A dramatic fire this evening along the American River Parkway near Cal Expo destroyed a Union Pacific mainline track sending billowing black smoke into the blue skies and disrupting train traffic through the Central Valley. The hot-burning fire, first reported at 5:41 p.m., quickly consumed about 300 feet of  trestle timber and tracks in a secluded section of the American River Parkway just north of the American River.

The fire erupted just moments before Dawn and I left our Point West office. From the parking lot, we could see the giant plume of thick, black smoke rising a thousand feet, meeting the high pressure layer that’s been responsible for our recent spring-like weather, and then extending at a right angle off to the east. Dawn snapped a couple of photos from the parking lot (I’ll post later) while I drove down Tribute to the levy to get a closer look.

It was a spectacular sight. The hundred year old trestle had been built using creosote-soaked bridge timber which produced the heavy black smoke and made extinguishing the fire all but impossible. As water was applied to the flames, the resulting white steam created a mix of swirling black and white smoke that combined in places to a deepened shade of grey. The sheer quantity of smoke was astounding.

Slowed by the lack of traditional access to water in the area, firefighters from the Sacramento City Fire Department and Sacramento Metro Fire District relied on relay-pumping from hydrants in developed areas on the north side of the parkway levee near Cal Expo. At least one pump boat was maneuvered into the area to pump additional water on the flames. The plan, according to a Fire Department spokesman, was to concentrate on the two ends of the trestle and allow the middle to essentially burn itself out. Protecting the nearby bridge was of paramount importance.

The fire, several hundred yards west of the Capitol City Freeway, caused backups for miles during the evening rush hour and,  according to news radio, the smoke plume could be seen from 50 miles away. As more and more fire vehicles and spectators arrived, I headed home. No sense adding to the confusion. I understand that, as night fell and firefighting continued, burned sections of the 25-foot-high rail trestle were beginning to collapse and the blaze showed little sign of dying down.

I’ll be interested to learn what caused the fire. Amazingly, I haven’t heard much speculation and officials have stated that it’s too early to assess possible causes. I heard people saying that a gas line of some sort runs beneath the trestle. Perhaps even more surprising, I heard no mention of the dreaded “T” word…

I feel sorry for Amtrak commuters who routinely travel the line; they’ll have to find alternative transportation unless Amtrak sets up bus lines to handle their usual traffic. The trestle looks to be a total loss, so I don’t expect things to return to normal for quite some time. 

I found this curious. Microsoft, always on the cutting edge of flawless security (wink wink), is making it more difficult for Mac and Unix users to use Vista on their systems claiming it’s “for security reasons.” While it’s more likely a business decision they would simply rather not explain, it does seem counter to sound business logic.

With Macs now using Intel chips, virtualization programs let Mac users easily switch back and forth between Apple’s Mac OSX operating system and Windows. So you’d think Microsoft would welcome the potential additional sales of its Vista operating system to both Mac and Unix users.

Well, apparently not. Buried within Vista’s 14-page licensing rules lies a ban on using the least expensive versions of Vista in virtualization engines. Instead, people wanting to put Vista  in a virtualized program must buy the $299 Business version or the $399 Ultimate package.

Scott Woodgate, a director in Microsoft’s Vista team, concedes that the least expensive versions of Vista would work in virtualization programs but says Microsoft wants to restrict it because of security holes [in the cheaper versions] spawned by virtualization technology.

Yeah, right.

Tune-in for sweet surprises as legend-dairy ice cream co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s visit Stephen Colbert and “The Colbert Report” to celebrate and discuss his new ice cream, AmeriCone Dream, tonight at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

According to its website, Ben & Jerry’s new flavor is “a decadent melting pot of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl. It’s the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth.” Colbert believes AmeriCone Dream can make a difference. “I’m not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda. What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case.”

Stephen Colbert is donating his proceeds from the sale of AmeriCone Dream to charity through The Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund. The Fund will support charities of concern to Stephen such as food and medical assistance for disadvantaged children, helping veterans and their families, and environmental causes. “I will save the world,” said Colbert.

