Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

Steam trains may yet chug into Pleasanton

Once thought to have lost its fire, the idea of bringing historical steam trains to town has again become prominent in discussions of a plan to enhance the city's downtown residential and commercial areas and preserve historic buildings.

The proposal to bring the Niles Canyon Railway to the downtown is part of a 10-year downtown specific plan that city leaders, the Pleasanton Downtown Association and community and business leaders have been developing.

The plan includes guidelines for future development, transportation issues, historic preservation, parks and trails, public restrooms, and the use of the Alameda County Transportation Corridor, a strip of former railroad right-of-way between Main and First streets.

City Council members planned to vote on the plan Tuesday, but delayed their discussion until a Mar05 meeting. Mayor Tom Pico and Councilwoman Sharrell Michelotti excused themselves from the issue because they are downtown property owners. -Contra Costa Times, Marty Benard

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It's time for a disclosure. This foray into DIY has gotten the conversation with Microsoft restarted. It's been too long since we collaborated on this stuff. UserLand remembers well how all this web services stuff started. We've never hesitated to say that equal credit goes to the brilliant and courageous people at Microsoft who believed in this stuff. Why do I keep saying that Web Services are not just the province of the Big's? Because they say they are, in so many ways. It's totally not fair for us to have to fight for the right to innovate the stuff we started. I wouldn't have to keep saying that if they didn't route around us. Anyway now that seems to be over, so we can be softer and more generous. They're intrigued by what we're doing here. That's good. I want to make sure Web Services work for Web Developers. When I say it that way, the Mind of Microsoft gets interested. There's our win-win.  [Scripting News]
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That's why I made sure to give Bill Gates proper credit in my last piece. It's true that he inspired me to work on scripting user-oriented apps. Then we infected Apple with the idea, so counter to conventional wisdom, sometimes Microsoft does the innovating and Apple sometimes copies them. Heh. How about that for irony?  [Scripting News]
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InfoWorld's top technologies for 2001. Web Services is #1.  [Scripting News]
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Thanks to Glenn for the pointer to this fantastic Flash hack.  [Scripting News]
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Mitnick to Plead for Ham License. Notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick is in danger of losing his amateur radio license and he may have to soft-pedal his reputation in court. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]
comments < 9:03:34 PM        >

Cringely's Bank Shot [Slashdot]

Not Even a Mountain Can Get in the Way of Bob's Search for Faster Internet Service

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20020207.html

 

comments < 9:03:20 PM        >

Wi-Fi is Watching You: D-Link wireless camera: talk about opportunistic networking.

[80211b News]
comments < 9:03:08 PM        >

AMERICA - Fifty percent online. More than half of American households and more than half of all Americans are now connected to the Internet, according to a Commerce Department study. [Adam Curry: CurryDotCom]
comments < 9:02:53 PM        >

Probe launched into Pac Bell DSL flap. A California regulatory agency is investigating whether SBC Pacific Bell overcharged hundreds of customers for broadband services. [CNET News.com]
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Space.com  NASA to go nuclear with propulsion and power.  Excellent.  Finally.  There isn't another power system out there that can provide the type of thrust necessary to get to distant targets fast.  For so many years, NASA has stayed away from nuclear power in space.  Why?  Fear of the militarization of space.  Fear of nuclear power.  While there is some risk, it's a lot less than people imagine.  These engines won't even be turned on until they are in orbit.  People tend to forget, perhaps out of ignorance, that space is a very, very hostile environment.  Anyway, it's nice to see progress being made. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
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