[UPDATE: Oh, here it is: #10,000.]
Or rather, just 9,999 posts as of right now for Scott Beale of Laughing Squid, but #10,000 is just around the corner.
See?
“There are 9999 blog posts on Laughing Squid written by Scott Beale.
Subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Google+, Facebook & Tumblr.”
Hurray!
Bon Courage, Scott Beale.
Famous Frank Chu at OpBART 5, Market Street, USA:
Click to expand
[UPDATE: Wired (Magazine, website?) weighs in here with words like "econobox" and "Honda Civic" and "practical EV."]
Ariel Schwartz of Fast Company (Magazine, website, something or other) offers this today:
“Luxury electric car maker @CODAautomotive showcases its EV in a shiny mall store: http://bit.ly/ot8Elq ”
But the problem with that is that what CODA makes ain’t luxury cars.
Leaving aside the issue of which companies actually make the parts what make up the electric vehicles that CODA says they will soon be selling (and people have been saying that this car would go on sale at the end of 2008, 2009, 2010, and now apparently, 2011), the CODA Sedan is in no way, shape, or form a luxury car.
Basically, the CODA Sedan is a gussied-up Mitsubishi Carisma from 15 years ago. The concept at the time was to have a big trunk at the expense of having less room in the back seat. It didn’t work out. Tooling was sent to China and a second-tier “regional” carmaker offered it for something like $9000 with a gasoline engine.
Now, for some reason, taking out the most expensive part, the engine (along with the fuel tank and whatnot) and putting in a battery and a tiny electric motor jacks up the price to $45K.
For some reason.
Of course, you could start with your sister’s Honda Civic from the 1990′s and, you know, Pimp My Ride or something, but the result wouldn’t be what you could call a luxury car, I don’t think. In some ways, the CODA would be better, but in some ways the Honda would be better, IMO.
Oh, let’s travel down memory lane. (Do all these links still work?)
“The NYT’s Jim Motavalli has some news about California’s very own electric car company today:
“Coda Automotive is a start-up company that will deliver its first $44,900 electric cars to customers in its home state of California “in three to four months,” said its president and chief executive, Kevin Czinger.”
What that means is that, once again, an electric car company is letting you down, ’cause deliveries were just recently promised for the “fourth quarter of 2010.” (Seems as if promises from any kind of car company aren’t really worth that much these days.)
Now, back in the day, in 2007, the electric car we were going to get from China was called the Javlon XS500. It was suppose to come in 2008. It didn’t. Check it:
“Miles Automotive on the $30,000 Javlon XS500 all-electric sedan“
Then, in 2008, we were promised the Miles XS500. That was going to come in 2009. It didn’t. Check it:
“Miles XS500 will be a lot more expensive than planned, maybe“
Then, in 2009, we were promised the Coda Automotive Sedan. That was going to come in 2010. It didn’t. Check it:
“Coda Automotive Unveils New Mainstream All-Electric Sedan“
So, based upon the statement written on the NYT website, I guess it’ll be 2011 before the “final assembly” plant in Benicia, CA starts rolling out product. [Oh, this didn't end up happening, IRL]
(Perhaps it’s easier to badmouth Nissan than fulfill promises? Sure looks that way…)
In other news, Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Michael A. Jackson has left the building. Mmmmm….
And hey, remember Webvan, that slow-motion car crash of a dotcom company, you know, the one that made a big splash and then soon after went belly up, the one that was brought to you by, among others, Kevin Czinger and Goldman Sachs?
Well, KC and GS are back again with Coda Automotive.”
And hey, just for fun, compare this last from last year to Solyndra‘s investors and board of directors / advisors. Mmmmm…
Keep chasing those rainbows, CODA!
Remember that whole deal about how taxi drivers were fighting the sainted SFMTA, the worst-run agency in town, over those 5% credit card fees and rear seat Passenger Information Monitors (PIMs) and electronic waybills and whatnot?
Well, some people at the SFMTA thinks that the SFMTA should get a piece of the ad revenue pie.
See?
Read all about this from driver John Han at Taxi Town SF:
“The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) may explore ways to get a share of taxi advertising revenues in the future.
Recently, the United Taxi Workers (UTW) filed a public information request, and obtained materials regarding the City’s regulation on 5% credit card fees, rear seat Passenger Information Monitors (PIMs), and electronic waybills.
Included in the material was a copy of an email sent by MTA Deputy Director of Taxi Services Christiane Hayashi dated March 25th, 2011, and addressed to Sonali Bose, the agency’s chief financial officer, and other recipients.
