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Sorry to keep replying to myself. Not only is the line on the California 540; the state gives you another way to pay -- with this form that you detach and mail with your check. I wonder how many of these they will receive.

There is a plan to build a high speed train between San Francisco/Sacramento and LA/San Diego.

It is supposed to be on the November 2004 ballot, but with the current CA debt situation who knows if voters will go for it.

Senate Bill 1856: This bill authorizes a $9.95 billion general obligation bond for the November 2004 ballot. $9 billion would create the State's share of the construction costs for the San Francisco to Los Angeles segment of the high-speed train system as presented in the Authority's business plan. The remaining $950 million would be dedicated to feeder rail programs to the high-speed rail system.

From http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov

It's not like it's cleaner than coal in collection, energy production, or cleanup.

Take a Geiger Counter outside of a nuclear plant. Now take one outside of a coal plant. Hmmm... Much higher readings outside of the coal plant. What? Coal ore contains radioactive isotopes? Those isotopes don't burn up like the coal around them? Coal ash has concentrated radioactive material? The coal industry isn't as highly regulated as the nuclear industry?

Health problems? Do a google search for black lung disease. Hell, do some research on the total number of deaths from nuclear power generation and coal/natural gas since nuclear power was introduced. Nuclear engineers will normally receive more radiation from a single round of CAT scans than from their entire career at the nuclear plant.

Chernobyl? You mean the substandard plant where operators intentionally ignored warnings and pushed the envelope of safety much too far? The final death count was less than four hundred. Yes, the town of 75,000 had to be abandoned. This is an argument for not intentionally doing stupid things with your power plant.

The worst U.S. nuclear disaster? 3-Mile Island? Go back and check your history books. Look up the number of deaths. Zero. Look up the number of injured. None.

As it stands, U.S. nuclear power technology has fallen behind. Take a look at some of the French or, even better, German designs. I find it hard to believe that anything even approaches their level of safety or efficiency.

Terrorist attacks? Personally I'd be more worried about an exposed warehouse of natural gas where someone dropped a match. How about an oil refinery? Yeah, that'll be easy to clean up...

Nuclear waste? How about the euphemism (according to rabid environmental groups) "spent fuel"? Know why they call it a euphemism? Because all spent fuel in the U.S. is waste. Know why? Because in a bid to stop nuclear proliferation in the seventies, Jimmy Carter banned nuclear enrichment in power generation. No breeders for the U.S. Unfortunately for Carter, Europe gave him the finger and continued using nuclear -- including breeded reactors. Who listened? Japan. However Japan just sends its spent fuel to Europe for re-enrichment and buys it back for further processing.

What's the big deal. Let's take Diablo Canyon on the California coast. Only two turbines. 1/5 of the power production in the region. 20%!!! If anyone is curious, take a look at the number of >0.1MW powerplants in California. Diablo Canyon is on the coast about 2/3 of the way down from the top of the state. Look at all of those dams. Imagine all of the trucks, materials, and associated air/water pollution necessary for bringing the fuel to the plant.

Folks in California wouldn't even sell Diablo Canyon the water they needed even though the water/steam used to turn the turbines doesn't ever come into contact with the reactor; It isn't radioactive. So in addition to providing power, they had to set up a reverse osmosis water desalinization plant to get the water from the ocean. And it still gives 20% of the power for the region.

For all of the people whining about the number of birds killed by power poles and cell phone towers, I encourage you to take a look at the number of birds killed by power-generating windmills.

Solar? Anyone want to do the math on the number of panels necessary for even half of the national electricity usage? What about the power and materials required for their inital production?

Tidal? Will someone explain to me how land-locked regions would be able to take advantage of tidal power?

Fuel from soybeans? That would be a nice supplementary energy source. However, let's stop making food. Let's dedicate the nation's farmland to soybeans or other similar fuel generation crops. Reduce that number by the fuel necessary to s

Also usefull is a website from the chp with traffic incident information (this is what the radio and TV traffic report people are likely reading)

Would be more usefull if I had an easy way to access this information while in the car. But a quick check before heading out on the freeways is always a good idea escpecially as it gets closer to 5pm.

