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For those who might want to make their feelings known, here is the contact page" for the Seattle PD and for REI (who banned the photographer (their customer) for a year from the premises.

There was little reason for them to discontune the service. Turning
http://www2.cityofseattle.net/fire/realTime911/sho wIncidents.htm Live feed that is now in JPEG form back into text is easy.

  It's on a minor inconvience from having to parse relivant text from the HTML, now they need some OCR.
  The font's are clean and sould be very easy to set up some automated OCR.

  seattle911.com is just making too big of a deal out of in, instead of following the hackers way to just Decode the JPEGS and just keep on going!!!!

  John L. Sokol

If you look at their current webpage it shows the dispatch list in jpg format.
1. use ocr software to convert to text
2. parse text
3. fuck them
4. pay your taxes for those ignorant bastards

Have you ever heard of the "broken windows" http://www.cityofseattle.net/police/prevention/Tip s/broken_window.htm [cityofseattle.net] theory? Your house does not exist in a vacuum; besides the reduction of property values, you could be contributing to vandalism and other crime in your neighborhood if it looks like a piece of shit. What if you never mow your lawn and it gets infested with insects/rodents/etc., some of which decide to invade my place? You better believe you'd be responsible for it; the regulations help keep these kinds of issues from going to court.

We have all of these extra laws and ordinances and so forth because some people don't have respect for others' property. You are part of a society; again, you don't live in a vacuum, whether you'd like to or not. Most people feel a social obligation to keep their lawns reasonably neat and not leave their garbage cans in the street all week; they know that they are less likely to get the respect of their neighbors if they don't. /Most/ of the time the ordinances aren't intended to force people to act in an unreasonable way and are in fact best for the community as a whole. Similarly, safety and emissions inspections on vehicles are best for the community as a whole. They may be a hassle for you if your car is a piece of junk, but the direct and indirect consequences of driving a vehicle that does not pass these inspections outweigh the inconvenience and restriction of freedom to you.

Have you ever heard of the "broken windows" http://www.cityofseattle.net/police/prevention/Tip s/broken_window.htm theory? Your house does not exist in a vacuum; besides the reduction of property values, you could be contributing to vandalism and other crime in your neighborhood if it looks like a piece of shit. What if you never mow your lawn and it gets infested with insects/rodents/etc., some of which decide to invade my place? You better believe you'd be responsible for it; the regulations help keep these kinds of issues from going to court.

We have all of these extra laws and ordinances and so forth because some people don't have respect for others' property. You are part of a society; again, you don't live in a vacuum, whether you'd like to or not. Most people feel a social obligation to keep their lawns reasonably neat and not leave their garbage cans in the street all week; they know that they are less likely to get the respect of their neighbors if they don't. /Most/ of the time the ordinances aren't intended to force people to act in an unreasonable way and are in fact best for the community as a whole. Similarly, safety and emissions inspections on vehicles are best for the community as a whole. They may be a hassle for you if your car is a piece of junk, but the direct and indirect consequences of driving a vehicle that does not pass these inspections outweigh the inconvenience and restriction of freedom to you.

Out of 211 projects, 55 are King County, 20 are Pierce, 32 are Snohomish. [...] which less than half of the population for Washington will benefit from.

Really? According to U.S. Census Bureau - Washington QuickFacts, 29% of WA lived in King County, 12% of WA lived in Pierce County, 10% of WA lived in Snohomish County in 2000. There's been some fluctuations, but approximately half the state's residents benefit directly from these projects and as we've previously covered, these counties are projected to pay for all of their transportation projects and provide additional funds for projects in other parts of the state.

The most obvious indirect benefit of improved transportation in the greater Seattle area, to those elsewhere in Washington, is in bringing goods to market, both as a heavily populated destination and as the second largest port complex in the United States. In 2002, Washington State was the fifth largest exporter in the United States, at $35 billion with agricultural crops and wood products coming in at #3 and #5, respectively. For those curious, here is the Port of Seattle 10 year history of cargo volumes handled: 1995 - 2004 Not surprizingly, the Port of Seattle put regional transportation as one of its most important strategic priorities. "The Freight Action Strategy for Seattle-Tacoma (FAST) Corridor Partnership was first established in 1998 to pursue funding for 15 high-priority projects for grade separation and port access. Seven projects will be completed by the end of 2003. In 2002, the FAST Corridor partnership identified FAST 2, 10 additional projects to bring benefit to the same corridor from Everett, through Seattle to Tacoma."

The Seattle-area construction projects should be paid for by Seattle residents.

