The Slashdot widget on iGoogle is the only reason I come here. Here's to hoping someone will make a replacement.

...put a worm in apple?

This same issue came up over AT&T wanting to install boxes in SF. Google SF ATT Boxes.

As much as I hate NIMBY's, they have a good point here. If you're going to build something on public land, at least make it pleasant, unobtrusive, or both. Otherwise, buy the property and stop relying on the public to subsidize your business.

I still don't get why utility boxes have to be so ugly. How difficult is it to make a box look appealing?

There are communities that live without electricity. There are people all over the world who do not have access to it. Just because it is ubiquitous within our society does not mean that our society forces us to use it, or that another society will do the same. Also, there is a big difference between electricity and Big Brother. Electricity has been used primarily to improve our lives, and if you choose to, you can shut it off whenever you wish. Most things that are ubiquitous give you the choice to opt out. It may be to your detriment, but it most likely will not ruin your life, or prevent you from being a member of your community.

Google provides me with a service, one that I willingly use, in exchange for bits of information from me. I entered into this agreement willingly. If I decide I do not like Google, it's services, or it's EULA, I can ditch it and go somewhere else. I could even come up with my own search algorithm and email service so I would never have to use Google again. Chipping me at birth strips me of my ability to choose whether I want it. Not to mention that saying, "We chip you, you get to live in our society, the one you were born into, not the one you choose, in exchange for all of the crappy services we can offer you." And even if the services are decent, or you choose the society, it's still coercion if the chipping is a part of the service most people do not want.

I've been told to keep the tank above half. Not because of efficiency or anything, but if there's a |insert natural disaster here|, you don't want to be stuck waiting in line for gas, or worse, unable to get gas because the gas stations are inoperable (or were swallowed up by the earth).

This has been in the works for a while. And people have been improperly ticketed.

Taxis are granted access to most, if not all, bus lanes in SF.

That wouldn't be a problem if Muni worked well most of the time. It's possible that getting rid of cars may make Muni work a little better, but then the system would be flooded by users, and Muni most likely does not have the capacity.

Lint Licker, like in the Orbits gum commercials?