Articles for June, 2009
Leading Off (Deleted E-mails Item), Ctd.
Okay, one more, and then let’s stop:
Just wanted to respond to your post on this subject. I’ve been an email system administrator for years. This is not as simple as plugging in a 1 Terrabyte drive from Fry’s.
City of Dallas likely has Microsoft Exchange, probably a very current version as a back end. End user clients likely use Microsoft Outlook to connect to it. Exchange is VERY complicated to set up in a very large organization as Dallas must be. Exchange is far and away the market share leader in “enterprise class” email servers. It has many rules about how many users can be on a server, and how large their mailboxes must be. Routine maintenance on servers is very slow, and very dependent on the size of the mailboxes. Although I have never maintained an Exchange system, I’m somewhat familiar with the process. Other software is not as complicated, and can scale much larger. As an email admin, I can see wanting to delete at 90 days, particularly if you’re having to do a lot of “repair” to the mail store. It’s somewhat common even in other mail systems. Less to maintain, repair, etc. It is amazing what people email to each other, and how large it gets, how quickly.However, as a taxpayer, this stinks to high heck! Gmail for applications (the link posted) is what our company uses now, and may not be able to all the open records/retention requirements of state & federal law.
Leading Off (Deleted E-mails Item), Ctd.
You know, I was mostly kidding about the city of Dallas using Gmail so it wouldn’t have to worry about storing its old e-mails. But this e-mail from a computer-savvy FBvian is making me think I’m not that far off. Warehousing all those e-mails just should be that difficult.
As someone who has worked with computers his entire life, the notion of deleting e-mails (especially government e-mails) is absolutely fraudulent. You mentioned Gmail. It’s a service I am quite familiar with. After 5 years of heavy use, I’m not even above 25% of my usage. But that is beside the point: it is well known in the IT industry that hard drive space is cheap, cheap, cheap compared to everything else (hence why Gmail just gives it away). I just checked on frys.com, and a 1TB hard drive is $100. That’s ridonkulous! Unless you’re attaching 1,000-slide PowerPoints to every e-mail, that will last forever.
Quite frankly, Google offers these services for cheaper than Dallas is currently paying to host themselves: http://www.google.com/apps/ Why geographically distributed organizations like the city of Dallas aren’t using services like this is mind-boggling. It could easily save the taxpayers tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in IT infrastructure alone. Plus they’d get to keep all their damn e-mails.
What Can Stop People From Going the Wrong Way on the Tollway?
That’s the question asked in this story by Scott Goldstein. Or, as he put it: “A spate of deadly head-on collisions along the Dallas North Tollway, including one that killed two people Monday night, is raising questions about whether the road itself could be part of the problem.”
Obviously, what happened was a tragedy, and I feel awful for everyone impacted by it. And I understand the impetus to write that story. It’s happened more than a few times, so there’s something there. I get that; I really do. But here’s the thing: I guess I don’t understand how “the road itself could be a part of the problem.” Even after reading that story, and thinking about it a bit since Monday, I can’t puzzle out exactly how you’d get going the wrong way on that road. You kind of have to want to do it — or be so drunk that it really wouldn’t matter what kind of signage or preventative measures were in place to stop you.
Leading Off (6/3/09)
1. I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. The way the DMN has covered the collapse of the Cowboys practice facility demonstrates why a dedicated, professional news-gathering staff can’t be replaced by some free-for-all wiki-tweet model of citizen journalism. Now the DMN has the text messages sent between Irving city officials in the hours after the collapse. They raise some interesting questions about how the football organization operates.
2. Speaking of the Cowboys and what a good newspaper ought to do, here’s architecture critic David Dillon’s take on the new Cowboys Stadium. Dillon notes: “[A] huge portion of the stadium site is parking lots, acres of them. The same is true of Rangers Ballpark next door. Together they account for nearly 30,000 spaces, enough for a medium-size city. On days when the Cowboys and Rangers are playing simultaneously, the landscape between will be solid cars; adventurous fans may be able to clamber from one game to the other on hoods and fenders. Mass transit anyone?” That said, Dillon really digs the place. He used to work at the paper but was a casualty awhile back of one of the many rounds of downsizing. It’s good to see his words where they belong, if only sporadically. (P.S. The Rangers are going to have to get some post-season action going if this parking conflict is to cause anyone grief more than once this year. The two teams will play at home on September 20, though. The Rangers game against the Angels starts at 2, and the Cowboys game against the Giants starts at 7. A long Rangers game and early arrivals for the Cowboys contest could be a real mess.)
3. Dallas will start deleting city e-mails that are older than 90 days. Open-government advocates fret over the lost information. But the city says it simply doesn’t have space to store it all. Couldn’t this all be solved if everyone just got Gmail accounts?
