Archive - 2010
January 17th
This Week in Woodbridge
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 10:55This is the third week that I am writing a This Week in Woodbridge entry. During the past few weeks, my thoughts about this column have been slowly changing. Initially, I was reading through the regularly scheduled events listed on the Woodbridge Town Website, and supplementing it with additional information that I’ve been receiving. Now, I’m putting that information in the
Woodbridge Citizen Calendar. I’m also reading through the Woodbridge Town Library Calendar. People with other information about what is happening around Woodbridge are encouraged to send information to editor at woodbridgecitizen.com. This column will continue to evolve as more information becomes available.
On Sunday evening, Ridgefield First Selectman and possible Gubernatorial candidate Rudy Marconi will be the guest on Woodbridge Resident Fiona Hynes' Internet base radio show. In previous shows, Fiona has interviewed former Stamford Mayor and possible Gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy, and in 2008, State Representative Candidate Marc Garofalo. Additional candidates and elected officials are being lined up for future shows and candidates and elected officials are encouraged to contact Fiona’s parents to schedule an appearance.
Monday, the library, the schools, and town offices are closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Residents are encouraged to find ways of participating in a day of service. In the evening there will be a benefit concern for relief efforts in Haiti at Woolsey Hall on the Yale Campus in New Haven.
Tuesday there will be no school at Beecher Road as the teachers participate in teacher workshops. However, there will be arts, crafts and stories for children four years and older at the town Library. In the evening, there will be a panel on getting organized at the town Library. The Woodbridge Board of Education will hold its monthly meeting and the GATA subcommittee of the Cable Area Council 2 will hold its monthly meeting.
Wednesday there will be events for toddlers at the library during the day, and a career networking meeting at the library in the evening.
Thursday there will be a music program for pre-schoolers at the library in the morning and a book discussion about Jane Eyre in the evening. The Woodbridge Board of Selectmen’s Investment Sub-Committee Meeting will meet at town hall at 5 PM, followed by the Board of Finance at 6 PM and the Conservation Commission at 7 PM.
(Cross-posted at the Woodbridge Citizen.)
January 16th
Has anybody here seen my old friend Roger
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 10:11Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham,
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he's gone.
On Monday, we will pause to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. For many, it will be a Day of Service.
He taught that through nonviolence and service to one another, problems such as hunger and homelessness, prejudice and discrimination can be overcome. Dr. King’s teachings can continue to guide us in addressing our nation’s most pressing needs---poverty, economic insecurity, job loss and education.
The sixties were a turbulent time. There was a war overseas. There were battles at home about what equality means. Amidst the turmoil, there was idealism and a concern for fellow humans.
I was four years old when President Kennedy was assassinated and nine when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. I have very limited memories of this. Yet yesterday, I spent a little time gaining more perspective on the sixties.
Former Greenwich First Selectman Roger Pearson had considered running against Senator Dodd in a Democratic Primary. I had spoken with him early in the year about the issues that mattered to him in such a race. Then, around June we lost touch with one another. I figured it was mostly because of my busy life. Yet when Sen. Dodd decided not to run for re-election, I fired off an email to Mr. Pearson to ask for his comments. Yesterday, we spoke on the phone.
Mr. Pearson, speaking in a firm and clear but halting voice talked about his experiences. He remembered being in Washington DC when President Kennedy was shot, of visiting the Rotunda at three in the morning, of passing by the White House and seeing Secret Service officers standing with their bloodshot eyes.
We talked about the Great Society, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. Mr. Pearson spoke about how he had always wanted to be a legislator. He spoke about his support for Congressman Himes and the difficulties Democrats have historically had in the district. Mr. Pearson spoke about the stroke he had recently had, and his recovery.
As I listened to him speak, I thought of StoryCorps. Mr. Pearson’s voice is a voice we need to hear in the upcoming elections. We need a reminder of the ideals we fought for in the sixties and to be reminded that we still should care for our neighbors as we sought to in the sixties.
So perhaps, we need more people going door to door in the coming elections, but these people should not be going door to door to try and swing voters one way or another or simply to encourage them to get out and vote.
No, we need to go to the doors of people like Mr. Pearson, to learn of our past and be inspired to make our society even greater.
January 15th
#n900 updates
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 13:51Yesterday, Nokia announced the latest update to the Nokia N900. This is big update, hundreds of modules to be updated and megabytes of data. However, the update also moves some data out of the small root file system to the much larger regular file system.
I was very low on space in the root file system, but it said that it would free up space, so I proceeded with the installation. However, it used temporary space in the root file system and ended up crashing my phone; bad enough to lose telephone connectivity, but not bad enough to lose Internet connectivity.
