Parent teacher conferences next week.

For those of you who may have forgotten, parent teacher conferences are from today till Nov 20 at Foster City Elementary school. Monday Nov 12 is veterans day, so there will be no school. Today is minimum day at Audubon as well.

Election for city council today

Sometimes I get the grandiose feeling that this blog will be regarded in the future as a historical reference to what was going on in Foster City in the 21st century. While it is very unlikely, let me contribute my two cents any way.

Today is the election for city council in Foster City. One name that is very prominent in the signs all over the landscape is Dr Huijun Ring. She was the first one to have her hundreds of signs all over the city, almost a month before the others put up their signs. She has been canvassing everywhere personally with flyers, brochures, etc., standing in front of schools, shops and other meeting places. Today, I saw her at the corner of Foster City Blvd and Hillsdale Blvd with her fellow canvassers. Whether people vote for her and elect her or not, her campaign will remain one of the most memorable in recent times, largely due to the sheer number of places her name RING showed up over the last couple of months.

Later this week we should know if her expensive campaign helped.

Stay hungry, stay foolish. Steve Jobs says "Follow your heart and your intuition"

Today I stumbled on what I think is a fascinating speech by Steve Jobs, one of the greatest businessmen alive. He talks about his birth, his college days (after which he dropped out), his philosophy of "connecting the dots" which he says will give you the confidence to do what you want to do; his starting of Apple with Woz, his getting fired from Apple, his confidence and his love for what he does.

He shows why getting fired from apple was one of the best things that happened to him.

This led to the most creative period of his life when he met his wife, started pixar, and started NeXT. Apple later bought Next, bringing him back to apple. He says don't settle - keep looking.

He also talks about living each day as though it was his last day. He says follow your heart and intuition.

"Stay hungry, stay foolish."

Special requirements for a systems analyst in FC

I was browsing the employment page of the city of Foster City and found these special requirements for a Sr. Systems Analyst. The url might become obselete, so I am pasting what I found there. It was really funny to read it. I am sure it is just the government's attempt to avoid lawsuits in the future.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; physical strength and agility to safely lift, manipulate, install and troubleshoot computer equipment; ability to hear, understand and retain complex information and instructions; ability to sit, stand, walk, kneel, crouch, stoop, squat, crawl, twist, climb, and lift 50 lbs.; exposure to confining work space and electrical hazards; ability to travel to different sites and locations; availability for shift work, 24-hour on-call, and stand-by.

An easy way to dispose batteries

Recycling woes. Have you been storing your used batteries in some corner of your house because they are banned from trash? I have been struggling with finding a convenient way to recycle them myself. I know I could take it to my office where they have separate bins for batteries, aerosol cans and other recyclables. But I always forget.

A new hope. Well now there is a new rule that offers a much needed relief. The South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA) has launched a new curbside recycling program for household batteries and cell phones on October 1, 2007.

Residents in single-family homes of SBWMA member agencies (i.e., the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos and San Mateo along with unincorporated portions of San Mateo County and the West Bay Sanitary District) can set out household batteries (rechargeable and disposable alkaline types, but no automotive batteries) in a clear plastic bag on top of their mixed paper recycling bin on recycling collection day. Cell phones should be wrapped in paper and placed inside the same clear plastic bag that contains the batteries.

Where have all the AAA's gone. That reminds me, I have not been able to find AAA batteries in Costco for some time now. Is that only in Foster City? Or did Costco decide to stop selling AAA batteries? If they did where else can I get a good deal on AAA batteries like I could get at Costco?

MetroFi – free wireless access anywhere in Foster City

A new kind of wireless. Just about a year ago, I found a new wireless connection pop up automatically in my wireless connection profiles. It was called MetroFi. A quick visit to http://www.metrofi.com/ confirmed that it was a free service available in select cities. MetroFi, Inc. is a private corporation based in Mountain View who provides wireless Internet services in municipal areas. They have deployed citywide Wi-Fi networks in places such as Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Mountain View, and soon will deploy a network in Portland, OR. Foster City is one of the cities that have MetroFi connectivity.

Initially I thought that the routers were provided to selected neighbors and kept unencrypted. I could not come up with how else they did it. Especially considering that the power of my laptop’s transmitter is only a few hundred feet at most. I was wrong.

The way they do it is by placing the transmitters on top of lamp posts! What an amazing concept!

Terms and conditions. MetroFi's agreement with the City requires them to plan their network such that all parcels of land in outdoor locations in Foster City have the capability of receiving the service. They are required to meet a coverage objective of 95%. In other words, 95% of all outdoor areas will be able to access the Wi-Fi network without the need for additional equipment other than a standard laptop or other typical Wi-Fi device.

Because of building heights, construction materials, and water features, some users may require the need for additional "customer premises equipment", which simply put is an antenna booster to strengthen the WiFi signal within your facility (home, business, etc.).

The City does not regulate the cost of Wi-Fi services provided by MetroFi. Check MetroFi's website for current subscription prices. MetroFi has indicated they will provide a mix of free (ad-supported) access as well as a subscription-based service model.

Halloween safe street for Trick or Treat.

New Location. Halloween is just around the corner. This year Foster City’s safe street is designated to be in Neighborhood 6 behind Farragut park. This is a deviation from a tradition established over the last decade when the safe street used to be between Beach Park Blvd and Monterey in the Dolphin Bay neighborhood. This year 119 houses in Decatur, Bainbridge, and Blythe Streets will be invited to participate. The houses on Halsey and Farragut will not be participating. And even on these two streets only “local” residents will be allowed to drive/park.

Parking. I used to think that if I parked my car in the Edgewater Place Shopping Center, it could be towed away. Not according to the planners of the Halloween Safe Street. You are allowed to park anywhere in Foster City, including at businesses near the safe street. Note that parking will be prohibited in the two churches (Mormon Church, CPC) parking lots. Barricades will be set up on Beach Park Blvd, at Edgewater and at Farragut.

Fun. Every year this event is conducted by the Rotary club of Foster City. This is a fun time for all residents of Foster City and nearby areas to come in their costumes to collect treats in a safe "trick or treat" environment. Kids have a blast. Some kids come from as far as Sunnyvale and Cupertino I have heard.

I have always wondered how local residents can go in and out in case they need to. Apparently Rotarian staffed check points will be available at the entrances to Burrows and Decatur Streets to escort vehicles entering Neighborhood 6 to and from their respective residences throughout the event. As it was with Dolphin Bay residents, the residents of the safe street are not too happy that their neighborhood was picked. Everyone else is happy.

Foster City is attracting more businesses - IBM

Foster City (CA) is already home to big office buildings. One of VISA's largest software development sites is here. During lunch time, if I am in the Metro Center, near Safeway, I see a lot of Sony employees go to lunch in that complex. I can tell they are from Sony (play station people) because they have the bright yellow badge hangers around their necks with the playstation symbols: triangle, square, circle and the X.

Now IBM is moving into the Inktomi building on top of Baja Fresh. They are going to take the entire fourth floor (which is really the first complete office floor because the others are all car parking and retail stores). There will be around 300 employees housed there. That should be good for local retail and restaurant businesses.

One interesting thing I noticed in the Metro Center is that there is a ghost IBM office in that complex. There is a list of companies/stores in front of the WaMu bank (near safeway). One of the offices listed is IBM. It is supposed to be near Curves. But if you actually go there, there is nothing there.