PFAW’s Celebrity Auction

My employer People For the American Way is always able to work their Hollywood connections for some interesting loot to auction off as part of their annual eBay celebrity auction.

This year is no exception — the goods include The Von Bondies handwritten lyrics to “C’mon, C’mon” (currently at $25!), a private tour of Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane by the creator and executive producer, a 1-month internship with filmmaker Robert Greenwald, and prints by Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Walhol. Since PFAW just dumps everything on eBay at once instead of rotating the items through, there are usually some deals to be had.

See all items auctioned as part of PFAW’s Online Celebrity Auction

RFID Chips and The Gap

In recent years a number of privacy advocates have been trying to draw attention to a new technology — RFID chips. Basically, RFID chips are a simple circuit which emit a unique signal when a reader is within range — for most not more than a few feet. The chips are small, lightweight, waterproof, and require no external power source.

Similar chips are used in identification badges at some schools to access buildings, and in the DC Metro’s SmartTrip cards. Retailers have been using the technology to replace bar codes and prevent theft by embedding the chips in CDs and other products. Wal-Mart has drawn attention by pressuring its suppliers to use the chips in products. The technology has been such a hit there’s even an RFID Journal. However, the people at EFF and the authors of the books SpyChips fear the chips will allow individuals to be tracked anywhere in the world.

While I don’t share the opinion of some of the technology’s more shrill critics, I was mildly surprised to find a chip directly sewn into clothing at a Gap store. I am not sure what they were used for — if it was theft prevention I am not sure how the chip would “know” it had been deactivated as it is a “dumb” chip that only emits its unique code.

To the left are several pictures of the chip as I found it in a knit hat, shown with light shining through it, and after I had been able to peel off one side of its fabric covering. There are bigger versions on Flickr.

This article has a good summary of RFID technology.

Town Hall

I got this message about Town Hall in Glover Park:

This Thursday, November 10th the ANC will be holding its monthly meeting at the Guy Mason building at 7PM . At this meeting, the ANC will consider the issue of whether or not to endorse Town Hall’s request for permenant hours of operation. For those who have not been following the issue, in summary, Town Hall is simply requesting that it be allowed to remain open as late as other restaurants in the city and in the neighborhood. We are asking to be open as late as Saveur was before us, and for the same hours of operation that Kavanaugh’s, Bourbon, Grog & Tankard, Austin Grill, and the two strip clubs have. There are a handful of residents, however, who oppose this request - they would like us to close at 11:30 every night. In a neighborhood of 8,000 people, they feel that their voice should be the only ones heard. This Thursday, however, can be your chance to dispel that notion. The ANC is very fair and balanced and will consider every viewpoint, whether it comes from a 55 yr old property owner or a 25 yr old renter; they just need to hear everyone’s viewpoint. We are all members of this community and as such all have an equal say as to what type of establishments we want to exist. So if you do support Town Hall, or simply dont think a handful of residents should dictate what constitutes a desirable business in Glover Park, please attend this Thursday’s ANC meeting. Other topics will also include Bourbon’s request for a back deck, My Bakery’s liquor license, and Good Guy’s planned expansion.

If you cannot attend next Thursday, but would like to voice your support, please email the following, including your name and address to anc3b at yahoo.com and paulcholder at hotmail.com

“I support Town Hall and its substantial change application for permanent hours of operation.”

Thank you for your support and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Paul Holder
Managing Partner
TownHall

Work

I’m exploring employment options. If you know of any opportunities that may interest me please drop me a line!

Stencil in Ledroit Park

We liked this stencil. It reads “Our dreams cannot fit in their ballot boxes.”

Labor Day Tubing Trip

I have posted the photos to my Labor Day tubing adventure. Go check them out.

Working Assets to Protest Grover Norquist

Hurricane Katrina is not only a national tragedy, it is also exhibit A of the devastating human consequences of the conservative movement’s anti-government agenda,” said Andrew Boyd, of Working Assets. “By taking this action, we’re saying Katrina was in large part a man-made disaster, and two of the men who made it were Grover Norquist and George W. Bush.

DCist post forthcoming …