2005-02-28

No strike!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2005
Statement from County Executive Andy Spano on stopping the clock on
negotiations between Liberty Lines and the Transport Workers Union:

“I commend Liberty Lines and the transit workers union for agreeing to continue negotiations beyond the contract expiration deadline. Both parties recognize the needs of the 89,000 passengers who depend on the Bee-Line bus system to get to work or school each day. This is a show of good faith on the part of the Liberty Lines and the union, and I urge both sides to come to a speedy resolution of this matter. I will be monitoring the situation closely. Our strike contingency plans will remain in place until the two sides have reached a final agreement. The county, which is not involved in the negotiations, encourages both Liberty Lines and the TWU to reach an amicable agreement that is fair to both the union members and the county taxpayers, and one that would not lead to an increase in fares.”

SNOW

National Current Weather in the Bronx
Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY
437 PM EST MON FEB 28 2005

...A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM IS IMMINENT...

.LOW PRESSURE OFF THE VIRGINIA CAPES WILL CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY AS IT
MOVES UP THE EAST COAST THIS EVENING...PASSING SOUTHEAST OF NANTUCKET
AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE LOW WILL CONTINUE ITS NORTHWARD PROGRESS LATE
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...AS IT MOVES INTO NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND AND THE
CANADIAN MARITIMES.

CONDITIONS CAN DETERIORATE RAPIDLY IN WINTER WEATHER SITUATIONS...
SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME WHEN TRAVELING. PRACTICE YOUR WINTER
SAFETY RULES...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD AND WATER IN YOUR CAR
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA ALL HAZARDS RADIO OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/OKX FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.

CTZ009-010-NJZ005-006-011-NYZ072>078-080-010400-
BRONX NY-ESSEX NJ-HUDSON NJ-KINGS (BROOKLYN) NY-NASSAU NY-
NEW YORK (MANHATTAN) NY-NORTHWEST SUFFOLK NY-QUEENS NY-
RICHMOND (STATEN IS.) NY-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD CT-SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN CT-
SOUTHWEST SUFFOLK NY-UNION NJ-
437 PM EST MON FEB 28 2005

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY
MORNING...

SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING...AND MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES...
ACCUMULATING AT THE RATE OF AROUND 2 INCHES PER HOUR.
TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE LIKELY BY THE TIME THE SNOW
TAPERS OFF LATE TONIGHT.

WINDS COULD ALSO BECOME QUITE STRONG DURING THE PERIOD OF HEAVIEST
SNOWFALL. NORTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH MAY
CAUSE NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...WITH CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING OF SNOW AND SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES.

$$

2005-02-27

good

Slashdot | Senators Clinton and Kerry Submit Open Voting Bill

...and it's backed by one of NY's senators

Yet another addition to the Microsoft is evil case evidence

Slashdot | Microsoft AntiSpyware thinks Firefox is Spyware
I can't believe Kazaa is considered less of a threat.
And this comes right after a new version. WTF are they talking about with lack of updates. They should put IE in the list for recording history even with history disabled.

PS: Here's a mirror of the screenshot, in the likely case that the server hosting it gets slashdotted to death. http://www.mirrordot.org/stories/eb6eba3de972dd73f71c659f46071dbe/index.html

Science from the still-won't-be-used-in-the-states dept.

Slashdot | Experts Suggest Replacing Definition of Kilogram

2005-02-25

Bee Line Strike March 1

From the Westchester County DOT press releases:



Press Releases

CONTACT:
SUSAN TOLCHIN (914) 995-2932
VICTORIA HOCHMAN (914) 995-2950
BARBARA PETERS-DEMEO
PUBLIC WORKS (914) 995-2271

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 24, 2005
COUNTY PUTS CONTINGENCY PLANS IN PLACE IN CASE OF BUS STRIKE
Encourages TWU and Liberty Lines to reach settlement before contract expires

Westchester County has put into place contingency plans in the event of a strike by the Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 against the county’s bus contractor, Liberty Lines.

Liberty’s contract with its 582 drivers and mechanics expires at midnight on February 28th. If workers strike, there would be no Bee-Line bus service, affecting the more than 89,000 residents who ride the system daily.

The county, which is not involved in the negotiations, encourages both Liberty Lines and the TWU to reach an amicable agreement that is fair to both the union members and the county taxpayers, and one that would not lead to an increase in fares.