Also usefull is a website from the chp with traffic incident information (this is what the radio and TV traffic report people are likely reading)

Would be more usefull if I had an easy way to access this information while in the car. But a quick check before heading out on the freeways is always a good idea escpecially as it gets closer to 5pm.

Let me understand this? 1) Mr. MAUGHAN gets in trouble for not playing by California's Accounting laws. 2) California State (the address is a .gov address) posts his information online so that people like me don't get ripped off by this idiot with a less-than-perfect record. 3) Goggle spiders crawl the site and index it. 4) Family of this guy obviously doesn't trust him so they look him up on goggle and find the record of ill repute. 5) Embarrassed, he cry's foul and sues the search engine for doing what it was designed to do? How pathetic; I can understand how dirty laundry online may effect his business. But maybe if he had done the right thing in the first place, he wouldn't be in this situation.

The original post was published by the State of California Board of Accountancy, who were probably making the announcement by rule of public policy. I don't think he can tell them to cease & desist. I also don't think he's got a chance in hell against Google. They should grind his ass into little tiny ass-flakes and scatter them to the wind.

The original post was published by the State of California Board of Accountancy, who were probably making the announcement by rule of public policy. I don't think he can tell them to cease & desist. I also don't think he's got a chance in hell against Google. They should grind his ass into little tiny ass-flakes and scatter them to the wind.

The information is on the California state website.

He is clamming Google represents the data incorrectly and that the California state government dose NOT say what Google says.

However in order to get the impression this guy is operating as a CPA with out a liccens you have to folow the link and get...

Respondent additionally failed to pay an administrative fine imposed by the Board for failing to supply the Board with copies of a financial report representing the highest level of service rendered, in accordance with Section 89.1 of the California Code of Regulations. Respondent's failure to pay the administrative fine caused the Board to withhold renewal of his CPA license.

from here.

The guy's been cought by the state pulling a fast one and now it's open for all to see.
He's suing Google for doing what it dose best.. Digs up any peace of information reguardless of how much people try to burry it.

I hope this will teach people not to associate Mark Maughan with that page.

I have no idea about the state of gay marriage, but as for this guy, I found this info via Google.

By reading this, you agree not to sue me and not to use this information unlawfully :P I'm just reporting what I've found, verbatim, from Google. I didn't write up any of this information, I've just pieced it together and I have no idea how true any of it is.

Of course, *since* I found it via Google, it may well be the same "false and misleading" information. Hell, I don't even know if this is the right guy! However, it is a CPA with at least the same first & last name as him, who I *think* is in the right area. It's apparently old info (from 2000), and when I looked under the accountancy firm he does business for, this was the business' only citation listed (this is also the only citation listed for him).

Interestingly, a citation for someone with the last name McBride is right next to this guy's (no known relation to Darl, but I don't have those Mormon geneology databases to work off of, either)

The citation is at the end of this post for formatting purposes. As for the email/address/info of this guy, if my research is right, his web page appears to be:

http://www.markmaughan.com/

Which lists the following contact information:

Contact us at:

10221 Slater Avenue, Suite 104
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Ph: (714) 962-1600
Fax: (714) 962-8598
E-MAIL: taxxbiz@aol.com

What follows is the citation, exactly as listed on some California government server's webpage. I didn't make this up, I'm just quoting exactly what I know, without any expressed or implied endorsement of what they've said. Clearly, this person seems to feel that this information is "false and misleading," so... Anyhow, the following information is taken from http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/discipline/ma-me.htm

MAUGHAN, MARK G. (CPA 38184)

BROWN & MAUGHAN, AN ACCOUNTANCY CORPORATION (COR 2529)

Fountain Valley/Rolling Hills Estates, CA

Revocation stayed with three years' probation and a 30-day suspension, via stipulation settlement.

Probation terms include:

30-day suspension from the practice of public accountancy.

Renewal of the CPA and corporate licenses, respectively, within 30 days of the effective date of this order.

Compliance with the citation order which contained administrative fines totaling $1,500.00 and an order of correction and abatement. Payment of $1,500.00 is due within 30 days of the effective date of this order.

Reimbursement of $4,360.17 to the Board for investigative and prosecution costs.

