Google Maps

https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat

Wait, Aldi and Trader Joe's are (kind of) Related?

The All-American Aldi 

https://www.theawl.com/2017/12/the-all-american-aldi/

(Other's) Well-considered Thoughts on The Navy's Strategic Readiness Review

No matter the service, there are good insights and points for consideration 

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-navys-strategic-readiness-review.html

Every Color Of Every Lightsaber In ‘Star Wars,’ In One Chart

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/every-color-of-every-lightsaber-in-star-wars-in-one-chart/amp/

The German Crater Town

Not the only one, but unique in its shimmering surfaces. I had the pleasure
of visiting Nordlingen several times, including once when my parents
visited; as Eugene Shoemaker (who had helped determine the origin of
Nordlingen's shimmer) had been a friend, that visit was particularly
important.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171121-the-german-town-encrusted-with-diam
onds

Also see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinheim_crater

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Merle_Shoemaker
(note the distinction of his burial location)

Coast Guard’s Floating Guantanamo’s

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/magazine/the-coast-guards-floating-guantanamos.html

Great Lakes Offshore Wind Power

A New Green Future is Building on Lake Erie

https://nextcity.org/features/view/new-green-future-building-lake-erie

Coast Guard buoy tender returns from patrol after cocaine interdiction off of Mexico

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-buoy-tender-returns-from-patrol-after-cocaine-interdiction-off-of-mexico/2017/11/03/

Cities Don’t Really Know How Riders Use Their Subways. London Has a Clever Way to Find Out

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/10/london_is_using_wi_fi_pings_to_learn_how_passengers_really_travel.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_em_top

The US is rapidly outpacing its clean energy forecasts

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/the-us-is-smashing-its-clean-energy-forecasts

The First Commercial Flight to Remote Saint Helena

Flight Review: 

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/10/embraer190-st-helena-flight-review/

Tweet from CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE)

CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) tweeted at 9:10 PM on Sun, Oct 15, 2017:

Thank you to all our fire partners from across the U.S & Australia that came to California's aide during our greatest time of need. https://t.co/0dljNiiB7i

(https://twitter.com/CAL_FIRE/status/919732292511076352?s=03)

I have flown to HEL several times, but never on this flight...

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/10/finnair-friday-13th-to-hel/

XKCD - State Borders and Graphic Design

https://xkcd.com/1902/

Santa Rosa Disaster Recovery info, Links, and twitter feeds

As of now, the initial relief funding from FEMA is for local/state government funding, not individuals.  That is not unusual while response operations are continuing.  I would expect (no guarantee) that individual funding package will follow in next few days.  No matter what, get insurance claims filed...even with the complications, that first step is essential.

*****

This from California Dept of Insurance:  Living Expenses: You may be eligible for reimbursement for additional living expenses due to mandatory evacuations.  Evacuees should check their policies as soon as possible, and if they have any insurance questions, they should call the CDI Consumer Hotline at 800-927-HELP. Many residential homeowners' insurance policies cover what is known as ALE, or additional living expenses. 

I suggest having that CDI helpline handy as you work through policy issues.

*****

This from CalOES:

Individuals, Households, and Businesses

When individuals, households, or businesses are affected by an emergency or disaster, assistance may come in a variety of ways, including government and/or nonprofit, volunteer and faith-based organizations. Although disaster assistance programs are not designed to return you to pre-disaster condition, they may help you begin the Recovery Process.

Voluntary Agencies, such as the local American Red Cross or the Salvation Army, are often ready to step in and help take care of immediate needs. These organizations may be able to assist with sheltering or hotel vouchers, food, or clothing. Please contact local voluntary organizations in your area or the Information and Referral line by dialing 2-1-1 or visiting 2-1-1 California.

Insurance is the first resource in recovering from a disaster. Contact your insurance agent or company representative to report your losses, review your coverage, and answer any questions. The California Department of Insurance provides assistance with insurance issues and can be reached by calling 1-800-927-HELP (4357) or by visiting the Department of Insurance website.

Local Programs, services, or fee waivers may be available to assist with recovery efforts. Contact your local city or county for additional information.

State and Federal Programs may be requested if the Governor determines that recovery appears to be beyond the combined resources of both the local and state government.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers low-interest disaster loans to eligible homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and certain private nonprofit organizations in areas declared a disaster by SBA. SBA is most often the primary form of federal assistance that becomes available in California.

• Physical Disaster Loans are for permanent rebuilding and replacement of uninsured or underinsured disaster-damaged privately-owned real and/or personal property. SBA makes physical disaster loans to qualified homeowners, renters, businesses, and certain private nonprofit organizations.
• Economic Disaster Injury Loans - If your business or private nonprofit organization is located in a declared disaster area, and suffered substantial economic injury as a direct result of a declared disaster, you may be eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) - Based on the magnitude and severity of the event, assistance may be requested from FEMA and may include the Individuals and Household Program (IHP) to assist with home repairs, temporary housing, and other needs. Depending on the disaster, recovery assistance may also include programs, such as Crisis Counseling, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, and Legal Services.