In that email, Hayashi responds to two questions being posed at her by Nathaniel Ford, who was the MTA chief at the time, and backed up by Sonali Bose, regarding the distribution of ad revenues generated by rear seat PIMs.
Bose’s first question to Hayashi was, “Who negotiated the 90%-10% split and under what authority?” Her second question was, “Why isn’t the MTA getting a portion of the ad revenue?”
The following is an excerpt from the email in which Hayashi answers Bose’s two questions…
“As to the question of ‘who negotiated the deal,’ I guess my response is that it’s not a deal so much as a regulation – while I did my due diligence and circulated a draft memo to the TAC, it comes from a place of regulatory authority, not negotiation. The SFMTA has no privity of contract with the equipment providers – Veriphone, Wireless Edge and CMT have contracts with the taxi companies.
Why 10% to the Driver Fund? Because, like the medallion sales program, I felt it important to be able to point to some benefit to drivers in order to make the very unpopular change go down more smoothly.
If he question is why not a share to the SFMTA, I guess my answer is that this is equipment that is owned by third party vendors and being installed at no cost in privately-owned vehicles driven by independent contractors. We come at it as a regulator, and the permit fees we receive are supposed to cover the cost of administrating our program. I think that I would have gotten tremendous resistance from both companies and equipment vendors if I tried to demand a slice of advertising revenues for the SFMTA as part of the price for a company to get a waiver from the regulator. It would be like granting a building permit on the condition that the Planning Department could have a share of the advertising revenues from the building.
Of course, as we have discussed previously, there may be a place for bringing taxi advertising generally into the SFMTA, but if we do it would have to be a cooperative situation with the companies, where we agree to bear the administrative burden and use our greater negotiating power to increase their revenues in exchange for a share. That is a distinct possibility that we can continue to explore. I think the companies would embrace it if we can improve their advertising yield and reduce their administrative costs. I think I mentioned to you that the good time to broach this would be when we propose uniform top lights for all taxis with uniform advertising space that we could manage on behalf of the companies. That is something we accomplish during the next fiscal year if that is the policy direction.
I hope I have explained a very messy situation. Let me know if you have further questions.”
A scanned version of the emails text (sometimes hard to read because it’s scanned) is available and can be viewed by CLICKING HERE“
Well well.
A messy situation indeed.
[UPDATE: Heather Knight has some useful details, particularly about a woman who named her child after a book from the Old Testament / Torah. OK fine.]
San Francisco City Attorney and mayoral candidate Dennis Jose Herrera held a presser this AM along with District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen, District 3 Supervisor and mayoral candidate David Chiu, and District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener regarding Malia’s new legislation about “crisis pregnancy centers.”
All the deets are below.
But you make the call:
And check this photo from famous Steve Rhodes.
And guess who was there at City Hall this morning? Some Catholic League types, or Catholic reporters, something like that.
(It will be interesting to see how a few particular Supes vote on this one…)
Click to expand
“Cohen, Herrera take on S.F. ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ for deceptive marketing tactics
Proposed ordinance, City Attorney demand letter target misleading advertising by centers that push hidden agenda for ‘abortion free world’
SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 2, 2011) — Supervisor Malia Cohen and City Attorney Dennis Herrera today announced joint legal and legislative steps to halt deceptive marketing by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” in San Francisco, which purport to offer non-judgmental abortion services and counseling to women with unwanted pregnancies, but that instead push an anti-abortion agenda on those seeking constitutionally protected medical services. Cohen and Herrera announced their initiatives at a City Hall press conference this morning.
Cohen’s legislation, which she will introduce at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, is entitled the “Pregnancy Information Disclosure and Protection Ordinance.” If enacted, Cohen’s measure would explicitly prohibit limited services pregnancy centers in San Francisco from making false or misleading statements to the public about pregnancy-related services that the centers offer. While some crisis pregnancy centers openly acknowledge their pro-life advocacy, many misleadingly target women in search of abortion services though false advertising — and then employ manipulative and fear mongering tactics on their visitors to dissuade them from obtaining abortions. Crisis pregnancy centers commonly offer few services other than anti-abortion rhetoric, but the proliferation of Internet search engines has given anti-abortion centers an effective way to misrepresent themselves as bona fide clinics, offering prominent paid links in response to search queries for “abortion” and related terms within their region.
“One of the most serious threats to reproductive rights today comes from so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ which misrepresent themselves as non-political medical providers, but that push anti-abortion propaganda and mistruths on unsuspecting women,” said Cohen. “The legislation that will be introduced today would prohibit these limited services pregnancy centers in San Francisco from misleading the public about the services they perform. It’s a measured, thoughtful approach that balances the free speech rights of anti-abortion activists with constitutionally protected reproductive rights for women. I appreciate City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office working with me to craft a policy to protect women in San Francisco, while minimizing possible legal risks.”
