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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Bye bye ITT Tech – it was nice knowing you – NOT…

By know you might be aware that ITT Tech, the for profit educational institute, is in deep trouble.  I mean really deep trouble – similar to what the Titanic encountered when she hit that ice burg.  Because like the captain of the Titanic getting the news that his ship was hopelessly doomed – so did ITT Tech in the form of government sanctions which prohibit the school from admitting students who use federal aid to pay for tuition.  As a consequence, ITT Tech has abruptly stopped admitting students.  Which, incidentally, no students means no income and eventual shutdown of the school.  As well, no more “ITT Tech made me so successful,” late night TV commercials for you.  Game over – man – game over.

While some of you may be incensed about my gleeful attitude concerning ITT Tech’s plight – I will say just bear with me through this  blog.  I do admit that ITT Tech may have helped some students to eventually become successful.  And I do admit that some of the teachers and staff at ITT Tech genuinely cared about their students.  However, the aforementioned does not in any way change my feelings about for profit schools like ITT Tech.  Because educational institutes like this are complete shams whose sole purpose is to make big time money by ripping off students by providing shoddy education.  In short, for profit institutes like ITT Tech give all legitimate educational institutes a bad reputation.

Again, some of you reading this blog may be thinking that I have no first hand experience concerning for profit schools – so what gives me the right to make an assessment like this?  Because in actuality, I do have first hand experience.  In the mid 80’s I was hired as an admissions rep at the now infamous Kee Business College AKA National Education Centers.  To my naive mind, this seemed like the perfect job because as my trainers put it “it’s all about helping people get the best education possible.”  I soon found out that it was all about greed and making money any way you could.  Or in other words mo money, mo money, mo money…

The campus that I worked at was so poorly run, it was incredible. All of the staff underwent constant berating  (sometimes daily) by the school’s director whose sole focus was making money.  For admissions reps like me, it was all about quotas – which, if you did not meet your daily quota – there was hell to pay.  This made for a work atmosphere where one was basically damned if you do – damned if you don’t.  For instance, when I arrived at the school for work one Wednesday morning, I found that none of the admin staff had come in.  From the director (who I think was on drugs) on down – no one was there.  I was suddenly faced with teachers and students barraging me about getting the school opened for the day.  When I mentioned to one of the teachers that I was just an admissions rep – her response to me was a pointed “YOU ARE NOW IN CHARGE!” So with my naive self, I took charge of the situation and got the school open. Not only did I get the school open, I gave directions to teachers, answered the phones, took admissions for other reps until one of the secretaries straggled in about 1 PM.  Yet, for all my efforts, the only thing that I got from the director (who didn’t show up until the next day) was a screaming rant about not making my quota.  Needless to say, I turned in my resignation about three months after that.  So again mo money, mo money, mo money…

But I digress – and let’s get back to ITT Tech for some final thoughts: If you are considering education to better yourself – whether for career or otherwise – please seek out a reputable collage (2yr/4yr) or training institute instead of these jackals. Also do research on the educational institute you are considering and make sure things like course credits can transfer.  In certain cases you may even be able to get the education or whatever certifications you are seeking for free or very low costs. Lastly, don’t be taken in by those hipster commercials from these educational scams.

In conclusion, I hope ITT Tech and other shams like it burn in hell because of all the damage that they have brought to the realm of education.

Update (09/06/16):  ITT Tech has just announced that it is shutting down for good. Which, being the scam that it is – ITT Tech did exactly what I thought it was going to do – leave thousands of students and employees hanging like a missed ornament on a Christmas tree that’s on the garbage pile.  In doing so, ITT Tech also played the victim card (it’s not our fault this happened, blah, blah, blah…) instead of accepting responsibility and blame for the sudden shutdown.  SMH.

Do you think that I’m being too hard on ITT Tech and other for profit schools which are similar to it?  Leave a comment.

News sources: GIZMODO and Daily Job Cuts.

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So you think you’re that great?

This is just a warning to the narcissistic “all that” people in this world.  Your time is coming. It may not be this instant, next month, or year from now – but your time is coming.