Submission of a sample set of financial statements, representing the highest level of service rendered, between August 1, 1995, and July 31. 1997.

Completion of a Board-approved ethics examination with a score of 90 percent or grater, within the first year of probation.

Other standard terms and conditions.

Effective December 27, 2000
For purposes of settlement, Respondent admits the truth and accuracy of the allegations and charges in the Accusation. Respondent and his accountancy corporation engaged in the practice of public accounting with expired licenses.

Respondent additionally failed to pay an administrative fine imposed by the Board for failing to supply the Board with copies of a financial report representing the highest level of service rendered, in accordance with Section 89.1 of the California Code of Regulations. Respondent's failure to pay the administrative fine caused the Board to withhold renewal of his CPA license.

Business and Professions Code, Division 3, Chapter 1, 5050, 5100 (f) and 5154; California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Division 1, 89.1.

-----

For reference, here is all the information you could want on Darl McBride, as has been posted several times to SlashDot before:

The SCO Group
355 South 520 West
S

I'm not sure about all of the charges, but the California Board of Accountancy does list the disciplinary action for practicing with an expired license. This is the first Google result for "Mark Maughan CPA" (without quotes). So as far as I can tell, the information DOES appear on the state board site, contraditing the article.

At first, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I have seen results before where it takes search terms from different parts of the page, and gives a misleading summary:
...blah blah blah blah blah blah Mike...
...Maughan punished for gross negligence...

Even though the linked article might be talking about Mike Smith and Fred Maughan. I can see how something like that could be damaging to someone's reputation, and Google might want to change the way it presents summaries. But since the "offending information" actually does appear on the Board website, I'm not sure how Google is supposed to be responsible.

Google is your friend.

Here's the offending page.

It's the Disciplinary Actions page in the California Board of Accountancy section on the California Dept of Consumer Affairs's website.

Note that Google itself does not list any specific disciplinary actions, except for the rather damning page title of "Disciplinary Actions List - Bi-Bz".

Here's the link

I sure hope his lawyers are expensive... so it hurts more when he looses.

For purposes of settlement, Respondent admits the truth and accuracy of the allegations and charges in the Accusation. Respondent and his accountancy corporation engaged in the practice of public accounting with expired licenses.

Respondent additionally failed to pay an administrative fine imposed by the Board for failing to supply the Board with copies of a financial report representing the highest level of service rendered, in accordance with Section 89.1 of the California Code of Regulations. Respondent's failure to pay the administrative fine caused the Board to withhold renewal of his CPA license.

He broke the law by practicing with an expired license, failed to pay fines, and is now now suing search engines because the information was posted on the internet by the state of California. That's his own damn fault. People need to learn to live with the consequences and take responsibility for their actions.

Actually it was his license: http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/discipline/ma-me.htm#mau g_mg.

You mean he is not this guy ? Oh and for those that can't find it on Google? Click here From what I read there was a paperwork issue which caused their CPA license to be suspended and the firm to be placed on 'probation'. Sounds like he is the one twisting and distorting the facts. I was going to make a witty reference to Arthur Andersen but the only decent references to them are at Open Secrets

The government says:

"This list contains names of licensees for which accusations have been filed and are pending possible disciplinary action; summaries of all decisions within the past seven years for those found to be in violation of the California Accountancy Act and/or the rules and regulations of the California Board of Accountancy; and summaries of decisions older than seven years but occurring since July 1, 1993, for licenses revoked, surrendered or placed on long-term probation (beyond three years)."

Brown and Maughan just "happens" to be listed. Have they been sued? Doesn't look like it.

Google on the other hand is libelous for linking to an official government agency.

God bless our legal system... we'll listen to any case put before the court, regardless of how horrendously stupid it might be.

This page seems to list some disciplinary action taken against his law firm. I quote from the "Cause for Discipline" column (all emphasis mine):

For purposes of settlement, Respondent admits the truth and accuracy of the allegations and charges in the Accusation. Respondent and his accountancy corporation engaged in the practice of public accounting with expired licenses.

Respondent additionally failed to pay an administrative fine imposed by the Board for failing to supply the Board with copies of a financial report representing the highest level of service rendered, in accordance with Section 89.1 of the California Code of Regulations. Respondent's failure to pay the administrative fine caused the Board to withhold renewal of his CPA license.