In the event of a strike, the county has made arrangements for park and ride lots for carpooling, and will provide information about alternative Metro North service. Riders are asked to call the Bee-Line Information Center at
(914) 813-7777 or
visit the web page at www.westchestergov.com for the latest information.
The following park and ride lots will be available free of charge in the event of a strike:
CARPOOL SITES
Glen Island Park
County AreaLocationAccessSpaces
South Sprain Ridge Park
Greenburgh
Sprain Brk. Pkwy.
(North or southbound):
exit at Jackson Ave.,
west on Jackson Ave.
to Park
325
Tibbets Brook Park
Yonkers
Cross County Pkwy.
(East or westbound):
exit at Yonkers Ave.,
east on Yonkers Ave.
to Midland Ave. south
on Midland Ave, to Park
285
I-95 (North or south-
bound):
exit at Main
St., north on Main St.
To Weyman Ave., east on
Weyman Ave. to Glen
Island Approach Road 925
Central Playland, Rye I-95 (North or south-Bound):
exit at Playland Pkwy., east on Pkwy. to Playland 2,000
Kingsland Pt. Park Rt. 9 to Pierson Ave. In
North Tarrytown: west on
Pierson Ave. to Park 300
Saxon Woods Pool Hutchinson River Pkwy.
(North) Exit Mamaroneck
Ave., left turn Mamaroneck
(South): right turn Mamaroneck Ave., left to pool 100
North Croton Point Park Route 9 (North or south Bound): exit at Croton Point Ave., west on Croton Point Ave. to Park 420
Roosevelt State Park, Yorktown
Lot 1-off Taconic
Pkwy. Taconic Pkwy. (North or
southbound): exit at FDR State Park for Lot 1. 200


CONTACT:
SUSAN TOLCHIN (914) 995-2932
RICHARD STILLER (914) 813-7776



If they strike, I'm not going to school. I ought to do one of those things like in cartoons where a man steps in the middle of an argument and makes it worse!

It's not that contingency plan is going to work.

this is sure to piss some off

Slashdot | Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation

2005-02-23

If I was world dictator...

Slashdot | 100,000 Domains Sold for $164 Million
...I'd put an immediate end to this sort of crap. 100K domains of ads and crap, many of them deceptive. What a huge waste.

One of the benifits of socialism (I guess would hold true in socialist republic or democracy) would be an end to advertisements.
Make me your socialist dictator!
(I guess I would put an end to this sort of advertising whether or not I was a socialist dictator.)

2005-02-22

Click here right now for the best video ever!

This thing is so funny.
Just don't watch it at work or anything.
You won't be sorry!
While it is targeted at the Steam forums and vBulliten software, it's really useful on any multi-forum board with searching capabilities.
It's a good thing for anyone new to using BBS-type things, and a big laugh for the more experienced users.

PS: I'm going to put a link to this right after the registration screen on the PDG Forums right after I'm done upgrading it.

2005-02-19

Brain study points to 'sixth sense' | Science Blog

Brain study points to 'sixth sense' | Science Blog

2005-02-17

Slashdot | Microsoft Blocking Wine Users From Downloads Site

Somehow this doesn't surprise me.

2005-02-16

MTA Opening up bidding for space above Hudson yards

Good. They need all the money they can get. I'm just hoping that someone formally does offer more than $100 million. Cablevision's $600 million bid isn't official-i don't think

A Few Notes

Please go away if you are offended by stuff I say. (Yes, some things I say might offend some, but it's not like I talk about the sisters of my enemies.) This is my personal blog for whatever I want to say. One great of blogs over forums is that if you hate the blogger, you can just never go there. The vast majority of my posts here have no real significance anyplace else.

The Fordham Prep PDG Forums (aka FP.TK) is NOT official with Fordham Preparatory School. Please contact me if there is a typo somewhere that makes it look like they are. They have been official with Fordham Prep's computer club since November 2003, and will remain so until someone with the authority to take that away orders me to do so.

There is no freedom of speech here, as there is on FP.TK

Personal attacks are not the way.

2005-02-15

Slashdot | SHA-1 Broken

F*ck*ng sh*t
What is this world coming to?
I need to find another hashing algorythm.

Slashdot | Novell Releasing Hula and 200,000 Lines of Code

interesting

2005-02-14

Slashdot | Verizon To Acquire MCI For $6.7 Billion

Huge merges like this screw over some people, but others get lucky.
I'm hoping my dad gets the latter.
As much as I dislike him, I must admit that since I am a minor, I rely on him, and more money means that he has more to spend on stuff for me, and he's in a better mood.

2005-02-09

Slashdot | Smart People Choke Under Pressure

HSPT

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllpppppppppppppppppppppp

Slashdot | Google Launches Mapping Service

Slashdot | Google Launches Mapping Service: "Alex Reynolds writes "The beta version of Google Maps is now online, offering an alternative to Mapquest with what some might describe as a very much improved user interface, offering a cleaner layout, drop shadows, clickable waypoints and keyboard controls that allow you to move and zoom the map. For IE and Firefox/Mozilla at this point (no Safari or Opera support, as yet).""

