By Tom Kearney
We installed a terabyte server at the Stowe Reporter this week. In case you didn’t know, a terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes.
A gigabyte used to be humongous, but now it has been subsumed by the terabyte. Which, you’ll be pleased to know, is the size and shape of a book.
Computers were developed in my lifetime, and I have childhood memories of Univac, the first commercial computer. People oohed and aahed at this marvelous invention, and TV shows filmed it in operation. It was the size of a mobile home —25 feet wide, 50 feet long — and it could hold 1,000 words. That’s right, 1,000 words. If you went beyond that, the data had to be stored on magnetic tape.
The newspaper I worked for bought a computer system in about 1972. It had a central brain, and eight very dumb terminals. It had one megabyte of storage space. And, since United Press International dumped its daily load of news, sports, entertainment, weather and what have you into that computer, it filled up every day. “System full! System full!” screams would appear on your screen, and everybody on those eight terminals would go nuts, killing off every file they could.
No photos, no graphics, no images at all; just words, text files, letter piled upon letter until you hit the 1-megabyte ceiling and had to start deleting.
Here’s how people thought about computer storage in those days: The 1-megabyte computer was about the size of a PC tower these days. But it was too small for 1970s editors; they couldn’t fathom how lots of articles could fit into something that small. The machines just didn’t sell.
So, the company mounted the computer inside a 5-foot-tall cabinet that was otherwise empty. Editors saw the cabinet, judged that it was a sufficient size, and the computer systems started selling like hotcakes.
My brother-in-law helped design the on-board computer for the Apollo space capsule that took Americans into space, even to the moon, in the late 1960s. The computer had 1 megabyte of storage capacity, and it was in charge of almost everything in the spacecraft.
Last week, the Stowe Reporter’s front-page photo — showing a group of cows — consumed 15.8 megabytes of storage space. You could have run almost 16 Apollo capsules with the space required for a single color photograph.
What is the value of memory? It’s a sliding scale, for sure.
For instance, I know Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs and Randy and the Rainbows had a hit with “Denise” in 1963. But of what value is that?
I have this image: My head is full of shoeboxes, each filled with index cards. When a memory question comes up, I have to rifle through the index cards until I find the answer: “714” or “Randy and the Rainbows.”
Of course, sometimes the cards stick together, or are out of order, and it takes forever to retrieve the answer. I can usually find it eventually, and I seldom crash, but I have reached this conclusion: I need more RAM.
5/30/08
5/29/08
On the way to court
By Scott Monroe
It's Friday morning and I'm getting ready to drive 15 minutes north to Lamoille District Court in Hyde Park.
Almost 17 years have led up to this moment.
At 10 a.m., the sentencing will begin for Howard Godfrey, convicted by a jury in January of raping and murdering Patricia Scoville in Stowe. The conviction for aggravated murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. This morning's proceeding, therefore, is the end of the court process, the final chapter for Patricia's parents, David and Ann, in finding their daughter's killer and bringing him to justice.
Godfrey, 61, will begin serving his life sentence today.
Scoville, 28, was killed in the Moss Glen Falls area of Stowe in 1991; her body was found buried under leaves and dead tree limbs. She died of asphyxiation, or deprivation of air, an autopsy showed.
The killing had a big impact on Stowe - and on me.
I began writing about the Scoville case in 2005, when DNA evidence linked Godfrey to the crime. The key clue that had been left behind was male semen on Scoville's body.
This is the first murder case I've written about, the first time I've
covered a murder trial. A lot of what I saw during the trial stirred my emotions: the shoes and clothes found with Scoville's body, wrapped in plastic evidence bags; the water bottle that was found in the woods; the video of authorities uncovering her body. And the maps.
They especially struck me, as prosecutors showed maps of Stowe to the jury: the village, Mountain Road, Moss Glen Falls, landmarks along the way. I knew all the roads and landmarks. I could clearly picture Patricia Scoville on her bicycle, riding through. It's hard to believe such a vicious crime could happen here, in Stowe.
