Archive for February, 2010

Tracy, Calif. residents to now pay for 911 services

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 21, 2010, 10:53 am UTCPosted in: California, WTF?

The Tracy Press:

On Tuesday, the council approved via a 4-1 vote (with Councilman Steve Abercrombie dissenting) a contract with ADPI-Intermedix, based in Oakland, to send the bills. The city expects to have a billing system ready next month, but doesn’t yet know when it will actually start charging.

Residents will pay $300 for every fire department response to a medical emergency. Non-residents can expect to pay $400. There is no set cost for a fire department visit to a car accident.

The city is working out an option so that households can pay an annual membership fee of $48, which would cover the cost of any emergency aid given during the course of a year, said David Bramell, who is acting as fire chief while Chief Chris Bosch is on administrative leave.

. . .

[Councilwoman Suzanne] Tucker said one person joked if her husband has a heart attack, she’ll be tempted to light the kitchen table on fire to dodge the fees.

[via Thomas Friedman, The New York Times and CBS13]

Cyrus on: CBC’s Spark

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 15, 2010, 1:17 pm UTCPosted in: CBC, Journalism, Radio, Spark (CBC)

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on password sharing in relationships is on this week.

It will be available on CBC Radio 1 at the following times:

Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 1:05/1:35 NT (4:05 PT)
Tuesday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 3:05/3:35 NT

If you find yourself outside the reach of the CBC’s antennae, feel free to listen to it online, here, or of course, via podcast.

Cyrus on: PRI’s The World (February 11, 2010)

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 11, 2010, 11:09 am UTCPosted in: Election 1388, Internet, Iran, Journalism, Radio, The World (PRI)

Dear Friends,

My piece on watching the 22nd of Bahman protests with Austin Heap, Roozbeh Pournader and Behrang Barzin live from Parisoma will be on today’s show.

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org

You can also likely find it on your local public radio station, and The World’s site later in the day and also on my site if you miss the broadcast.

Also, don’t forget about The World’s Tech Podcast, hosted by my boss, Clark Boyd. It comes out every Friday.

Lemme know if you hear it!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Deutschblog – 10. Februar 2010

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 10, 2010, 1:30 pm UTCPosted in: Deutschblog, German

Ich wohne in Oakland in ein Haus mit meine Partner/Frau. Sie heißt Rebecca und sie ist Englischlehrerin und Dichterin. Wir haben einen Arbeitszimmer, einen Wohnzimmer, einen Schlafzimmer, ein Bad, und eine Küche. Das Haus ist gemütlich und klein. Die Miete ist preiswert. Wir haben einen Bett, einen Sofa, zwei Schreibtische, einen Esstisch, und viel Regale. Wir haben viele Freunde. Sie sind nett, lusting, und intelligent und haben ähnliche Interessen. Zum Beispiel, mag mein Freund David köche und isst gern — wie ich — ich koche und esse gern auch.

Mousavi: “In the green movement, every citizen is a media outlet.”

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 5, 2010, 10:39 am UTCPosted in: Election 1388, Iran

Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi was interviewed by reformist website Kalame earlier this week, which was translated by Khordad88, and included this notable quote that likely will be championed by the blogosphere. I’m still unconvinced as to how much long-term difference all of the reformists’ online activity will make (remember, we’re coming up on eight months of Ahmadinejad’s second term), but it’s still interesting nonetheless.

The caption on the above image reads: “We will make the 22nd of Bahman, 1388 (February 11, 2010) green!”

Mousavi says he will continue fight for reform
February 2, 2010

آیا شما نماینده و سخن گویی در خارج دارید؟

در جنبش سبز هر شهروند یک رسانه است و راه سبز هیچ نماینده و سخن گویی در خارج ندارد. یکی از زیبایی های فضای سبز آن است که همه حرفهای خود را می زنند و این حرکت در یک فضای تعامل گسترش می یابد. بنده هم به عنوان یک همراه نظرات و پیشنهادات خودم را در این فضا مطرح می کنم.ا

Do you have a representative or a spokesperson outside the country?

In the green movement, every citizen is a media outlet. But the green path does not have a representative or spokesperson outside the country. This is one of its beauties. Everyone can talk about their ideas and the movement expands within a collaborative environment. As one of the members of the movement, I, too, will express my comments and suggestions in this environment.

Contest: Win a free copy of the This American Life iPhone app!

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 4, 2010, 3:20 pm UTCPosted in: Contests, Radio

Ok public radio fans and Ira Glass groupies, the good peoples at PRX gave me a new promo code for the brand spankin’ new This American Life iPhone app. So, contest time!

Here’s the deal. Write me a TAL-themed haiku, referencing your favorite episodes, Ira himself, or anything related to the show. I’ll pick my favorite one, and will give a promo code for a free download (a $3 value) for the new app.

Deadline: Friday, February 5, 2010, 5 pm Pacific.
Email: cfarivar [at] cfarivar [dot] org. Be sure to include “TAL Contest” in the subject line.

Update: The winner (and sole entrant) is Stephanie Stiavetti!

Oh dear Ira Glass,
My one and only voice crush.
Podcast addiction.

Cyrus on: CBC’s Spark and TVO’s Search Engine

By
Cyrus Farivar
 – February 1, 2010, 11:39 am UTCPosted in: CBC, Journalism, Media Appearances, Radio, Search Engine (TVO)

I’m a little behind on keeping up with my own work these days. I’ve been busy with getting ready for Germany, a book deadline and some personal issues lately.

That said, I’m tearing things up north of the border.

I was interviewed by the ever tenacious Jesse Brown on Search Engine to talk about my recent visit to Washington, D.C. to attend Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet Freedom.

You can check out that interview here.

I’m also on CBC Spark this week, doing a piece on Internet filtering in the workplace.

You can listen online here, or:

Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 1:05/1:35 NT (4:05 PT)
Tuesday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 3:05/3:35 NT



  • www.flickr.com
    cfarivar's photos More of cfarivar's photos