Monthly Archives: February 2011

Raleigh, NC—the world’s first open source city

This article and interview with Raleigh’s Mayor, Charles Meekor, was published on opensource.com, where we are exploring how the principles of open source are applied beyond technology–to our government, education, and much more. It’s relevant to South West Raleigh because the culture of our creative class embodies the principles of open source–even if some of us don’t call it that. Think Sparkcon, Barcamp, Ignite, etc.

I started pondering what qualities would define an open source city a few months ago when my friend Tom Rabon mentioned it to me one day. I was curious how the city I live in, Raleigh, NC, could attract other open source companies and be the world’s hub for open source and a leader in open government. How could Raleigh be the open source capital of the world, similar to what Silicon Valley is to technology and Paris is to romance?

I think the answer can be found in both the government and the people. Continue reading

Shibby’s Samplings | Feb 21 edition

Here are some posts from other places that I write, including opensource.com and a new project I’ve started with Raleigh neighbors Anthony McLeod and Joe Boisvert: southwestraleigh.com. I’ve scaled back on blogging to the Lineberry Alliance Blogs in favor of the new project.

See what else I’ve been saying around the web over the last few weeks. Continue reading

The Change was Good

At the beginning of February,  Zander started attending a new daycare.  The first week was good, but it was also a little rocky. He got a few sad faces towards the end of the week because he had trouble listening and following directions. I think that was still part of the adjustment to a new environment and actually having some rules to follow.

Since he’s been in Childrens’ Discovery Center, he’s learned new letters and numbers, improved on his writing, and even made a few awesome crafts, like a sock puppet and a palm tree. I attended the class Valentine Party and was very impressed that 24 4-year olds could sit still for that long, while valentines were handed out.

I’ve even started noticing changes while he’s at home. Continue reading

Protecting the Neighborhood from GH-1-2011

Lineberry Student Housing

On Tuesday, February 15, 2011, I presented to Raleigh City Council about concerns on the proposed GH-1-2011 project, Lineberry Student Housing. [PDF] GH stands for Group Housing and the project is being administratively approved by Raleigh City Planning.

I started my presentation by giving an overview of the project as I understood it. I told the council I was surprised that this project was targeting student housing when our current zoning doesn’t have a classification focused on student housing. The proposed project would be located at Lake Wheeler Road and Lineberry Drive. GH-1-11 would be four stories in height and have 72 4-bedroom apartments.

The purpose of my presentation to City Council was to

  1. table the GH-1-11 project,
  2. look at bringing in an Institutional Overlay to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), and
  3. have the Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs) notified of future administratively approved projects Continue reading

Creating Outdoor Living Space

proj2011_elevation

Merri Beth and I have been toying with the idea of adding a patio and a new deck on the second level of the home. We like spending so much time outside, we want to create more outdoor space for the family to enjoy. We are currently getting some quotes for the project but wanted to share our ideas with you to get any feedback or recommendations of contractors who would make this a successful project, at a reasonable price. Continue reading

When AOL Flexes Their Internet Muscle

I had quite a day yesterday. My hosting company, Just Host, suspended the hosting for the domain lineberry.org because of some SPAM flags sent from AOL. It took me pretty much all day to convince them that the 300-person mailman list used for our neighborhood was not sending SPAM. But how did I get to that situation in the first place and why is AOL flexing their muscles on my little community website? Continue reading

Time for New Discoveries

Zander started daycare when he was 7 weeks old—we knew one day we might  have to choose another school to help prepare him for kindergarten.  That time arrived last week…

I wasn’t convinced that Zander was learning everything he could while at school. I started to wonder if he would be ready for kindergarten this Fall.  If we sat down to go over the alphabet, he would guess at letters or just decide he didn’t want to review them.  I also noticed that he was having trouble writing letters and became easily frustrated when he didn’t know a letter.

To make sure I wasn’t the problem, I asked my sister to sit down with Zander and test him to find out what he knows.  As a first grade teacher, she has more patience and experience dealing with young children than I do.  Continue reading