But it did.
Yesterday (Thursday), David and Ann Scoville were honored at the Statehouse. Vermont officials dedicated the Patricia Scoville Memorial CODIS Laboratory, in honor of David and Ann's tireless efforts to get Vermont a DNA database in 1998.
The dedication was also attended by many Stowe residents and officials, including Bruce Merriam, Ken Libby, Neil Van Dyke and others who were there in 1991 when a missing-person case became a murder investigation.
David and Ann will be at the sentencing hearing this morning. So will family, friends, and local law-enforcement officers who worked over the years to find the killer.
Family may choose to speak publicly to Godfrey, and Godfrey - if he wants - may speak publicly before he's led away to a lifetime behind bars.
Back from court
The hearing started shortly after 10 this morning in Lamoille District Court in Hyde Park. David and Ann were there, with about a dozen other family members.
Howard Godfrey wore a blue dress shirt and jeans.
Assistant Attorney General Cindy Maguire spoke first, calling the crime the“most heinous act one can commit.”
“And while a sentence of life in prison gives some comfort to the family and community ... it does not give the family full closure, because such a horrific act could never have closure at the end.”
There were three speakers:
First was Lynn Lenihan; she was 8 years old when Patty was born, so they grew up more like sisters than aunt and niece. “She will always be that spirited young woman to those who knew her,” Lenihan said. She hopes Godfrey will feel pain when his life is over, a pain that will “multiply on itself for all of eternity.” Ann Scoville said, “Even now, after all this time, I have to shake my head in disbelief.” During the trial, “there were times I felt as though I were looking in on a TV drama,” but what struck her was that “the person who brought us here was missing.”
She said Scoville, her first-born daughter, would have turned 45 June 3, only 11 days from now. “As I celebrated Mother's Day with my own mother, who is 93, I couldn't help but think of what could have been.”
The question that haunts Ann Scoville is “Why?”
“Why our Patty?” she said. “Again, my question to Mr. Godfrey is why?” She hopes that question will haunt Godfrey in prison, “that he remember the anguish of this mother and ask himself, why?”
David Scoville described his “little girl, my first-born, my honor student, my cheerleader, my Cornell graduate ...”
But, “she was doomed to remain alive to me only in my memories. ... There was nothing any of us could do to bring her back. Our memories were our only connection, and still are.”
To Godfrey: “That was my little girl you raped and murdered.”
He hopes his memories of Patty “have the power to overshadow the events of 1991” and he “hopes she also rests more easily.”
Godfrey appeared upset during the three speeches, though he did not actually cry. His attorney, Kerry DeWolfe, told the judge that he “continues to maintain his innocence.” Asked by the judge if he wanted to address the court, Godfrey replied, “No, your honor.”
At the end, Judge Dennis Pearson sentenced Godfrey, and seemed somewhat emotional himself. He said Godfrey had committed “the most serious and awful crime acknowledged by our society” and the “worst possible nightmare any parent can face.” The Scovilles, he said, deserve praise for their “superhuman ability to arouse themselves from that nightmare. ...”
The hearing ended at 10:50 a.m. It had lasted about a half-hour.
Outside the courthouse, David thanked reporters (me included) for keeping
Patty’s story alive these last 16 and a half years.
“Patty finally had her day in court,” David said.
It's Friday morning and I'm getting ready to drive 15 minutes north to Lamoille District Court in Hyde Park.
Almost 17 years have led up to this moment.
At 10 a.m., the sentencing will begin for Howard Godfrey, convicted by a jury in January of raping and murdering Patricia Scoville in Stowe. The conviction for aggravated murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. This morning's proceeding, therefore, is the end of the court process, the final chapter for Patricia's parents, David and Ann, in finding their daughter's killer and bringing him to justice.
