Toll Collection and Rates

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will collect tolls when you are traveling in both directions across the SR-520 Bridge. Electronic tolling equipment will be installed on overhead gantries at the east high-rise of the SR-520 Bridge and will read your Good to Go! pass or scan your license plate as you travel at normal highway speeds.

You can pay the toll in one of three ways:

1. Set up a prepaid Good To Go! account and purchase a pass to mount in your vehicle.

2. Set up a prepaid Good To Go! account and register your vehicle license plate for photo identification. With this option you would be assessed a $0.25 surcharge per transaction.

3. Have a toll bill sent to the address where your vehicle is registered. With this option you would be assessed a $1.50 surcharge per transaction.

The minimum opening balance for all Good To Go! accounts is $30. How often you intend to drive across the SR-520 Bridge will influence which payment option you choose.

Your toll rate will vary according to the time of day, the day of the week, and how you pay. View the Good To Go! User Guide for an overview of SR-520 tolling. See proposed rates and full tolling details at www.goodtogo520.org. 

Tolling Policy for Microsoft Employees

For those of you that are Microsoft employees, here are some details on policy related to this. Employees are prohibited from seeking reimbursement for day-to-day commute expenses, to or from work. Likewise, managers are prohibited from approving such reimbursement. Microsoft will, however, reimburse toll charges for legitimate business travel. Please consult internal Microsoft Policy for more information and to learn what constitutes legitimate business travel.

Get Ready Now for Tolling on the SR-520 Bridge

· Receive E-Mail Updates: Sign up for e-mail updates at www.goodtogo520.org to receive information regarding rates, account options, special offers, and customer service resources.

· Purchase a Pass: Create a Good To Go! account and purchase a pass from WSDOT before tolling begins:

o Visit the Good To Go! website. This is the fastest and most convenient option.

o Stop by a participating Safeway store to buy a pass and then go online to create an account.

o Drop by a WSDOT walk-in or mobile customer service center.

o Purchase by phone at 1-866-936-8246.

If you activate a Good To Go! pass by April 15, 2011 you will receive $10 in free tolls for the SR-520 Bridge.

Information

You can explore bus options by using the King County Metro Trip Planner.

For questions about tolling on the SR-520 Bridge, or to give feedback, please contact the Washington State Department of Transportation by calling 1-888-G2G-WSDOT (1-888-424-9736) or emailing goodtogo@wsdot.wa.gov.

Apple updated its privacy policy yesterday with a new paragraph about location information. If you agree to the changes (which you must do in order to download anything via the iTunes store) you agree to let Apple collect, store and share "precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device":

Read more details with this article at consumerist.com.

How does this affect you?  You know those pop-up questions that say “iMobster wants to use your geographic information, do you agree to share it?”  Since you could be saying “no,” these apps usually have to be able to work and provide value to you without your geo information.  I almost always say “no,” except when it is an app where I specifically want to share my location (e.g. Foursquare).

Now, your choice is going away.  Random apps can collect information about where you go and use your iPhone, iPad or even your Mac.

Anybody remember the ads back in 1984 when Apple launch th Mac, where they positioned the competition as BIG BROTHER and positioned the Mac as the giving you back your privacy and control?  A bit of irony now …

Why is the Boundary Being Reviewed in the First Place?

The community is growing.  Three years ago, Snoqualmie Ridge growth was addressed with a boundary change that balanced capacity from CVES to SES.  Approval has already been granted for building another 250 – 300 homes in Snoqualmie Ridge.  Kimball Creek is gaining 90 new homes.  North Bend water and sewage issues have been resolved and applications have been made for 387 new homes already (pending approval).  Unincorporated King County areas have had 30 new homes approved in the past two years.

And, of course, while the entire district benefits from the increased taxes brought by the growth, the broader electorate has repeatedly failed to support bond measure that could have alleviated growth problems by increasing capacity in the growing areas.  So, what are we faced with?

Basically, CVES and SES are now balanced and both at full capacity.  It doesn’t even look to me like the projections for NBES and OES incorporate the projected North Bend growth, but that is a story for another day.