About 1% of Washington State's population lives in the City of Seattle and is a small percentage of those who work and drive in or through the city. Furthermore, as Seattleites are basically already there, you'd be putting the biggest burden on the ones who need it least. I live elsewhere in King County, but work in the City of Seattle, and wouldn't be paying for the large projects required to maintain the route I take when I drive in. Of course, if you mean the greater Seattle area, then residents are paying and then some, as we've covered.

who drives more, usually with less fuel efficient vehicles? Rural folks or King county folks?

I think you're failing to take into account that King County residents out number Eastern Washington rural residents, about 2 to 1, and the overall fuel efficiency of SUVs.

But how are the farmers going to make a profit if they pay $0.09 more a gallon of gas?

Here in the big city, we'd either jack up the price or get out of the market. YMMV.

I'm also irritated about the move in Seattle to reduce the required number of parking spaces per residency.

Really? Are you driving around Seattle often? Basically, the parking per residence requirement simply forces developers to put parking garages in as features to new buildings, primarilily high-rise condos. Naturally, this increases costs for the developers, who pass them on to the tenents. The concern is this increases housing costs both in and of itself and by slowing development. The thought is that removinging or reducing the requirement will allow the market to sort out how much parking is required.

I wouldn't be so bitter if they didn't already waste so much money with the monorail and the

Out of 211 projects, 55 are King County, 20 are Pierce, 32 are Snohomish. [...] which less than half of the population for Washington will benefit from.

Really? According to U.S. Census Bureau - Washington QuickFacts, 29% of WA lived in King County, 12% of WA lived in Pierce County, 10% of WA lived in Snohomish County in 2000. There's been some fluctuations, but approximately half the state's residents benefit directly from these projects and as we've previously covered, these counties are projected to pay for all of their transportation projects and provide additional funds for projects in other parts of the state.

The most obvious indirect benefit of improved transportation in the greater Seattle area, to those elsewhere in Washington, is in bringing goods to market, both as a heavily populated destination and as the second largest port complex in the United States. In 2002, Washington State was the fifth largest exporter in the United States, at $35 billion with agricultural crops and wood products coming in at #3 and #5, respectively. For those curious, here is the Port of Seattle 10 year history of cargo volumes handled: 1995 - 2004 Not surprizingly, the Port of Seattle put regional transportation as one of its most important strategic priorities. "The Freight Action Strategy for Seattle-Tacoma (FAST) Corridor Partnership was first established in 1998 to pursue funding for 15 high-priority projects for grade separation and port access. Seven projects will be completed by the end of 2003. In 2002, the FAST Corridor partnership identified FAST 2, 10 additional projects to bring benefit to the same corridor from Everett, through Seattle to Tacoma."

The Seattle-area construction projects should be paid for by Seattle residents.

About 1% of Washington State's population lives in the City of Seattle and is a small percentage of those who work and drive in or through the city. Furthermore, as Seattleites are basically already there, you'd be putting the biggest burden on the ones who need it least. I live elsewhere in King County, but work in the City of Seattle, and wouldn't be paying for the large projects required to maintain the route I take when I drive in. Of course, if you mean the greater Seattle area, then residents are paying and then some, as we've covered.

who drives more, usually with less fuel efficient vehicles? Rural folks or King county folks?

I think you're failing to take into account that King County residents out number Eastern Washington rural residents, about 2 to 1, and the overall fuel efficiency of SUVs.

But how are the farmers going to make a profit if they pay $0.09 more a gallon of gas?

Here in the big city, we'd either jack up the price or get out of the market. YMMV.

I'm also irritated about the move in Seattle to reduce the required number of parking spaces per residency.

Really? Are you driving around Seattle often? Basically, the parking per residence requirement simply forces developers to put parking garages in as features to new buildings, primarilily high-rise condos. Naturally, this increases costs for the developers, who pass them on to the tenents. The concern is this increases housing costs both in and of itself and by slowing development. The thought is that removinging or reducing the requirement will allow the market to sort out how much parking is required.

I wouldn't be so bitter if they didn't already waste so much money with the monorail and the

A few responses to the comments so far:

"What are bicycles and public transportation, Alex?"
As I stated in the submission, bicycles aren't really an option. Not only the distance, but I live in the Seattle area, so there are a number of rather daunting hills along my 18 mile commute. As far as public transportation goes, I have looked into that, but commuting from Kenmore to Monroe by bus would take over an hour, and require three bus changes. There just aren't any routes that run directly between the two.

The biggest problem with commuter electric vehicles is that most of them consume more energy per mile than an economy car with one occupant. ... depending on how your electricity is generated.
As stated above, I live in Seattle, so the majority of our electricity comes from the dams. Almost certainly cleaner than burning a gallon of gas every 30 miles.

