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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [1] - Views [363]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [14] - Views [1614]
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A house (or condo, or apartment) becomes a home when it reflects you in some way. Having recently moved to Bakersfield, my carpet is still peppered with packing peanuts. The boxes I've been using as a coffee table are finally empty now, and finding a place for the contents has made the...
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Comments [5] - Views [1196]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [2] - Views [729]
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The U.S. men's soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup Thursday with a 2-1 loss to Ghana in Nuremburg, Germany. Truthfully, no one expected the United States to win the whole tournament — in fact, considering our side (that's what teams are called in soccer, for those of you just...
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For the second time in two weeks, a software developer I work with has decreed in a team e-mail that "Dan is indeed not crazy." Shwew, what a relief! This amazing finding was in response to some obscure bugs I'd filed for some new stuff we're working on. For whatever reason, I'm the one...
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The Bakersfield city council is talking about changing the city logo from the "squiggle" to a more straightforward logo, with a leaf and the slogan "Life as it should be."Personally I kinda like the squiggle. Maybe I was the only one, but I always got the whole mountains,...
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Comments [36] - Views [1623]
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I gave my presentation at the conference today and the topic everyone wanted to talk about was community-created content. I described The Northwest Voice and how it is written largely by people who live in the Northwest, and several people told me afterward that they feel this idea could work...
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Lebanon is thought to have one of the most vibrant media communities in the Middle East, with dozens of newspapers, radio stations and television stations. Satellite is the primary broadcasting mechanism for TV, and there are more than 250 Arab TV channels.
However, the majority of media...
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I would like to welcome conference participants to my blog and hope that you will join in the conversation by introducing yourself and posting a comment!
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In Lebanon, most people speak both Arabic and French, and many speak English, as well. In my tour group of about a dozen people, the participants collectively spoke German, Spanish, English, Arabic, French and Japanese. But the tour guide only had to speak in English and French because...
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In The Californian's June 11 Eye Street section, a comment by abortion-rights supporter and former clergyman Frank Baker struck me. "If we were to leave the religious aspect out and think about abortion in a rational manner, we could come to a compromise where both sides would feel a...
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I saw "Cars" for the second time this week. Yes, it really is that good. Of course, I've come to expect quality when it comes to Pixar's computer-animated films, as most movie fans do. And maybe it's just me, but it seems animated movies are more popular than ever. Already this year...
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Comments [5] - Views [1149]
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The National Weather Service says it my reach 109 degrees this weekend. If that's the case, it will be the first time we've hit that temp since July 2002 in Bakersfield. At least according to a quick search of the NWS archives.I'm going to be heading out of town the weekend, in part to avoid the...
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Comments [11] - Views [689]
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Anyone who knows me well knows that I have two passions when it comes to consumer technology. One is my TiVo, which I remain devoted to until the bitter end -- even though the company's poor financial footing and cable competitors make it more than likely that the company will eventually be sold...
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Comments [10] - Views [730]
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The Bible teaches that we are to be kind to foreigners: "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 19:34).The Bible also says this: "Submit yourselves to every...
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Comments [21] - Views [1559]
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Bob Price has a column today on a woman who keeps getting mail meant for other people. And it has her wondering if her mail is going missing. I know I get other people's mail at least once a month. But I never really have felt like I missed a vital piece of mail. How about you folks? Ever had a...
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Comments [16] - Views [926]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [1] - Views [796]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [0] - Views [449]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [2] - Views [624]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [7] - Views [847]
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...when you start sweating in the car -- during your morning commute.Boy do I love living in the valley.When do you know it's summer, folks?
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [2] - Views [547]
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Welcome to the new version of our Bakersfield.com blogs.As you can tell, there are some big changes. We have moved from our original blog provider, Typepad. Now we are running our blogs on our own system, the same one we use for our user profiles and blogs.So what does this mean for our loyal...
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Comments [11] - Views [993]
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In the U.S., the meaning of independent media is typically associated with ownership. Either you're privately held (i.e. independent) or you're part of a larger corporation. In Lebanon, the issue is not ownership, it's independence of perspective. And journalists here have paid a high price for...
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone at the U.S. State Department for taking such good care of me and all the conference guests here in Beirut. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful. This evening I had an opporunity to meet several members of the American Embassy staff, all of whom...
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I have been keeping up with local events through The Daily Star, http://www.dailystar.com.lb A friend in Los Angeles introduced The Daily Star's Editor-at-Large, Rami Khouri, and I'm looking forward to meeting him later in the week. Rami's columns also are published in Newsweek and he's a...
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Here in Lebanon, driving is, shall we say, rather freeform. Most roads do not have lane markers painted on pavement and there are few traffic signals or crosswalks. Drivers just squeeze their way in and honk at each other -- a lot. Some highways outside of Beirut do have a double-yellow line...