Coming soon to a fair & balanced freezer section near you.

You’ve probably seen or heard at least one news report about the married female astronaut who drove eleven hours wearing adult diapers (so as not to have to stop en route for potty breaks) to knock off another female who was competing for the attentions of a married male astronaut… You can’t make this stuff up, folks!

Cartoon via Neatorama

You may have seen this report or one like it on the news last week. If not, you’ll likely be alarmed. It’s a technique used by locksmiths and, unfortunately, bad guys to illegally enter your home without so much as a broken window pane. Called “lock bumping,” it’s something you need to be aware of.

Sadly, the internet is abuzz with “how-to” articles on creating “bump keys” and how to use them. They reportedly work on an estimated 80 percent of door locks so you’ll want to make sure yours is “bump proof.” Check with a reputable locksmith for guidance.

Punxsutawney Phil has spoken, and the news is good, at least from my perspective.  The world’s most famous furry forecaster didn’t see his shadow this morning on Gobbler’s Knob,  suggesting an early spring. Hooray!

Before you ask, Phil has now seen his shadow 96 times, hasn’t seen it 15 times and there are no records for nine years according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The last time Phil failed to see his shadow was in 1999.

So, what is Groundhog Day, anyway? Click here to learn everything you ever wanted to know about it. How’s your woodchuck wisdom? Take this quiz and find out. Want to become an official member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club? Obtain an application, along with a bunch of other information, at the official site of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.  Had enough? Me too.

At long last, Vista is here. But Tuesday’s San Francisco launch of Microsoft’s new computer operating system, which it hopes will revolutionize the technology world, didn’t pack much punch according to Ryan Blitstein in an article today in the Mercury News. The Redmond, Wash., company spent $6 billion developing Windows Vista, plus billions more on Microsoft Office 2007, which officially launched Tuesday. Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2007, the software for e-mail and calendars, was released last month. …

Says Ryan, “So far consumers don’t seem that excited about Vista, especially compared with the much-hailed release of Windows 95, when thousands of buyers lined up at stores for a midnight release. …”

A Mexican drug smuggler sneaks across the U.S. border carrying 743 pounds of marijuana in his van. He’s confronted by two U.S. Border Patrol agents who order him to stop. After a scuffle with one of the agents, the drug smuggler abandons the van and takes off. The agents give chase and shots are fired. The smuggler runs for the border but is wounded in the buttocks before escaping to the safety of Mexico. Sounds like a typical day along the U.S.-Mexico border, right? Give the agents a commendation, maybe a pay raise.

But that’s not what happened to the agents. In what makes me think we’ve slipped into some parallel universe where everything is backwards, the agents are arrested and charged with felonies including violating the drug smuggler’s civil rights. It seems a Homeland Security agent heard about the episode, went to Mexico and offered the drug smuggler immunity if he testified against the agents. The drug smuggler was treated at taxpayer’s expense in a U.S. hospital and told he can sue the U.S. government.

You see, our Border Patrol policy prohibits chasing terrorists, drug smugglers or anyone crossing illegally into this country and who are fleeing. And our courts have ruled that it’s illegal to shoot a suspect who is running away if he is unarmed. To do so violates the suspect’s civil rights. Never mind that the agents believed him to be armed and that, when interviewed shortly after the incident, his family said that, yes, he’s a drug smuggler and, yes, he always carries a gun. He now knows to claim he was unarmed in order to sue the U.S. Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights!

The agents? They’ve been sentenced to 11 and 12 years in federal prison under a rule of law that requires a mandatory minimum 10 years if a firearm was used while committing a violent crime. The crime? Assault with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm during a violent crime, obstructing justice, lying about the incident (The agents failed to file a report stating that they had fired their weapons, and one of them picked up his spent shell casings) and willfully violating the drug smuggler’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure.

