Lincolnite

I've got to hand it to the Lincoln Children's Zoo. Charging people $60 to keep tabs on their new baby red panda is a great way to raise cash. Sixty bucks is too rich for me just to read a blog and see some photos, but for folks who were already thinking about chipping in, it's probably enough to pull them over the edge. Apparently red pandas are very endangered. I know I would volunteer to keep one or two around the house if that would help. I'm sure Daisy wouldn't mind.

It annoys me when websites aren't accessible to persons using a variety of web browsers. As a web developer, I see the act of blocking "incompatible" browsers as lazy. As a Firefox user, I see it as a slap in the face. Websites shouldn't worry about meeting every browser's needs, of course. Some browsers have such a small market share they aren't worth the time to support. And beyond a certain point it's too much hassle to support an antiquated browser. No web developer in his right mind still worries about Netscape 4, for example. Recently an employee with a local media company picked on me for not doing a better job of linking to news anywhere other than the Journal Star. Yeah, that's true. I've gotten lazy about diversifying my sources. The original reason I didn't link to, for example, KOLN/KGIN (10/11) and KLKN is because their websites were a drag to use. 10/11's website is still a cluttered mess, but it works fine for me -- including video -- so I will try to do a better job linking to it. In contrast, KLKN's website doesn't like Firefox, and in fact still recommends Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 7.1. Yikes. That's not only bad advice, it's downright dangerous. So sorry, KLKN, you still won't be getting any links from here. I should also do a better job of linking to local radio sites, such as KLIN and KFOR. Speaking of which, a quick message for local radio folks, if you're reading: Have you ever considered packaging your local news headlines into a daily podcast? It could be short -- 3 to 6 minutes, say -- but would give you another way to get your voices heard.

I'm glad to see that midday bus routes will probably survive, to the relief of those who use them. I wonder: To what extent does a community Lincoln's size have a responsibility for providing services to get people around town? Do we have more of a responsibility to certain populations than to others? I haven't decided on answers to those questions, though generally I agree that providing accessible public transportation is the just thing to do. It could also be an economically wise thing to do, though in Lincoln we haven't been so good at figuring out the economics of efficient public transit. What do you think?

The City Council decided to allow booze at city parks -- but only for Parks and Rec fundraisers at a select list of parks. It seems like a reasonable enough decision to me. Many policy decisions regarding alcohol are anything but reasonable. Wouldn't it be great if society were mature and responsible enough that we could allow anybody to have a beer along with their picnic lunch?

The Missus and I dined at Bread and Cup on Saturday evening, a full year after they first opened. I don't have a good explanation for why it took so long to get there. I'll be honest, Bread and Cup isn't my kind of restaurant. Rather, it's the kind of restaurant I wish was my kind of restaurant. If I had to pick between the two, I'd call myself more of a quantity guy than quality when it comes to food. That's not what Bread and Cup is about. Not that I'm ashamed of my food profile, mind you. Food preferences are personal. I just think it's just unfortunate that my taste buds don't appreciate the amount of work that goes into some foods. So let me simply summarize my impression of the food in a manner befitting one of Lincoln's more prominent restaurant reviewers: the food was good. It's a poor and incomplete description, yes, but this isn't really a review so I'm going to get away with it. The food is easily worth the trip a couple blocks off the beaten path in the Haymarket. You know what really sold me on Bread and Cup? The atmosphere. It was magical -- and that's not an adjective I'm likely to use very often. We ate outside and frankly the experience was damn near perfect. The temperature, the evening sun, the lack of bugs, the pleasant restaurant environment. It all combined to turn discussions about Batman and pooping toddlers into something very memorable. I do have one negative thing I would like to point out. Nobody seemed to know which food belonged to which table. It was bizarre to see -- at a restaurant where almost everything is carefully thought out -- so many employees wandering aimlessly with plates of food. "Is this your melon dessert? Is this your salad? Is this your pork sandwich?" It happened several times to different employees, I have to think something goofy was going on. Overall I was very pleased. I will add Bread and Cup to my list of recommendations.

Could somebody please explain to me why I'm still excited by the possibility that Hobby Town's move is just a way to make room for a new Best Buy? I don't even shop at Best Buy! I think I was last in Best Buy over a year ago. I dunno. Maybe I just like the secrecy of it all (even if there's no secret to uncover).