What got me going on the “what goes around comes around” topic this morning is the way that Robin William’s daughter, Zelda Rae, was treated on social media in the days following her father’s death.  This,  plus some issues that I have been personally going through in the last few weeks.  In short, Zelda was forced to stop using social media of any type due to the cruel and heartless comments about her father.

Whether it is a face to face confrontation – or from behind a computer screen – words can critically damage a person.  Particularly, when that person is going through a difficult time such as Zelda.  More so, even if you’ve done things to help the person that you are assaulting with your words – your aforementioned efforts are nullified by your words.  Furthermore, your “I’m better than you” premise that gives you the “so called” right to destroy people with words is in itself faulty.  Because you are not better than – and you have faults, skeletons, what have you – just like the person that you are assaulting.

But here’s the real kicker – by you unfairly railing upon whoever you are railing upon – you are opening the door for trouble.  Because, indeed, what goes around comes around – and the very same treatment that you put out to others is coming to you.  Even worse, you may find yourself in a “tables turned” condition where you need that aforementioned railed upon person more than they need you!

Just saying…

Why CDC, why?

That’s my question to the CDC because of their latest actions – bringing two American aid workers infected with Ebola back to this nation.  Why?

Before I go off on my rant against the CDC due to what they are doing – let me first state that I am not trying to be cruel to the two American aid workers who have been infected with this deadly virus.  Indeed, my heart goes out to them and their families because their fate is most likely death.

My feelings about the CDC, however, are a different matter.  This is because I have long since lost all confidence in the CDC.  Furthermore, I do not believe that the CDC is fully capable of protecting the citizens of this country should a deadly virus like Ebola happen to find its way into the general population.  Which, given the overall incompetence of the CDC – why is this organization being allowed to bring those two aid workers into this country?

Just this year alone, the CDC has had two massive failures involving major viruses and diseases.  Those being small pox and anthrax. In both cases, the aforementioned were not properly stored.  In the case involving anthrax, CDC workers had to be treated because of possible exposure.

That’s not the only thing that the CDC is dealing with these days.  For instance, bacteria which is fully resistant to most antibiotics is running rampant in hospitals.  New strains of tuberculosis (also resistant to antibiotics) have been found in this country.  New strains of flesh eating bacteria are maiming (or killing) people left and right.  Almost on a weekly basis, there are reports of major outbreaks of food poisoning because of bacteria.  Right now there is an unchecked flood of immigrants coming across the US/Mexican border.  These immigrants are reportedly infested with anything from lice to H1N1.  Which, the CDC has done nothing to address the flood of immigrants or the medical issues that they are bringing into this country.

So again, why is the CDC being allowed to bring these two aid workers into this country?  Why, when there is no known cure for Ebola?  Why, when there is a 60 to 90% mortality rate with this virus?  Why?

P.S., Yes, I do know that it is the job of the FDA to prevent bad food products from being consumed by citizens in this country.  It is my opinion, however, that the CDC should be working closely with the FDA when potential food poisoning cases involving bacteria or viruses that can be easily spread through food products occur.  BTW, it’s also my belief that the FDA is just as incompetent as the CDC.

Do you think I’m being paranoid about what the CDC is doing?  Leave a comment.

Photo source: NBC News.

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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.

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.

Again, the PC is not dead…

A few days ago, the research firm IDC put out a forecast that 2013 would mark the second year of declining PC sales.  This dismal news came on the heels of a really bad first quarter overall down tick for the PC industry as a whole.  Consequently, the Net is all abuzz, again, with doomsday prognostications for the PC.

Even though the news is bad for the PC industry – it is not the end of it.  And those who are forecasting the end of the PC industry are wrong.  Which, there are some simple answers to why these prognostications are wrong.  First, the most obvious reason is that the tablet, the supposed successor to the PC, still cannot do what a PC can do horsepower wise.  Even tablets like the Windows Surface Pro are bested by a decent PC when it comes to horsepower.  Second, tablets do not offer the flexibility that PCs do.  For instance, most tablets come with a fixed memory size and limited storage options. PCs on the other hand offer better options both in terms of memory and storage.  Third, the PC runs circles around a tablet when it comes to display options – hands down.

