digimills

If you don’t know what coworking is, I didn’t until a talk at last month’s BarCamp Miami, it’s basically a shared office space. Or in the words of the international wiki, “Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.”

Membership at the Miami location runs from $15 a day to $260-410 per month. Not bad for an office with a high speed internet, conference room, pool and 24/7 access. Their facebook group has photos and a video.

Interesting, highly illegal parking receipt generator for Miami Beach. But good luck finding a spot with Art Basel in full swing!

update: this site has been taken down.

link (via sotp)

Just what I need, another place to waste money on toys!

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Could be the title of a bad movie, or Pancho, head of Miccosukee security.

Investigators said officers responded to reports of car break-ins at a Miccosukee Indian Reservation parking lot located at 500 S.W. 177th Ave. in Miami.

One of the men was quickly captured by officers during the incident last week but the other robbery suspect tried to elude officer by jumping into a large pond behind the facility, according to a WJXT-TV report.

During the swim, police said, an alligator attacked and killed the man. He was apparently bitten on the head several times.

The victim’s body was recovered at the bottom of the pond about a day after the reported break-ins.

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My favorite dive bar is currently in 1st place on Esquire’s ‘The Best Bars in America’ voting. If you’ve been, stop by the link and give your support. An accurate and amusing write-up:

Presumably, you are in Miami because you are looking for trouble. At the Deuce, you will have a very good time finding it. If you’ve ever wanted to really feel the pulp, if you’ve ever wanted to get noir, like all night long, then you’re going to want to get yourself Deuced. There is, of course, a pool table. It turns from friendly to sharkish depending on who and how you play. There’s a jukebox, too. It’s filled with all the up-to-no-good classics. Finally, though, there is the bar itself, a striking horseshoe design that allows you to keep one eye on your drink and one eye on everybody in the joint. That’ll come in handy when Cameron Diaz comes in for a little late-night slumming. Or when trouble comes looking for you.

link (via miaminewtimes)

This guy needs to start playing the lottery…

Almost immediately after takeoff, the right engine shut down. Robertson, 34, of Wilton Manors, turned off the failed engine to stave off a rapid descent, and steered the plane to a grassy spot just off Interstate 95.

link (via stuckonthepalmetto)

I’m writing from one of the few bright spots, FLL. Fort Lauderdale has free wireless throughout the airport and it’s lightning fast. Last weekend I searched MSY (New Orleans), including asking workers and moving around to different gates, and found nothing. Many others offer it at $9.95. Lame if you only have an hour or so. Another crappy solution is internet kiosks. They will soon look as dated as pay by the quarter tv seats, which MSY still has plenty of.

Off to Virginia. Looking forward to trying out Sally Bell’s Kitchen on Sunday.

layover update: free wireless in CLT!

This Sunday I’ll be participating in Miami’s inaugural guerrilla gardening. This basically involves planting flowers and trees in run-down public areas. It’s not completely legal so I won’t say where our trial garden is. Somehow I went from being forced to garden for my father to volunteering to do it for neighborhoods I don’t live in. Another side effect of owning a pickup truck.

From the website it seems big in the UK. So far we are a pretty small group here in Miami and the only one in Florida.

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With all the chickens I see around town, I figured Miami didn’t have a solution to it’s poultry problem. I knew Key West was dealing with this same problem. However, Miami is indeed on the issue and it’s answer is called ‘Chicken Busters’.

The three-man team is an offshoot of Miami’s Code Enforcement Department. Formed in April 2003, the Chicken Busters go out about twice a month to rid city streets of stray roosters, hens and chicks.

So far, they’ve taken about 8,000 birds off the street. The birds are sold to farms in South Miami-Dade, and the money — $15,000 to date, including donations — goes to city charities.

It’s illegal to keep chickens in Miami and residential neighborhoods in most municipalities. Still, some people keep them for religious traditions. A lot of the time, the fowl are simply homeless.

Here’s an amusing slideshow. The ‘busters’ look a little slow. What they need is a few of the Hmong ladies that used to buy chickens from my parent’s farm. They’d grab the biggest and meanest roosters by the feet and stuff them into a feed bag in a split second.

link (via stuckonthepalmetto)

Earlier tonight a fire broke out down the street. Naturally I went over and snapped some shots. One truck had a bucket up with two men in it, the other just had a high pressure hose fastened to the end. I didn’t see anyone with a clear view of the ladder with the hose on it at the base of the truck, so I guess they were using a video camera or remote controls from perhaps the other ladder’s bucket.

I left before they were finished, so no word on whether it transformed into an Autobot.

The 10 rainiest cities in the U.S. by amount of annual rainfall include:

1. Mobile, Ala.: 67 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days
7. Miami, Fla.: 62 inches average annual rainfall; 57 average annual rainy days

A misleading list. Miami rain comes on strong for about 20 minutes then is over. It’s rarely a full day affair, unless of course there’s a hurricane. I guess I shouldn’t get too worked up about an article using the word ‘rainiest’ as a scientific term.

And no, Seattle doesn’t even make the list.

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MIAMI, Florida (AP) — For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

I think they can just leave us in the number spot from here on out.

A great example happened to me this past week. A truck cut across two lanes and tried to force his way in front of me at an offramp, cutting into a line of about 30 cars. When I didn’t see him right away and didn’t let him in, he got behind me, tailgated, then drove up next to me stopping traffic to scream at me for not letting him in.

I’m always pleasantly surprised when driving in ANY other city.

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HOBE SOUND, FL — Scientists late Friday were still trying to figure out how to capture the first bearded seal spotted in Florida - an arctic animal that spent the day floating in the marina of a gated community along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Because of the warm FL waters, he likely won’t survive long.

Interesting comparison:

“It was like eating peanuts: You couldn’t leave,” said Joan Smith, one of the many residents who spent the day snapping photos or watching the animal through binoculars.

see also: wild monkeys live near Fort Lauderdale Airport

link (via stuckonthepalmetto)

Got my first taste of polo today-on the sands of Miami Beach. An interesting sport, with a lot of rules (no charging at angles, the player behind the ball having the right of way, no slide tackles) to keep it from being as rough as it could be. A few horses took shots from the ball, which is basically a mini soccer ball. Having the horse stand in front of the goal during a penalty shot seemed a little cruel.

Overall a fun time, enhanced by free booze, hors d’oeuvre and cigars…

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Went to the Marlins/Phillies game last night. An exciting matchup that included an inside-the-park home run, a Marlin being a single away from hitting for the cycle and free 10-year anniversary flags! (Mine flew off my car antenna on the way home).

Great time was had by all, but when they showed the attendence as over 32,000, I had to take a second look. There were maybe half that many people at the game. Check out the photo above and keep in mind that baseball capacity for Dolphin Stadium is listed as between 36,331-47,000 (sources vary on this). Fairly sad for the 2nd game of the season, on a Saturday night.

Apparently every Saturday game is now ‘Super Saturday.’ This week included fireworks and a few American Idol runner-ups. However the best part of the night was seeing local sportscaster Jim Berry make an ass of himself on the jumbotrons.