When IHP is implemented, the State Supplemental Grant Program is made available to assist with unmet needs.
In the absence of federal assistance, residents affected by a disaster may need to rely on personal resources and assistance from local programs and/or voluntary organizations.

*****

FEMA Disaster Recovery Center Locator (not useful UNITIL FEMA approves individual assistance:

http://asd.fema.gov/inter/locator/mobile.htm

This site will also be of use once FEMA approve individual assistance (it explains ALL of the various kinds of Federal aid):  https://www.disasterassistance.gov/

*****

Twitter:

@femaregion9

@CityofSantaRosa

@Cal_OES 

@CountyofSonoma

@RedCross

Google’s New Earbuds With Real-Time Translation Have Huge Implications for Travel

https://skift.com/2017/10/05/googles-new-earbuds-with-real-time-translation-have-huge-implications-for-travel/amp/

Fullbore Friday

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2017/10/fullbore-friday.html

Puerto Rico Recovery Dashboard

http://status.pr/

How A Hacker Helped The Coast Guard Rescue Victims Of Hurricane Harvey - The future of business

https://www.fastcompany.com/40475242/how-a-hacker-helped-the-coast-guard-rescue-victims-of-hurricane-harvey

We Reap the Behavior we Accept (and promote)

https://blog.usni.org/posts/2017/09/27/the-fault-is-not-in-our-stars-or-with-our-stars

Lack of Sleep is a Thing...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/24/why-lack-of-sleep-health-worst-enemy-matthew-walker-why-we-sleep

Fatigue Matters

https://blog.usni.org/posts/2017/09/22/go-circadian-now

Coast Guard Cutter Stratton offloads more than 50,000 lbs of cocaine and heroin in San Diego

 http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-stratton-offloads-more-than-50000-lbs-of-cocaine-and-heroin-in-san-diego/2017/09/20/

Coast Guard crew to offload 50,550 pounds of cocaine

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-crew-to-offload-50550-pounds-of-cocaine/2017/09/20/

New Deal Project Map | Living New Deal

New Deal Project Map | Living New Deal


https://livingnewdeal.org/map/

How We Share a Dwindled Resource

http://www.hcn.org/articles/water-two-countries-navigate-drought-on-the-colorado-river

6 Airfare Discounts You Should Know About

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/09/6-airfare-discounts-to-know/

Klingon Visitation Guide · George Washington's Mount Vernon

http://www.mountvernon.org/klingon/

FEMA Rumor Control Site

https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-harvey-rumor-control

Leaning on folks

Good questions raised about what's needed to keep ship's going.   Of note, #USCG routinely operates ship's >50 yoa

https://blog.usni.org/posts/2017/08/30/are-we-patting-ourselves-on-the-back-with-a-dagger

Coast to Coast (and back)

https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/08/29/two-students-from-catholic-university-just-took-a-trip-around-the-us-using-only-public-transit-heres-how-they-did-it/

Collisions: Examine Command Climate, Too

https://blog.usni.org/posts/2017/08/29/collisions-examine-command-climate-too

Sunsquatch, the only eclipse map you need

http://flowingdata.com/2017/08/20/sunsquatch-the-only-eclipse-map-you-need/

What Lies Beneath

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-08-10/nobody-knows-what-lies-beneath-new-york-city

What heroism at sea looks like

Not the only way it happens,  but quite the example. 

Fullbore Friday 

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2017/08/fullbore-friday_18.html

xkcd: Eclipse Science

xkcd: Eclipse Science


https://xkcd.com/1877/

The Great 78 Project – Community Preservation, Research, Discovery of 78rpm Records

http://great78.archive.org/

Coast Guard announces offshore patrol cutter names

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-announces-offshore-patrol-cutter-names/2017/08/04/

Flow of Goods Between States

https://www.axios.com/the-flow-of-goods-2463665414.html

Google Trends eclipse interest

http://flowingdata.com/2017/08/02/google-trends-eclipse-interest/

Some Pretty Cool Science Is Gonna Happen During The Eclipse

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/some-pretty-cool-science-is-gonna-happen-during-the-eclipse/

Your Trail Navigation is Outdated

https://www.outsideonline.com/2229756/your-navigation-outdated-heres-how-fix-it

H/T AG

London Celebrates The Monty Python Reunion By Putting A 50-Foot Dead Parrot In Potters Field Park

https://www.fastcompany.com/3033103/london-celebrates-the-monty-python-reunion-by-putting-a-50-foot-dead-parrot-in-potters-field

War zone operations of buoy tender Walnut in Operation Iraqi Freedom

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2017/07/tlbl-walnut-oif/

Pollock! (NOT the artist)

http://gcaptain.com/alaskan-fisherman-turned-80-1-1-billion-popularizing-trash-fish/