In tandem with Cohen’s legislation, Herrera took a first step today toward a possible legal action under California law against San Francisco’s most egregiously misleading crisis pregnancy center, First Resort, Inc. Herrera’s demand letter to the anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center in the medical building at 450 Sutter Street expressed serious concerns about the veracity of the center’s print advertising and Internet marketing, which imply to prospective clients that First Resort offers abortion services or referrals to abortion providers — when it in fact does neither.
Herrera’s letter notes that First Resort has purchased paid Google advertisements to secure top placement in search results for abortion providers in San Francisco. Moreover, the letter details several of First Resort’s public representations to prospective clients that are false and misleading, and which contrast starkly with the organization’s stated purpose — as revealed in its state licensing documents — to achieve “an abortion-free world.”
“First Resort is certainly entitled to advocate for ‘an abortion-free world’ to anyone who wants to hear it, but the center is breaking the law by misrepresenting itself as an abortion provider for the purpose of luring women with unwanted pregnancies to its office,” Herrera said. “This is an insidious practice that victimizes women who are, in some instances, already victims. It’s especially problematic because the delays these centers can cause interfere with women’s time-sensitive, constitutionally protected right to reproductive choice. I’ve taken this step to demand that First Resort clarify its purpose in accordance with state law. Moreover, I applaud Supervisor Malia Cohen for her leadership to further tighten restrictions on this unethical practice here in San Francisco.”
And see what NARAL Pro Choice California has to say about all this after the jump
[During all of this Powell Street Promenade stuff, please remember:
"...the benches draw their inspiration from the aluminum chassis of the all-new A7, the Audi ASF® frame."
There will be a test later.]
[Chronicle Urban Design Critic John King just weighed in. Uh, John, the original plan was supposed to relieve "pedestrian congestion," as this recent design concept from Audi shows, but the current design won't do that. And "parklet" is a pejorative in this case. And those "abstract oars" you see are "inspired by" a 2012 Audi. Thusly:
The hockey stick behind the rear wheel - see it? That's where your oars came from.]
Get up to speed on the new Audi Avenue / Powell Street Promenade Project right here.
Let me tell you, the Powell Street Promenade in Union Square will look nothing like this:
Click to expand.
Instead, it will look like this, with aluminum grating and paddles and twisted things. See?
Are these tables? I think they’re tables:
We were promised no advertising, but you make the call:
“…like much of the promenade, the benches draw their inspiration from the aluminum chassis of the all-new A7, the Audi ASF® frame. While the twisting and sculpting of the metal is intended to reflect the dynamic styling of the luxury sedan…”
Is this why Audi owners make such bad drivers, generally, the boldness? (I’d call it hubris, frankly.) Anyway, let’s let Audi make the case:
“We believe that a boldly designed car, like the new Audi A7, deserves a boldly designed world. So today we’re breaking ground on an urban design initiative to re-imagine Powell Street in San Francisco.”
I’ll tell you, the last thing Audi drivers need is anything to do with boldness.
Oh, and Foursquare too: Audi Powell Street Promenade
This is the primary surface. Number one will pass right through, number two not so much:
Now, the original idea was to have a widened sidewalk but that would have caused issues with area hotels (like them suing the City and County for starters). So we’re going to get cutouts on both sides of both blocks. Thusly:
Here’s parklet eight of eight, near the Cable Car turnaround:
Now let’s thank Gaia that the aluminum hasn’t been arranged in interlocking rings to further advertise Audi and its million-dollar Audi Avenue. But there will be Audi’s name onsite and that’s too much, IMO. Oh well.
And I can’t think of any other carmaker that’s as closely associated with aluminum as Audi, so there’s that.
Was this marketing deal put out to bid, like maybe some other car companies might want to market their vehicles using the streets of San Francisco as well, right? Anyway, I don’t know.
Feel free to share your thoughts with SFGov – oh, whoops, comments be closed, just like the way they have it at BeyondChron, which is also financed with your taxpayer dollars.
All right, which particular Audi did the Powell Street Promenade draw its inspiration from? All together now, the A7! Get one today – starting price is merely $60K.
Hurray!
Lively SocketSite has some deets along with reaction from the commonweal.
[Earworm of the day: We're going rock down to-oo/ Audi Avenue.]
