Reverse Zoneweblog on urban planning, sustainability, and technology.Rogers Messing with DNS- (Found August 15, 2008 ) A nasty surprise. Rogers updated my DNS so that addresses that do not resolve are instead sent to a "Rogers Search" web site. Its DNS servers resolve all unknown addresses to a server somewhere in the U.S. (8.15.7.107) that for port 80 gives a 404 error (which is not correct at all) that includes cloaked Javascript, complete with tracking code, redirecting to a web page on which it has advertising. It took me a while to figure this out while trying to diagnose a DNS problem. It uses...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/Rogers_Messing_with_DNS.html Will Canada Reach Kyoto Targets With New GHG Inventory Figures- (Found August 15, 2008 ) The latest figures on Canada's Greenhouse gas inventory have just been released. They were released on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, the traditional time to release bad news that you hope the media will not take much notice of. But this is only bad news for those who believe that turning around the trend in greenhouse gas emissions is impossible. The summary report shows that emissions dropped once again. The drop in 2006 was greater than the drop in 2005, which was about the...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/Will_Canada_Reach_Kyoto_Targets_With_New_GHG_In... The Delicate Balancing Act of Downtowns and the Death of Griffintown- (Found August 15, 2008 ) Lots of major cities are trying to find the correct balance of uses for their downtown areas. A recent story in the Toronto Globe & Mail compares the failures of Calgary with what the author seems to believe to be successes elsewhere. There is a lot to be said for high-rise office buildings downtown (just try to stop them and see how far you get). As I have said before, high-rise office buildings are good for public transit but in order for that formula to work, you need to have families...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/The_Delicate_Balancing_Act_of_Downtowns_and_the... Internet Identity Keystone Kops- (Found August 15, 2008 ) This is a rant about e-government. Twice this week I have resorted to completely unsecure paper processes to overcome the clumsy attempts by government agencies to identify the person trying to pay for a government service. I think that governments, in a kneejerk reaction to fears of terrorism-related identity theft, but without actually understanding what they are trying to prevent, have just adopted some visible measures that try to look preventive, hoping that they can check off that...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/Internet_Identity_Keystone_Kops.html LA Transit Plan Aims to Save 725 Metric Tons of GHG Annually by 2030- (Found August 15, 2008 ) This laugh-out-loud statistic comes from Los Angeles 2008 Long Range Transportation Plan, on page 18. To put it in perspective, that is the total GHG emissions of 30 average Americans. Looking at the plan in more detail the figures refer to 725 tonnes a day, a little better but still hardly worth the trouble in the greater scheme of things. That target is less than a tenth of a percent improvement. Its other target: a 15% average speed increase on freeways. But it looks like events may...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/LA_Transit_Plan_Aims_to_Save_725_Metric_Tons_of... New York City's Congestion Pricing Plan Dies Yet Again- (Found August 15, 2008 ) This has been reported on this blog a few times in the past, but New York State has once again killed New York City's plan to charge a peak time toll to enter part of the island of Manhattan. The State's agreement was required to allow the city to accept several hundred millions of dollars offered by the Federal government for the project. The federal money and the proceeds of the tax would have been used to invest an extra billion dollars into transportation in the city. It is part of...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/New_York_City_Congestion_Pricing_Plan_Dies_Yet_... New York Discovers Existing Direct Democracy Zoning Rule- (Found August 15, 2008 ) Much to their surprise, New York City local activists discovered that New York City had direct democracy provisions in its Charter, and that these had been there since the end of the 19th century. Accroding to the Charter, 3. In case a protest against such a resolution a change in the text of the zoning resolution approved by the city planning commission shall have been presented to the city clerk within thirty days from the date of the filing of such resolution with the council, duly...http://reversezone.blogdns.com/blosxom.cgi/New_York_Discovers_Existing_Direct_Democracy_Zo... |