Note 7 recall is not the big issue…

If you are a smartphone user of any type, you will most certainly be aware of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7  smartphone which can explode.  While the threat of the Note 7 exploding and causing anywhere from severe burns to one’s house being destroyed (or as in the case of one unfortunate victim – a car) is very real – I do think it is being blown out of proportion.

Don’t get me wrong, owner’s of the Note 7 should stop using this phone right away and return the device to Samsung ASAP.  As well, I applaud Samsung for immediately stepping up to the plate by doing a recall as soon as they realized there was an issue with the device.  And while the Apple camp is gleefully running around and cheering at the woes of Samsung – let’s be reminded that Apple has had it’s share of issues (exploding devices, etc) with it’s iPhone line.  More importantly, Samsung did what Apple has never done – immediately tell the truth about issues with the Note 7 line.  Given Apple’s historical reaction to issues with iPhones – an exploding iPhone would be due to user error.  Or in other words, Apple would have taken the HAL9000 approach  to issues, “Dave, these problems are due to human error…”

What I’m really getting at is the relative reaction proportion to the Note 7 recall in comparison to other recalls that are far more serious.  Take for instance, the Takata airbag recall which is the largest recall in automotive history. By proportion, the Takata airbag recall affects far more people than the Note 7 recall ever will because it involves a great majority of cars that are on the road today.  Chances are the car or truck you are driving right now is involved with the recall – I know the one I’m driving is.  And while I did get a recall notice from Toyota about the airbags – as a Toyota dealership employee put it upon me asking when the airbags would be repaired – “who knows?”  Thus far and unlike the 35 or so Note 7s that have exploded – faulty Takata airbags have killed and maimed drivers because of the shrapnel sprayed by the airbags.

Also unlike the Note 7 recall – the Takata airbag recall has been going on for years – both due to lack of government pressure to fix things, direct obfuscation by Takata management and finally, the auto industry itself.  As well, there seems to be an inordinate lack of concern by auto owners about the issue.  Again, those very same auto owners would be screaming bloody murder if it was their smartphone that was involved in a recall.  Making the aforementioned something that I truly cannot understand.

Do you think that more pressure needs to be put on the auto industry and Takata to fix the airbag problems?  Or do you think that it’s not much of an issue?  Leave a comment.

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It can happen anywhere…

OK, to make ends meet while trying to get my business going, I’ve been working in retail.  And I work at a national chain store that suffered a data hacking attack over the past Christmas holiday season.  Needless to say, on a daily basis, I have been getting questions from customers about the safety of using their credit or debit cards in the store.  Which, at this point I’ve come to ignore the questions and negative reactions from customers because at this point it’s just stupid.  That was until yesterday when a relative of mine happened to shop in the same store I work at.

What got me going was an ignorant comment which my relative made later that day in regards to how safe it was to use her debit card at the store.  I had asked if she had payed for her merchandise with cash – because I would have been able to give her my employee discount if she did.  My relative responded with the typical “I’ll never use my debit card there because of the fiasco, blah, blah, blah.”  “It’s not safe, blah, blah, blah.”  At that point I just walked away because I didn’t want to hear all that crawl up my spine static – I was just trying to say I could have helped you out with your purchase.

What my ignorant relative needs to realize (as well as everyone else in this country) is that nothing is truly safe when it comes to data.  This is particularly with any type of financial data like bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, etc.  As it stands right now, every institution that deals with financial transactions (banks, retail stores, you name it, etc or whatever) has been or will be hacked data wise.  In short, there is no place that is truly secure when it comes to making a financial transaction.  Heck, even good ole cash that you get out of a bank ATM can be counterfeit.  So again, nothing is safe these days.

There are security changes coming to credit and debit cards which I’m not going to get into right at this point – but for now the best you can do is closely monitor your accounts and credit history.  You might also consider investing in a credit monitoring service to provide additional warning if your accounts have been compromised. When it does happen to you – as it did to me earlier this year – don’t delay in taking steps to get things corrected.

Anyway, to that ignorant relative – you will never, ever get an employee discount from me again. I was just trying to cut you some slack because I know it’s tight for you – but from this time forward, you can just fuhgeddaboudit…

Do you feel safe when you use your credit or debit card when out and about?  Leave a comment.

