Being able to play my music over any web browser or on my phone was awesome. I don't know what service (other than your own NAS) hosts your music like that. Even with your own NAS you have to have some software like PLEX (which for Music is not as good). Any replacement ideas? YouTube Music does not compare and just wants you to sign up and pay. I might pay to replicate what Google Music did, but I'm not feeling the YouTube Music.

IAAUP (I am an urban planner). I do not have moderator points to mark this as overrated.

A bit of history lets us know that this idea is not new. Grade separation hit its hey-day in the US in the late 60' and early 70's. It was tried in a couple of ways. In Dallas, for example, pedestrian tunnels in downtown were supposed to be an air-conditioned panacea. In northern cities (eg Milwaukee), pedestrian skyways connecting buildings would keep people out of the cold. All the while cars and trucks would speed by uninhibited at the "street" level.

This did not work. It does not work. These facilities are closed, closing, or diminished. Where they still are used they do not add to the pedestrian experience and certainly do not make driving better.

What these grade-separated facilities do is help is kill downtown activity making for a sterile and lifeless downtown. We are physiologically at ease on the ground with the sky above us. Ask an urban designer - or heck, experience this yourself - there are exterior "room" dimensions that work. Too big a space and we feel exposed. Too small and it feels claustrophobic. Tunnels and skyways are not that ideal. The real answer is making these dense areas more navigable with "slow" transportation. Pedestrian, bikes, and, yes, scooters, should have the highest priority. Grade separation was tried. It just doesn't work because as pedestrians, we want to be "on the ground".

No. Correlation is never evidence of causation. Correlation is only evidence of correlation. There may be causation. Not always. Correlation is not an indicator of causation. It indicates you cannot rule out causation. Look for it. Try to find causality. But to not be fooled that because a correlation exists between two items or events that one causes the other.

I think the Onion Got it Right "Report: 98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others" http://www.theonion.com/articl...

Actually, its an interesting comparison. I use ESRI products and more and more I am shifting to using free (such as Google) web and non-web products to do some display / mapping work. Why? Because, for one, as you said, every ESRI Arc 9.3 seat costs a shitload. Secondly, I can achieve a substantially similar result in half the time while leaving the license open for someone else. Will it come to a point that free/lower cost software solutions will eliminate ESRI? Maybe. Should they feel threatened? Absolutely. Their user base is already being eroded and users disgruntled. I can't seem to find many fans. So is it a fair comparison? On the cost, no. On the features and use - absolutely. They are both complementary and competitors.