Ultimately, I blame the voters that either didn’t get out and vote (you on the Ridge) or voted against bond proposals, but I assume that once the growth hits North Bend and they need their schools back for their own kids, enough voters will engage and pass a future bond.  For now, we have a boundary review.

I Was *So* Admiring the Process…

This most disappoint part is that I was largely content to just let the process work because the process seemed well thought out and objective.  Here is where we’ve been:

• February 11.  The School Board approved the formation of an Elementary Boundary Study committee at their February 11 meeting.  Elementary Attendance Boundary Study Announced.  This page outlines purpose, goals, timeline and identifies the committee members, which did not include an parent representatives.
• March 1-5.  Criteria Survey fielded.  See the results.
• March 5.  The committee announced criteria for the decision.  Elementary Boundary Committee Confirms Criteria.  Notably absent from criteria is proximity to the school – a recommendation from the first community survey which the committee explicitly chose to exclude from consideration.
• March 9.  The committee announce 5 proposed scenarios.  Boundary Committee Develops Five Draft Scenarios. With this announcement, the committee also fielded a second community survey for feedback.
• March ?.  Committee added Option F, described as “a potential solution that would disrupt fewer students than Options A or C.”  [If someone has more details than the district has published about why Option F was introduced, please share in a comment or e-mail.  I’ve heard that all options A – E result in Deer Park kids having a bus route on I90, but I have no substantiating details.]
• March 23.  Committee narrows the options to A, C and F and fields another survey.  Also published why other options were not chosen.

… Up Until Last Week

Then, it seems to go sideways.  Admittedly, the district hasn’t done a stellar job of explaining how Option F got added, but at least it was done publicly and there was a public comment and feedback period after it was done.

• April ?.  A group of families privately submit an 7th alternate option, which appears to have ultimately been adopted in its entirety and proposed to the School Board. 

I have obtained a copy of the letter allegedly from one of the communities affected by Option C, but not affected by the Modified Option C and made it available for download here as a PDF document.

I can’t verify that this is the exact letter, but it seems highly likely in my opinion. 

It appears that the proposal became what is now called a Modified C Option.  This option was not shared or reviewed with the public, as was the case with all other options.  And let’s be honest – this is a new option.  It differs as much as the other options.

Later today, I will follow up with my own analysis of A, C, F and Modified-C in another post and plan to include comment on the “reasons” articulated by the committee for their recommendation.  Feel free to register and comment below, or share links to other information that you’d like to put into the public record.

Full Disclosure – How It Affects My Household

I want to get disclosure out of the way, so fewer people will see bias in my comments.

I live in K-North and we are affected.  In the original 5 options, we stayed at CVES for two options and moved to SES for three of the options.  In Option F, we would have stayed at CVES.  During the previous boundary review in 2007, we really wanted to stay at CVES, however, this time my wife and I discussed the different options and decided we were okay with any of the options.  CVES and SES each have their pros and cons:

• (+CVES) CVES is where our daughter went, is (long) walking distance and keeps our kids with the most of the other children in the broad neighborhood.  Also has ELC across the street for aftercare options.
• (-CVES)  CVES lost their Hi-C program in 2009, doesn’t have all day Kindergarten and is generally still a bit overcrowded.
• (+SES) We had heard great things about SES teachers and environment.  Has all-day Kindergarten and a Hi-C program.  Broadens the kids friend set to children from outside the neighborhood.
• (-SES) Much further to drive to/from the school.  Could affect how potential future home buyers view home value (perception mainly, but a reality.)

I did study each option as it came out and participated in the community surveys, except for the first one about criteria because I didn’t know it was happening.

What does this mean for you Netflix subscribers?  Well, it partially explains my observation in my previous article – Netflix Popular New Releases – Not So Much!  Let’s get more specific than that though.

