分類: King County

[img=http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/images/paystationwpatron.jpg] 西雅圖市中心公共的付錢停車碼表從現在開始三年內會慢慢的消失. 當然這不是說以後就不用付費了. 新的系統 Pay Station 將取代舊式的停車碼表. 每一個街口將安裝一個 Pay Station. 新的 Pay Station 可以收信用卡或硬幣, 也有西班牙文和簡體中文的顯示. 由於 Pay Station 是使用太陽能自行供給電力, 就算停電也是可以繼續使用. 當您付費後, 把收據像大頭貼一樣, 就貼在乘客坐位這頭的內側窗戶上(別貼在窗戶外面). 如果停車還沒有過時, 可以在市區內的另一個地點繼續使用. 新的電子碼表計費方式: 2 分鐘 = $0.05 4 分鐘 = $0.10 10 分鐘 = $0.25 40 分鐘 = $1.00 60 分鐘 = $1.50 所以有可能儘量找舊的碼表停車, 因為舊碼表換價錢的速度比較慢. 照片出處

華大的東亞圖書館：網站 藏有超過25萬冊的圖書，報紙，雜誌，光碟，影帶…應該是北美中文書最多的地方了吧？ 不過學術性書籍較多就是了~而且非華大學生的話，須付費辦卡才能借書（但可免費瀏覽囉） 感謝 JJ 的提供

在網上看到一個 King County 政府提供免費交換(購買)舊物的地方. 這服務完全是免費的, 目的是希望減少垃圾丟棄和環境保護.

有孩子在西雅圖的學區嗎? 記得注意一下學校提供的資訊. Seattle PI: Schools will bring in water —————————————– Seattle Public Schools will provide bottled water to about 70 schools after the winter break and test drinking water in all locations following an analysis initiated by a parent that showed high levels of lead and cadmium in drinking fountains. At a meeting last night, the board directed Superintendent Raj Manhas to undertake the testing and report back to the board by February with a plan on how to proceed with and fund any necessary repairs. “This is a critical health problem that we have to act upon,” said School Board member Dick Lilly. “We have to protect the health of kids.” John Vacchiery, the district’s director of facilities planning and enrollment, said the water testing would likely cost between $48,000 and $64,000. Providing drinking water to just 40 schools for a year, he said, would cost about $700,000. Vacchiery estimated it would cost roughly $10 million to replace galvanized iron pipes, a major source of lead contamination, in the 38 district schools built between 1900 and the 1960s. There are about 100 schools in the district. The issue arises at a crucial time for the district, which will put two major levies before voters in February. The board would have had to decide by tomorrow if it wanted to increase one of the levies to cover any water system repairs, but instead delayed a decision on how to pay for any remedial work. Manhas sent a memo to principals on Monday, acknowledging that the last comprehensive water testing and repairs at schools were done in the early 1990s and noted that the district has no consistent testing program in place. Public schools, with the exception of the few that have their own water source, such as a well, are not required by state or federal law to test their drinking water for contaminants. State standards are based on the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, passed in 1974 to regulate the country’s public drinking water supply. The act covers water suppliers such as Seattle Public Utilities but treats schools like private homes and other customers. Questions about drinking water quality came to light recently when Mark Cooper and Geoff Compeau, two parents who have children at Wedgwood Elementary School, began asking questions about the orange-colored water coming out of the school’s taps. Using reports of water testing done at the school a decade ago, Cooper and Compeau identified four fountains with lead levels exceeding the maximum allowable limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency. They took samples from the fountains last Friday and had them tested at a certified lab in Bothell. All four showed lead levels exceeding EPA limits of 20 parts per billion (ppb), and one of the four had cadmium levels higher than the 5 ppb EPA limit. One drinking fountain, located in a classroom, had lead levels 10 times over the limit. Cooper said he’s “outraged” at the district’s inattention to the problem, particularly since a 1993 district report recommended replacing all piping at four district schools – Wedgwood, Fairmount Park, Schmitz Park and Mann, which now houses NOVA alternative school. The report, which followed the comprehensive water tests, also recommended the district conduct random sampling to ensure lead levels stay within recommended levels and replace fixtures in fountains with lead levels over the limit. Vacchiery said to the best of his knowledge, the pipes at the four schools were not replaced. “I’m going to assume they were not,” he said. Vacchiery said there have been numerous facilities directors at the district since the early 1990s, he said, and he’s trying to determine at which schools repairs were done. Troy White, an environmental coordinator for the district, said additional water testing was done in 2000 and 2001, but it was limited to fewer than 400 samples at about 27 schools. Data released by the district appears to indicate that only one of the four schools cited in the 1993 report, Schmitz Park, was tested at that time. It showed lead levels over EPA limits in two fountains, one of them five times over the allowable limit. After 1993, there was a plan in place to flush water fountains on a regular basis to reduce lead levels, but Vacchiery said he didn’t know whether that plan was followed rigorously. Drinking fountains were replaced in many buildings, he said, but repairs “weren’t systematic.” In 1990, the district tested drinking water at 80 of its schools and facilities. At the time, it was determined that lead levels in drinking water “could be reduced significantly” by flushing the fountains periodically during the day. However, a staff report concluded that the best solution was to eventually replace the materials contributing to lead levels in the water. Elaine Packard, principal at NOVA, which was constructed in 1902, said her focus on water quality predates the district wide testing. “I knew that this building was old, and I knew that the pipes could have lead in them,” said Packard, who’s been at the school since 1974. For 15 years or more, she said, NOVA students and teachers have been supplied with bottled water “because I had committed to having drinking water we knew would be safe.” The school paid for the water from its own budget initially. Packard asked the district to test the water at least twice, she said. The water failed a lead-contamination test Packard estimated took place in the mid-1980s. Although the water fountains were shut off, sink taps remained on line, and district administrators urged her to flush the pipes by running the water for several minutes first thing in the morning. Fairmount principal Davy Muth, who’s been at the school since 1998, said she was not aware of any potential problems with the school’s water until district officials visited her yesterday and told her the water would be safe as long as custodians flushed the school fountains twice daily. Up to that point, Muth said, teachers and students drank the water. “We didn’t know any better.”

