Viola: Are thou not the Lady Olivia’s fool?
Feste: No indeed sir, the Lady Olivia has no folly, she will keep no fool sir, till she be married, and fools are like husbands as pilchards are to herrings, the husband’s the bigger. I am indeed no
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"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:36:49, May 15th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Though I hated to see you reference Glenn Beck by name [Three Times ... [Read More]
- 11:42:07, May 10th 2013 - yenken - I feel very sorry for those who have commented do far, as when you stand fa ... [Read More]
- 12:10:25, Apr 26th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Mr. "Cabtrom's" garbage-out[burst]--in response to Ms. Reisner's w ... [Read More]
- 9:51:50, Apr 24th 2013 - jeff pischke - To Jerry Grehl, the number to the fillmore county sheriffs office is 7 ... [Read More]
- 9:27:24, Apr 22nd 2013 - Cabtrom - Blah blah blah, garbage in garbage out! ... [Read More]
- 7:00:49, Apr 11th 2013 - Donald Pierce - Col. Stan Gudmundson hit most of the important nails squarly on the h ... [Read More]
- 12:44:54, Apr 4th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - My compliments to Ms. Hammer for giving us well-crafted "Rachel Rea ... [Read More]
- 5:09:06, Apr 3rd 2013 - truthiness - I see this is dated April 1. That explains it! ... [Read More]
- 12:04:33, Apr 3rd 2013 - Frank W. Hawthorne - Say WHAT?!? Stan's American-Pie [In SKY] is Falling--Not Again? ... [Read More]
- 12:40:21, Mar 29th 2013 - Jacob - It's a shame that so few people care about making their voices heard. If we ... [Read More]
24-Hour Surveillance
Mon, Apr 29th, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
Comments
In this day and age, the question ‘Are you ever alone?’ is a plausible interrogative statement. Whether someone is zooming in on your house via Google Earth, tapping your phone lines, hacking your email account, trying to infect your computer with a virus to steal personal information, or you are making a debut on a store or restaurant surveillance camera, complete privacy seems to be morphing into an archaic concept.
But it is not all bad, is it? The citizens of Boston, Massachusetts and the investigators of the Boston bombings probably do not think so, particularly when it comes to accessing surveillance footage and witness-taken photos or video. Take a minute and think of how the investigation would have been carried out differently if thousands of hours of footage were not at the fingertips of authorities. Of course there would be the eyewitness accounts to rely upon, but in such a chaotic, panic-stricken situation, who remembers every detail with one-hundred percent accuracy?
Now add in making all of the raw images and footage available through social media. A countless number of fresh eyes can view and assess for new observations, which then, in turn, can be reported to investigators. That is exactly what happened two weeks ago. A New York Times report explained that back in 2011, only about forty-percent of law enforcement agencies accepted solicited tips from the public, but as of 2012 that figure has grown to sixty-percent.
However, there are always two sides to every story. Misinformation can spread just as quickly as an accurate report, if not faster because there can be so many incorrect versions of a story. There is no doubt that numerous false reports occur in high-stake situations such as Boston’s tragedy, which gives law enforcement the extra duty of sorting through legitimate and illegitimate information sources. That being said, a mix of good and bad information most likely is better than no information at all.
Today in the digital age it is nearly impossible to do anything without someone else seeing, which is an idea to keep in mind. Whether this is a positive or negative concept will continually be debated. Regardless, the citizens of Boston and investigators of the Boston Marathon bombing incident are no doubt sleeping easier, knowing those responsible are no longer at-large. As for the rest of us, being able to sleep easy may just be worth giving up some of our privac .....
[Read the Rest]
But it is not all bad, is it? The citizens of Boston, Massachusetts and the investigators of the Boston bombings probably do not think so, particularly when it comes to accessing surveillance footage and witness-taken photos or video. Take a minute and think of how the investigation would have been carried out differently if thousands of hours of footage were not at the fingertips of authorities. Of course there would be the eyewitness accounts to rely upon, but in such a chaotic, panic-stricken situation, who remembers every detail with one-hundred percent accuracy?
Now add in making all of the raw images and footage available through social media. A countless number of fresh eyes can view and assess for new observations, which then, in turn, can be reported to investigators. That is exactly what happened two weeks ago. A New York Times report explained that back in 2011, only about forty-percent of law enforcement agencies accepted solicited tips from the public, but as of 2012 that figure has grown to sixty-percent.
However, there are always two sides to every story. Misinformation can spread just as quickly as an accurate report, if not faster because there can be so many incorrect versions of a story. There is no doubt that numerous false reports occur in high-stake situations such as Boston’s tragedy, which gives law enforcement the extra duty of sorting through legitimate and illegitimate information sources. That being said, a mix of good and bad information most likely is better than no information at all.
Today in the digital age it is nearly impossible to do anything without someone else seeing, which is an idea to keep in mind. Whether this is a positive or negative concept will continually be debated. Regardless, the citizens of Boston and investigators of the Boston Marathon bombing incident are no doubt sleeping easier, knowing those responsible are no longer at-large. As for the rest of us, being able to sleep easy may just be worth giving up some of our privac .....
[Read the Rest]
Let the Sand Mining Begin, Says County
Mon, Apr 29th, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
It was just sixteen months ago when this column first broke the news locally about frac sand mining coming to Lake Wobegon—namely, Fillmore County. Two mine proposals had already been put forth, and we could see a frenzy of mine development in Wis
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[Read the Rest]
Spring Cleaning: Don’t forget your electronics
Mon, Apr 22nd, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
It’s April, and although it may not feel like our typical Minnesota spring, many people are beginning their spring cleaning if they haven’t already completed it. Cleaning out storage, washing windows, cleaning carpets, dusting--they’re all typ
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[Read the Rest]
A Literary Tableau of Taxidermy
Mon, Apr 22nd, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
How delighted I was to find that Susan Orlean, in her essay “Lifelike,” published in the New Yorker and again in The Best American Essays 2004, described her short season as a tourist in the world of taxidermy, an experience she calls a parade o
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Angel Pie
Mon, Apr 22nd, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
Confession alert! I, being of sound mind and body, admit that I do not crave chocolate. Well, I don’t hate it either; if that makes you feel better. My family and friends confessed “chocoholics” find this a bit odd. However, since this lea
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The Joys of Spring Herbing
Mon, Apr 15th, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
It has been a very long wait for the glaciers in my yard to recede. The idea that our climate is shifting, has not been as manifest in our current “spring.”
A month has passed since I talked about getting the shrubs and trees pruned in my yard
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Flannery O’Connor, Master of Character Description
Mon, Apr 15th, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
Having just returned from a trip to Savannah, Georgia, the birthplace of the famous American writer and essayist Flannery O’ Connor, I brought with me a collection of her short stories A Good Man is Hard to Find. Flannery O’Connor often condense
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Text & Drive
Mon, Apr 15th, 2013
Posted in Columnists
Posted in Columnists
Technology, normally I would argue, usually has its benefits outweigh its downfalls, however, I believe that you can have “too much of a good thing.” One example of the overbearing technology in our lives is rooted in cell phone usage, particula
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[Read the Rest]