Free Right Turn rule in California

There are a lot of areas of confusion about some California driving laws. This was discussed in article that is part of an on-going series in the San Jose Mercury News that covers readers' questions about driving. The article supposedly provides some final answers about some very common driving questions. Since the article doesn't site many of its sources, it's tough to trust it 100%. The article does make some interesting statements.

One of the biggest questions in California is about something called free right turn. Many larger intersections have right turn lanes that are separated (channelized) from the intersection by a traffic island. These lanes rarely have signals or signs directly associated with cars in the lane. The confusion comes from how to use the lane when there is a red light in that direction. In most cases, a right turn is allowed on a red light only after a full and complete stop. However, when there is a separated lane, the car may treat it as a yield. In other words, it's OK to precede on a right turn as a yield on a red light (if safe) for separated right turn lanes.

Here's the funny part. There is no law on the books in California that actually make this declaration, as far as I know. The free right turn rules seems to come out of the same absence of law regarding the requirement for a stop on red for those lanes. It's important to note that this rule only applies if the traffic signal is after the segregation of the right turn lane (which does make sense).

Nice to have authentic burrito

One thing I miss from Salinas Valley is regular access to authentic home cooked Mexican food. There's plenty of good Mexican places in Silicon Valley, but there's something just a little bit better when eating Mexican food closer to the source. Finding places like that require a keen eye and a good memory. Since I'm not likely to get Mexican home cooking these days, I have to be mindful of where to go to find good authentic food. One place I found is Chavez Supermarket on Fair Oaks in Sunnyvale. It is not an actual supermarket. It's a small Mexican grocery store. Go in and walk to the back of the store. Order tacos, burritos or whatever. Then, enjoy.

Failed predictions by Sylvia Browne

Sylvia Browne makes a lot of predictions. Every once in awhile, she claims this or that successful prediction. In her book The Other Side and Back, Browne even boosts,

I could fill a separate book with my predictions that have come true...

She doesn't talk about her unsuccessful predictions very often, from what I've seen. I imagine she has many, indeed. I'm not going to get all high and mighty about failed predictions. I'm just going to list a few.

In the book mentioned above, Sylvia has a list of predictions for the year 2000 that did not end up happening or that where so basic that they really don't count (whether right or wrong).

Predictions:

• Three major hurricanes, with hits in Florida and Carolinas (among other regions). Fail. According to USA Today, "no hurricanes hit the USA" in 2000.
• Notable earthquake hits Niagara Falls in 2000. Fail. The last notable quake in that area occurred in 1897.
• Bill Bradley won the presidential election and there was "close competition from the Reform Party". Fail and Fail. Though that election may have been stolen with the wrong outcome, Bradley and the Reform Party were no where in sight.
• David Letterman quits his nightly show at the end of 2000. Fail. Even after the scandals of 2009, he's still running strong.
• Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston marry. Success! But is this really a prediction or something that was rather obvious? She also predicted they wouldn't last long. They didn't last, but they did last longer than many Hollywood marriages.
• In 2000, there would be a new flu strain that would start in the Eastern U.S. Asian immigrants coming into the U.S. would "help quell this flu virus". Fail. Although a new flu strain popped up in 2005 called Avian Flu, and that was actually blamed on an Asian source. So, I count this as a double and triple fail.
• In the year 2010, aliens will be seen on Earth and act as observers. She also predictions they will teach humans about the anti-gravity technology. I'll make a counter prediction. No aliens. No anti-gravity devices.

There are many other unsuccessful predictions, though the point seems to be made fully.

49ers moving to Santa Clara

On the night of the election and before the results were finalized for the Santa Clara Measure J vote, the 49ers organization put up a sign in front of the Great America overflow parking lot. The next morning, news reporters began discovering the new sign even before the paint had dried. The sign boldly declares the new site for the San Francisco 49ers future stadium in a move that makes it known they are leaving San Francisco city limits and moving into my neighborhood in Santa Clara.

It was said that the 49ers spent $4 million on the campaign to pass Measure J. With only about 11,231 yes votes (59.6% of the total votes 18,840), they spent about $356 per vote.

With this sign, the move of the 49ers to Santa Clara is about as official as it comes.

Hetch Hetchy exposed

Here's a photo of an exposed section of a southern portion of the infamous/famous Hetch Hetchy Aquaduct as it cuts through Santa Clara, CA.

