Archive for April 17th, 2008

It’s On! It’s on AGAIN! Free Tully’s Coffee at Bay Area BART Stations.

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Next Tuesday, April 22, 60 volunteers from TransFair USA will hand out vouchers for free Fair Trade and organic coffee from Tully’s at six busy BART stations.

So if you’re riding BART from 6:00 to 9:00 AM and you’re at any of the following stations - Montgomery Street, Embarcadero, Powell Street, Civic Center, Oakland City Center/12th Street or Downtown Berkeley - make sure you get your Tully’s swag.

Tuesday, Tuesday Tuesday! It’s on!

13901712_925859517d_o.jpg
nakagawa-kun via Flickr

Full details after the jump
(more…)

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District Wants to Tax Carbon Emissions

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Per the New York Times, Businesses in Bay Area May Pay Fee for Emissions. That’s because the government agency that regulates sources of air pollution within nine San Francisco Bay Area Counties, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), is trying classify carbon dioxide, among other gasses, as a pollutant.

Can the BAAQMD pull this off and have a new law operational by July 1, 2008? Signs point to NO. But they’ll give it a shot anyway.

Of course you yourself are a greenhouse gas emitter because you expell carbon dioxide with every move you make, every breath you take. What if you were charged at the same rate as proposed - how much would you get charged (or taxed, it’s all the same) per year?

At the rate of 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide emitted you’d be on hook for 1.5 cents a year, assuming you exhale 704 pounds of Co2 per year. You could afford that, right?

How much would this factory have to pay? Lots and lots.

Using Photoshop to Improve the Oldest Photograph in the World

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Over at the New York Times, there’s talk that this photo could be the oldest in the world, perhaps from the 1790’s. They’re still looking into it.

Here it is:

leafbig.jpg

Not too appealing, huh? That’s no way to maximise value at auction. Old photographs can be worth big bucks (NSFW) these days, of course.

But a little Photoshopping using tips from worldwide auction leader eBay gives us:

leafbigbetter.jpg

Now that’s a leaf, much better. This will guarantee top dollar at auction no matter how old it is. Let the bidding begin.

Read the No-Longer-Posted SFPD “Web Letter” Regarding Foot Patrols

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Here’s the backstory about police foot patrols in San Francisco. It’s a touchy issue so things have been a bit hard on the captains who need to implement the program. And here’s the recent 208-page report from Public Safety Strategies Group. It documents “both the positive and negative outcomes of foot patrol implementation.” Now you’re up to speed.

Comes news today from San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Cecilia M. Vega - S.F. Supervisors Blast Police Web Letter:

San Francisco supervisors and police commissioners blasted Police Chief Heather Fong Wednesday for what they said was the premature posting of a letter on her department’s Web site that refuted the findings of a study criticizing the top brass’ implementation of a police foot-patrol program.

You’ll find a copy of the three-page letter here. Oops, maybe not, but that’s where the .pdf used to be, before it went down the memory hole. 

You can see a truncated HTML version here.

Or, click on to see the whole letter after the jump. Please remember that although Heather Fong took issue with data the consultants used to draw their conclusions, “on Wednesday she said she no longer had reservations about the methodology used and that she agreed with many of the findings in the report.” 

Fair enough. O.K., read on.

Foot patrols, like this but without the cars. Western Addition.
go8f5062a.jpg

(more…)

The Bay Area’s Military History Shown in a Photo

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

In the foreground we see the Presidio’s now-abandoned Public Health Service Hospital (PHSH), site of the old U.S. Marine Hospital and Defense Language Institute.

On the left further back in Marin is Hill 88, former site of Integrated Fire Control facility SF-88C Wolf Ridge that used to house W31 nuclear warheads and Nike Ajax / Nike Hercules defensive missiles

And on the right up high is the West Peak of Mount Tamalpais, former home of Mill Valley Air Force Station.

Not much going on at these places these days.

go8f3090a.jpg