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It’s Just Not News…

I happened to flick on Good Morning America this morning just in time to catch a story about QVC host Lisa Robertson living in fear due to stalking.  While I don’t normally give “news” stories which air on GMA any credence – I decided to do a Google search to see if this one was splashed all over the Net.  And yes, it was splashed all over the Net, in all its gory “not news you need to know about” detail.

Now before you pass judgment on me due to insensitivity about Lisa’s plight – let me be the first to say that I understand how she feels – because I’ve been stalked before as well.  In fact, I can easily say that the incidences of stalking that I’ve been through far exceed Lisa’s.  And accordingly, some of the stalkings I’ve been through have been quite bizarre.

For example, I was working a retail gig, selling furniture back in the 80’s.  I had just grown out a full beard to give my face a break from shaving every day.  One day I was talking to a customer about some chairs he was interested in – when all of the sudden a woman runs up to us and starts yelling at me.  “YOU NEED TO CUT THAT BEARD OFF – I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU GROW THAT THING OUT– AND I’M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW THAT I DON’T LIKE IT!”  She went on to say that she no longer liked me because of the beard and would not purchase any furniture from me.  She then stomped off, leaving me as well as the customer speechless and in utter disbelief.

Now getting back to Lisa’s issues with stalking.  In no way am I belittling Lisa because of what she is going through because of these morons.  In fact, anyone who sits around all day lusting after QVC hosts has got some serious mental issues. But is that news?  Definitely not – because there are a lot of other issues going on in this world that are news.

Do you think that I’m being insensitive to Lisa Robertson? Leave a comment.

News source: GMA.

Surface RT = another Microsoft epic fail

Perhaps you know by now about the nearly billion dollar Microsoft failure known as Surface RT.  Yup, almost a year since it was introduced, Windows Surface RT has become a dog that no one wants.  So much so that even Asus, a prominent computer device manufacturer, recently announced that it was throwing in the towel on Windows Surface RT.

The explanations as to why Surface RT failed are varied – ranging from the design of Windows 8 to the inability of Surface RT to run regular Windows programs.  Accordingly, the pundits have been all over the place with the aforementioned explanations.  Also accordingly, and to the credit of the pundits, all of the reasons why RT failed have been right – except for one.  The one critical mistake Microsoft made was to try to push users into the “post-PC” zone.  The “post-PC” zone, much like “The Twilight Zone,” only exists in the minds of people that don’t want to deal with reality.  In the world of reality, there is no “post-PC” zone and there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to computing.

Microsoft, however, was not alone in this blunder as many of the pundits agreed with the tech giant in this assumption.  Indeed, even in light of Microsoft’s massive failure, there are pundits who still believe that a “post-PC” era is occurring.  And Microsoft is not the only tech giant who is now pushing the “post-PC” era as Canonical, Ubuntu’s parent company, is also beginning to steer into that zone as well.  Incidentally, IMO, this is a big mistake that Canonical is making, given the issues that Microsoft is experiencing with Surface RT.

In any case, Microsoft now has a lot of inventory in terms of unsold Surface RT tablets on its hands.  Which, I expect that there are going to be some deeply discounted or even free RT tablets going out the door as the tech giant tries to unload them.  Hopefully, in the process of unloading all those RT tablets, Microsoft will see the error of its ways – because again there is no “post-PC” era.

How do you feel about Surface RT in general?  And are you going to get a Surface RT device now that Microsoft has begun slashing prices on them?  Leave a comment.

News sources: Mashable, Windows IT Pro and ZDNet.
Photo source: PCWorld.

Yes, you do need to learn from your mistakes Paula

By now, the world knows about Paula Deen as well as her food empire’s spectacular crash and burn which happened this past week.  The world also knows about Paula Deen’s use of derogatory language when referring to people of color, in particular African Americans.  So no need to go into detail as to how Paula Deen wound up in the predicament that she’s now in.