For all those who say this is so much better than Mapquest, keep in mind that the map data is provided and copyrighted by the same company for all three services (Yahoo, MapQuest, and Google). That company is NAVTEQ (if you don't believe me, look in the corner of any of the maps generated by those 3 services), which claims that its data is also in GPS's.

But the maps look different, you say. True. But, there is another way that proves they must at least share data, and that is inaccuracies that are exactly the same on all of them.
Look up the intersection of US-202/NY-35 and the Taconic State Parkway on all three. Then look just to the south, to where FDR interchange is. You will see a color change on the taconic roadway in the exact same spot on all three services. On the northbound lanes, it is where the on-ramp from FDR merges in. On the south-bound lanes, it is where the 202 onramp merges in (which, btw, isn't really there anyway-it's a bit to the north).
I'm guessing that this color change signifies a change in the niceness or wideness of the roadway. Well anyway, it isn't there. BEFORE the recent construction it was (on the NB side) between the offramp and the onramp. right now, it's more like (on both sides) north of 202 sort of around the bear mountain pkwy.
AFTER construction, it'll be right around route 6 (i'm guessing with an EXIT ONLY lane).
anyway, this (and probaly other) shared inaccuracies, and other acute similarites, shows (aside from the NAVTEQ thing) that they all use the same data.

I am not sure if they use the same engine to come up with directions. Maybe they do. Maybe its hybrid (like part Google/mapquest/yahoo and part navteq). Maybe 2 of them use the same but the other doesn't. If anyone knows, or has figured out somehow (maybe using similar methodology as me), please leave a comment. I don't have the time.

The interface is certianly at least visibly unique for all three. There's no argument there. I like google's keyboard scrolling feature,as opposed to having to reload just to pan around

Anyway, which is the best? I don't know. If one is far better with directions than the other two, then I'll use that one. Google Maps has the unfair advantage in coolness. It's Google, what else is there to say? Also, Google apparantly does not have Ads (Not even "find ___ near this location/along this route") of any kind from what I can see (maybe because it's BETA). Aside from that, I don't know. The map data is the same, I haven't tested the directions side by side, and none of the interfaces have any serious shortcomings.

BTW, one thing that very few are aware of is the USGS/Microsoft TerraServer USA (not to be confused with these guys). It won't give you directions, and isn't targeted at the same audience as the other three, but it is interesting. They have loads of maps, and arial and/or satellite photos integrated together. Pretty cool; ad-free by the federal government.

PS: Just noticed that TeleAtlas is mentioned in Google but not the other two. So maybe Google is a bit more unique than I thought.

PS: See this bit on it's impact on the browser and so forth: Mapping Google Maps (Slashdot)

PS: An eaiser example of inaccuracy similarity among the three is here: Google Mapquest Yahoo The interchange between the Sprain and the Taconic is wrong.

PS: The Google links are the best. MapQuest's are way too long, and Yahoo's aren't accurate. Unfortunately, Google's don't include zoom, though.

PS: I was just thinking, even if all 3 did get the Taconic merge around 202 correct, it says that it's no longer a ltd access highway (according to the Yahoo and MapQuest legends; google doesn't have one) after those points i mentioned. This isn't so at all, as there are no traditional intersections until after the putnam county line.

UPDATE: later on

Now this is very very interesting. MSN Maps (not the same as Terraserver USA, sponsored by MS) also is NAVTEQ related. It also reports GDT (bought in July 2004 by TeleAtlas, a company listed on Google maps (probably not by coincidence)) as a source. More on that later. MSN maps have some of the same inaccuracies, but the Taconic/Sprain interchange is correct (yet its dwawn horribly). Why? I have no clue.

The GDT/TeleAtlas thing is certianly interesting. Why would only 2 of 4 list it? More interesting is this map thing. The detail is incredible. It gets my house exactly right, and none of the inaccuriacies I mentioned in the other 4. It even has the very new ramp structure for the bear mountain parkway correct! And some detail on train tracks! However, there are no directions, and there are some unfriendly aspects (ex: the taconic is called NY-987G). My only real gripe is that it lists the Saw Mill as major and the taconic (the whole thing) as secondary. It is horrible with the difference betweeen major and secondary in other places too. Just look at the interstates in NYC!

2005-02-07

pps club

g*y
seriously
admin staff
one has no posts
other goes around editing people's profiles (and can't accept dictatorship)
other spams and vandalizes other boards
a sorry bunch...