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Lebanon is a small country with a population of 3.8 million. The civil war that ended in 1990 resulted in a huge exodus of people, and now the largest Lebananese population in the world can be found in... Brazil! There are an estimated 7 million Lebanese there. No wonder I'm seeing so many...
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Yesterday I went on a tour of the Baalbeck ruins (fantastic - more on this later), which are about two hours to the east of Beirut near the Syrian border. On the way, the tour guide went through the long list of the conquerors who have occupied Lebanon over the centuries: the Romans, Greeks,...
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Lebanese food is fantastic! I can't get enough of labne, the Lebanese yogurt. It's very light and refreshing, similar to Greek yogurt or Indian raita, and it's served for breakfast with olives, tomatoes, baby cucumbers and mint. You can drizzle olive oil on top if you want. I know this...
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I returned Monday from a weeklong vacation to find that my macho desk had been converted into a pink, girly flower-strewn cubicle. Enjoy the pictures.
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Well I spent part of my weeklong vacation finding, cleaning and installing a new hood and radiator core support on the Cutlass. For those who don't know what a radiator core support is, it basically is what holds the whole front end together. It bolts between the front fenders and holds the...
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Comments [8] - Views [412]
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The new Search box at the top of this screen lets you search for people and things that interest you. Just make sure the "People" box is checked next to the search form. Then, enter your search terms.The search goes across all public information in user profiles and blogs and sorts...
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I arrived safely this afternoon. No problems at all with the flights, visa or luggage transfers - amazing! The airport is about 30 minutes from my hotel, so I saw some of the downtown area on the taxi ride. Beirut is on a small peninsula along the Mediterranean sea. The city is hilly, with the...
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So I get on the plane in New York, bound for Beirut via Paris, and the guy sitting next to me is friendly and we start to talking. Turns out he's the stage manager for Neil Sedaka, who's doing a private performance tonight in Paris.
I'm a big music fan, so I start asking questions about who...
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I'm leaving for the Middle East this evening. Beirut weather is similar to ours - today the high is 86 degrees Farenheit and the low is 73. And it's sunny!
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Looking forward to hearing from Bakersfield, rants and all, about what moves us.
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The Davinci Code, Cars and X-Men. Oh my!What's your favorite summer movie so far? I have to say that at this point, I found X-Men: The Last Stand the most enjoyable, although I'll agree with anyone that it's of low nutritional value.A Prairie Home Companion was OK. It was fun to see Lily Tomlin...
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Since I'll be arriving in Beirut a few days before the conference starts, I'm already scouting places to visit. At the top of my list is the Baalbeck Ruins, among the largest and best-preserved Roman ruins in the world. To the left is a picture of the Temple of Jupiter. Wow.
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If you're among the throngs of people who has already seen The Davinci Code, you may remember a scene where the two main characters barely escape the French police in a comical looking automobile that bears more resemblance to a Coke can than to a car. It's a Smart Car, an incredibly...
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I blog all the time at bakersfield.com, but this is my virgin effort here. So be gentle.
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Summer must be here. It's gonna get even hotter soon, too!
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If you're just ga-ga over your user profile and blog, you can share it with your friends in two ways.First, whenever you update your profile you have the option to send an e-mail to your friends so they can check it out. Just click the "Tell my friends" button that shows up after you...
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So you have your Bakersfield profile and blog. Cool! Now you're at a cocktail party and trying to remember the URL. Never fear -- friendly URLs are here! You can get to anyone's profile and blog as long as you know their user name. Just use this convention:For Profiles:...
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We make it easy to add photos, or any type of file, to a blog post. Multiple images show up in a little viewer that people can scroll through and click to view larger. But did you know that you can also add images into the body of your post? Here's how.
First, make sure the image is...
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Just found this wonderful Beirut travel journal on Yahoo! The seaside views are beautiful and I can't wait to see the fascinating ruins shown in this person's travel album.
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Given the ongoing strife in the Middle East, the first question that comes to mind about traveling to Beirut is, "Is it safe?" We tend to have an image of Beirut as a perpetually war-torn city, but in actuality most travel guides say that Beirut is a relatively safe place to...
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You can add your own graphic header to your blog, which will appear under the Bakersfield.com logo and above your blog posts. We limit the size to 900 x 400, but only because we don't want you to create a blog that looks bad that nobody wants to see.To add a custom header, you must first create...
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You can add text and other links to the sidebar of your blog, and you don't need to know any HTML to do it. Just do this:1) Click the Edit Profile & Settings Tab.2) Click Blog Settings.3) Scroll down and fill out the Title for Your Sidebar and Text for Your Sidebar sections.4) Note that you...
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