FROSTPROOF, Fla. -- A sinkhole forced the evacuation of residents in three homes in the area of County Road 630 and U.S. Highway 27 South in Frostproof Monday.
The massive sinkhole, which measures 30 yards in diameter and is 40 to 50 feet deep, has swallowed about a dozen trees and a well. The car port that was once connected to the home that is directly in front of the sinkhole is teetering on the edge of the hole.
Fearing homes in the Southern Pines Mobile Home Park could be consumed by the sinkhole, authorities with the Polk County Sheriff's Office evacuated residents as a precaution. The mobile home park is next to the home closest to where the sinkhole opened up. A reverse 911 call was issued to the other residents in the mobile home park who were not evacuated.
Dozen Trees, Well Swallowed By Sinkhole - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Orlando Florida is first city to switch to Google Mail
By Mark Schlueb, Orlando Sentinel, 1/9
Orlando City Hall is gaga over Google.
In a multimillion-dollar move being watched by government agencies across the country, Orlando this week became one of the first cities in America to switch all of its employees to Google e-mail.
The implications are vastly bigger than simply changing the icon that Orlando workers click on their computer desktops. For city officials, it means cutting annual e-mail costs by two-thirds, saving taxpayers an estimated $262,500 a year.
For Google, the deal provides another toehold in the $20 billion-a-year market for office software. For years, that market has been dominated by Google's archrival Microsoft and its Office software,including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
In contrast, Google doesn't rely on software saved on users' computers but is a so-called "cloud computing" system in which applications are Internet-based and run on remote Web servers. With government budgets squeezed, Google hopes other cities will follow Orlando into the "cloud." "The contract with Orlando is very important to us," said Michael Lock, vice president of sales in America for Google Enterprise. "They're going to be on the leading edge of doing this, not the
bleeding edge. It's not the biggest contract, but Orlando is a very well-known city."
Orlando will no longer need the City Hall servers it uses to run its current Lotus Notes e-mail system, or pay for the electricity those servers consume, the extra data storage to archive employee mail or the two network administrators who oversee it.
"It made more sense to me given my budget. I had to look at a different way of doing business," said Chief Information Officer Conrad Cross, whose IT department was whittled from 84 workers to 69 this year.
If Orlando were to keep its current system, city officials estimate it would cost $133 a year for each of its 3,000 employees — or $399,000 — including annual software licenses. Google is charging $45.50 per user, or $136,500. In return, everyone from city planners to police officers will use a Web-based e-mail system similar to Google's popular Gmail, but without the advertisements that support the free consumer version. Google servers will store all city e-mail and run the application, and Google technicians — not city employees — will make sure it runs smoothly.
"The costs and IT support are someone else's nightmare, and that's what we're paying for," Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Sutton said. A half-dozen Google techs scurried around City Hall on Thursday and Friday, trying to make sure the transition went smoothly.
Orlando's contract includes Google Docs, which includes word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software meant to compete directly with Microsoft Office. But Cross said the city will stick with Office for now to avoid the expense of retraining employees. Thousands of businesses and universities have switched to Google, according to the company. But so far, few cities other than Orlando have.
Los Angeles became Google's crown jewel in October, when that city approved a $7.25 million e-mail contract with the Internet giant, but Los Angeles has not yet moved its 30,000 employees to the Google system.
Google cited its deal with Orlando, which had already been signed, in its pitch to Los Angeles. The vote there culminated a yearlong battle between Google and microsoft, whose lobbyists warned that Google wasn't ready for the security implications of handling public e-mail for such a large work force.
Lock said Google will archive Orlando records, which must be kept and accessible under state publicrecords law, in "super-secret data centers." And Cross said he's confident city records, including sensitive law-enforcement and legal documents,
will be safe from loss or cyberattack. Google has greater security resources, from people to money, than Orlando could muster on its own.
Besides, Cross said, the city last year contacted other e-mail providers, including Microsoft and IBM, about moving to the cloud. "They gave us pricing that couldn't compete with Google," he said.
Orlando City Hall is gaga over Google.
In a multimillion-dollar move being watched by government agencies across the country, Orlando this week became one of the first cities in America to switch all of its employees to Google e-mail.