Sounds like someone knew they'd have no luck taking on the state and decided to try and get some quick cash out a Google. Nice try.

So in other words he is suing Google, et al. for pointing to publicly available records that are not flattering. The odd side effect is now that everyone will see this link and know all the sorted details about he and his law firm. Before he made this fuss no one would have cared. Maybe he will sue me too for posting this link. Hmm. . . .

WOW! Just imagine how much completely legal, free or open source DVD ripping software you could store on one of those!

Probably because the name of the mountain it is on or near is "Mount Diablo"

I nearly killed myself on a bike coming down it once. Went to boarding school at it's base.

From 3200 feet, you can see San Francisco and Nevada from the top in
clear weather, lots of fossils and a great place to hang glide

As to the answer to your question, based on the level of the donations it looks like you could get a piece of the action for as little as $500 although you'd probably have to give in the $10K range to get the platinum level governmental access. Complete speculation on my part of course.

Proposed Budget Expenditures for the State of California for the year 2004-2005 is 99.144 Billion Dollars (Budget Summary)

In 2003-2004 the Canadian Government budget weighed in at approximately 180.7 Billion Dollars (Expenditures)

Please note that the Canadian Government expenditures do not include provincial or municipal tax revenue.

I looked at the California budget summaries for the last couple of decades and was shocked. WTF has been going on in California that the state budget has increased 65% between 1997-98 and 2003-04?

Also, when you consider that the Canadian federal government budget is paying for a hell of a lot more services (including health care - the bulk of medicare funding still comes from the federal government), California voters have a right to feel ripped off.

I may not know California, but there is one obvious example: Governor Ronald Reagan.

See if there's a local GATE chapter. When I was in it as a kid, they did outings to different places, like the Exploratorium in San Francisc, the Bay Model in Sausalito, and quite a few other education/science oriented outings/classes. Here's the California Branch. I couldn't find an official national page, maybe I'm not that gifted anymore :-(

Anybody know who made the OC [Orange County, CA] systems?

I didn't like the summary of votes which you confirm before submitting your ballot. There was only about 10 characters per entry, so everything was abbreviated, but (this time at least) it was sufficient. Also, everything was in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, which is a pet peeve of mine.

He's less likely to put us into debt because he can handle finances.

I think people said stuff along these lines about the Governator before he put Proposition 57 and 58 on the ballot (It's a bad, bad thing to borrow money, and we want to do it just one last time!)

But maybe buying a Hummer isn't really demonstrating that you know how to manage your money wisely, either ;-).

He's less likely to put us into debt because he can handle finances.

I think people said stuff along these lines about the Governator before he put Proposition 57 and 58 on the ballot (It's a bad, bad thing to borrow money, and we want to do it just one last time!)

But maybe buying a Hummer isn't really demonstrating that you know how to manage your money wisely, either ;-).

Easy enough:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d06/vc12951.htm

You are required to carry the licence with you when driving, but if you get cited for not having it, then they throw that out if you show it in court (the first couple of times).

I did a quick scan of the civil and penal codes for CA, and I don't see a requirement for ID, except for firearms sales.

