I love the Washington Post, it’s a fantastic newspaper. It’s definitive on so many issues that make it an awful lot of fun to read, simply because you don’t just learn “the news” but also what’s going on behind the news. Take a look, now, at The Post Remix (or mashingtonpost.com as they call it), which is a blog on what people are doing with Post content, as well as to talk about Post APIs that are on their way toward public consumption. I love that some papers are opening up their content to be used with APIs. The first entry has a couple of cool pieces that use WaPo API content:

Ripped from the Headlines, a news quiz built each day from the Post’s online edition, and a geographic representation of stories, split by continent.

It would be awesome to see a Google or Yahoo Maps mashup with WaPo stories…who’s up for a challenge?

It’s the day before Thanksgiving (as if you didn’t know that!), a time that shouldn’t be just gut-busting consumption but also a time to gratefully reflect… so I thought I might kick it off with an ode to four unsung heroes of my day.

1) The crosswalk guard at the corner of 11th and S. This fearless lady is out there every morning striking fear into the hearts of recklessly fast drivers as she makes the intersection safe for the schoolkids of Garrison Elementary. She does it all with a smile and a wave for everyone and never seems to be in a bad mood, no matter how many drivers try to get past her eagle eye. They never suceed, and the kids are always safe.

2) The most dedicated Metrobus driver on the road, piloting the last 66 bus to get downtown before 9am. This gentleman is always cheerful, always helpful, and his passengers are happy to carry on the conversations he starts with ease and grace. A civilized way to start the day.

3) The long-suffering janitor in my building. He’s still here, even after that disgusting incident. He deserves more from his tenants.

4) The red-coated BID representative usually patrolling the block around Metro Center and my building. I don’t know how many clueless tourists he’s directed or panicked lost business people he’s calmed with a smile. Almost every night I pass him on my way to the bus stop home, and every time there’s a smile and a “good night honey.”

Seeing these four people almost every day makes me feel a little better, knowing there are still people in this city for whom civility and kindness matter. Cheers folks, you’re my unsung heroes.

If you were sitting at the security desk an saw a guy walk by without shoes on a cold day, would you ask questions? I might.

The guy at the security desk at the building at 15th and K started to do just that. Except the guy ran for the elevator, made it to the 8th floor, took off all his clothes, then broke the window and jumped.

This one is just wacky. Way too much questions. We’ll keep you up to date on the answers, though.

Welcome to the newest Metblog, and one of the further from us, Vancouver! Tempting indeed to go out and ski at Whistler, but for now, I’ll welcome them from afar!

My office is at 19th and L, which is about 3/4 of a block from Smith and Wollensky. We used to be in another building about a block further – which, coincidentally, was measured also in blocks from Smith and Wollensky.

Sure, they have great steak and everything else, but even though I’ve been there dozens of times now, I have always managed to not eat the pretzel bread – oh yes, pretzel bread, friends – in the little pre-meal bread basket. Well, today was a special day and I went for that one.

Oh dear, oh my – it’s the best pre-meal bread I’ve EVER had. Yes… EVER. Better than any pretzel from a street vendor or baseball game.

Hard to believe? Sure.

True? Absolutely.

While you’re surfing Craigslist for Butterstick passes, don’t forget to check out the personals. There you can find a man who will give you more than a pass for your Rosy Palms and her five sisters. We’re talking literate men who can express themselves, like this 4,000 word manifesto about your & his “jobs” in this relationship. Here’s a snippet of his brilliance:

Now in exchange for me doing my job well and keeping our relationship alive and well, you will have to do your part as well. If one of us fails to perform his/her role, the arrangement crumbles and I become an asshole and/or you become a nagging bitch. I know. I have seen it on TV, in the grocery store on a Saturday morning, in restaurants etc… It’s all around us. All the couples fighting – where you can just feel their bitter energy and you know they are doomed – that

Local Wizards Blog Wizznutzz may be as crazy as their name suggests, but damned if that ain’t my kind of crazy.

We’re coming up on a year after the crazy Ron Artest riot in the stands, and Wizznutzz has drawn up the awesome Aubernica remix of the Picasso classic.

Apparently, the panda tickets are so valuable, they’re now being traded for sexual favors. Sadly, the original Craig’s List ad was taken down by the community, but Wonkette was already there (how’d she find the ad? I’ll leave that to your imagination…), and boy is it depraved:

If you can get me a ticket to see Tai Shan between now and December 30, I will (I can’t believe I am saying this) give you a handjob, with my hands. Maybe, if you are cute, a BJ. I am serious about this. I really want to see this panda.

Folks, no panda is worth selling your dignity. Not at all. That’s just fucked up.

Team Sentient Sailboats, a nod to our fine Cloudmaker guests, was victorious last night at Four Courts Pub Quiz. Though Wayan figured out how to text Google, we needed no such oracle other than LA Metblogger Jay Bushman and his rockstar girlfriend Bronwen, who lended serious aid on the film round. Despite the protests of a loud bunch of New Yorkers that perhaps thought they were our equal (but proved to be otherwise), it was a great night at the Courts, lots of people packing that half of the bar. They’re going to finish the trivia season big this year, with $800+ in prizes on the 12th of December, so come on out and take us on!

A few years ago I read the novel Run by Douglas Winter – it was a gripping yarn about illegal Arms Dealers, the CIA, and East Coast gangs. In the novel Winter claimed that Alexandria, Virginia was the epi-center of the world’s legal and illegal Arms and Munitions trade. I always wondered if that was true or if Winter just pulled it out of his imagination.

I’ve been doing a little digging lately and I have stumbled across this interesting little Alexandria based firm called Wye Oak Technology (named of course after Maryland’s state tree the Wye Oak).

If you go to Wye Oak’s corporate web site they offer themselves out as a group of “engineering professionals” who offer various tech solutions to businesses. If you follow their offered services links you get the usual but then you get this.

Here’s an idea of the kinds of special projects this innocent looking tech solutions firm does for their various clients.

Seems Wye Oak is doing a little more than developing tacky websites for churches and supermarkets. Seems Wye Oak is an Alexandria VA based cover operation doing more than a little arms dealing.

In fact Wye Oak’s founder Dale C. Stoffel was murdered in Iraq last December after hinting at a kick-back scheme in the Iraqi Defense Ministry in which Wye Oak was contracted to refurbish old Soviet Era tanks for the new government. You can read all about the Stoffel mystery at this great blog or this independent media site that I stumbled upon in my research.

Or you can go to this other independent media site where they have Insurgent Communiques claiming that Stoffel was murdered for being the unofficial CIA Director in Iraq.

Either way you shake it, there is something fishy about Wye Oak. All it took was a good novel and a little curiosity to discover a front company for an arms dealer in my own backyard. I wonder what other Old Town secrets I can dig up?

UPDATE: Since the writing of this article two days ago Wye Oak Technology have taken their website offline. You can go to a cached version of it here.