I hadn’t heard about the above deal, so I put The Twilight Saga: New Moon in my Netflix queue on the week it released (March 20, 2010).  Take a look at my queue for how this and other recent requests are listed:

Hmm, it doesn’t say that they don’t actually have it yet, does it?  I suppose many people don’t realize the big decrease in value that has come to Netflix and just think they are one of the unlucky few who aren’t getting it first. 

I think it is misleading, to say the least.  Frankly, why else do we pay the monthly fee if not to view recently released DVDs? 

So, what can you do if you want to view one of these *newly released* DVDs ?  You have lots of options, all of which happen to make the studios more money:

• It is available “on demand” from Comcast for just $5.99
• Buy it online for about $20 (Wal-mart has it for $17 + tax + $2 shipping, for example)
• Buy it now! on ebay.com for about $10.

I was a pretty early customer of Netflix and I love some of the innovations they have made.  I love their “watch instantly” option and I’ve watched several TV series completely online via Xbox Live.  However, I see little reason to keep paying for “3 at a time” DVDs when I can’t get the latest and greatest.   If I wait 28 days, I can buy the video on ebay.com for around $5 – so I could buy 3 per month instead of having a Netflix subscription.

I am certainly going to downsize my account.  I’ll probably change to the $8.99 option for now, so I can keep the online TV shows on demand, but I’m definitely going to start looking at other streaming options, because, from my point-of-view, the online streaming videos is all I’m using Netflix for at this point.

I am happy to report an excellent addition to the restaurant choices on Snoqualmie Ridge – Brunello Ristorante Italiano – or Brunello’s, as I’ve frequently heard it in the past few weeks.  We’ve now eaten at Brunello’s three times as a family, so I am comfortable giving my complete endorsement to this fabulous Italian restaurant.  The only downside is that the experience is so enjoyable, reservations may become a “must” if you want to have dinner there.

Personal Service

During each of our visits, we were greeted at the door by the owner and given a personal welcome, and each interaction with the staff was equally friendly and helpful.  Upon our first visit, I asked for recommendations and ended up ordering, to my delight, the Gnocchi.  To be honest, I’ve ordered it twice again when we dined there again.  On our most recent visit, we had a small wait, but the owner took us in hand and offered a glass of wine – on the house – during our wait.  I am sure that it is this sort of personal touch that will ensure that Brunello Ristorante Italiano will become a landmark restaurant destination for the area.

Excellent Food (and Wine) at Reasonable Prices

I’ve already confessed that I’ve only had the Gnocchi (with a delicious meat sauce!), but Jacki and the kids have each had other dishes and we are unanimous in our opinion that the food is excellent and worth many happy return (visits).  On my first visit, I was also pleased to see a flight of wines on the menu that gave me the opportunity to sample three of the wines served.  I enjoyed all three, though in subsequent visits, I’ve been very happy with my standard order of Pinot Grigio to go with my Gnocchi.

Location and Directions

Brunello’s is located right at the end of Center Blvd in “downtown” Snoqualmie Ridge, at the intersection of Ridge St, just across from the tennis courts next to Cascade View Elementary School.  If you don’t know where that is, here are the one-click directions.

I searched around and found confirmation from Major Nelson here. (image also from Major Nelson)

You will be able to configure 2 devices for up to 32Gb of USB memory storage.  Since you can pick up new 16Gb USB sticks for under $30, this great, and real alternative for anyone that either doesn’t have a hard drive or wants to supplement the storage with a more mobile alternative.

Later, when I wanted to change the password, I couldn’t figure out how! If you go to the Tweetdeck web site and login and then view your profile, it just shows a lot of summary information about your twitter account.  With a little persistence, you can get to the support.tweetdeck.com site, login and view your profile, but this only lets you change your display name, phone number, time zone and add a photo.

After lots of research on the tweetdeck support site, I’ve concluded that, for some strange reason, they didn’t build in any change password capability.  If you go to the account setting UI, type in a new password and “save” settings, it doesn’t change your password.  You might think it does, but you can verify by going to the web site and trying to login – only the old password will work.