Sounds preposterous, I know, but that’s what happened. Congress won’t intervene and President Bush has refused thus far to grant a pardon for the agents. I can’t fathom U.S. policy concerning border security. Agents are apparently there to “patrol” but can’t “chase” bad guys (without first getting permission from a supervisor.) Oh, and don’t use their guns. They can yell, “Shoo! Shoo!” and can apparently send bad guys back across the border if they voluntarily surrender, but it sounds like that’s about it.

I’ve provided links to two articles you should read. The first is an article by Debra Saunders for the SF Chronicle. The second is an October 20 article in WorldNetDaily. What’s been done to these two agents is a serious miscarriage of justice and we need to let our elected officials know we won’t stand for it.

What’s going on along our border is wrong on every level and our government has shown absolutely no interest in fixing the problem. Want something done? Write or email ALL your elected officials including the President. Keep writing. Demand justice for the two agents and that the border be protected. Pay attention to which officials turn a deaf ear and vote them out of office!

I suppose you could say this is number 16, but it’s really no surprise. Cisco Systems is suing Apple Inc. in federal court for trademark infringement over the naming of Apple’s new “iPhone”, Cisco announced in a press release Wednesday. Cisco has held the trademark on the name “iPhone” since 2000. According to this CNN report, the company is seeking an injunction preventing Apple from using the “iPhone” name.

Some are speculating that Cisco obtained the trademark amid the flurry of rumors of a forthcoming Apple iPhone in order to muscle some money out of Apple. After all, most folks have been discussing a possible “iPhone” from Apple for years and most, including the media, had already dubbed it the “iPhone” knowing that Apple likes to use the “i” designation on many of its products. And indeed, Steve Jobs has been trying to “buy” it from Cisco for some time.

Anyway, amid speculation that Apple would announce an iPhone during Tuesday’s keynote address at Macworld, Cisco announced another VoIP telephone devise three weeks ago and dubbed it “iPhone.” And since Apple didn’t accept Cisco’s offer to sell the name before Tuesday’s announcement, Cisco is seeking an injunction barring Apple from using it.

Apple believes Cisco’s trademark is “tenuous at best”, that Cisco’s product and Apple’s are sufficiently different (VoIP v. cell phone) to negate trademark protection against Apple’s use. Cisco argues they might decide down the line to produce a cell phone. (Not likely, but they clearly want to show similarity.) Without knowing how the “product” was described in Cisco’s trademark application, I can’t say either way. However, it’s likely that the trademark application would have been denied had it been overly broad, i.e. “any phone-like thingy or service.” So we’ll just have to see how it all works out.

Cisco, of course, has a bundle of cash on hand so they can certainly afford to pursue the matter although I can’t imagine why they would care to. Jobs, I suspect, would pay a reasonable amount in order to avoid protracted litigation so, if Cisco is reasonable, they still might strike a deal. Meanwhile, I guess the game is afoot. 

…in case you’re keeping score.

              Click to enlargeMacworld kicked off this morning at Mosconi Center with Steve Jobs’ much anticipated keynote address focusing almost entirely on iPhone and, to a lesser degree, iTV. The next several months will likely provide additional product announcements… But iPhone? That’s pretty big news. Here’s the link to watch either (1) the entire keynote address, or (2) just the segment introducing the iPhone.  Comments Cisco? 

More about the new Apple iPhone: There are no click wheel or navigation buttons;  it’s all touchpad controlled and is filled with everything from your music, photos, movies, podcasts, the internet, email, contacts, calendar… and a 2mp camera. It runs on an abbrebviated version of Mac OSX so it functions much like a desktop Mac including Safari HTML browser (with tabbed browsing and full html views of websites including images), Google Maps and Widgets. A 3.5” widescreen monitor features Apple’s highest resolution yet, 161 ppi.

The new Apple TV devise is a set top unit that wirelessly syncs with your Mac or PC, then streams movies, photos, music, podcasts, slideshows etc from your computer(s) to your wide-screen TV in HD.

Definitely “outside the box.” Engadget has more details and photos from the keynote.