Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

You know I was recently trying to find a fair, encompassing look on the option of light rail as a solution to transportation issues here in Tampa Bay. I finally found the right place, but am still left wildly unimpressed.

WFLA’s Keith Cate has been on assignment to look at other cities’ solutions. They have run the stories a few times on TV, and then send you to Keyword: Light Rail on the TBO website.

From there you can watch the three stories Cate has done, and there is also links to a forum where you can give your two cents about the issue. But that’s all that is on the page.

I don’t have to tell you that three TV bits and a discussion board are not even close to the entire story. It’s not even everything the triumvirate has done.

Rich Shopes has a weekly column in the Tribune, Behind The Wheel. He addresses local traffic concerns and news. He also wrote a bigger story on February 13 about the overall picture of light rail in Tampa Bay, which includes a list of other cities’ latest efforts. That story story prompted enough email that Shopes mentioned it in his column. He writes often about transportation issues (streetcar losing riders), but there is no link to Shopes’s stories from Keyword: Light Rail.

Tribune business reporter Dave Simanoff watches development, and the number one topic at a recent downtown Tampa forum? Regional Transit.

The TBO family has other related keywords that could all be put on one single page, too. Keyword: Transportation leads to a comment form. Keyword: HARTline leads to a special report on the transit agency’s recent troubles.

Unfortunately even all those stories don’t give us a complete look at all the issues surrounding transportation. But it is a decent start.

Plus, at least you now have one web page with much of the Trib, ‘FLA, and TBO mass transit information. Just google “Sticks of Fire” Keyword Light Rail.

So, by now, I’m sure most everyone in this corner of the Tampa Internets (and those that read page 2 of tbt* this morning!) is aware of the raft of blogger meetups at the end of February/beginning of March. Obviously a good time will be had by all, bloviating ad nauseam about our topics of choice, pet peeves and how we don’t get any respect.

Even though Jim says tomorrow’s is an “unmeeting,” I think it would be a constructive exercise if we were armed with a couple of discussion topics beforehand. I’m talking more about process/meta rather than content and substance. Like, what kind of ethics should we adhere to? Are we doing a good job of holding people accountable? Do the major media outlets in the area get it? How can we better educate them? Why do blogs matter, etc.

These may seem dry, but I think it’s critical that these issues, and issues like these, are addressed as fully as possible. As well as being a phenomenal tool to publish on the cheap, blogging affords us great latitudes in free speech. We have a very lively blogosphere here in Tampa Bay, and advancing a non-political blogger agenda will benefit us all and be critical to our long term success. We need to get our information out there: who we are, what we do, why we do it and how we do it.

So, my question to you, what should bloggers be talking about?

Cross Posted @ The Delightful Yank

One of the first posts that Rick wrote on his Tampa I Am blog is titles “Why Tampa?”

So many ask…why Tampa, why do you stay? what is it about Tampa?

Well in short, the Water, the Weather, the Progress, the Activities, the History, the People.

He goes into further detail on all of those things. Like Rick, I think the people that live here are fantastic too. And that reminds me - Rick is one of those people, so let’s meet the blogger, ok?

I came from Long Island in 1987 to attend USF. After graduating, I got a good job here, and decided to stay. I am a work-from-home consultant for MetLife.

The best things about Tampa Bay are the Big City amenities in a small city setting. The worst thing is there is no worthwhile mass transit system. There is too much reliance on the car.

The best thing about Bayside West (South Tampa) is the Green Iguana Westshore and Westshore Pizza - the originals!

I started the blog as a journal to keep track of the things I do, and places I go here. I consider it a success, because I can look back and recommend specific places for friends and family to visit, and things to see in Tampa.

The important part of blogging is to ensure it is entertaining and timely, while maintaining the objective without straying.

Tampa I Am

Really Simple Syndication is something that has become a fast spreading craze among media web sites. Any blogger knows that having an RSS feed is a plus for syndicating content from their site and keeping readers informed of updates. It’s easy to find from national sources like CNN, MSNBC, ESPN and other national media outlets, but not all local media are as fast to embrace it.