I stand by the statement that nobody will be specficially growing biomass for fuel conversion. You are completely correct, most energy we have used was from plant matter: heck, the average person is running at about 120W based completely on plant and animal sources (2500kCal/24hr). That is a LOT of energy. However, the average CAR uses something like 120kW (~162HP) src Thats a lot of bio-fuel per second.
Lets have some fun:
If we assume that you have your numbers above (2.5% efficient conversion of an average of 400W/m^2) and we use the average car then that 10W per meter squared gives us a requirement of ???
With an average commute distance of about 10 miles (real is more like 13 ref) . I'll assume that means that the average commuter burns about a gallon of gas per day, 5 days a week.
A gallon of gas has an energy content of about 118MJ (Ethanol has about 80MJ) ref So we need
5*5*118MJ ~= 2.95E9_J per week.
In order to produce this in 7 days (allow production but not use during the weekend) we need to average
2.95E9_J/(7 days) ~= 4.88kW per car
which comes to a total area of
4880W/(10W/m^2) = 488m^2
This represents a patch of plant life about 25 meters on a side. Doesn't seem too bad, I suppose. The average family needs about a football field out on the ocean in order to drive to work everyday.
However, I am going to repeat that accounting in brief using the numbers I believe to be accurate: that is 0.1% efficient transformation of solar energy into ethanol (for why, read my the upper reaches of this thread).
So, 0.001*400W/m^2 = 0.4W/m^2. Lets call it 0.5, then my earlier calcs become
4880W*(2m^2/W) = 9760m^2
Which is a plot damned near 100m on a side. Now, what is the value of the fuel? Well, that would come to the profit to the seller of 5 gallons of fuel. Given that gas goes for about something like a dollar a gallon, wholesale, you are requiring some entity to manage a crap load of these floating plant boxes for
$5*10/7days = $7.14/day/km^2
So for less than 10 bucks per square kilometer per day! Or, with the 10W per meter squared figure:
25m*40 = 1km; 5$*40 = $200/km^2/7days
= $28.5 per day.
And I'd bet a lot that even MY number is about 10 times higher than is realistic. Hell, we haven't even factored in litigation: and I think we can be certain that if a company or government offered to cover a few million square km of ocean with plant boxes, there would be PLENTY of litigation.

Since you mentioned Aral sea, shall I mention Exxon Valdes and Alaska?

Or the Salton Sea and Laguna Salada, i.e. the Colorado River delta in the Southwestern U.S. Same problems as the Aral really in terms of upstream diversion of water for unsustainable agricultural use, except that here the most affected area is conveniently located south of the border.

What state are you in? If you're in California, state law trumps those sorts of contracts to some degree - see California Labor Code 2870.

Also, on every contract I've ever been presented with, the was a section for exempted works - depending on the type of company you run you may simply be able to exempt the entire subject area of that company and be fine.

A lawyer will know what's applicable to your state - consulting one wouldn't be a bad idea as many people recommend. However, it's not always necessary if you know what you want and can negotiate well. You can look up your state's labor and intellectual property statutes online. Negotiation is typically give and take though - you may have to trade some things to get what you want.

In my case, negotiations took almost a month but I won 75% telecommute, ownership of all of the code I wrote on the side that was unrelated to the company's business, and the highest salary on the team (considerably more than the initial offer). I was asked to run any industry-related works (e.g. music) I wrote outside of work by upper management for approval before release - which I did, and they were very reasonable about it.

Of course, when the company came on hard times financially and brought in new management to reduce costs and get the VC's off their backs, that meant I was on the short list for downsizing - despite averaging 60+ hour weeks for over 2 years of service, receiving heavy praise on every review, and receiving pretty awards for the quality of my work.

Ah well... It was nice while it lasted.

Anyone need an old coder?

...according to the California Court of Appeal, it's perfectly Constitutional to require videotaping of cyber cafe patrons in Garden Grove, California unless the California Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court decides otherwise.

picture

I like the suit...

My company made all of the Systems people go hourly based on a previous lawsuit that they lost regarding some assistant managers. Anyway, After we were made hourly, we all had to fill out a weeks worth of "job diaries" that explained everything we did during the day. This was to determine if we made enough decisions to be declared management/exempt. During this whole thing did some reserch and included some links below. Hope this helps. Oh, and this is in California.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_54 1/29CFR541.3.htm
http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/dlse.html
3 slashdot links on this subject:
http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/03/06/15/19522 40.shtml?tid=187&tid=98&tid=99
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/11/02 23211&tid=124
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/03/24/23 42259&tid=123
And a couple of labor lawyers:
http://www.overtimelawyer.com/
http://www.wmlaborlaw.com/

PS. I stayed hourly and it ended up being a $17000/yr raise with the OT.

The only other good route would be S.D. to LA to S.F...

There is a plan to build a high speed train between SF and LA.

Senate Bill 1856: This bill authorizes a $9.95 billion general obligation bond for the November 2004 ballot. $9 billion would create the State's share of the construction costs for the San Francisco to Los Angeles segment of the high-speed train system as presented in the Authority's business plan. The remaining $950 million would be dedicated to feeder rail programs to the high-speed rail system. More here.

