Technology
All Hooked Up for No Place to Go
Three months almost to the day since the first wave of my technological migration, I'm proud to complete my transition to the modern age. Give or take a couple years.
Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle is a longtime autistic, gay, Jewish, Disnerd Chicago blogger.
Media
BREAKING: Chitown Daily News Shutting Down
As initially reported on Gapers Block, the Windy City's leading independent local news website, Chitown Daily News, has laid off its reporting staff and is shutting down, to re-tool as a for-profit venture. The surprise news comes in the wake of the C-BOM bloggers meetup called last month to discuss
Backstory
As It Should Be: Moving On From 9/11
I'm happy to say this is the first time in eight years I didn't see 9/11 coming. I forgot almost completely about the anniversary of that infamous date until a few hours before this writing. It's a sense of normalcy that I haven't felt in eight years.
Getting Around
Navigating Oprah Winfrey's Michigan Avenue Closure on CTA
Whether you're an Oprah Winfrey fan or not, if you're traveling through downtown Chicago and the Near North Side over Labor Day weekend and the first workday to follow, chances are you'll be significantly impacted by Winfrey's two-and-a-half-day closure of North Michigan Avenue--Chicago's most impor
Media
Chicago Bloggers Discuss Online Sustainability at C-BOM
On the morning of Saturday, August 29th, more than two dozen Chicago bloggers sat down to talk about the future of the local blogosphere at the C-BOM: Chicago Blogging & Online Media meetup. The invitation-only event was an opportunity for Windy City scribes to continue a discussion about community
Getting Around
Urbanophile Blog Says Chicagoans Don't Want Better Transit
Local urban-affairs blogger Aaron Renn says there's a very good reason Chicago doesn't have a world-class transit system: it doesn't want one. Recently on his The Urbanophile blog, Renn began a multi-part series examining why Chicago never seems to be able to get its act together to plan, build, and
Chicago
Analyzing Helen Shiller's Response to the Uptown Riot Controversy
Yesterday afternoon, Alderman Helen Shiller posted a lengthy response on the 46th Ward website regarding the widely viewed August 13th Uptown riot video and the firestorm of controversy surrounding it. Given the gravity of the situation for Uptown residents, it's a response worthy of a line-by-line
Media
Windy City Housing Porn: YoChicago vs. Rent or Buy
Two competing local blogs offer all the housing porn you could ever want to to help you make your next Windy City real estate decision. From floorplans to photo spreads to video walkthroughs, let's look at two hotly competitive real estate sites: Joe Zekas's YoChicago; and Maureen Wilkey's Rent or B
Marina City
Where'd Chicago Go?: Skyscraper Roofdeck Fog Bank
It's one thing to watch the Sears Tower disappear into the murky whiteness from below. It's quite another to stand atop one of Marina City's twin, 61st-floor open-air roofdecks and try and make out the Chicago Loop from inside an aerial fog bank, itself.
Food and Drink
...And There Was Pork: Sky Full of Bacon
Chicago's best multimedia food blog is Michael Gebert's Sky Full of Bacon and I'm late to the party in saying so. His long-form video podcasts and essays tell the interesting stories behind the food that hits Chicago tables--and the people committed to getting it there. Foodies with attention spans
Neurodivergence
Cat and a Drop Dead Proof
When Overly Frank adopted olderly Ryza from PAWS Chicago earlier this month, the cuddly interaction between Oklahoma expat and 11-year-old feline made me realize how much I'd been taking my own lifelong companion for granted. His life, that is.
Media
Why the EveryBlock Sale Matters: Chicago Foundations Pass the Buck on Sustainability
As widely reported this week, Chicago-based hyperlocal newsfeed aggregator EveryBlock.com was bought out by MSNBC for an undisclosed sum likely in the millions. At a time when Windy City foundations are posturing to be the nonprofit saviors of online local news, the surprise sale may point to a diff