‘Stratfor was pwned because their mysql root password was null. How stupid could these folks be???”

Hear my prayer.

One of the worst droughts in California’s history has devastated more than a half-million acres of the most fertile farmland in America. In communities like Sacramento, “water police” go from door to door to enforce conservation measures. There’s even a mobile “app” to report neighbors to city authorities so they can be fined for wasting water.
With the Sierra snowpack at 4% of normal as of May 20, Californians will desperately need what little water remains behind its dams this summer. Authorities have warned some towns like Folsom–home of Folsom Lake–to expect daily rationing of 50 gallons per person, a 60% cut from average household usage.
Yet last month the Bureau of Reclamation drained Folsom and other reservoirs on the American and Stanislaus rivers of more than 70,000 acre feet of water–enough to meet the annual needs of a city of half a million people–for the comfort and convenience of fish.

h/t Don

Aware that France’s provincial stations came in various shapes and sizes, SNCF had asked RFF to work out the right measurements for the new trains.
After being advised that station widths varied by around 10 centimetres in all, SNCF concluded the new trains could be 20cm wider than their predecessors.
However, in an oversight that would cost it dearly, the operator forgot to factor in some 1,300 stations built more than 50 years ago that are far narrower than today’s norms.
“SNCF’s wise engineers forgot to verify the reality in the field,” wrote Le Canard.

h/t peterj

Bus attack in Langley, BC. (Language warning).
h/t Gen. Lee Wright

Hear my prayer. (h/t BLF)

And how was your day?

Edmonton ETS train attack caught on camera.

Hear my prayer.

Jim Henshaw;

Whenever I discuss CBC TV, it’s with the same opinion I’ve held my entire career, that they uncontrollably stumble from crisis to crisis, always appearing neither certain of their creative direction nor their mandated priorities while repeatedly “re-imagining” some nebulous brighter future.
But there’s always somebody (often entire movements of somebodies) insisting this is our single most important cultural institution, an essential we must trust to knit the country together. And that has always given me pause.
But now, I know I’ve been right. This week I came across a document that proves beyond any doubt that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is managed by Buffoons.

Via

Any questions?

Friend just emailed me this. In his words: "I'm not a train expert, but I'm pretty sure this isn't going to work…" pic.twitter.com/L0RF30WabM

— Denny (@denny) April 6, 2014

Portland Light Rail Revolt;

… Portland’s transit agency faces financial difficulty and has been seriously criticized in a report by Secretary of State. The agency has more than $1 billion in unfunded liabilities and carries a smaller share of commuters than before the first of its six light rail and commuter rail lines was opened. Moreover, the latest American Community Survey data indicates that 3,000 more people work at home than ride transit (including light rail and commuter rail) to work in the Portland metropolitan area. Before light rail (1980), transit commuters numbered 35,000 more than people working at home. Over the period, transit’s market share has dropped one-quarter.

What would we do without testing?

Testing by AAA has found that how far an electric vehicle can travel on one charge varies widely depending on the weather. Frigid temperatures can reduce that distance by 57%.

Imagine!

Ten days have passed and with no solid leads, only one conclusion can be drawn from the disappearance of a Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew — the tales we were told of spy satellites that can “read a watch face from space” were, and still are, complete and utter bullshit.
That is all.

Er, no.