Illinois Unemployment Rate above national rate
Looks like the old adage of “It’ll get worse before it gets better” is true. But I wonder why the unemployment rate is so much higher in Illinois as compared to the national unemployment rate.
Navy Pier Fireworks
Posted by Brian Mayzure in Chicago, City Life on July 31st, 2009
I ran across ChicagoPhotoShop.com, a site that features great Chicago photography. The photo above is just one of the many photos featured on the site by local photo buffs. This site is seriously worth a look!
Happy Independence Day! 2 More iPhone wallpaper backgrounds
Posted by Brian Mayzure in Chicago, Tech Stuff on July 4th, 2009

To celebrate Independence Day (the proper name of ‘the 4th of July’ in case you’ve forgotten), I’ve got two more new iPhone wallpaper backgrounds for you. The first is the U.S. flag, in all its stars-and-stripes glory. The other, is the City of Chicago flag (because, after all, I am a Chicagoan, and we do have an awesome flag). You can download both of them for free and sync them with your iPhone. Enjoy!!
If you need directions on how to do that, see my previous post here.
iPhone Wallpaper
Posted by Brian Mayzure in Tech Stuff on July 3rd, 2009
I took the plunge and got an iPhone about 2 weeks ago. I was already with AT&T, and had been for 4 years, so I knew what I was getting myself into as far as AT&T’s network is concerned. My previous phone, a Nokia 6126, had suddenly developed a problem with both screens, where there was no display other than what looked like analog TV static. I couldn’t see to dial from the phone book, I couldn’t see who was calling me, and I couldn’t read or respond to text messages. My contract was up anyway, and I was eligible for a phone upgrade. So I went down to the AT&T Store and got the slightly cheaper previous generation iPhone 3G. There’s a few features I don’t have, but thanks to the iPhone OS 3.0 update, I have a number of them.
CTA accidents and self-centered passengers
Posted by Brian Mayzure in City Life, Mass Transit on June 30th, 2009
According to an article on Tribune’s ChicagoBreakingNews, this morning, a person was hit and killed by a Red Line train at the Sox-35th station. It is still unclear if this person was accidentally hit by the train (which can be caused by being too close on the blue safety line), if this person intentionally jumped in front of the train, or perhaps was pushed in front of the train. The ensuing operation by emergency responders caused the line to be shut down for a time, and even upon restoration, caused massive delays along the red line in this morning’s rush hour.



