Paul Boutin

It’s easy to make fun of the Consumer Electronics Agency for publishing what seems like common sense advice, e.g. “Talking on your phone during a film is annoying to everyone around you.” But if it’s so obvious, why do people still do it? In that light, the CEA’s new Camera Phone Code of Conduct [PDF file] includes some powerful, if blindingly obvious wisdom. E.g., “Discretion is advised when using your camera phone to take photos of individuals under the age of 18.”

They left out another important rule Slate learned the hard way last year: Don’t drink and dial.

I just read that in April, city officials in Pleasanton set up a stoplight on Vineyard Ave rigged to a speed sensor. If you’re driving too fast down Vineyard, the light turns red.

It’s all a little too much for Ken Pattee, a 52-year-old construction inspector from Livermore who sometimes rides his Harley-Davidson down Vineyard Avenue. He said he doesn’t feel good about the electronic eye.

“It’s depriving you of another one of your liberties — going fast,” Pattee said. “If they implement it everywhere, there will be nothing but red lights. Nobody does the speed limit.”

Except Pattee, that is. “I do the speed limit,” he said. “That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.”

It’s come to my attention that a few of you still haven’t heard “The Internet is for Porn,” from last year’s Tony-award-sweeping puppet musical Avenue Q. So I made you this MP3 file. But then go pay 99 cents for it on iTunes, ok? Above: A photo of Avenue Q’s Trekkie Monster, who sings the title lyric.

Now you can quit blogging about it and just go! CanadianAlternative.com makes it easy- they’ll even host a seminar December 6 in San Francisco, to help with that big Toronto-or-Vancouver decision. The Associated Press reminds you that “Americans have to follow the same procedures as everybody else — including the $500 (387 euro) application fee, the $975 (755 euro) landing tax, and the wait of six months to two years.” I made a few calls and confirmed that yes, you’re allowed to come back for Burning Man, but don’t try to bring your “medicine” across the border.

The Chronicle covers today’s start of crab season, and spills the dirty secret of Fisherman’s Wharf:

Though the season lasts for eight months, many crabbers stop fishing after the second or third week, because most of the legal crabs have been taken.

Nearby tourists on Fisherman’s Wharf were looking for cracked crab, as they do every day of the year. Oblivious to the seasonal cycle of the catch, they placed their orders at the open-air stalls and were served freshly cooked Dungeness crab — that had been shipped in from Canada, frozen, in cardboard boxes.