by The Editors on July 2, 2007
The Carlsbad Police Department will hold a meeting Monday July 2 at 1:30 PM at Safety Center, 2560 Orion Way to gather public input on adding an entertainment ordinance to the City’s municipal code and repealing the City’s Cabaret code. If you attend, expect to be joined by pub owners who are among a small group of people who can attend a 1:30 PM Monday meeting.
In March when this issue first came up this is what the Carlsbad Restaurant & Bar Association had to say about this ordinance:
While none of us disagree with having an reasonable ordinance, we feel that this particular document as it is currently written is ambiguous, vague, discriminatory and contradictory.
We tried reading the ordinance, but got lost after the second whereas.
[Link: Carlabdca.gov]
by The Editors on June 30, 2007
For those following along here’s how it went: we did not make an Apple iPhone purchase, yet. We chose Sue Palmer over standing inline at AT&T. We do, however, have a friend who made a run for the border and pulled into an undisclosed AT&T Store in Vista at 4 PM. After waiting in line for two hours he was able to snap some photos and snag a 4 gig, which immediately sent him into the throws of an inferiority complex. In a late evening email he said: “I have not broken the seal yet. I have decided to swap it for the 8 gig.”
But as anyone knows, it’s nearly impossible to sit with a new piece of Apple technology without opening it. Moments later we got another email. . . “I opened the package and it is not as sleek as it looks in the ads….”
Side Note: the Fashion Valley Apple Store opens at 10 AM this morning and according to the Apple iPhone Availability Page they still have phones (as does every Apple store in California).
Below The Side Note: Our photos from the Plaza Camino Real line were picked up and included in the Gizmodo.com iPhone photo gallery. Two of them.
by The Editors on June 30, 2007
Depending on how the permitting process goes, Carlsbad could be home to the world’s largest desalination plant. That all sounds fine, but what does it mean? Luckily for us Amy Westervelt has written a comprehensive story for the Sustainable Industries Journal in which she outlines the process, the politics, and the environmental issues associated with removing fresh water from ocean water.
The waste product created by the desalination process is a briny solution that is twice as salty as the ocean water it comes from. A desalination plant produces 50 million gallons of freshwater for every 100 million gallons of ocean water it takes in, according to Cooley, co-author of a 2006 report entitled “Desalination, with a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective.” Typically, the 50 million gallons of brine created by the desalination process are dumped back into the ocean.
That’s part of the reason that The Surfrider Foundation is fighting the Carlsbad plant. As General Electric’s project moves forward it’s important that we all have a better understanding of exactly what this means for Carlsbad and for the Coast.
[Link: Sustainable Industries]
by The Editors on June 29, 2007
The Plaza Camino Real has been staked out. At 10:30 The Carlsbad Four had grabbed their places in line in front the AT&T store right outside Sears on the lower level. Honz (far right, blue shirt) was at the front of the line. “I got here at 6 AM,” he said. “And walked right in to the mall.” Chris (second in line), who works from home had his Macbook open and was doing work. “If I’d have known the line was going to be like this I would have slept in a little longer.” Allen and Brad (who were bringing up the rear of the line at 10:40) didn’t arrive until 10 AM.
When we asked them how many phones they were going to buy, they said, “They already told us we could only buy one each.”
If each store indeed has 20 Apple iPhones as reported, then there may still be room at the Plaza, or across the street in Oside next to Trader Joes.
Currently, Apple stock is holding at the $121 mark. Damn, we’re going to be bummed not having an iPhone tonight. Forget about what we said yesterday.
[Editors’ Note: Allen, Brad, or Chris, if you can, please update us on your progress in the comments section.]
by The Editors on June 28, 2007
Guess what? We’re over it. Only 20 hours away from the launching of the coolest tech product to ever hit the world. . . and we’re over it. A friend (who has had a Apple iPhone for over a week thanks to some strange Justin Timberlake connection) gave the iPhone the following review:
It’s pretty sweet, but off Wi-Fi the Internet application is slow as a snail. . . And making a phone call is surprisingly convoluted.”