[UPDATE: And a commenter from FineInternets.com frets over the metal theft issue. I wonder how much this aluminum would be worth melted down. See comments.]
Look what pops up these days when you do a Google Search for “leading” candidates for Mayor of San Francisco like John Avalos, Leland Yee* or David Chiu.
You’ll see an ad that says that each of these candidates ”needs competition.” See?
Click to expand.
I don’t know, is this an effective way to spend campaign money?
Maybe not but when you have tons of money to throw around, then you can make ad buys like this I s’pose.
How much longer will this phony-baloney Run Ed Run effort last?
*The Tony Hall campaign has a Google Ad for the search phrase “Leland Yee” as well. Something about transparency at City Hall.
Here’s the news from Akit: It’s ba-aaaack! Its the ZipTrek EcoTours zipline* (or ziplines, as they will have two, side-by-side). Deets are below.
Now, last year, back in 2010, the rides were free, so people were lining up at 3:00 AM. But this year, the cost will be $29, so that will certainly cut down on the riff-raff, and therefore surely shorten the queue.
(And oh, our friends from up in the Great White North just told me that they will be highly disappointed if Edwin Lee, San Francisco’s once (and future?) Mayor chickens out, if he blows off his obligation. Other Mayors have done it and it all worked out fine. See below for one example…)
This could be you:
The deets:
All guests are required to sign an Assumption of Risks and Release of Liability Agreement (coming soon) before zipping. Under 19 requires signature by a parent or guardian.
The ziplines are gravity fed, so guests do not have to worry about controlling their own speed. Guides are stationed at each tower to connect (launch platform) and disconnect (landing platform) each and every guest. Age restrictions apply and guests must weigh more than 65 pounds and no more than a maximum of 275 pounds.
When:
Summer 2011
11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. *
Where:
Justin Herman Plaza at Embarcadero Square, San Francisco, California
* times may vary on certain days”
Will you have the guts to climb a temporary tower (80 feet tall!) just like this one from 2010 to earn the right to tell your friends you rode the Justin Herman Plaza Zip Line?
Just asking.
via Josegee – click to expand
Clicque to expand
But first, you’ll need to wait in line next to the abysmal Vaillancourt Fountain, sign a waiver, and get harnessed up.
Le mise-en-scene.
You’ll ascend the 80 foot tower and encounter a friendly Canadian guide at the top. If you need a pep talk, you’ll get one:
You’ll soon be steadying your nerves by glancing at your jump buddy…
…and then you’ll be off, into the wild bleu.
Sisters doing it for themselves:
Can you see the nervous giggles? There’s your team bonding right there.
And this is what it felt like last year. Everything zooms by with a quickness, and there’s a loud buzzing above your noggin. Some people go upside-down even.
And they’ll totally let you bring a camera to make your own YouTube:
You owe it to yourself to try.
Don’t dissappoint lovely Ashleigh. She brought her Olympic Gold all the way down here last year just so you’d consider Vancouver as the starting point for your next vacation:
And I’ll tell you, last year the kids from Project Insight were quite amused to see former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown take a run on the fantastic British Columbia Zip-Line near the Ferry Building.
Here’s an account from John Coté.
Willie, sporting cashmere, handed out souvenir mittens (I still have a pair sitting in the back seat of Mom’s Taxi) from Up North:
Then it was time to harness up:
A reluctant exchange of headgear:
It’s go time.
Then he was off:
Here’s a close-up of those cardinal socks:
The landing tower. Here’s the reverse angle from David Paul Morris
And then a press conference:
His reaction after flying through the sky?
“I was scared as Hell, but there was no way I was going to show it!”
Good for you, Mr. Brown. Will you ride again in 2011?
Anyway, if he can do it, you can too.
See you there this summer!
And get the latest info direct from la source here:
[UPDATE: Upon Further Review, it turns out that I was wrong - these banners are made to go together, I now believe. Dude here put a banner in the wrong place and so then he had to remove it, the brown one, to put up the white one. Anyway, all I saw was him taking down the brown one so I misunderstood. Decide on a punishment for me and I'll carry it out forthwith...]
See?
Old banner on the left, new banner (Pro Bono Publico) on the right:
Click to expand
I guess the new wording tested better.
Anyway, this is the Message of the Day for Mission Street.
Let’s imagine a convo with Aaron Cohen, Director of Marketing Strategy over at the latest iteration of Coda Automotive, that company what promised to build an electric car assembly plant in the Bay Area City of Benicia last year.
Aaron Cohen: “You have “range anxiety” about driving an electric car and then running out of juice someplace. You so crazy! I’m diagnosing your mental dysfunction free of charge, you’re welcome.”