49ers in Santa Clara

A measure in support of a new stadium for the 49ers in Santa Clara is going on our June ballot. There are groups against this activity. It is always easier for opposition to confuse issues in the minds of people. They are trying to do that here with rather silly points. One argument I've seen used against the stadium is that it would require more police on the day of the 49er games. Umm, of course it will. This is job creation and good for the economy!

Another thing I don't understand is the statement that projects like this shouldn't use public funds. This never made sense to me. This is America, right? Investment is the American way! If we expect to have financial gain, we should be willing to put some cash up as an investment.

The proposed stadium location is within a mile of my house (walking distance). It's near 3 freeways and right next to a mass transit station. It's going to create 2650 game day jobs and bring in an estimated $249 million dollars a year once it is built. Millions of money from taxes will be available for local programs.

If the stadium is truly state of the art, it will likely be chosen by the NFL as the sight for future Super Bowls. Just one Super Bowl in Santa Clara could bring much more money and prestige.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to just getting this dang thang built by the 2014 goal.

Avatar now highest grossing movie ever? No.

I got a chance to meet James Cameron this week. I told him I liked Dark Angel, while I was having my photo taken with him. There, you can see me saying out of the corner of my mouth.

I do love Avatar. I've seen it once in AMC's fake IMAX theater in 3D. I want to see it again soon. This week, it has become the highest grossing film of all time in terms of actual dollars. However, it is not even close to being the highest inflation adjusted grossing film of all time. Right now, Avatar is #21 and Titanic is #6. Adjusted for inflation, the highest grossing film of all time is actually Gone with the Wind currently at over $1.5 billion, followed by Star Wars at $1.3 billion in today's money. These numbers are well over double Avatar's earnings of $603 million.

Though it doesn't benefit me at all, I am rooting for Avatar to approach those numbers. If Cameron can keep the magic of this new franchise alive, the rumors are that this movie is the first of a trilogy. My hope for any sequels is to not allow familiarity with the characters to interfere with making two more great films. Star Wars balanced this fairly well with its first sequel, Empire Strikes Back, but lost much of its magic since. Here's to the hope of continued high quality entertainment from James Cameron!

Ballot initiative for 49ers Santa Clara stadium

With an estimated 7060 valid signatures, the ballot measure to support the building of a 68,500 seat modern stadium in Santa Clara may likely be added to the June 2010 ballot, according to a letter from Registrar's Office to the Santa Clara Clerk's Office. With this little bit of news, the effort for the new stadium moves ever closer to being successful.

Now, it should be noted that if the ballot measure happens to be rejected by the voters of Slara Clara city, that may not necessarily end the move to build the stadium. The bureaucratic process to get approval for the stadium seems to be a mostly city hall affair. The ballot measure is just meant to reinforce efforts (assuming it is approved).

Tuesday Two: Quantum Motions

Tuesday Two

Here's motion control that doesn't require bright lights, tons of balls, or expensive high speed cameras. Instead, it uses a relatively inexpensive pulsating projector with sensors that record movement patterns at 500 times a second.

Keep those rubidium atoms separated in your quantum computer by using polarized light! Your qubits won't be the same! No longer will they interfere with each other, causing screwy quantum calculations. Quantumfy with assurance!

Epoch-Fail

Apple has had fairly high representation in the as of yet short life of the Epoch-Fail awards. Do I hate Apple? Not at all. They just make themselves such an easy target. Epoch-Fail award again goes to the iPhone 3GS for having what some claim to be broken encryption that will not be able to protect sensitive data.

Star Trek: The Exhibition at The Tech in San Jose, CA

Star Trek: The Exhibition is currently travelling around the country, presumably before Star Trek: The Experience reopens at its new home Neonopolis Mall later this year. The Exhibition is a seriously scaled back version of the The Experience, without the live actors, large scale stories in the form of rides and adventures. It's pretty much just a museum style display of some of the more common Star Trek vintage items.


They have this scale "authentic replica" of the Enterprise in the first main hall, along with displays giving mundane details about the various Star Trek series and movies. There are also display cases with phasers, tribbles, tricorders, etc.

The Guardian of Forever greeted me. I have no memory of any events that may have occurred as I walked through the gate. Hmmm, I wonder what adventures I had.