I do, however, want to address Paula’s cavalier attitude when it comes to race relations in America.  You see, Paula’s problems extend far beyond using the “n” word – because she embraces the attitude that human beings should be slaves. E.G., along with all the allegations of racial slurs – it came to light that Paula wanted to have a Southern style wedding for her brother Bubba.  She also allegedly stated “Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around,” when asked how the servers should dress.  Although the aforementioned was what Paula really desired for Bubba’s wedding – she did not go through with the plans because she feared harsh media backlash.

It is this Southern style wedding that I find more troubling than the use of racial slurs.  This is because it is the embodiment of a brutal period of racism and human servitude that America had suffered through.  One which clearly is still being embraced by people like Paula Deen.  The mere fact that in 2013, people would still rather see human servitude of this nature is disturbing.  It is even more disturbing in light of Deen’s family history of slave ownership – which she is well aware of.

With the culmination of the civil rights era – America had a long history of slavery and servitude when it came to Black people.  Not only was that history brutal, it resulted in a devastating civil war and again culminated in the with an equally devastating civil rights era.  Needless to say, thousands of Black people died, families were torn apart and for many, many years, a race of people were denied their constitutional rights as human beings.  For Black people, it was certainly not “good old Southern living” as Paula Deen would have it.

While it’s good that Paula Deen did apologize and beg forgiveness for her actions – she has a lot of work to do when it comes to her attitude towards human servitude.  For no race of people deserves to be enslaved to another, particularly in a country like America.

News source: www.dailykos.com.
Photo source: www.essence.com

So this is the world we now live in

I assume by now that you’ve heard some news report about the NSA American spying scandal, the PRISM system and the now former Booz Allen Hamilton employee, Edward Snowden, who leaked all the sorted details.  Although the NSA has been doing what it’s doing for quite some time – the extent of the spying came as quite a shock to some.  Yet to others it seemed like a big deal being made over nothing.  For me, the news of the NSA spying on the American public put me in the middle of the road of being shocked and not shocked.

From the time of the 9/11 incident, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that every American citizen was having their communications monitored.  And because one of my career paths is in Information Technology, the more I learned about the field — the more those feelings nagged me.  But since I wasn’t a criminal or a terrorist – I had always managed to brush aside those feelings.  That was until lately.

I don’t consider myself as a tin foil hat wearing, conspiracy theorist, demon behind every rock kind of person.  I am, however, one who gets concerned when certain government agencies get out of control.  Which, in this case the NSA is, in my opinion, out of control right now. Why? Because of the extensive, unnecessary data mining and surveillance that is being done to every member of the American public.

Consider this example: Right now, I am currently siting in a Starbucks as I write this blog post. Because of the way most POS systems work and the use of my Starbucks card – the NSA now knows what I drank at Starbucks. During the course of my work – I made a post to Facebook – which the NSA now knows about.  I also made a call to a friend about an out of town dinner appointment next week – which again, the NSA now knows about.  And incidentally, because of my Android smartphone with GPS – the NSA knows which Starbucks I’m sitting in – right down to a few meters.  I could go on and on – but you get the point – the NSA, because of systems like PRISM, possesses a lot of unnecessary data details about most American citizens.

This is where the “I’m not doing anything wrong – why should I worry” attitude and approach to things doesn’t cut it anymore. Just think about it, if you’re not completely off the grid – you are being data mined on almost every little detail of your life. You are being monitored, spied on everywhere you go.  In short, you are under surveillance so much — the NSA knows about your wazoo.  The other reason is that technology as well as people can go south – resulting in disastrous consequences.  Another way to put this is who monitors those who monitor the American public? Additionally, what checks and balances are in place when things get out of control?  I suspect none.

Even if you have a “don’t worry, be happy” attitude about the whole NSA spying scandal – you should ask yourself these questions: Do you really want the NSA to know every little  detail about your life?  Furthermore, do you want to be monitored everywhere you go?  My personal answers to the aforementioned questions is no.

So again, this is the world that we now live in.  It is a world that far surpasses George Orwell’s “1984” both in technology and function.  It is also a world that be inconceivable even to George Orwell himself.

How do you feel about the NSA spying scandal — leave a comment.

News/photo source: The Guardian, UK.