Wedding Guest: Uh, isn’t range a problem with your product. Isn’t that a real-life concern? Isn’t $45k a tad expensive for what’s basically an electrified 1990′s-era econocar?
Aaron Cohen: ”I see. I guess I’ve been misleading everybody. It’s sort of my job though. I’m proselytizing EV’s, you know?”
Wedding Guest: Well the problem is that the Sedan model that your employer may eventually offer for sale in CA sucks big-time. And it costs waaaaay too much money for what it is.
Aaron Cohen: “You’re forgetting about the tax incentives, like…”
Wedding Guest: I’ll stop you right there. Didn’t the Chinese market reject this car six years ago back when it was a retreaded Mitsubishi four-cylinder gas-engine vehicle selling for something like $9000-something? And didn’t the Euros reject this car back in the 1990′s when it was known as a Mitsubishi Carisma? And doesn’t the huge trunk come at the expense of rear seat passenger room? Now, I know that experts have come in to help you all electrify the thing, but why didn’t you start with a modern vehicle?
Aaron Cohen: “Gee, I’m kind of new here and Wikipedia doesn’t mention any of this stuff .”
Wedding Guest: Well, there you go. Wiki tends to forget about things that determined people are determined to make Wiki forget about. Oh well. Now, whatever you do, don’t badmouth the Nissan Leaf the way soooooo many other people from Coda have done before you. You’re trying to market one of the worst vehicles available (or soon-to-be-available, see below) in the American marketplace, just so you know.
Aaron Cohen: “Gee, now that I know all that, I come off kind of patronizing, huh?”
Wedding Guest: A little, sport. Just a little. Your electrified ride was supposed to come out in 2008, back in the day. Now it’s over budget and behind schedule. Coda Automotive doesn’t know what it’s doing and its dithering is taking up too much time and money from the govmint – why don’t you address one or both of those issues post-haste, Coda? All right, Aaron, Go Forth and Sin No More.
Wow, that was a piece of cake. Too bad real life isn’t that easy…
Now, let’s close with the sperpective of some wag from last year. (I’ll tell you, I can’t begin to tell you all the problems that Coda Automotive has. Oh well.)
“The NYT’s Jim Motavalli has some news about California’s very own electric car company today:
“Coda Automotive is a start-up company that will deliver its first $44,900 electric cars to customers in its home state of California “in three to four months,” said its president and chief executive, Kevin Czinger.”
What that means is that, once again, an electric car company is letting you down, ’cause deliveries were just recently promised for the “fourth quarter of 2010.” (Seems as if promises from any kind of car company aren’t really worth that much these days.)
Now, back in the day, just three years ago, the electric car we were going to get from China was called the Javlon XS500. It was suppose to come in 2008. It didn’t. Check it:
“Miles Automotive on the $30,000 Javlon XS500 all-electric sedan“
Then, in 2008, we were promised the Miles XS500. That was going to come in 2009. It didn’t. Check it:
“Miles XS500 will be a lot more expensive than planned, maybe“
Then, in 2009, we were promised the Coda Automotive Sedan. That was going to come in 2010. It hasn’t so far. Check it:
“Coda Automotive Unveils New Mainstream All-Electric Sedan“
So, based upon the statement written on the NYT website, I guess it’ll be 2011 before the “final assembly” plant in Benicia, CA starts rolling out product.
(Perhaps it’s easier to badmouth Nissan than fulfill promises? Sure looks that way…)
In other news, Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Michael A. Jackson has left the building. Mmmmm….
And hey, remember Webvan, that slow-motion car crash of a dotcom company, you know, the one that made a big splash and then soon after went belly up, the one that was brought to you by, among others, Kevin Czinger and Goldman Sachs?
Well, KC and GS are back again with Coda Automotive.
Let’s see how they do this go-around…”
Let me tell you kids about back in the day. [JetFire mode = ON] Well, back in the day, back in the early aughts, round about year 2000 on up, you could get cell phone service for $10 a month – all you had to do was to ring up Sprint and say how you wanted to quit on them and then it was Name Your Price Time with the Sprint Retention Department. Good times.
And your cell phone, it worked everywhere. But now, they give you a smart phone what hooks up to the 4G all over except at home and at work. (Thank Gaia you can teach it to hook up to local WiFi seamlessly.)
All right, here’s the payoff – here’s smarmy and smarmier:
And here’s smarmiest:
Anyway, I don’t know if all your ducks are in a row the way you seem to think they are, T Mobile. Oh well.
Who knows what the future will bring….