Of course, there are always ways and I’ve identified one that is pretty easy to implement.  Thought I should document it for those who may follow in my path.  No doubt they’ll fix this at some point and this post will be outdated, but until then…

Tweetdeck Account Password Change Method:  Reset the Password

1. Open setting by selecting the little wrench on the top right corner of Tweetdeck.

2. Select the ‘Sync’ tab and click on ‘Forgotten your password?’.  You will see a message that says ‘Sent password reminder email. Please check your email inbox.’

3.  Check your email for a message with a subject line of: “Forgotten Tweetdeck password.”  similar to this:

4.  The mail message should have an embedded link, which you can click, which will take you to a web page and you can enter a new password (twice).  Done.

That should be it.  Now you should be able to use your new password.

The agreement is not binding, but rather lays out what the YMCA of Greater Seattle would be responsible for in running a community center.

Opponents to the YMCA agreement said they felt ignored by the city.

“It goes legal,” Snoqualmie Ridge resident George Isaacs said after the meeting.

He and other residents and business owners have voiced concerns with the city’s plans at several public meetings over the past two months. Their concerns have covered a broad range of issues, including the plan’s costs, the size of the proposed site, parking and traffic.

However, City Council members felt confident about moving forward with the agreement and passed it 7-0.

The center would be 9,500-13,000 square feet after its first phase, which is expected to cost about $4 million and include a meeting room, half-sized gymnasium, fitness facility and youth room. A second phase, estimated to cost $10 million, would include a pool.

The city’s plan is to have the YMCA build the facility, which Snoqualmie would then buy from the group and lease back to it. The YMCA would then operate the community center. The Seattle YMCA is ready to sign the agreement with the city.

A tentative agreement has been reached between the city and the YMCA that would reduce monthly user fees by 15 percent and the joining cost by 50 percent for Snoqualmie residents.

[Read the full article at snovalleystar.com]

Chris Jarvis was asked to leave a recent job fair so now he is suing. He says it was blatant discrimination because he was asked to leave because of what he was wearing. What was he wearing? A full out Star Wars Stormtrooper uniform…helmet and all. Coo Coo Chris said he couldn’t remove the helmet or it would be a sin against his church … the Church of Jedism.

As he mentioned there, he found a site for the Jedi Church.

I took a look at it and found out that you can be married by the Jedi Church!

You can check out the beliefs and other details here: http://www.jedichurch.org/jedi-marriage-licence.html, but I did extract the Jedi Marriage Vows and a few other bits below.

Jedi Marriage Vows

Do you Jedi ______ take Jedi _______ to be your husband, and do you promise before the Jedi Church and these witnesses that you will be a true and devoted partner?  In forces of darkness and forces of light, wherever you may go and whatever you may face, do you promise to share your life in marriage with Jedi ________?

Do you Jedi ______ take Jedi _______ to be your wife, and do you promise before the Jedi Church and these witnesses that you will be a true and devoted partner?  In forces of darkness and forces of light, wherever you may go and whatever you may face, do you promise to share your life in marriage with Jedi ________?

Jedi ______ and Jedi ___________ have consented together in marriage. They have pledged their faith in each other as witnessed before us. They have promised to be truthful and devoted to each another.  In the name of the Jedi faith, I pronounce them husband and wife.  May the force be with them!

How do I get married by a Jedi minister?

The rules are different by country. We allow any of our ordained ministers to marry Jedis under the Jedi Church, however, you will need a license from your government for this to be recognized by law. This means that if you are already a married, then all you need to do is be certified by our Church.

Yesterday, I received an E-Mail message purporting to be from “Facebook Security [profile@facebook.com]” that is actually a social attack attempting to deliver the W32/Bredolab trojan downloader.

Here is what the E-mail looks like:

—–Original Message—–
From: Facebook Security [mailto:profile@facebook.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:27 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Facebook Password Reset Confirmation! Important Message

Dear user of facebook,

Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.

You can find your new password in attached document.

Thanks,

Your Facebook.

There was an attachment which purported to be named: Facebook_password_845.zip, which contained an executable file that delivered the malicious payload.