Vote for your favorite park in Sprite Spark Parks Contest

Vote for your favorite park to win $15,000.00 to "get refreshed" sponsored by Coca Cola North America. The Contest ends on May 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. 

During the writing of this post Atlanta's Burdett Park and NY's Sorrentino Rec Center are hot swapping the first place position. All parks are set to get refreshed, Coca Cola is providing grants to help the public parks, so voter help decide the top 10 courts to receive $15K to assist in "getting refreshed".

10 First Place Grants - $15,000 that must be used to construct, refresh and/or refurbish basketball courts located in the Park.
10 Second Place Grants - $10,000 that must be used as specified above.
5 Third Place Grants - $5,000 that must be used as specified above.

25 Public Parks selected by the sponsor, Coca-Cola North America. 
Grayson Park Birmingham AL
Starlight Park Phoenix AZ
Hollywood Recreation Center Los Angeles CA
DeFremery Park Oakland CA
Emery Recreation Center Washington DC
Dorsey Park Miami FL
Burdett Park College Park GA
Evelyn Davis Park Des Moines IA
Washington Park Chicago IL
Indianaola Park Indianapolis IN
Portland Park Louisville KY
Gatto Playground New Orleans LA
Westown Commons Park Grand Rapids MI
Fox Park St. Louis MO
Elmira Park Durham NC
Frazier Park Charlotte NC
Sorrentino Recreation Center Far Rockaway NY
DeHart Park Cincinnati OH
Dermond Recreation Area Drexel Hill PA
Jesse Turner Park Memphis TN
Winzer Basketball Court Houston TX
Cotillion Park Dallas TX
Ethel Bailey Furman Memorial Park Richmond VA
Pratt Park Basketball Courts Seattle WA
Juneau Playground Milwaukee WI
Which park are you voting for?

Do you pay for access to your online local newspaper?

Pay $6.95 to access the Augusta Chronicle online content? No thanks. The Augusta Chronicle allows "passers by" to visit what they deem as "Premium Content" up to 15 pages before seeing one of the prompts displayed in the image below.

I gave up the printed version of the Augusta Chronicle years ago. I use the online version to check out some local headlines but gave up reading it online after my last move in and out of Augusta because the comments demonstrated the need for commenting workshops, from the negativity of the commenters to those who type as they speak. The Augusta Chronicle is mentioned in PEJ's State of the News Media 2012 as they initially offered 100 page views at no cost to today's count of 15 free page views.

I will stick with WRDW, WJBF, and WAGT for my free local and Alltop for surrounding news feeds. I will occasionally view the Augusta Chronicle reporters on Google+ or Twitter but I will not pay $6.95 per month or $83.40 per year for what the AC deems as premium content. In addition to the price, notice the warning, "This page has insecure content".

Call me spoiled, but if I pay I do not expect to see the page has "insecure content" nor do I want to see ads. But as one commenter posted in the AC Publisher's article: Chronicle offers new ways to serve you in January 2011, "Only the ignorant will fail to see the value in the minimal charges" is yet another reason the holier than thou attitude will get you nowhere in Augusta. It is why people continue to get their Masters Tournament coverage from the national sources, vice the local premium content managers.

Augusta Chronicle did their research, but I opted for Pew's State of the News Media 2010, State of the Newpapers 2012, Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism Summary of Newspapers and Charts and Tables that Internet users can access with no additional fees.

If the Augusta Chronicle offered content that mattered to me, provided relevant information for my educational journey, presented content that was secure, and displayed no advertisements, I might contemplate a fee based access. But I pay for my education and my Internet service, where I can access information from sources more credible, plausible, and verisimilar.

The Augusta Chronicle offers an app for Android, iPad, and iPhone/iPod Touch currently, "Free for a limited time". Do you pay for access to your local newspaper online information?
Comments, recommendations +1s, and reaction check boxes are always appreciated.

Single point of failure. Are you one?

Are you a single point of failure? Many people associate single points of failure (SPOF) with technology, but humans can be SPOFs too. The one life event that is guaranteed to occur when you are born is you will die. 

If you aren't working yourself out of your position, whether in the family unit or corporate organizations, you are setting people up for redundant work, frustration, and you are not fulfilling your DASH.

Whether someone takes time off from work, physically or mentally checks out, or simply takes a break from the family unit, someone always gets stuck. So start today...whether it is a personal diary with how the things work around the house and instructions on how to access the information once you are absent or if you make yourself holier than thou on the two way rifle range leave some tidbit of the treasure trove of your skills, knowledge, and abilities for someone to come along and keep the battle rhythm in sync. Adapt, implement, and overcome only goes so far when you have to continuously pick up the slack.

Take some time, do a self assessment, and leave the information for others who will replace you. If you don't like to write or type, make a video. Knowledge hoarding does not equal job security and when you pass don't leave additional "stuff to do"  for those you leave behind, they are already emotionally drained adjusting to loss of life. Assess the scenario, whether personal or professional as the the story of the Blind Men and an Elephant, then become one part of the resolution.