- Paper Pile-Up
 Ever pass an auto pile up on a major highway? Usually it starts when one vehicle hits another and then it snowballs until the whole highway is locked down. The same thing happens to our desks. One or two papers are left out. Then a pile-up begins. Then the pile overflows. Finding things becomes impossible and your work at that station gets completely bogged down. How do we avoid pile-ups? Stop the auto pile-up with defensive driving techniques and alertness for obstacles on the road. Stop the desk pile ups with having a plan in place for the incoming paper and sticking to it. Set up those action files and make them work! Stop paper pile-up now! Jonda S. BeattieProfessional Organizer - ... more feeds
| - MARTA cuts will cramp service industry
MARTA’s proposed service cuts and fare increase may irritate transit advocates and white-collar commuters.
But for the service employees in Atlanta’s hotels, restaurants, sporting venues and municipal facilities, the changes could mean the difference between drawing a paycheck or not.
“Almost all of them take public transportation,” said Harris Raynor, Southern regional director of Workers...
For the rest of the story, go to ATLANTAUNSHELTERED.COM. - ... more feeds
| - Mortgage Applications Increasing
One mortgage company in Atlanta, America Homekey Mortgage, is happily reporting an increase in mortgage applications. American Homekey Mortgage is the preferred lender for Atlanta builder Bowen Family Homes. Many of their communities feature spacious homes priced from the $100’s in communities with an abundance of neighborhood amenities. The price, product and location make [...]  - ... more feeds
| Tech Tech related... - bChamp: The iPhone App That Beatboxes For You
At the TechFellow event on Friday, we had the opportunity to demo a musical mobile app that lets you beatbox on your iPhone. Developed by Dutch startup Monodomo, bChamp is $0.99 at the app store. The video gives you a clearer idea of how the app works.
bChamp will translate sounds you make into the iPhone’s microphone into beatboxing sounds. bChamp will recognizes three beatbox sounds: Snare (say “k” as in “cabbage”), Kickdrum (say “b” as in “bogus”), Hi-Hat (say “t” sound with your teeth closed). When you make those sounds into the microphone, they will be translated into dfferent drum-like sounds. You can also adjust the pitch of your beats by using the app’s interface to change the pitch. bChamp’s app includes some visual graffiti effects.
For $0.99, the app is a simple way for those of us who are challenged in the beatboxing department to pretend that we have some skills. Our demo was particularly effective because the founders of Mondomo hooked the device up to an external speaker. Using headphones or the iPhone’s speaker may not be as much fun when it comes to bChamp’s sound. Other iPhone apps that let you simulate beatboxing sounds include Milky App’s Beatbox Live and BtBx.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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| | Community Neighborhood blogs, civic associations, city oriented. - $7,500 dollar reward offered for information on hate crimes.
AJC by Alexis StevensDays after swastikas were painted on three homes, the police chiefs in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody made one thing clear: they aren’t going to tolerate it. “This is not just toilet-papering a house,” said Sandy Springs Chief Terry Sult. “We’re investigating this as a hate crime.” Three incidences within a 24-hour period is extraordinary, according to Bill Nigut, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League. A rabbi of one of the families whose house was vandalized contacted Nigut after the Saturday night incidents. The two police departments and the ADL have each offered $2,500 rewards, for a total of $7,500, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the vandalization. Georgia is one of five states that doesn’t have laws against hate crimes, Nigut said. If and when those responsible are caught, they will face vandalism charges, but that’s not enough, he said. ( Do we need a hate crime ordinance in Dunwoody for higher fines than just the $655.00 fine for vandalism? see top of page 20). “When it comes to anti-Semitism and hatred like this, there’s no such thing as a fun prank,” Nigut said after a press conference Wednesday. “These families feel vulnerable and exposed.” The painted swastikas are minor compared to Wednesday’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum involving an elderly man suspected of being a white supremacist. “Obviously, there’s no connection,” Nigut said. “But emotionally, this is the sort of thing that leads many Jewish people to feel that we are the object of hatred.”  - ... more feeds
| Education DeKalb and Atlanta oriented blogs including public, private and secondary education. - DeKalb Preparatory Academy Charter to Open by 2010?