Godfrey, 61, will begin serving his life sentence today.
Scoville, 28, was killed in the Moss Glen Falls area of Stowe in 1991; her body was found buried under leaves and dead tree limbs. She died of asphyxiation, or deprivation of air, an autopsy showed.
The killing had a big impact on Stowe - and on me.
I began writing about the Scoville case in 2005, when DNA evidence linked Godfrey to the crime. The key clue that had been left behind was male semen on Scoville's body.
This is the first murder case I've written about, the first time I've
covered a murder trial. A lot of what I saw during the trial stirred my emotions: the shoes and clothes found with Scoville's body, wrapped in plastic evidence bags; the water bottle that was found in the woods; the video of authorities uncovering her body. And the maps.
They especially struck me, as prosecutors showed maps of Stowe to the jury: the village, Mountain Road, Moss Glen Falls, landmarks along the way. I knew all the roads and landmarks. I could clearly picture Patricia Scoville on her bicycle, riding through. It's hard to believe such a vicious crime could happen here, in Stowe.
But it did.
Yesterday (Thursday), David and Ann Scoville were honored at the Statehouse. Vermont officials dedicated the Patricia Scoville Memorial CODIS Laboratory, in honor of David and Ann's tireless efforts to get Vermont a DNA database in 1998.
The dedication was also attended by many Stowe residents and officials, including Bruce Merriam, Ken Libby, Neil Van Dyke and others who were there in 1991 when a missing-person case became a murder investigation.
David and Ann will be at the sentencing hearing this morning. So will family, friends, and local law-enforcement officers who worked over the years to find the killer.
Family may choose to speak publicly to Godfrey, and Godfrey - if he wants - may speak publicly before he's led away to a lifetime behind bars.
Back from court
The hearing started shortly after 10 this morning in Lamoille District Court in Hyde Park. David and Ann were there, with about a dozen other family members.
Howard Godfrey wore a blue dress shirt and jeans.
Assistant Attorney General Cindy Maguire spoke first, calling the crime the“most heinous act one can commit.”
“And while a sentence of life in prison gives some comfort to the family and community ... it does not give the family full closure, because such a horrific act could never have closure at the end.”
There were three speakers:
First was Lynn Lenihan; she was 8 years old when Patty was born, so they grew up more like sisters than aunt and niece. “She will always be that spirited young woman to those who knew her,” Lenihan said. She hopes Godfrey will feel pain when his life is over, a pain that will “multiply on itself for all of eternity.” Ann Scoville said, “Even now, after all this time, I have to shake my head in disbelief.” During the trial, “there were times I felt as though I were looking in on a TV drama,” but what struck her was that “the person who brought us here was missing.”
She said Scoville, her first-born daughter, would have turned 45 June 3, only 11 days from now. “As I celebrated Mother's Day with my own mother, who is 93, I couldn't help but think of what could have been.”
The question that haunts Ann Scoville is “Why?”
“Why our Patty?” she said. “Again, my question to Mr. Godfrey is why?” She hopes that question will haunt Godfrey in prison, “that he remember the anguish of this mother and ask himself, why?”
David Scoville described his “little girl, my first-born, my honor student, my cheerleader, my Cornell graduate ...”
But, “she was doomed to remain alive to me only in my memories. ... There was nothing any of us could do to bring her back. Our memories were our only connection, and still are.”
To Godfrey: “That was my little girl you raped and murdered.”
He hopes his memories of Patty “have the power to overshadow the events of 1991” and he “hopes she also rests more easily.”
Godfrey appeared upset during the three speeches, though he did not actually cry. His attorney, Kerry DeWolfe, told the judge that he “continues to maintain his innocence.” Asked by the judge if he wanted to address the court, Godfrey replied, “No, your honor.”