I’ve installed OpenSSH on my phone so I can connect to it from any of the computers around the house which makes things much easier. Checking around, I found that the /var/lib/apt directory was taking up about 15 meg of disk space. The /var/lib/dpkg directory was taking up about 27 meg of disk space and the /var/cache/apt directory was using up 14 meg of disk space. That worked out to about 56 megabytes or over 20% of the root file system.
In the announcement about the upgrade, there was a link to a page about freeing up root file system space. It included a link to a blog post about moving apt out of metadata. The author wrote a script that copies data to the home directory and uses apt-config to change apt to use the new directories. The author warns that the script is not official and that people run it at their own risk. The wiki warns that this could cause rescue mode to fail.
Instead of using apt-config to move things around, I took a different approach. I created /opt/cache and /opt/lib I then moved the apt and dpkg directories from /var/cache and /var/lib to /opt/cache and /opt/lib With the files moved, I then created a symbolic link in the /var/cache and /var/lib directories pointing over to the /opt/cache and /opt/lib directories.
It appears to have worked fine, and the update completed. Unfortunately, the telephony portion did not restart properly so I had to reboot the N900. When I did, everything worked fine. Looking at Settings -> About, and at the results of the terminal command osso-product-info, I found that my release version was now 2.2009.51-1.002. Google Latitude, which had not worked with the beta version of the upgrade was working. The changes to the fmtx_client command to allow stations with a length other than eight characters also worked. I had more space in the root file system, but other than that, I haven’t noticed any other changes.
One thing that did throw me for a loop was that my prompt still said Nokia-N900-42-11 and uname –a returned Nokia-N900-42-11 as part of the string. However, that is the default hostname, and the update didn’t change the host name. I went into /etc/hostname and changed it to a more meaningful name, making the corresponding change in /etc/hosts
It was frustrating getting things moved around and updating cleanly, but now everything is running smoothly, and we can see what I can break, err, tinker with next on the N900. Anyone else have an N900? Got any stories about it?
January 14th
Woodbridge Democratic Town Committee Meeting
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 10:37On Monday evening, the Democratic Town Committee met to conduct regular business. In addition, there was a Democratic Town Caucus which elected seventy five members to the Democratic Town Committee for a two year term.
The town committee’s nominating committee presented its slate of candidates, which the committee as a whole then approved. The meeting then moved into the Democratic Town Caucus where the slate was quickly approved. The members of the newly elected Democratic Town Committee are largely the same as before, with a few new additions. Karen Cusick, a member of the Library Commission and former Democratic Town Chair in Seymour, Richard Kruger, a member of the GAT Commission and former Democratic Town Chair of Ansonia, and Marissa Von Beeden, who is also a member of the Library Commission were voted on to the Democratic Town Committee.
The town committee then resumed its regular meeting. First Selectman Ed Sheehy reported events in town. He reported that the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to suggest a different location for the proposed cellphone tower on Litchfield turnpike. It was reported that the Amity Board of Education had again discussed the possibility of a cell phone tower at the high school, but there remained opposition by the board. First Selectman Sheehy noted that the Connecticut Siting Council would be holding a hearing at the Center on Tuesday to address this.
Mr. Sheehy also spoke about the Wednesday Board of Selectmen meeting where they were scheduled to award the bid on the repairs to the exterior of the former fire house. Elia Alexiades of the Fire Commission reported that the Fire Department has received its new tanker truck. Sen. Crisco reported on events in Hartford, noting that the deficit continues to increase and the there have been talks about trying to find ways to use stimulus funds to address the deficit. There was also discussion about another effort to get the May municipal elections changed to November for the small number of municipalities, including Woodbridge, that still hold municipal elections.
The next order of business was a presentation by Josh Hershman, son of DTC member Peter Hershman, who is considering running for State Representative in the 114th District which includes Woodbridge, Derby and Orange. Josh has recently graduated from Muhlenberg College and is studying law at University of Connecticut. It was noted that Woodbridge will have six delegates at the State Representative convention and Orange and Derby will each have four delegates. The dynamics of the race, should Rep. Klarides decide to run for a statewide office instead of for reelection as State Representative.
Finally, there was a discussion about current and expected vacancies in various town commissions, including one on Zoning Board of Appeals and one in Human Services. There was also a brief discussion about the election of officers of the Town Committee which should take place in May.
(Cross posted at the Woodbridge Citizen.)
January 13th
Citizen's Election Program Hearing: Restrictions on Contributions - Part 2
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 20:19(Continued from Citizen's Election Program Hearing: Restrictions on Contributions - Part 1.)
Around ten of twelve, Ira Feinberg began his oral arguments concerning the lobbyist restrictions of the Connecticut Citizen’s Election Program before the Second Circuit. He started off by acknowledging that Citizens United v. FEC, which is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court could have an effect on the ruling, but since that case is primarily about corporate independent expenditures, it is not likely. Nonetheless, the Second Circuit might want briefings from the parties in the CEP case after a ruling is made by the U.S. Supreme Court.
