Lee.org

Want to know where to buyavoid crack in San Francisco? Want to see where the bad people are? Crimespotting.org is the tool!

Want to know where your car is most likely to get stolen? Where you’re likely to get robbed? Crimespotting is the tool!

This is a map of narcotics arrests from October 11-21, 2009. Do you see a pattern? You can click on the dots to see what the crimes are. The vast majority in the tenderloin and that blip in Mission between 16th and 17th are for crack cocaine and drug paraphenalia. Now you know!

This is a  phenomenal  way to visualize crime data. Schuyler is planning an evening field trip in Oakland and is trying to find a place where he won’t get killed for just walking down the street. We found the spot… yes, we found a spot in Oakland with virtually no crime! And we can feel comfortable going there because we know there’s no crime in the area.

Check it out for yourself:

San Francisco Crimespotting

Oakland Crimespotting

The Crimespotting Blog

Want to find out what gun was used in a movie? Check the Internet Movie Firearms Database!

My handgun is apparently quite popular in the movies.

Tuesday evening the International Space Station will be flying by San Francisco. Join a contingent on Bernal Hill or just look up at the right time. I caught it once before and was cooler than you’d initially imagine.

Tuesday evening starting at 5:29pm sharp for just 3 minutes. Starting in the southwest, going high in the sky and ending in the northeast.

Join us on Bernal Hill! Call me or comment on the blog or just show up

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Find out when the International Space Station will be in San Francisco.

and

Find out when it’s coming to YOUR town.

I shoved together all the video footage I took at Maker Faire 2009 and… well, here you go. Enjoy!

local version:

My friend Karen asked me about free wiki software. Here is my response

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Well, PBWiki (http://pbworks.com/) offers advertiser supported wiki services but I really really really (really!) recommend using Mediawiki instead. Mediawiki is the software that runs the FLG wiki. It’s really good software and it’s what users are familiar with. I run it on Dreamhost.com. If your friend has an ounce of geek in them, they should sign up and run their own wiki. And if they don’t have an ounce, they probably shouldn’t be running a wiki, really.

Dreamhost service is like $8/month. I have a coupon-thing where they’ll get $48.50 off a $96 1 year membership or $25 off a monthly. My promocode: SPLITITWITHLEE

Oh and I see that they have a free trial thing on their homepage: http://dreamhost.com/

If your friend can find a friend that already has a hosting plan at Dreamhost or another provider, they might let them mooch off them for free since it probably won’t cost any money extra. That’s what I do for SWARM and FLG and some personal wikis I run.

I just saw The Departed. Good cop. Bad cop. Entertainment!

I’ve been listening to The Four Hour Work Week. I just made it to disc 3 and all of a sudden I’m getting disappointed. When the author says he checks email once a week for an hour and checks his voicemail once a week without any adverse effects, I begin to doubt. But I won’t stop listening. He is saying a lot of good stuff.

And I still love listening to Doctor Karl on Australian radio. Catch the RSS audio feed of his shows here

I was chatting with Schuyler and I was reminded of his fantastic Stranger Eats,  the site is predicated on him asking total strangers online for recipes. The results are sometimes delicious and often hilarious.

Most recently, he made queso fresco so I gave it a try. Let me just say that 10 minutes ago I had milk, salt and vinegar and right now I am eating my very own home made queso fresco! And it’s good!

I’m excited about going to this outdoor lasertag game I’ve heard about in the Bay Area for a while now. I heartily welcome you to join me!

Check out BattleSFO lasertag either on the website or Facebook

Here is the invite from Facebook

Capture-the-flag lasertag and potluck picnic party
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Time: 11:00am – 4:30pm
Location: Junipero Serra Park- Isis lasertag group picnic site
Street: 1801 Crystal Springs Rd
City/Town: San Bruno, CA
View Map
Description: http://sflasertag.org/battlesfo/participate

BattleSFO is an intense afternoon of outdoor lasertag and a potluck picnic party in the park. Six Teams will be playing 12 minute games of capture-the-flag in a 2 acre wooded area of Junipero Serra Park.

We’ll provide the latest in mil-spec outdoor lasertag equipment and radio headsets for each player.

This is lasertag at its finest. We’ll be playing with some of the best lasertag equipment available, running around in the open woods. The radio headsets help you know what’s going on, making the games much more thrilling. Between games we’ll be having a potluck BBQ picnic party at our private group picnic area, and watch the other teams play from above. It’s going to be a high-adrenaline afternoon of fierce competition and fun times. Spectators welcome

Cost:

* Player: $50 per player covers all lasertag and radio equipment rentals, park rental fees, and staffing
* Youth Games: $15 per youth (with a registered adult)
* Volunteer: There are 8 openings for volunteers who will play for free in exchange for refereeing games and helping setup.
* Spectator: People are welcome attend the potluck picnic for free without playing, but please register so we know you’re coming.

Please register on the event website to confirm your space. Thanks! Volunteers should also register, as there are only 2 more spaces.

http://sflasertag.org/battlesfo/participate

Some artists I’ve heard recently…

I saw Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley in concert at Shoreline  Amphitheater  in Mountain View on September 25th. Charlotte, Rick and I went along with 40,000 screaming Daisy Dukes. It was a lot of fun! I enjoy his common-man lyrics.. (IE I’m Gonna Miss Her starts, “Well, I love her, but I love to fish…”) (photo credit)

On October 3rd, I got to sit 5 feet from and listen to Yacouba Diarra from west Africa play. Awesome!

I give a hearty “Thank You!” to the Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP)!  They get people excited about San Francisco art and local performance!

Charlotte and I went to the San Francisco Greek Food Festival in September. We met up with a very nice guy who got us talking about good food in the area. He gave us several restaurant reviews…

Rainbow Pizza in San Mateo has tyropita and possibly galactoburikos (I have no idea how to spell that!)

Emil Villa’s Original Hick’ry Pit in Campbell – has the best bbq sauce. The guy who was talking to us offered to go to the place and mail us a bottle of this elixer! I see there is one in Walnut Creek which is a little closer.

Cafe Rouge in Berkeley was recommended.

Alice’s Restaurant in Noe Valley for the best Chinese food in San Francisco.