At the end, Judge Dennis Pearson sentenced Godfrey, and seemed somewhat emotional himself. He said Godfrey had committed “the most serious and awful crime acknowledged by our society” and the “worst possible nightmare any parent can face.” The Scovilles, he said, deserve praise for their “superhuman ability to arouse themselves from that nightmare. ...”
The hearing ended at 10:50 a.m. It had lasted about a half-hour.
Outside the courthouse, David thanked reporters (me included) for keeping
Patty’s story alive these last 16 and a half years.
“Patty finally had her day in court,” David said.
5/16/08
Small-town newspapers
By Jesse Roman
I love the fact that I get to explore every day. I talk to interesting and motivated people, I attend important events and I have the privilege of sharing the information I glean from these experiences with everyone in the community.
I have fun, but also take my job very seriously. Credibility is really all you have in this business. If the public can’t trust what you write, there is no reason for you to be writing.
I think the majority of people who read the Stowe Reporter understand that, and understand the function of a newspaper. Most know a newspaper is not a means for the writers to pick on people we don’t like; our objective is not to plug businesses or promote agendas. As reporters, we’re not here to persuade and we’re not trying to portray the towns we cover as anything more or anything less than what they are. The idea is to gather accurate information, and lay it all out there so that individuals can make up their own minds about what’s going on. It’s an essential function for the community because informed citizens are empowered citizens.
Not everyone sees the newspaper this way. Some people don’t understand its function and don’t grasp the rationale of showing both sides of an argument. For some, any negative press is seen as an attack, even if they are given a substantial and adequate voice in the story. As reporters, we are not supposed to criticize, we don’t state opinions and we don’t judge. What we write, and what some see as “negative press,” ultimately comes directly from the mouths of the people we interview and the opinions they convey. We are simply giving people a voice, like all newspapers are supposed to do.
In the process, however, there are bound to be some people who don’t agree with everything we write or everything we do. Just read the letters to the editor. In that section — but much more often behind closed doors — I have been called a sensationalist, too young, and even empty below the brain. And I think that’s great. When people stop caring about what I write, then I’ll worry.
I love the fact that I get to explore every day. I talk to interesting and motivated people, I attend important events and I have the privilege of sharing the information I glean from these experiences with everyone in the community.
I have fun, but also take my job very seriously. Credibility is really all you have in this business. If the public can’t trust what you write, there is no reason for you to be writing.
I think the majority of people who read the Stowe Reporter understand that, and understand the function of a newspaper. Most know a newspaper is not a means for the writers to pick on people we don’t like; our objective is not to plug businesses or promote agendas. As reporters, we’re not here to persuade and we’re not trying to portray the towns we cover as anything more or anything less than what they are. The idea is to gather accurate information, and lay it all out there so that individuals can make up their own minds about what’s going on. It’s an essential function for the community because informed citizens are empowered citizens.
Not everyone sees the newspaper this way. Some people don’t understand its function and don’t grasp the rationale of showing both sides of an argument. For some, any negative press is seen as an attack, even if they are given a substantial and adequate voice in the story. As reporters, we are not supposed to criticize, we don’t state opinions and we don’t judge. What we write, and what some see as “negative press,” ultimately comes directly from the mouths of the people we interview and the opinions they convey. We are simply giving people a voice, like all newspapers are supposed to do.
In the process, however, there are bound to be some people who don’t agree with everything we write or everything we do. Just read the letters to the editor. In that section — but much more often behind closed doors — I have been called a sensationalist, too young, and even empty below the brain. And I think that’s great. When people stop caring about what I write, then I’ll worry.
5/14/08
The fallout of rising food and gas prices: Could some good be wrapped in the bad?
By Marina Knight
First, I’d like to welcome you all to our new staff blog. We hope it will be insightful. The goal is to give our readers interesting, behind-the-scenes insights that might spark conversation and inspire thought. Please feel free to comment on what you read by simply clicking the comment link at the bottom of each post.
The headlines have recently been dominated by the rising cost of food and the outrageous price of gasoline. Aside from when Hillary will pull out of the race, the mainstream media seem to be interested in little else.