I picked this up on the Laurel Ridge email newslist and thought DCSWatch readers might find it useful: "I'm Laura Crawley, and I live near Laurel Ridge Elementary, where my kids have enjoyed several terrific school years. A few months ago, I was asked to join the founding board for a new charter elementary school in Dekalb County, called Dekalb Preparatory Academy. We're looking at sites in Tucker and possibly in Clarkston, and the goal is to open in September 2010. Dekalb Prep will be part of the Mosaica family of schools, which includes schools in Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, and Cleveland. Atlanta Preparatory Academy on Fairburn Rd, which is opening in fall 2009, is also a Mosaica school.I've learned more about Mosaica since joining the board, and I like their emphasis on parent involvement, incentives for teacher achievement, attention to multiple intelligences and the ways children learn, and the extended school day. I'm writing to ask my neighbors in Dekalb to take a moment to explore the Dekalb Prep website, http://dekalbprep.org/. If you're interested by what you see, please sign the petition (the link is on the home page of the site.) Mosaica is working on the charter application now. If you have any questions, just let me know off line at lauracrawley@comcast.net. - ... more feeds
| Media Blogs from print, radio and television media. - Add another brother to the snap list
From CNN.com
DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- New state felony charges were filed Friday against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, even as a judge, ruling in a previous case, said the mayor could leave jail under restrictions that include GPS tracking. State officials charged Kilpatrick with two felony counts of assaulting police officers, stemming from a July 24 incident.
The mayor already is facing charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct of office in connection with his testimony in a whistle-blower trial last year.Kilpatrick has remained defiant, and rejected calls for his resignation from critics, including the president of the Detroit City Council.
However, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, acting under a little-used state law allowing the governor to remove city officials under certain circumstances, has set a September 3 hearing that could result in his removal, Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Friday.
Kilpatrick appeared before Wayne County Circuit Court Magistrate Renee McDufee for arraignment on the new charges Friday. He did not speak in court, and McDufee entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
The next court date will be August 14 or 15, McDufee said, depending on attorneys' schedules.
In the July 24 incident, an altercation took place as two police officers attempted to serve a subpoena on a friend of
Kilpatrick's and a potential witness in the perjury case, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Friday. Cox alleged an "irate and angry" Kilpatrick grabbed one of the officers, shoved him into the other and screamed at both of the officers, using abusive language and "race-baiting statements."
"In almost 20 years as a prosecutor, and now as attorney general, I cannot recall one case where someone has assaulted a police officer who was attempting to serve a subpoena," Cox said.
If convicted, Kilpatrick would face up to two years in prison, and as a convicted felon would no longer be able to serve as Detroit's mayor.
Asked about the new charges, Kilpatrick attorney James Thomas, who was leaving the Circuit Court hearing where Kilpatrick's bond was discussed, said, "We're going to fight there the same way as we fought it here -- the law and common sense."
Kilpatrick, who had been free on $75,000 bond on the previous charges, was ordered jailed Thursday by a District Court judge after the judge learned Kilpatrick had traveled to Canada on
Detroit business without notifying the court in advance as the judge had required.
Kilpatrick's lawyers filed an immediate appeal to Circuit Judge Thomas Jackson, who heard arguments on the bail revocation Friday. Jackson said he agreed with "almost everything" done Thursday by Judge Ronald Giles, but said he did not agree with the complete revocation of bail without conditions.
In reinstating Kilpatrick's bond, Judge Thomas Jackson set the amount at $50,000 cash, meaning Kilpatrick cannot pay the usual 10 percent to be released. The mayor is not allowed to travel outside the three-county Detroit metropolitan area, Jackson said, and will be subject to GPS tracking.
Before McDufee, Thomas argued that additional bond should not be imposed in the new case, as Jackson's bond was sufficient. "We will comply with the bond conditions," he said.
But McDufee imposed an additional $25,000 bond in the case, although a 10 percent payment is allowed on that amount. She said she was adopting the conditions imposed by Jackson -- no travel and GPS tracking -- along with a new one: Kilpatrick is to have no contact with witnesses involved in the July 24 incident. Earlier, Jackson made it clear that he did not condone Kilpatrick's behavior, calling it "defiant" and "arrogant."
"A judge who makes some basic rules from the beginning expects those rules to be followed," he said.
Kilpatrick has been embroiled in a public scandal since January, when the Detroit Free Press reported he had exchanged romantic text messages with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, indicating the two were involved in an affair. In testimony in a whistle-blower trial last summer, the pair, under oath, had denied any romantic attachment.
Thursday, Kilpatrick and Beatty waived their preliminary hearing and were bound over to stand trial in Circuit Court. Beatty resigned her post after the text messages were made public. If convicted on those charges, both would face a maximum of 15 years in prison.
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