If ya don’t listen it will hurt you…

It’s fast approaching mid year and from the looks of it, the tech industry is experiencing at least two major epic flops this year.  What’s so unprecedented is that these two epic flops are from two major tech companies, Microsoft and Facebook.  More importantly, these two failures are perfect examples of how not listening to your users can cause big time trouble.

Microsoft’s epic fail is Windows 8, arguably the most bizarre and hated OS ever produced by the tech giant.  In Microsoft’s deluded view, Windows 8 represented a paradigm shift in the way users interacted with their computers.  But in reality, Windows 8 only gave users another reason to hate Microsoft.  And accordingly also sets the stage for a dichotomy of realities that the tech giant may not be able to overcome.

The problems with Windows 8 started early last year with its consumer preview.  Because the market is now flooded with tablets, Microsoft designed Windows 8 around a touch based interface.  This would be all well and good if the bulk of computing was done via tablets, which incidentally, it is not.  Despite the flood of tablets, computing is done on a wide range of devices that includes desktops and laptops.  Furthermore, there are still computing applications that tablets cannot perform and require the use of a desktop or a laptop.  Which brings us back to the dichotomy of realities that Microsoft now faces. Simply put, Windows 8 in it’s current form makes it hard for desktop use but easy for tablet use.  It is also this one sided OS approach that has angered a lot of Microsoft users.

Instead of taking the “listen to users” approach – Microsoft took the “suck up and do it our way” approach when designing Windows 8.  Had Microsoft listened to users early last year – and made the changes that they are currently scrambling to make – the whole Windows 8 debacle would never had happened.  And as Microsoft is now discovering angry consumers are a hard bunch to deal with – no matter what tactic (like using Internet trolls to combat complainers) you try to use on them.

Facebook’s epic fail is Facebook Home and is another example of why tech companies should listen to users.  Instead of improving upon current apps that run under Android – Facebook Home is designed to take control of a user’s phone.  This is because in the deluded minds of Mark Zuckerberg and his software developers, users want a total Facebook experience.  So much so, that in conjunction with the Facebook Home’s release for Android – HTC (a prominent smartphone manufacturer) also began producing the HTC First, a smartphone based totally on the aforementioned software.  Which, all of this would have been great if it was what users wanted.

As it turns out Facebook Home is not what users wanted. Indeed, had Mark Zuckerberg and his software developers listened to FB users, they would have found that users just wanted a stable bug free app.  They did not want a smartphone that was totally controlled by Facebook because the devices are used for other purposes – like making calls.  But for Zuckerberg and FB home – it’s now too late.  As it stands right now, just a few weeks after it’s megalithic, Saturn Five fanfare launch – Facebook Home is now burning up in the atmosphere of user dislike.  As well the HTC First is being pulled out of production due to abysmally poor sales.

Again, these failures are so startling because both companies chose to employ an arrogant “we know what you want” attitude towards their users.  If Microsoft and Facebook had simply listened to their users in the first place, both companies would not be going through a world of hurt and embarrassment  right now.  Simply put it pays to listen to your users – and that’s the bottom line…

A quantum of substance

As a creative person – have you ever asked yourself the question – do I have a quantum of substance?  Or do I have the minimal amount of substance which will cause interaction with my creative talents thereby producing fruit?  The short and simple answers to these questions should be yes.  But as with everything, short and simple answers aren’t always enough.

Now I know the aforementioned questions and answers may seem a bit bizarre in relationship to creativity – but just bear with me a few moments and I show you where I’m headed with this.

To backtrack a bit – those questions have been rolling around in my mind for a few months now – because I do consider myself to be a creative person.  But what prompted me to write this was a sense of futility around the net particularly when it comes to writing.  In fact, one piece that I read recently pretty much discouraged anyone that was considering writing as a profession.  Which, the author did cite sound issues like hard work, little pay, high rate of rejection and so forth as reasoning behind his position.

While the aforementioned reasons are valid, this should not discourage any creative person from pursuing their passion – writing or otherwise.  Furthermore, there are negatives when it comes to any pursuit in life – whether it be a business venture, a change in a career or again pursuing one’s creative passion.  This is particularly where a quantum of substance comes into play – because this is what keeps a creative person going when the odds are against them.  Also again, it is the quantum of substance which interacts with one’s creative talents thereby producing fruit.

