Education | ReallyRedding

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Turning off the comments at redding.com

I discovered this by accident. Recently, redding.com switched using Facebook to host their reader comments. For a while, I saw no comments on any article. It was a revelation. I really don’t care that much what a random group of strangers thinks about everything written at redding.com. It was nice.

But then I saw others commenting on Facebook about the comments at redding.com (negative comments, of course). So I began to wonder if it was just me who couldn’t see the comments. Sure enough, it was just me.

I use Chrome. I had previously installed a privacy plug-in named https://disconnect.me/ It was not letting Facebook requests into my browser, effectively shutting off the comments.

I like this plug-in. The free version lets you see who is tracking you and making requests at various websites, and you can turn them on or off with a software switch. So the default setting turns off the comments at redding.com. And several other things as well. The plug-in counts 66 things at redding.com at my browser:

Obviously you can leave the comments available, and choose not to read them for the same refreshing experience. But just like the ever popular car-wreck-rubbernecker analogy, I just always looked. And doing so, I was nearly always disappointed. The rare insight gained was not nearly valuable enough to offset the barrage of negativity I could not un-see.

So now they are simply switched off.

I suppose I’d forgotten just how pleasant it can be to simply read an article, and move on. No rubbernecking the wreckage. As revelations go, this one wasn’t earth shattering. But it’s been a change for the better.

March 30, 2015March 31, 2015

Shasta County retail food facility inspection results

How healthy is that restaurant? Some eastern cities we’ve seen, restaurants have health inspection results posted where you can see them. Here in Shasta County, you can view the health inspection history online. Link to the Retail Food Facility Inspection Results from Shasta County Environmental Health below.

We noticed it was easier to find the restaurant or store by street than by name. Also you can find things mobile like taco trucks by typing in taco, or whatever food vendor type you are looking for.

We’ll keep a link in the sidebar as Health Inspection Results.
Below are some tips from Shasta County, click image to slightly enlarge.

Knowledge is power, and cleanliness is next to godliness in Really Redding.

December 15, 2014August 4, 2020

Cutting the cord in Redding

It just wears you down.

The cable bill was really high every month, but our actual time spent watching TV was shrinking. Every month, paying for channels we never watch. It was like going to a restaurant and being forced to buy everything on the menu, even though you were only eating a little.

It finally wore me out. We shut off the cable TV.

We still watch TV. Mostly KRCR (ABC- channel 7) and KIXE (Public TV – channel 9), with an occasional KHSL (CBS – channel 12) and even FOX on broadcast channel 38. We don’t seem to get NBC. We also could not receive broadcast TV inside the house due to the thermal roof sheathing we have installed to lower energy use. So we called B&T Satellite of Redding (530 241 3474) and they installed an exterior antenna to serve 2 TVs, for $300. It’s aimed west, at Shasta Bally. Fast and courteous work.

We still love Charter for the internet. Well, perhaps love is a bit too strong. They seemed bitter about letting us keep the internet, while pulling the plug on the TV service. When the tech cut the cable, it changed something having to do with my router. I had to call Linksys and install new firmware. That’s an afternoon spent on the phone I’ll never get back. I’m starting to think it might be time to start exploring other providers, such as ATT-Bundles. We’ll see.

But in all, it’s been a welcome change. KIXE actually has 3 different programs broadcast simultaneously, so that’s been an upgrade. Almost everything else we watched, like Comedy Central and the like, is online somewhere. We are still exploring a bunch of online sources like HULU, Netflix, and even Amazon Prime. We love that websites like Likewise often provide up-to-date lists of everything that’s coming to Amazon Prime, it gives us so many new things to watch. The best part about all of this? Our Charter bill is now less than half what it was.

Thinking about cutting the cord? Or wondering what took us so long?

Highly recommended.

December 5, 2014December 5, 2014

Crystals inside Lassen Peak make Wired Magazine

Here’s some interesting research results about nearby Mt Lassen recently published in Wired Magazine.

“This National Science Foundation-funded project at the Lassen Volcanic Center looked at the three most recent eruptions from Lassen Peak and Chaos Crags – the 1915 Lassen Peak dacite, the 1,100 year old Chaos Crags rhyodacite and the 27,000 year old Lassen Peak dacite (see above). Of those three eruption, the 1915 is the most famous and the 100th anniversary of that eruption is around the corner. However, it was tiny, coming in at just short of 0.01 cubic kilometers. The eruption at Chaos Crags was 100 times larger while the 27,000 year old eruption of Lassen Peak was over 200 times larger.”

Wow, bet that was impressive. Still, happy not to witness it in person.

BTW Here is Lassen today, with just a bit of snow. More please! Click on the image for their webcam.

Mt Lassen from Lake Shasta by Skip Murphy

October 20, 2014October 21, 2014

East Valley Times a source for Palo Cedro area news

After featuring The Anderson Standard local news portal a couple days ago, it makes sense to post about The East Valley Times. Based in Palo Cedro, they cover smaller northstate communities east of Redding like Millville, Whitmore, Bella Vista, Jones Valley, Round Mountain, Oak Run, Montgomery Creek, Shingletown, and Manton. They are both online and in newsprint, which is published twice monthly, the first and third Thursdays of the month. At the website, you can opt to read it like a newspaper, as they have pdf versions of their print issues uploaded. They also mail to subscribers and have newstands in the area.

Like Anderson, these communities are adjacent to Redding in Shasta County. So they become part of our greater Redding ecosystem of information. It’s good to see the East Valley Times surviving and thriving, evidently enjoying community support. As I wrote about The Anderson Standard:

Every town needs a newspaper. Or its online functional equivalent. A lot of people get their news through social media lately, and that has created some unintended consequences. A newspaper with journalistic standards (or its online functional equivalent) can unite and inform in a way that is truly healthy for democracy. And unhealthy to be without.

Our best wishes for success go to The East Valley Times. You can also Like East Valley Times on Facebook. Carry on.

October 10, 2014

Jefferson Backroads magazine

I picked up one of these free magazines recently. “A happy little publication.”
Based in Grenada, this magazine and their Jefferson Backroads website are filled with smalltown ads and articles from around the Northstate. I see a particular emphasis on local history and special events. Nicely done. Grab a copy when you see it, patronize their advertisers, and Like them on Facebook. Keep up the good work, Jefferson Backroads. I’ll post a link in the sidebar too.

January 22, 2014

ShastaShots.com is a candle in the darkness

Author Carl Sagan described a “demon haunted world,” where fear drives people to make foolish and unscientific choices. As for me, I am old enough to have met an actual child stricken with Polio. Yesterday, when I took my mom to the doctor’s office, I saw a sick child showing flu-like symptoms. Was that child not vaccinated? It seems more people lately are making choices for their children based on myth, and not science. Believing the word of celebrities over that of physicians. Please don’t let the demons win. Shasta Shots has a list of the vaccinations your child needs to be well protected against real diseases.

February 28, 2011February 28, 2011

Redding League of Women Voters forum on Open Government

How much is too much Open Government? Can there even be too much open exchange in a free democratic society? Serious questions in an era of Wikileaks, with its demonstrated effects on some governments. Ponder these important questions and more at this Public Forum sponsored by the Redding League of Women Voters on Thursday March 24rd at the Redding City Council Chambers. Be there, or be uninformed! More about Redding’s League of Women Voters at the The Voter.