Miscellaneous

Green Facilities Renovations Beneift Walter Reed, Other Federal Buildings

Federal Times recently published an article that highlights a few nice examples of green building public-private partnerships. A few of the examples include: HVAC renovations at 32 California military commissaries replacing taxiway lights with LEDs at NASA’s Ames Research Center HVAC, system automation, solar installations, and weatherization improvements at 39 GSA-owned facilities in Texas, ArkansasRead… Read more »

Puffy Pillows & Community Policing

I’ve been thinking about public sector innovation and how many times we re-invent the wheel and spend the same dollar over and over again. The following metaphor comes to mind: Imagine a big puffy down pillow. You push your fist into the pillow. As long as you keep your fist in place, the new shapeRead… Read more »

Lee on Redaction Failures in PACER

Timothy B. Lee of the Princeton University Department of Computer Science and Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) has posted Studying the Frequency of Redaction Failures in PACER, on the CITP’s blog, Freedom to Tinker. In this post, Mr. Lee reports on research respecting documents from the U.S. federal courts’ PACER database. Using customized software,Read… Read more »

Memorial Day – Before and After Through A Widow’s Eyes

Tweet or like this article and ClearedJobs.Net will donate $1 toward the Transition Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Knights of Heroes, up to $250. Memorial Day was always a favorite holiday for me. I remember as a young kid riding through Lakeside Cemetery and going to each and every parade yet never fully understandingRead… Read more »

It’s not grim up North

In todays Guardian Online, in the Comment is Free section, is either a) a scathing disparagement of Northern towns beginning with B, or b) someone’s attempt at humour gone utterly wrong. I work in Blackburn and live in Accrington, both towns located in an area of Northern England generally referred to as East Lancashire. BothRead… Read more »

Patrick McHenry’s Facebook Sit-In, FB on K Street, and YouTube Town Halls

Sit-In, Facebook Style Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) had a busy week. First, he got lots of press and gained some notoriety for calling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Elizabeth Warren a liar during a committee hearing. The chairman of the House Oversight TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs subcommittee soon learned whatRead… Read more »

Saying goodbye

Many years ago, I used to work with somebody who in a previous life had been a restaurant manager. One of the lessons she had taken from that experience was how to say goodbye. At the beginning of a restaurant meal, people are where they want to be. They are there for an experience, andRead… Read more »

“A Reason to Put Your Shoes On In The Morning” – An Air Force Pilot’s Thoughts on Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! What does everyone have planned for this weekend? As I take this time off for Memorial Day, I’ll be thinking of the service men and women who gave their lives for our freedom and safety. But I’m also happy to work with a number of men and women at HP who haveRead… Read more »

Cleveland RTA adds Segway for supervisors

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (OH) has acquired a Segway to help its service quality supervisors monitor bus and trolley service. “Rather than having someone on foot patrolling 20 blocks, or in a car that would be stuck in traffic most of the time, the Segway is giving our staff more speed and mobility,”Read… Read more »