Would it be bombastic to think that some good could come from the horror?
In the case of the rising gas prices, the argument is strong. We all know about global warming and it seems naysayers can no longer refute the science and the numbers that show human impact has accelerated the crisis. In Vermont, driving cars accounts for 44 percent of the pollution we green-staters emit.
If gas becomes too expensive, perhaps people will begin to drive less.
Prices at the pump today are still much lower than those in Europe. If you think it’s expensive to drive here, go there. From firsthand experience, a full tank of gas will run you about $80. It’s been this way for years, and high prices have turned people to public transportation.
Recently, that has started to happen here, too. Just a week ago, the Reporter’s Jesse Roman reported that Green Mountain Transit numbers are on the rise, in large part due to the increased price of gas and broader awareness and concern for the environment.
Drivers in America last year laid down just over 3 trillion miles, down 12.2 billion or 0.4 percent, according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly Traffic Volume Trends.
Americans drove less for the first time in 27 years. If this is linked to the cost of gas, keep it on the rise.
The second headline dominator will be more difficult to argue. It is hard to see the good in the rising price of food that is sparking unrest in poor countries around the globe. Higher food prices have affected Vermonters to a much lesser extent than the world’s poorest populations. Perhaps the best thing to do in a crisis like this is learn from our mistakes.
The story has brought attention to the fact that turning farms into fuel plants may not be the best fix for high global oil prices. Didn’t anyone see that, when you ask the rice farmer to grow crops that power cars instead of people, people might get hungry? Instead of Congress mandating a fivefold increase in the use of biofuels last year, perhaps it should have simply mandated that people drive less.
We should assess which hunger is more fierce; our hunger for basic foods or our hunger for oil.
First, I’d like to welcome you all to our new staff blog. We hope it will be insightful. The goal is to give our readers interesting, behind-the-scenes insights that might spark conversation and inspire thought. Please feel free to comment on what you read by simply clicking the comment link at the bottom of each post.
The headlines have recently been dominated by the rising cost of food and the outrageous price of gasoline. Aside from when Hillary will pull out of the race, the mainstream media seem to be interested in little else.
Would it be bombastic to think that some good could come from the horror?
In the case of the rising gas prices, the argument is strong. We all know about global warming and it seems naysayers can no longer refute the science and the numbers that show human impact has accelerated the crisis. In Vermont, driving cars accounts for 44 percent of the pollution we green-staters emit.
If gas becomes too expensive, perhaps people will begin to drive less.
Prices at the pump today are still much lower than those in Europe. If you think it’s expensive to drive here, go there. From firsthand experience, a full tank of gas will run you about $80. It’s been this way for years, and high prices have turned people to public transportation.
Recently, that has started to happen here, too. Just a week ago, the Reporter’s Jesse Roman reported that Green Mountain Transit numbers are on the rise, in large part due to the increased price of gas and broader awareness and concern for the environment.
Drivers in America last year laid down just over 3 trillion miles, down 12.2 billion or 0.4 percent, according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly Traffic Volume Trends.
Americans drove less for the first time in 27 years. If this is linked to the cost of gas, keep it on the rise.
The second headline dominator will be more difficult to argue. It is hard to see the good in the rising price of food that is sparking unrest in poor countries around the globe. Higher food prices have affected Vermonters to a much lesser extent than the world’s poorest populations. Perhaps the best thing to do in a crisis like this is learn from our mistakes.
The story has brought attention to the fact that turning farms into fuel plants may not be the best fix for high global oil prices. Didn’t anyone see that, when you ask the rice farmer to grow crops that power cars instead of people, people might get hungry? Instead of Congress mandating a fivefold increase in the use of biofuels last year, perhaps it should have simply mandated that people drive less.
We should assess which hunger is more fierce; our hunger for basic foods or our hunger for oil.
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