Here is a quick rundown of those local media outlets and the state of feeds within:

• RSS feeds from TBO: TBO includes the service for most of their print (Tribune) content, although they have separate feeds for each subject. TBO also lists about 50 staff blogs, including one for a defunct page they call breaking news. If you dig hard, you can find the real TBO breaking news blog. All blogs also include RSS feeds. I could not find any feed for WFLA.
• The St. Pete Times doesn’t have any RSS feeds (that I could find). The tabloid edition, tbt* used to have it, but it has disappeared. The Times has about 25 staff blogs & podcasts, and you can get feeds from each of them. Not listed there (yep, you really have to know where to find it) is their breaking news non-blog (no comments allowed), This Just In.
• Creative Loafing offers various RSS feeds.
• The Tampa Bay Business Journal offers a couple feeds.

For the TV stations:

• I already told you we couldn’t find a feed for NewsChannel 8 WFLA.
• Bay News 9 has a feed, but you gotta know what you are doing.
• WTSP — Tampa Bay’s 10 has a bunch of feeds.
• Fox 13 / MyFoxTampaBay offers RSS feeds for their blogs, although I couldn’t find the links.
• I found no feed for WFTS ABC Action News Channel 28.

On The Lot is a new reality show from Mark Burnett and Steven Speilberg. Aspiring filmmakers submit a self-directed short film (no more than five minutes), and the winner will get a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks.

St. Petersburger Christian Schweir has submitted a film, and wants you to check it out. It’s a modern day western.

Yo YO YO!

Please check out my short movie on Steven Speilburg’s new reality TV show. The video’s only 5 minutes, with a 30 second intro. Here’s the link…

http://films.thelot.com/films/23762

An action/adventure/comedy. My Aunt Glenda described it as, “A modern day Western that made me want to throw-up in my shoes.” It was created in a 48 Hour Guerrilla Film Contest. (Inspired by actual events).

Please please please rate it and review it, it’ll help me get noticed and hopefully selected as a finalist. Then we can all chill in my house in the hills and drink chocolate martinis in a giant cucumber shaped pool.

Please please please check it out!!! Thanks and Au Rev-war my peeps!

Christian

Go visit On The Lot, and give Christian’s effort a look-see. If you like it, please give a review and rate the film. By the way, you can find more of Christian’s creativity at work over at Litewave Media.

My friend owns the tattoo shop Blackout Creations. Well, they are having an art show Saturday night and….I quote:
Quote:

---

we’ll have free drinks with proper ID and deserts.

---

Check it out if you are around.

USF has found itself among the nation’s top universities in a new survey… of the nation’s top illegal music downloaders.

USF had the 11th-most reported violations in the list compiled by the RIAA, with 490 complaints so far this school year. WBUL Tech Director Dane Harmon says it’s inevitable USF shows up on the list.

They listed USF as the 11th highest trader of music, but the first thing that came to mind was, ‘Well, USF is the ninth-largest university in the nation [...] If you look at this on a per-capita basis, I really don’t think we’re that bad.

Yours truly’s alma mater, Ohio, took first place with an astounding 1,287 violation notices sent by the RIAA. OU officials point toward the high percentage of students living on-campus and question the RIAA’s data, citing no observable increased bandwidth use that would presumably accompany an increase in illegal downloading activity.

Of course, the RIAA’s charges have a tradition of being spurious — ask the 83-year-old grandma sued for allegedly downloading hardcore rap — and one wonders how comfortable we should be with Big Business crawling through our university networks looking for kids sharing music. “Students have more time than money,” the RIAA explains, and yet points at students’ music piracy as being a direct cause of the decline in music sales between 1999 and 2005. So which is it? And should the RIAA be spying on university network activity to begin with?

Update 2:43pm: The boy was found unharmed. Amber Alert canceled.

Amber Alert Issued Monday February 23, 2007
An Amber Alert has been issued for a boy who police said was abducted Friday morning from a school bus stop. This occurred in Parrish, Florida.

Clay Moore, 13 years of age. He’s 5 feet 100 pounds. with long, light brown or blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a green polo shirt and black jacket, both with Manatee School of the Arts emblem, khaki pants and red backpack, officials said.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man who is about 5 feet 6 inches tall. He was driving a maroon truck. Manatee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dave Bristow called it a “horrific incident” because other children were witnesses and adds that appears to have been a random kidnapping.

Anyone with information is asked to call Manatee County Sheriff at 941-748-4501 extension 3596 or dial 911.