Not sure if this is maglev, but at least California is planning on a high-speed rail system throughout the state. Of course, "feasible" brings us to the question of "does the state have enough money?"

And the way things are in California right now, the answer is a resounding "no."

I don't know if the real reason behind DST -- the energy savings -- will apply there. I imagine it probably will, since Mars' axis is tilted more than Earth's.

Here in California, Verizon will not sell you DSL unless you also subscribe to voice service

That may be illegal, although I'm not sure what laws California has on forced bundling... If I were you I'd contact the California Public Utilities Commission's Public Advisor office, and find out if that is acceptable grounds for filing a complaint.

For those of you living in California, especially around Fresno, contact the bills author, Sarah Reyes: Assemblywoman Reyes' contact info"

Carpooling passenger can't use a laptop or pda??? Do these people even live in the same world as those of us trying to make a living?

Smog Alerts in the Los Angeles area:

1975: 118
1980: 102
1985: 83
1990: 42
1995: 14
2000: 0

Stage 1 Smog Alerts start at ozone concentrations of 0.20ppm measured over the course of one hour.

(Source)

As for what Replay is doing with their "free" offer, it appears to violate the Federal Trade Commission Guidelines for use of the word "Free". These are quite specific.

• Because the purchasing public continually searches for the best buy, and regards the offer of ``Free'' merchandise or service to be a special bargain, all such offers must be made with extreme care so as to avoid any possibility that consumers will be misled or deceived. ...

  when the purchaser is told that an article is ``Free'' to him if another article is purchased, the word ``Free'' indicates that he is paying nothing for that article and no more than the regular price for the other. Thus, a purchaser has a right to believe that the merchant will not directly and immediately recover, in whole or in part, the cost of the free merchandise or service by marking up the price of the article which must be purchased, by the substitution of inferior merchandise or service, or otherwise.

  ... When making ``Free'' or similar offers all the terms, conditions and obligations upon which receipt and retention of the ``Free'' item are contingent should be set forth clearly and conspicuously at the outset of the offer so as to leave no reasonable probability that the terms of the offer might be misunderstood. Stated differently, all of the terms, conditions and obligations should appear in close conjunction with the offer of ``Free'' merchandise or service.

That's clear enough. It's binding on the supplier as well as the retailer; the supplier can't pass the buck here.

California also requires this: (Business and Professions Code 17509).

• Any advertisement, including any advertisement over the Internet, soliciting the purchase or lease of a product or service, or any combination thereof, that requires, as a condition of sale, the purchase or lease of a different product or service, or any combination thereof, shall conspicuously disclose in the advertisement the price of all those products or services.

According to the
National Governors Association, Schwarzenegger ran as a Republican.

According to the state of California's list of governors by party, he is a republican.

California's Secretary of State announced last month that California will have a paper trail for its electronic voting machines (starting in mid-'05). It's a good thing IMHO. press release(PDF)

Here in California, we have FasTrak. They already acknowledge that they use sensors on the road to determine traffic conditions. They also said that you can opt-out of this. They even supply the mylar bags so that you don't get tracked this way. They sent out a letter informing users of this earlier this year and even sent an additional mylar bag.

The FAQ for Fastrak mentions the mylar bags in relation to carpool lanes. Same principle for traffic conditions.

Are they allowed to claim an item is on sale without actually changing the price or do they just reduce the price by 1 cent or something?

Yes, they are. There is no obligation to alter the price in anyway. The retailer is merely advising the consumer that they fully intend to have a particular product available for sale.

Two common methods of false advertsing are when:
- a product is advertised and the retailer deliberately does not have stock available with the sole intention of selling the next model up. (Bait and switch).
- the seller raises the price of an item prior to a sale event and then dropping the price especially for the sale so that an artificial saving is created.

These things are very difficult to prove, so just make sure that you do your homework before you buy (Caveat Emptor). Also remember that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Gathering data about noise is a good idea, I suppose, but it's really hard to actually DO sommething about it.

"Hey! It's really noisy here next to the freeway!"

Well, no duh, genius. And so what? Are you going to move the freeway?