從十二月一日開始, 如果想在西雅圖公立圖書館列印電腦上的資料將開始收費. 每一張 10 美分. 另外從 12 月 1 日起, 下列的費用也有所調整. Adult materials overdue: 15 cents a day per item (was 10 cents) Maximum overdue fine: $6 per item (was $4) Large print materials: will accrue fines (had been fine-free) Library Card balance $15 (was $20). Library users with a balance of $15 or more will lose borrowing privileges. Library Card replacement charge for adults and young adults age 13 and older: $1 (no charge before). Initial card is free. Visitor card $15 for three-month card (was $10). Non-resident card $55 for 12-month card (was $50). The Library will not charge for overdue children’s materials, as is currently the policy. Overdue adult materials checked out on a child’s card, however, will accrue fines beginning Dec. 1, 2003. Children who lose their Library Cards will not be charged replacement fees. For more information, call the Borrower Services Department at 206-386-4190

11/5 是那架協和飛機最後一次的飛行. 她將成為飛行博物館展示的飛機之一. 和美國的舊空軍一號專機一樣, 供遊客參觀. 這也是北美西岸唯一的一架. 另一架則在北美的東岸 (Washington DC)

不要隨便寫公司的東西. 這個人沒事在微軟 shipping-and-receiving facility 照 Power Mac G5 的照片. 微軟以洩露公司機密為由, 把他給解雇了. 這樣就上了報紙的頭條… Microsoft fires worker over weblog Michael Hanscom began keeping an online journal, commonly known as a weblog, several years ago. He started his job as a contract worker in Microsoft’s print shop last year. Last week, he mixed the two. This week, he’s looking for a new job, after becoming an unwilling case study in the fine line walked by corporate employees who write about work in their personal weblogs. It all started when Hanscom noticed something interesting on the loading dock on his way into work a week ago — three pallets of shiny new Apple Power Mac G5 computers, clearly destined for somewhere on the company’s Redmond campus. The scene wasn’t entirely surprising. Although the companies are in many ways rivals, Microsoft makes software for the Mac operating system, and Microsoft makes no secret of the fact that it tests competing technologies, including the Linux operating system. But Hanscom, a 30-year-old Seattle resident who has his own Power Mac G5 at home, found the arrival of the computers interesting enough to stop and snap a photo. Later, after getting home from work, he posted it to his weblog, under the words, “It looks like somebody over in Microsoft land is getting some new toys.” Under the photo, he explained that he had come across the computers at Microsoft’s shipping-and-receiving facility, which he identified as being in the same building as the print shop where he worked. He was careful, he says, not to photograph anything around the computers that would have indicated the location. On Monday, when Hanscom came into work, his manager asked him about the post and informed him that he was being let go. Hanscom says he took from the conversation that the post was considered a security risk because a careful reader could decipher from his description the location of the shipping-and-receiving department. According to Hanscom, he offered to take the post down, but he was told that wouldn’t prevent the company from letting him go. “I would have much rather have done that than have lost my paycheck,” he said yesterday. As the weblogging phenomenon has taken off, there have been isolated incidents around the country in which companies fired employees for posting in their personal weblogs work-related material that executives consider compromising or inappropriate. But Hanscom appears to be the first person let go for that reason from Microsoft, where an ever increasing number of employee webloggers regularly post work-related material. Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake declined to comment specifically about Hanscom’s situation, citing a policy against discussing personnel matters. “However, we do recognize that weblogging is a legitimate form of communication,” Drake said. “As you know, a number of Microsoft employees have weblogs, and we respect and support their decision to do so, as long as they abide by our confidentiality agreements — which would apply to any form of external communication.” Hanscom isn’t sure, but he doesn’t think his firing had anything to do with the fact that the computers he photographed were Macs. He says he understands if Microsoft might have been concerned about the security implications of his posting, but he wishes the company would have figured out a way to correct the problem without firing him. He doesn’t recall signing any confidentiality agreement when he was hired. A long-term temporary worker, his job at the company was through an employment agency. Rebecca Blood, author of “The Weblog Handbook,” agreed that Microsoft could have resolved the situation better, at least based on the available information about what happened. “If Microsoft is genuinely concerned about the physical security of their campus, this wouldn’t have been a good way to handle that,” she said. “Firing people who inadvertently break a rule doesn’t prevent other people from breaking it again.” Hanscom, meanwhile, has become a minicelebrity after technology sites, including the popular Slashdot, picked up his Monday weblog post describing his firing. He has gotten calls from representatives of news organizations, and he woke up yesterday to more than 250 e-mails from people offering comments about the situation. “I couldn’t believe that it was getting that much attention,” Hanscom said, explaining that his weblog is usually read mostly by people close to him. “I never expected it to go beyond family and friends.” On the Web: www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism