Listen in tomorrow night and support Morgan and this important event.

WCAX report on iBrattleboro

Yesterday a film crew from WCAX came down to our office and interviewed me for a story about the iBrattleboro libel lawsuit.

I guess they wanted to get Peter Freyne, but he was too busy writing his column, so he referred them to me.

I know they aired the story, because some friends from Fairfield called to say they saw me on the news. I don't have a TV, though, so I didn't catch it. And I'm a Mac user, so I'm having a hard time playing the video from their site.

One quibble — WCAX misspelled my name in the script on their website, despite the fact that they had me SAY my name at the beginning of the taping. Sheesh.

Also weird — they have three pictures of our office (but none of me) on their website. Why? It's not a story about Seven Days. That just seems weird. I mean, Ryan and Andrew and Bob and Diane are all cute and fun, but really.

More about the iBrattleboro suit here. 

Digital Pamphleteer

Bad News: Bill Simmon's film about local political blogger Steve Benen (of The Carpetbagger Report) was rejected by South by Southwest. Sorry, Bill!

Good News: Bill wrote a blog post about his rejection, and provided a link to his film on YouTube.

Here it is, the Goldstone-award-winning short film, Digital Pamphleteer.

For more background on Steve in print, here's an article I wrote about him in 2006, called Posting Truth to Power.

More 3.0

I just happened across a post about Vermont 3.0 from Ann Zuccardy of Vermont Shortbread. I invited Ann to the event over Facebook, and I guess she showed up! She writes:

I wasn't expecting much, yet I was blown away. Before me and beside me were folks from the gazillions of little software companies right here in Vermont, representatives from the universities and colleges right here in Burlington, entrepreneurs, corporate types — all with one message. 

The message I got was this. We are in a new age. It's not enough to be arts and literature-savvy.  It's not enough to be a math or technology guru. The most successful people are not the ones with the bright, shiny MBAs, but the ones who know how to figure stuff out...how to ask questions...how to envision new applications to solve old problems...those who are not afraid of technology, but also know how to build a relationship with a human being.

I agree. The people I want to work with are the ones who experiment, who ask questions, who see problems and start working on solutions. People who get art, who get technology, and aren't afraid to try new things.

I wrote a profile of Physician's Computer Company last week for the Tech Biz Issue. I didn't put this in the article, but at one point, I asked Chip Hart what PCC looks for in candidates for its entry level jobs. He told me the most important thing is that people are smart. That they can pick things up quickly and think on their feet.

I think that's what Ann's getting at, too.

We heart Goma

Somehow I have neglected to mention last week's episode of Stuck in Vermont, starring Goma, this super-cute Himalayan cat. My apologies!

I mentioned Goma once before on my blog, when I introduced Sachie Tani's My Himalayan Cat Goma Blog. When I first wrote about Goma, I dismissed Sachie as just another cat blogger. But now I know that Sachie's love for Goma is real. And powerful. Watching Eva's video made me love him, too!

I wrote about Goma in my Web Page column in the paper, to draw attention to the video Eva posted online. That's what Goma is looking at in this photo from the Goma blog.

I am powerless to resist the cuteness of Goma.

Facebook Camp in Montreal

Want to hook up with developers who can make Facebook applications? Check out Facebook Camp in Montreal tomorrow night, Wed. November 7. Dan York posts all the relevant info on his blog, Disruptive Conversations.

I really wanted to go, but am totally swamped, so I'm bagging. But Dan is going, and he's looking for other Vermonters who might be interested.

He sent me an email this morning saying:

The event is 6-10 p.m. but since that means going in Montreal rush hour, I'm thinking it probably makes sense to leave at something like 2 or 3 p.m. and then get some food or something up there before the meeting.

Let him know if you're up for it. Contact info on his blog.

Which Dyke To Watch Out For are you?

I'm a long-time fan of Bolton resident Alison Bechdel's comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, (I'm also Alison's former assistant). I read her blog regularly, and just came across this clever quiz. Which Dyke are you?

You don't actually have to be gay to take the test. In fact, it has very little to do with being gay. And I have to say, it's pretty much accurate. I've always thought I was more Stuart than Mo. And like Clarice, my hairstyle has not changed much in a decade...

Which Dyke to Watch Out For Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Clarice You are Clarice, a driven, liberal, workaholic lawyer. The Bush Administration has caused you a lot of anxiety lately. You have orders to cut one volunteer commitment and spend more time playing GTA3 with your son Raffi. Clarice 80% Toni 60% Sparrow 60% Stuart 55% Sydney 40% Lois 25% Mo 10%

Vermont Blog Roundup

It's the social media edition. Feel free to share this on Facebook, or wherever.

• Dan York blogs about Facebook Camp in Montreal in November.

• Elaine Young is using a new social media tool to raise money for Vermont schools.

• Front Porch Forum founder Michael Wood-Lewis writes that "Local Online" is growing, growing, growing. He should know.

• I'm not even sure what to make of this blog-like "literature" but I guess it's part of the curriculum in Richard Parent's Composing Digital Narratives class at UVM.

• A review of the mysterious Capstan Shafts, with video, from False 45th.

• What are the neighbors Twittering now? Morgan Alderidge on Vermont Twitter folks. This is a little old, actually, but I just noticed it. So there you go.   

Here are the Vermont Twitterers, by the way.

Vermont Blog Roundup -- Banned Books Week Edition

Yep, it's Banned Books Week in the USA, during which we celebrate the freedom to read whatever the hell we want.

Some links in honor of the occasion:

• Librarian and internet folk hero Jessamyn West meditates on the future of bookmobiles.

• Ann Seidl's movie The Hollywood Librarian is playing tomorrow night in Huntington, introduced by Vermont's own world-famous cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Her graphic memoir, Fun Home, was banned from a library in Missouri last year, if only briefly.

• Librarian, writer and tech geek Meredith Farkas links to many, many useful librarian blogs.

• Tricia blogs about her daughter Georgia's baby steps. I include this because I can. I'm celebrating the fact that we can read blogs like this.

• Here's the blog for the Winooski Memorial Library. I just volunteered to be on the Library Advisory Board. I think there are still openings, if any of you Winooski residents want to join me!