So that’s it. Big countdown to nothing. Of course, it’s late and we’re not really in an excitable mood right now. If you’re interested in following the hoopla check in with Gizmodo’s Brian Lam. He’s waiting online at a San Francisco Apple store and he’s blogging it live. . . IM him if you want to [lnelyiphoneboy30] or you can watch JustinTV live while he waits in line.
Depending on how we’re feeling tomorrow we’ll probably roll by the Plaza Camino Real AT&T store just to see how things are shaping up. If you’re looking for a phone in Coastal North County follow the jump for a listing of all the AT&T Stores in our zone (if you don’t feel like driving to UTC or Fashion Valley).
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on June 27, 2007
On our list of strange Carlsbad-based businesses, NatureMaker ranks pretty high up there. The company builds what they call “steel art trees.” And that’s exactly what they are: steel welded into the shapes of natural, realistic trees. Their most recent piece was designed for the atrium of an incredible well-designed “San Diego County home” titled The Oldest Living Bristlecone Pine.
The intricate hand-carving, hand-painting, and scenic aging of the gnarled trunk and weathered limbs accurately reflect the struggle of bristlecone pines to grow in the harsh high mountain climate and barren soil of the Sierras and Rocky Mountains. “This is our way of showing that despite the daily assault on our fragile ecology, Nature as force and timeless energy will surely prevail,” says Gary Hanick, president of NatureMaker.
Maybe someday we’ll get to see this tree in person. . .
[Link: Marketwire]
by The Editors on June 27, 2007
Apparently, last night was party night at Carlsbad’s Earth Products headquarters as Chris Miller and his PE/Adio crew pulled the wrapping off their new, indoor, “you can’t skate it unless you know someone” skatepark including the new Adio bowl. But we’ll put it this way, if you’re in the lobby of Earth Products (on El Camino Real just north of Palomar Airpord Road), you’re really close to the park.
Click the link for all the photos of opening night from TransWorld Skateboarding Editor Carleton Curtis.
[Link: Transworld Skateboarding]
by The Editors on June 27, 2007
According to the San Diego Business Journal:
Upper Deck Co. had officially made a bid buy rival Topps Co. for about $425 million, a move that could undermine an attempt by former Walt Disney Co. head Michael Eisner to acquire the trading card company. . . Upper Deck, a Carlsbad-based trading card and sports entertainment publishing company said late Monday that its offer values Topps’s shares at $10.75 each and would expire on July 24.
This story is much more complicated that it seems as Upper Deck had to force Topps into considering it’s offer. And some are suggesting that Topps managment hadn’t told share holders that Eisner was planning on “retain existing management.” For more on those details check out this story from AZcentral.com.
[Link: San Diego Business Journal]
by The Editors on June 26, 2007
Two men died last year in a crash that their families believe was caused by Chinese tires failing on the van they were driving. And, on May 4 they sued the company that imported those tires. Now:
U.S. safety officials have ordered a New Jersey tire importer to recall as many as 450,000 tires that it bought from a Chinese manufacturer and sold to U.S. distributors. . . Foreign Tire Sales Inc., of Union, New Jersey, said an unknown number of the light truck radials it imported since 2002 from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., of Hangzhou, China, could suffer tread separation, a problem that led to the largest tire recall in the U.S. in 2000.
That’s where Carlsbad comes in. K&D Tire Wholesalers LLC, of 300 Carlsbad Village Dr #108A-134 Carlsbad was one of seven tire distributors that FTS sold to. The tires to watch out for include: Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS.
[Link: CBS News]
by The Editors on June 26, 2007
AT&T has finally released the details on the pricing structure for the Apple iPhone service plans. The iPhone will have three different pricing plans identical except for the minutes. All will have unlimited data, unlimited mobile-to-mobile, and a measly 200 SMS text messages (one of the reason’s we’ve always hated Cingular) included in their price. The plans are priced at $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99.
It’s obvious that Steve Jobs did not get his way when it came to bargaining on what or how AT&T would charge for their services. Sadly, the 200 free SMS max and no built-in iChat are pretty close to deal killers for us.
For the rest of the details click the link.
[Link: electronista.com]
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