Google Maps: Traffic

I think I know how Google gets its traffic information. I have a radar detector in my car whenever I drive on the highway and when I pass an on-ramp or off-ramp, the detector goes crazy, only for a few seconds, and only on the K-band (the CHP uses Ka-band). The detector going crazy must be the radar guns mounted on light posts which somehow relay the information back to CALTRANS or Google themselves when is then used to update the Google Maps Traffic pages.

I don’t think this is done with GPS or wire loops in the ground but it might also be done with CALTRANS FasTrak transponders. Those are little boxes you put in a car which is an electronic toll collecting thing. The FasTrak boxes use RFID as their primary means of telling the toll collecting machine that you’ve gone over a toll road.

Posted in Google.

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By Gbcue – July 23, 2007

San Francisco

I went there today, for shopping purposes. I was looking for a suit. First, I checked Bloomingdales (five or six stories). Floor basement was housewares like kitchen appliances. Floor 1 was cosmetics and stuff like that. Floor 2 and 3 had Womens clothing and finally the 4th floor was Mens.

Way too expensive, of course and it was way bigger than the one at Westfield Century City. The cheapest one was $929 + tax! Holy crap! I went to the section and the sales person was helping me right away looking for a suit. There were three brands available, Hugo BOSS, Burberry, and some other brand that started with a C and sounded Italian. All of the jackets had this crazy security system on them. There was a plastic coated steel wire that went through the sleeve and down the bottom with a “3 Alarm” audible alarm on it!

I Went to Nordstrom’s next (six or seven stories). Same thing, but it wasn’t that expensive. Still didn’t purchase anything today. Everything at that Westfield shopping center was huge. Across the street, there was an Old Navy, five-stories!

I think I’ve found what I want at The Men’s Warehouse. Two-button, center-vented, black suit. Just a standard looking thing, yet it is so expensive.

Posted in Travel.

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By Gbcue – July 14, 2007

Bear Grylls Drinks Urine

He’s so hardcore. Drinks it even while warm!

Posted in Television.

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By Gbcue – July 10, 2007

Bodega Bay

Here is a picture the Press Democrat Newspaper took.

Here is a picture that I took.

If I left the shutter open for one more second, I would have had the exact same picture the newspaper got! Sweet!

Posted in Photography.

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By Gbcue – July 5, 2007

Pismo Beach on the 4th of July!

I want to go earlier next year because it seems so fun on the beach! Everybody has “illegal” fireworks! When I say “illegal”, I mean fireworks that aren’t “Safe and sane”, which are legal in California. Everybody had aerial shows, some were rivaling the real show! Explosives were everywhere and it sounded like a war-zone on the phone with the person I was talking to. Great! Hopefully it won’t be foggy next year. It was way too foggy this year to even enjoy anything. The daytime was very nice, night sucked. There were way too many people sitting around charging $20+ for parking and there was ZERO street parking. I had my green laser pointer messing everything up because it was foggy and produced a nice effect on the fireworks, probably messing up the show for everybody.

Here are some fireworks from Bodega Bay. (Too foggy for any Pismo Beach pictures)

Posted in Photography, Travel.

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By Gbcue – July 5, 2007

The iPhone

The Apple iPhone was released today at 6:00pm after being hyped so much for the past few months.

Here’s a list of downfalls:

1. No 3G capabilities!
2. No MP3 ringtones.
3. No ability to copy and paste.
4. No flash video capability.
5. No video recording.
6. No picture messaging.
7. No video messaging.
8. No voice dialing.
9. End-user can’t change batteries/use spares.
10. Screen smudges too easily.
11. No physical keyboard. If you thought typing a message on a regular keypad was hard, try it on the iPhone…
12. Tied to AT&T for at least two years.
13. PRICE! You can get a PS3 instead.
14. The OS takes 700MB of memory compared to Windows Mobile’s 64 MB.
15. After 300-400 charges the iPhone will lose battery capacity, then you have to ship it to Apple for a replacement. Imagine being without a phone for a week.
16. No A2DP support. It doesn’t support *stereo* Bluetooth, which is dumb for being an iPod + phone.
17. No memory card support.

Posted in Wireless.

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By Gbcue – June 29, 2007

Wine Tasting

Posted in Photography.

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By Gbcue – June 9, 2007

Jericho’s Back

It’s official! Jericho will be brought back for a handful of episodes that will air in winter!

Posted in Television.

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By Gbcue – June 7, 2007

San Luis Obispo Apple Store Grand Opening

The San Luis Obispo Apple store will be opening its doors on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 10:00am sharp. I’ve had this event marked on my calendar for a couple of months now and can’t wait!

Posted in Travel.

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By Gbcue – June 4, 2007

Augustana

AUGUSTANA will be playing at school tomorrow! 11:00am to 12:30pm on Mott Lawn. Be there!

Posted in Music.

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By Gbcue – May 30, 2007

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