You can buy an older, used car for $3,000-5,000. If you learn to work on them yourself, you can save money on repairs and maintainence.
I already have an older used car, that I only paid $2000 for six years ago. And, I already do work on it myself. The point isn't just the cost, but the waste of space and fuel. Even though I get 30mpg, it still feels like a waste.

suck it up and get a motorcycle. ... Stop whining because it's not everything a car is and do something to make things better.
First, who's whining? Second, I'm not prepared to take the risks associated with a motorcycle. Too many drivers are blind to them, and here in Seattle, the weather is not very friendly to motorcycles for much of the year. Believe me, there are tempting aspects of motorcycles, but they don't hold enough advantages over my cheap clunker car to woo me to them.

Then why, do you have as the #1 thing on your 'wish list' on your website, a Chrysler PT Cruiser?
See above. Good point, and I have changed it. (^_^)

Yes, rideshare. Carpool, vanpool, bus, train, SOMETHING where there is another driver.
I'm actually working on that. Working way out in sticks, most people at my small company (less than 2 dozen employees) come from different directions than me, or work different hours than me. One person comes from my direction, and we're working out a plan to carpool at least a few days a week, even though we usually work different hours than each other.

Basically I'm saying.. move to a better place, heck you might even make some money in real estate in the process :)
Hmm, not likely, considering two factors: 1) I don't own a house. 2) I'm only paying $250 a month for the two-bedroom I'm at now. Again, given that I'm living in the greater Seattle area, moving would be an incredibly foolish financial decision.

1. graffiti artists paint on anything. Peoples' houses and private property included. If someone else owns something you have no right to do anything with it.
2. 99% of graffiti is ugly. Plain, simple, ugly. It's not art. Look at the 'tags' that cover buildings, trains, buses, phone boxes etc. in every city. That's not counter-culture or urban expression or anything else like that. That is just vandalism from some stupid kid.
3. Broken window theory.
4. The majority of people don't want to have graffiti sprayed all over their public spaces. What about the expression of their views?

-- Yes I know I could have picked better links, but I'm trying to work. :)

Many people locate in the Pacific Northwest because it's beautiful. We did the numbers and it was like, take a pay cut and live in a beautiful environment with fresh mountain air and an Ocean you can see any weekend, or make more money but spend it on summer vacations.

And cheap electricity is nice, but when it comes at the cost of salmon, it's not so cheap anymore.

Agreed Boeing is a huge part of Washington's economy, but cheap electricity is only one advantage of locating in Seattle. After all you don't see Boeing threatinging to relocate in Idaho.

How about the value of an international port?
trade info.

I dunno, it just seems simplistic to say there is only one rationale or only one cost-benefit formula that explains economic decision making. There *are* trade offs and competing points of view. Boeing and Microsoft are assuredly aware of such fine points. Our politicians should be too, and there's no reason why our political rhetoric can't be a little more nuanced when it comes to huge transformative projects like hydroelectric dams.

What I don't understand, is why most of them are designed with radiator grills (functional or faux).

The problem is worse because people seem to live further from their workplaces than in the past. That usually means that each year there are more vehicle-miles driven than the year before.

Changes in land-use patterns (which could improve housing affordability), more variety of transportation options (along with more commute-trip reduction programs), and a change in commuter attitudes would help a lot.

Unfortunately, most people don't understand that the greater their distance from work (and anywhere else they plan to go), the more traffic they will create.

Also, I commend your will to bike. I have biked several times this year, and maybe will again tomorrow if the weather stays like this. There are other bike paths beside the Burke-Gilman trail. You can get a map of bike routes, if you are interested.

Virtually all of Seattle's power is, in fact, hydroelectric.

Here is their plan

As evidenced here , MS has already placed a significant stake with the SCTA. With this understanding, and their advocacy of .NET, is this another Junis Post? I mean, I would definately anticipate the editors have researched this submission. Click through their site (SCTA) and consider the question from this point of view:What is the biggest threat to MS. Who do you ask, and who will most likely define the weaknesses.

Please analyze the facts before you mod.

However, in many modern countries (perhaps yours excluded) power is generated using modern techniques that are impervious to all but the most severe weather, and the transmission lines are underground

When I interned at Microsoft in the summer of '99, I received a junkmail flyer about the Seattle school system. They had a racial breakdown on the flyer and, if memory serves correctly, blacks only represented 2% of the student population. I admit that my memory's not the best (and I might be misremembering details; it's possible it was a flyer for a private school), but I do remember such a low number sticking out in my mind.

I tried to dig out the appropriate 2000 census figures, but had trouble navigating the census site. I did, however, manage to find some 1990 census figures mentioned in http://www.cityofseattle.net/seattle/spd/stratpln/ ch2.htm, which indicate that blacks represented 10% of the Seattle population a decade ago.

2.6% still strikes me as rather low, but I honestly couldn't tell you how much of that is something Microsoft-specific, how much of that is Seattle-specific, how much of that is the IT field in general, and so forth.