TV With Laura: The Bachelorette Episode 3
I apologize. The day got away from me, and I wasn’t able to expound on The Bachelorette as early as I would have liked. Okay, that’s only partly true. You see, I have a friend—perhaps you’ve heard of him? Zac Crain? Anyway, he wrote this book, ,so I wanted to drink a beer (or six) with him in honor of his achievement yesterday. So by the time I sat down to watch the show, I wasn’t really in the mood to take copious notes. And today, I’ve been a little blue about the fact that while Zac is writing books, I’m chronicling Jillian’s quest for love on the set of an old-timey Western. But, we can’t not talk about last night’s episode, right? We’ll just hit the highlights.
Dallas-Area Horse is Tallest Alive, Probably
The owner of Remington, a Clydesdale from nearish Princeton, thinks he might be the tallest living horse. No one knows for sure, since Remington won’t stay still long enough to be measured. Other notes from that story:
1. The current biggest horse is a Belgian draft horse from Mount Pleasant named Radar.
2. They still use hands as a unit of measurement for horses. Seems strange.
D CEO Wins CRMA Award
The City and Regional Magazine Association wrapped up its annual conference with an award ceremony in New Orleans last night, and D CEO won the award for best ancillary publication (ancillary to D Magazine, obviously). Here’s an excerpt from the judges’ comments:
With its diverse range of articles, covering the business of everything from insurance and real estate to fashion and fast food, D CEO draws readers in and keeps their attention throughout. Provocative photography complements thoroughly reported and smartly written features, and service information appeals to readers’ aesthetic and practical sides alike. … The magazine finds ever new angles from which to come at its subject. It is never formulaic, and it’s always fun to read.
Gosh, CRMA, we’re blushing. Texas Monthly won too many awards to mention, with Skip Hollandsworth beating out former D Magazine star Paul Kix for writer of the year. You can find a full list of winners and the judges’ comments at the CRMA web site.
KERA Guest Blogger Gail Sachson Says D Art Slam Was a Hit
You might think our opinions are a little biased because we put on the show. So check out what the owner of Ask Me About Art, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Dallas Public Art Committee member, and D Art Slam juror had to say about what D Art Slam meant for Dallas.
The Worst Boner in D Magazine’s History?
Yesterday I twittered about a correction we’re running in the July issue (which, with any luck, we will finally finish producing today (sorry, Diane)). The correction comes in three parts, all from one story, and goes something like this: the girl we identified as Erin Wasson was not, in fact, Erin Wasson — though she was wearing Erin Wasson’s clothes: Mitch Schnurman never had brain cancer, but he did have a brain tumor; and Lee Trevino still lives in Dallas. These things happen. I blame Eric. And Paul Kix.
But so the tweet elicited a response from one Mike Orren, now of Pegasus News fame, but formerly an employee of this glossy magazine. Mike recalls a real D Magazine doozy from 1995. This is amazing.
Leading Off (06/02/09)
1. There’s something that’s always scared me a little about driving on the Dallas North Tollway–it could be because people feel compelled to go 100 miles per hour and/or that it costs money. The tragic car accident that happened last night doesn’t make me feel any better about it. Apparently, last night a woman was driving the wrong way–very fast–and hit someone head on. Both drivers were killed. And this isn’t the first time it’s happened this year.
2. It’s almost summer. 100 kids take a sick day. If they were high school seniors–or even juniors–you’d automatically think “skip day.” Unfortunately, these were Range Elementary students. More than 100 of the Mesquite kids were out sick on Monday, and swine flu is the suspected culprit.
3. The Texas Lege’s session ended yesterday. Although they did manage to ban “minimum” grades, increase teacher’s pay, and work on equity between “rich” and not-rich districts, they didn’t come up with any solutions on how to fix the broken school finance system. I’m sure Eric would have a great comment/joke about that. Unfortunately, he’s too busy sending text messages asking certain people to take on his “Leading Off” duties.
Where the Girls Were: At the 2009 Hair Color & Swimwear Preview at NYLO
Out of modesty, I won’t tell you which one of these women is me. But should you enjoy looking at hot chicks in bikinis–I mean, who doesn’t–then check out these party pics from last week’s 2009 Hair Color & Swimwear Preview, sponsored by D Beauty, at NYLO Plano. I would tell you what the party was about–showcasing summer hair trends by Blaine’s Color and swimwear looks from Everything But Water–but I suspect you’ve already clicked through to the photo gallery.
President Bush Hearts Dallas Realtors
As usual, Candy’s on Dubya watch. She’s got the scoop about President Bush’s visit at Ebby Halliday on DallasDirt.
Today Is the Last Day to Protest Your Property Taxes
Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about this because my appraisal went down a smidge this year–and by a smidge I mean, like, 2 grand. But I’ll take it. Learn more about this crazy day for the Dallas Central Appraisal District on DallasDirt.
Behind the Scenes at D Art Slam
In case you missed D Art Slam this weekend, our trusty videographer, Kyle Kearbey, takes you behind the scenes at our weekend-long juried art show and sale at f.i.g. More than 2,000 people browsed and bought the works of 150 Dallas artists. As one of those 2,000 patrons, I can honestly say the displays were magnificent, the DJ was rockin’, and it was a tremendous pleasure to get to know the artists, who dutifully manned their stations all weekend.
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