The implications are vastly bigger than simply changing the icon that Orlando workers click on their computer desktops. For city officials, it means cutting annual e-mail costs by two-thirds, saving taxpayers an estimated $262,500 a year.
For Google, the deal provides another toehold in the $20 billion-a-year market for office software. For years, that market has been dominated by Google's archrival Microsoft and its Office software,including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
In contrast, Google doesn't rely on software saved on users' computers but is a so-called "cloud computing" system in which applications are Internet-based and run on remote Web servers. With government budgets squeezed, Google hopes other cities will follow Orlando into the "cloud." "The contract with Orlando is very important to us," said Michael Lock, vice president of sales in America for Google Enterprise. "They're going to be on the leading edge of doing this, not the
bleeding edge. It's not the biggest contract, but Orlando is a very well-known city."
Orlando will no longer need the City Hall servers it uses to run its current Lotus Notes e-mail system, or pay for the electricity those servers consume, the extra data storage to archive employee mail or the two network administrators who oversee it.
"It made more sense to me given my budget. I had to look at a different way of doing business," said Chief Information Officer Conrad Cross, whose IT department was whittled from 84 workers to 69 this year.
If Orlando were to keep its current system, city officials estimate it would cost $133 a year for each of its 3,000 employees — or $399,000 — including annual software licenses. Google is charging $45.50 per user, or $136,500. In return, everyone from city planners to police officers will use a Web-based e-mail system similar to Google's popular Gmail, but without the advertisements that support the free consumer version. Google servers will store all city e-mail and run the application, and Google technicians — not city employees — will make sure it runs smoothly.
"The costs and IT support are someone else's nightmare, and that's what we're paying for," Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Sutton said. A half-dozen Google techs scurried around City Hall on Thursday and Friday, trying to make sure the transition went smoothly.
Orlando's contract includes Google Docs, which includes word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software meant to compete directly with Microsoft Office. But Cross said the city will stick with Office for now to avoid the expense of retraining employees. Thousands of businesses and universities have switched to Google, according to the company. But so far, few cities other than Orlando have.
Los Angeles became Google's crown jewel in October, when that city approved a $7.25 million e-mail contract with the Internet giant, but Los Angeles has not yet moved its 30,000 employees to the Google system.
Google cited its deal with Orlando, which had already been signed, in its pitch to Los Angeles. The vote there culminated a yearlong battle between Google and microsoft, whose lobbyists warned that Google wasn't ready for the security implications of handling public e-mail for such a large work force.
Lock said Google will archive Orlando records, which must be kept and accessible under state publicrecords law, in "super-secret data centers." And Cross said he's confident city records, including sensitive law-enforcement and legal documents,
will be safe from loss or cyberattack. Google has greater security resources, from people to money, than Orlando could muster on its own.
Besides, Cross said, the city last year contacted other e-mail providers, including Microsoft and IBM, about moving to the cloud. "They gave us pricing that couldn't compete with Google," he said.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Whooping Cranes are on their way back to Florida
With the cold chill in the air all over the United States even here in Florida we are hearing word about the Whooping Cranes heading back home to Florida for the winter.
With a great organization like "Operation Migration”, this organization has played a leading role in the reintroduction of endangered Whooping cranes into eastern North America since 2001. In the 1940s the species was reduced to just 15 birds.
Whooping Cranes are the tallest North American bird, is an endangered crane species named for its whooping sound and call. Along with the Sandhill Crane, it is one of only two crane species found in North America.
Adult whooping cranes are white with a red crown and a long, dark, pointed bill. Immature whooping cranes are pale brown. While in flight, their long necks are kept straight and their long dark legs trail behind. Adult whooping cranes' black wing tips are visible during flight.
The species stands nearly 5 feet with a wingspan of 2.3 meters 7.5 feet. Males weigh on average 17 lb, while females weigh about 14 lb.
The whooping crane is still one of the rarest birds in North America. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that 26
6 whooping cranes made the migration to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in 2007.
To follow more about the Whooping Crane check out Operation Migration
For live web cam feed check out Operation Migration Crane Cam
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