Now the questions that I will leave you with are these – are you willing to allow your quantum of substance interact with your creative talents so that they produce fruit?  Or will you let discouragement block that interaction leaving you with that “could have – should have,” fruitless feeling?  The aforementioned questions can only be answered by you – and only you – so think long and hard before you answer them.

Nope, you’re wrong Melissa

About a week ago Melissa Harris-Perry, a Tulane University professor and  MSNBC host, appeared in a promotional commercial for the cable network.  Which, for MSNBC, Melissa Harris-Perry appearing in a promotional commercial was not unusual because the cable network regularly uses hosts in its ads.  What was unusual and frightening was what Melissa said in the commercial. See below:

“We have never invested as much in public education as we should have because we’ve always had a private notion of children, your kid is yours and totally your responsibility.  We haven’t had a very collective notion of these are our children.  So part of it is we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.  Once it’s everybody’s responsibility and not just the household’s we start making better investments.”

In one fell swoop, Melissa managed to smack down individual freedom while at the same time devalue the critical role of parents in their children’s lives.  As well, any time a human being is referred as community property or an investment is tantamount to blatant Marxism – plain and simple.  Furthermore, and beyond Marxism, it is these types of considerations that have eventually lead to horrific human enslavement and genocide throughout the ages and world wide.  Although Melissa has received considerable backlash (and rightfully so) about her statements – she is not backing down from them.  She is, however, pretty much calling her critics dumb because they don’t understand the true nature of her statements.  And due to all the vitriol against her – Melissa has taken the on victim tone by invoking a Bible verse (Matthew 5:44) in a recent Tweet to her critics.

The only problem with this is that Melissa is not the victim – and her invoking scripture about her being such is offensive.  It is also problematic that Melissa considers her critics to be dumb – because we do understand what you meant – and again it is wrong.  Finally, Melissa Harris-Perry needs to check the name of the country that she lives in.  Cause the last time I checked – it was America – not Amerika.

News source/photo source: MSNBC.

Don’t count the mouse out – not just yet

Because of the incursion of touch or gesture based devices the traditional pointer device (AKA mouse) has been under siege. And as with the PC, prognosticators have been predicting the doom filled end of the mouse. To a degree, those predictions may be right – but the death of the mouse is not imminent.

The traditional pointing device, whether it be a mouse or a track pad, will be around for a long time because people still need and want them. As well, there will also be a long term technological need for both wired and wireless traditional pointing devices. Think about it – there are many corporations, businesses and common everyday folk that still prefer to use mice. This is even with the explosion of touch based laptops, desktop computers, tablets and so forth. Yes, it is true, some users are fully going the touch route while not looking back – yet, others are sticking with traditional pointing devices. The explanation of the latter may be simply due to the fact that the traditional pointing device, even with all it’s antiquity, may be more comfortable to use. Especially in the case of desktop PCs or laptops.

Again, think about it – even with the most advanced gesture based pointer control – there’s a limit to how much you can hold your hand in the air comfortably. Now admittedly, I do find the latest and greatest innovations in pointer control devices to be quite cool. Particularly, those that use just hand or eye motion to operate – yes, indeed, quite cool. But while my geek, gotta have it, cool meter has gone off scale – the practical side of me shouts out comfort. Which, when my practical side begins to compete with my geek side – questions tend to arise. Such as, what would it be like to go through long computing sessions (which I have been lately) with a PC with just a touch screen and no mouse. I don’t know about you – but I think my right (left, if you’re a southpaw) hand and arm would be mighty tired after such a session.

On a more serious note, there is the specter of the type of injuries which will result due to newer pointing technologies just now coming onto the market. As with traditional keyboards and pointing devices, there is bound to be a wholly different set of injuries that result because of newer pointing technologies. Although this may be mere speculation on my part – I have no doubt that it will happen – making traditional pointing devices viable into the near future.

So even though my geek, gotta have it, cool meter is off scale because of new pointing technologies – I still haven’t dumped my mice. Furthermore, I don’t plan to do so for a long while – and you shouldn’t either.