Western Superior Tugboats

 Because tugboat & Great Lakes

https://tugster.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/western-superior-tugboats/

USS Fitzgerald, Big Ocean Gets Small, Collision at sea

A really good description of the background, realities,  and challenges of military vessels operating in a seaway,  and the key people and processes. 

https://m.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-06/fitzgerald-when-big-ocean-gets-small

Another Mishap: The Wreck of the USS Fitzgerald

http://nextnavy.com/another-mishap-the-wreck-of-the-uss-fitzgerald/

Time Management for Leaders

https://fromthegreennotebook.com/2013/08/27/lets-quit-going-into-debt-with-our-families-time-management-for-leaders/

Before there was street view

https://www.citylab.com/design/2017/05/the-man-who-mapped-dc-by-hand/528360/

Godzilla Weathervane

http://www.westcoastweathervanes.com/weathervanes/godzilla-weathervane/

Where DID the Racing Stripe Come From?

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2017/04/the-long-blue-line-50th-anniversary-of-the-coast-guard-racing-stripe/

Group Invites Random Stranger with the Same Name to Join Them After Friend Bails

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/04/group-travels-with-random-stranger/

California sun

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-sun-solar-power-electricity-energy-prices-negative-renewables-green-climate-change-fossil-a7678086.html

The Elements of Bureaucratic Style

Good reading, especially for those of us who write policy, conduct investigations, case studies,  etc.  Not only do the words matter, but the underlying perspective that informs those words does as well:

* do the policies being enacted by subordinates make sense?

* what are the larger organizational priorities, imperitaves, etc that drive folks to a particular decision?

* how do we address these issues, not only when we write the policy in the first place, but also in our after action analysis?

https://longreads.com/2017/04/12/the-elements-of-bureaucratic-style/amp/

Fwd: Dirty Birds — The California Sunday Magazine

https://story.californiasunday.com/dirty-birds

Star identification training film

Ahem

http://www.eaglespeak.us/2017/04/friday-films-star-identification.html

Churn Through Historic Weather Logs!

https://www.oldweather.org/

A Ship that Still Isn't a Frigate" -

From the Department of Cheaper War Fighting: "A Ship that Still Isn't a Frigate" - byThink Defence 

http://www.eaglespeak.us/2017/03/from-department-of-cheaper-war-fighting.html

TWA Lives! (well, in a sense at least)

Details of JFK's New TWA Flight Center Hotel Have Been Revealed 

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/03/twa-flight-center-hotel-details/

This is interesting

http://sfist.com/2017/03/13/sf_density_mapping.php

My door is open, but you can't get to my office...

https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-problem-with-saying-my-door-is-always-open

One DC PCC is Still in Service in the World

http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=9076

Risk Management Through an Academy Awards Lens

How to Break the Oscars: Risk Management at the Academy Awards 

http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/10522/5427919

Mars Needs Lawyers

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mars-needs-lawyers/

Drive carefully!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/structurally-deficient-bridges/

Oh boy! If one likes data...esp. transportation data:

https://districtmobility.org/

Google Maps Rolling Out Enhanced List Features

As this is not yet out on all platforms  (e.g. web), I am not shifting my current recommendations.  Once the rollout is complete,  I will do so then.

Still,  pretty useful features.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/13/google-maps-lets-you-save-and-share-favorite-places-with-launch-of-lists/

Here Be Dragons | VQR Online

http://www.vqronline.org/essays-articles/2017/01/here-be-dragons

Translate these concepts and concerns...

And consider Coast Guard Tactical operations (from my experience, particularly those of deployed Coast Guard cutters).

There are many sidebar discussions for/against further delegation of authority.  How do extremely dynamic tactical scenarios, arguably tightly-capable platforms, etc fare?  What are implications should command and control environment change similar to author's discussion?

http://nextnavy.com/osprey-down-learning-from-another-hard-landing/

Hmmm...

http://whereisit5pmrightnow.com/

Southwest’s Military Fares Can Save Service Members Big Dollars

http://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/southwest-military-fares/

This cat hanging with his boys took the best selfie of all time

http://mashable.com/2017/01/17/cat-selfie-with-dogs.amp

Housing and jobs are popping up around the Green Line at breakneck pace

https://ggwash.org/view/62022/housing-and-jobs-are-popping-up-around-the-green-line-at-breakneck-pace

Not a fun day for anyone

Tugs towing Coast Guard Cutter SPAR, disabled fishing vessel back to Kodiak, Alaska 

http://coastguardnews.com/tugs-tow-coast-guard-cutter-disabled-fishing-vessel-back-to-kodiak-alaska/2017/01/08/

Apparently Weather Buoys Matter

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/04/noaa-ch
allenged-the-global-warming-pause-now-new-research-says-the-agency-was-right
/