The Rogers News

Author: Chris

  • America’s Blogiest Neighborhoods

    Outside.in is way to discover people and places in your neighborhood and community. I used to be a member, but never found enough information on my location to justify continued use. Regardless, the resulting data is somewhat interesting.

    From outside.in:

    What exactly are America’s bloggiest neighborhoods?The results below are based on a number of variables: total number of posts, total number of local bloggers, number of comments and Technorati ranking for the bloggers.

    1. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
    2. Shaw, DC
    3. Downtown LA
    4. Newton, Mass
    5. Rogers Park / North Howard Chicago
    6. Pearl District, Portland
    7. Watertown, Mass
    8. Harlem, NY
    9. Potrero Hill, SF
    10. Coconut Grove, FL

  • Creativity Crunched

    Steve Jobs makes an interesting point:

    You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.

    Writing has been my creative outlet since college. Whether it is public or private, it is what I do to express my thoughts, feelings, and imagination… to get away from the stuff I have to do.

    Learning to balance my school obligations with my other interests has been one of the most difficult tasks this year. Having been away from a school setting, and entering a more intense school setting than I’ve ever experienced has been shocking. Still is, and will probably continue to be so for the next few years as I chase my diploma, a job, a family, etc.

    What’s my point? Not sure… just that I agree that being creative, whether on a large or small scale is an incredibly rewarding endeavor.

    UPDATE: I just came across this video of Sir Ken Robinson talking about the role of creativity in education at the TED conference.

  • Proximity to Family

    Paraphrasing The View’s Joy Behar:

    Wealthy families and poor families tend to stick together, while middle class families tend to disperse geographically.

    There are a few ways to take this. Rich and poor children tend to be more dependent on their families than middle class children. Although I don’t have data, it would make sense that poor children would work with their parents to support a larger family unit, while children of wealthy parents are likely to remain under the family “umbrella” for a longer period of time. Conversely, middle class children seem to strive for more financial independence from their families.

    I moved away from my family for college, but I stayed in-state. After college, I moved further away from home because I was eager to work and prove my independence. I think as many 20 to 25 year olds will agree, proving your independence is easier said than done. After working for a couple of years, I opted to return to school and chose a law school further, rather than closer, to home.

    My motivation has been necessity, independence, and a desire to explore. I have not strived to be away from my parents, but rather followed what I thought to be the most enriching opportunity available.

    From being away from home, I’ve learned to appreciate my home town. My attitude has evolved from thinking there wasn’t much going on there to recognizing it is as busy and fulfilling as anywhere else I have lived or traveled.

  • Party Walls

    In England a long time ago someone important decided that the buildings should be made of brick and mortar instead of wood. In order to support the increased weight of the upper floors, wider walls were needed. To avoid significant loss of square footage on the lower lever because of thicker walls, “party walls” shared by neighbors were erected. Each neighbor had a duty to maintain the wall and to refrain from damaging the integrity of the “party wall.”

    New England’s adoption of the “party walls” approach to fences and other such developments between property owners was the inspiration for Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall,” which ends with, “Good fences make good neighbors.” (link)

  • Applying for a Mortgage

    Interesting tidbit from Property Law, which may be obvious to home-owners. (I don’t own a home.)

    Often we hear people say they have a mortgage, or they’re going to get a mortgage. But, they actually give a mortgage as collateral to get a loan.

    Definition:

    A charging of real property by a debtor to a creditor as a security for a debt (esp. one incurred by the purchase of property), on the condition that it shall be returned on payment of the debt within a certain period.

    I just saw in the news that mortgage applications have fallen for the fifth week in a row.

  • Content-Neutral Ban on Billboards

    Sao Paulo recently banned all billboards from its city limits. (Pictures with billboards)(Pictures without billboards) Although the city is in Brazil and not the United States, it highlights an interesting point in my Constitutional Law reading. A “state” may place a content-neutral ban on an entire medium if:

    1. The state interests are sufficiently significant,
    2. The interests do not suppress the freedom of expression,
    3. The law is narrowly tailored, and
    4. There are viable alternatives available.

    The United States Supreme Court has stated:

    A majority of this Court found [in Metromedia] that [aesthetic] considerations would be sufficient to justify a content-neutral ban on all outdoor advertising signs, notwithstanding the extent to which such signs convey First Amendment protected messages. Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 783 (1988) (White, J., dissenting)(citing the plurality opinion and the dissenting opinions of Burger, C.J. and Rehnquist and Stevens, JJ.)

    In Sao Paulo’s case, they are seeking to clean up the aesthetics of the city and are not targeting a specific type of billboard ad, but all billboard ads. The fact that an entire medium of communication is being banned could be seen as a content-based interest, however there are likely equally viable options to advertise other than billboards.

  • Price Per Gallon

    When compared to the price per gallon of other liquids gas is relatively modest. I would argue that whether the price per gallon of gas is modest should also be judged with regard to the volume consumed and the demand for that liquid.

    Interesting to note that if my car, like my body, ran on coffee, purchasing 25 gallons of Folger’s home brewed coffee would only cost me $17.50. However, if I filled my car with Starbucks coffee at $1.86 / 16oz it would cost me $378.

    Here are some prices per gallon for various liquids (link):

    * Coffee – $0.70
    * Gas – $2.70
    * Milk – $3.79
    * Eggs – 5.76
    * Beer – $8.88
    * Chocolate Syrup – $13.23
    * RedBull – $30.69
    * Robitussin DM – 109.76
    * Scorpion Venom – $38,858,507.46