Hi folks. Remember that big project I had been working on? We finally launched it last night. Unfortunately, I am barred by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) from telling you which site it is. I'm hopeful that restriction will be lifted later this week. The organization wants to let things sink in first. Drat. Hopefully I'll be able to spill the beans soon. In the mean time, I need to catch up on some sleep. I already took a 2-hour nap this morning after breakfast. I won't be surprised if I pass out again this afternoon. But for now ... back to work!

They say no one reads the paper on Fridays or Saturdays, especially the weekend when the Beijing Olympics kick off. The NYT came out with a nice article on Nebraska's own Bright Eyes.

Media heartthrob T. Boone Pickens is coming to Lincoln on August 20. Mr. Pickens, you may have heard, is the filthy rich Texas oilman who thinks the U.S. needs to invest in wind for our electricity and natural gas for our cars. His goal, he says, is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. While that's all well and good, Mr. Pickens isn't driven by patriotism alone. Profit -- as you might expect -- is one of his substantial motivators. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Indeed, profit seeking drives innovation. As oil prices increase we are going to see more and more individuals and corporations come forward with solutions they hope to make a buck off of. And thank goodness. What bothers me about good ol' T. Boone isn't that he wants to make a buck, but that he wants to make a buck using my tax dollars. Lots of folks are writing about this, but here is one summary. In short, Mr. Pickens has interests in water rights, wind energy, and natural gas. But in order for the profits to start rolling in, he needs you and me to wield our influence over our Senators and Representatives so he can get access to the resources he needs to put this all together. That isn't capitalism. That's robbery. Anyway, if you go see Mr. Pickens on August 20, and if there is a Q&A period, I encourage you to probe this topic with him. T. Boone says he wants to increase the use of clean (or cleaner) energy. Fantastic. But why must he use such dirty tactics to do it?

Between the new Kohl's hiring 150 people and Wal-Mart hiring 350, some 500 new jobs will be available to Lincolnites in the near future. Even though many of the jobs will be part-time or relatively low wage, 500 jobs in two stores still isn't anything to sneeze at. More information about the Kohl's jobs is available online. To apply for the Wal-Mart jobs, go to 7501 “O” Street.

Who is up for some ribs tomorrow? Any and all are welcome to meet me at Ribfest tomorrow. I will plan to be at the west entrance (near the YWCA) at noon. After getting my food, I will plan to sit under the tent on the west side (the same place we ate last year). I'm a slow eater, so don't worry about rushing if you're running behind. Oh, and don't forget to bring some cans of food for the Food Bank of Lincoln, which gets you in for free between 11:00am and 1:00pm on both Thursday and Friday.

The Lancaster County Fair is going on today through Sunday. The action has already begun with the 8:30am 4-H English horse jumper show, and continues through midnight.

Did you know there are 16 Runza locations in Lincoln? I had no idea there are that many. Who knew Ov'n St'f'd Sandwiches -- or whatever excessively-punctuated name they're calling runzas these days -- were so popular?

I don't think I have any inherent beef with having inmates do work for Parks & Rec. It's a win-win: Parks & Rec, short on cash, gets cheap labor; bored inmates get some activity and work experience. Only non-violent, low-risk inmates would be used, of course. Personally, I'm a big fan of programs that give inmates something productive to do. Although the retributionist in all of us might prefer that certain criminals be locked in their cells with nothing but the bare necessities, simple math will tell you that it's often less costly to society when convicts leave jail in a productive capacity than it is to keep them incarcerated or to reincarcerate them. (Notice I said "often", not "always".) That's particularly true for most non-violent offenders. Parks and Rec director Lynn Johnson has some concerns about the proposal, and rightly so. But it's clear there's excess work to be done. Trash could be picked up more frequently. Grass could be mowed more often. Baseball and softball fields could be kept in better condition. Restrooms could be kept cleaner. And so on. In the wintertime, inmates could be used to clear sidewalks and other pedestrian areas around public buildings and parks, leaving regular personnel more time to focus on the city's streets. It's still early, though, so I look forward to seeing more details as the idea develops. How much will it cost? What jobs will they do? Will they wear pink?