But perhaps the most obvious reason why the PC industry is not dying is that the IDC forecast is based upon flawed data.  Indeed, PC sales are trailing off and conversely tablet sales are increasing, however the study that resulted in the IDC forecast did not take into account certain factors.  For instance, the IDC study did not go into detail as to why PC sales are down.  Which, some of those factors are the current economy, consumer dislike in terms of Windows 8 and consumers having to replace cheap tablets.  Starting with the economy, most consumers either don’t have the money to purchase new systems or don’t see the need to upgrade what they currently own.  Just like with the auto industry, consumers are hanging on to older PCs much longer because they still get the job done.  Moving on to Windows 8, Microsoft did a lot of harm to the PC industry when it created this OS. This is because consumers generally hate Windows 8 and are voting with their pocketbooks by not buying PCs with the loathsome OS.  Finally, the study did not cover the amount of cheap, off brand tablets which consumers had to replace due to premature failures, etc.  I could go on and on – but again, if one was to drill down and look at the underlying trends in the study – a completely different outlook would have been found.

In short, although sales are way down, the PC industry is not on it’s death bed.  Until a tablet can fully replace a PC in form and function – there will always be a need for the PC.  As well tablets are years away from replacing PCs – a fact which is hard to ignore.  And a fact that all the naysayers should take into consideration while rethinking their prognostications about the PC.

News source: WIRED.COM.

 

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.

Who shot the PC industry?

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the PC industry and how near to the death bed it is. Indeed, in the view of some pundits the PC industry is on life support, just waiting for someone to “pull the plug” so to speak.  And just like the infamous “Who Shot J.R.,” Dallas episode – people are wondering who shot the PC industry?

First, let me say that the PC industry is not dead and I don’t think it will be dead for a long time to come.  There will always be a need for PCs (desktops and laptops) because of the power and flexibility they still offer.  But to be real about things, the PC industry is in serious decline due to numerous issues.

The first issue is the economy which is affecting not just the PC industry but all sectors of manufacturing.  Because of the poor economy, there is now an overall tendency with consumers to hold onto items longer rather than replace them on a regular basis.  For instance, consumers are generally holding on to old cars for longer durations (in some cases up to 10 years) instead of purchasing new cars.  The same can be said with the PC industry – consumers are holding onto old PC gear for longer periods and just not purchasing new units as often.

The second issue is the tablet PC and how it’s being positioned as a traditional PC replacement.  Which, for some consumers the tablet PC can suffice as their primary computing device – while for other consumers it definitely cannot.  And it is this dichotomy of need where many PC manufacturers are making a tremendous mistake.  As it stands right now, a tablet PC cannot replace a traditional PC because of what it cannot do effectively.  Traditional PCs are better at multitasking, crunching numbers, video editing, programming as well as other intensive applications that require both computing horsepower and screen real estate.  Yet, PC manufacturers have focused so heavily on tablets that the traditional PC has begun to lag.  Apple, for instance, has not offered a significant upgrade to its Mac Pro line, a mainstay in professional imaging applications, in quite some time.  Again, this is a serious mistake on the part of manufacturers because there are still a lot of users (both professional and non-professional alike) who need traditional PC’s and laptops.

The third issue and perhaps the most critical is the desktops that traditional PCs run.  Right now there is a general trend (across all OS platforms, Linux, OS-X, Windows) towards a simplified desktop.  Although some would cite the introduction of tablets with the move towards a simplified desktop – it was actually Apple’s move from OS-9 to OS-X that started the trend – well before the introduction of the iPad.  Other notable simplified desktop moves came from the K desktop Environment (KDE), Canonical (Ubuntu) with its Unity desktop, Gnome with it’s 3.x series desktop and lastly Microsoft with its Windows 8 Modern UI.

Although all aforementioned desktops were met with some angst upon their introduction – it is the Windows 8 MUI that has received the most vitriolic criticism to date.  What’s even worse for Microsoft is that the Windows 8 MUI is being called a detriment to the PC industry because the desktop fails miserably when it comes to usability.  Which,  generally, I do agree with this assessment due to the Windows 8 MUI being illogical in its layout.  Another critical failure is that the MUI is also a touch based desktop environment which is more conducive to tablets rather than traditional PCs.  Again, even though there was considerable user angst against other new simplified desktop environments such as Unity, that angst abated about a year or so.  This was because desktops like Unity were logically laid out and therefore did not suffer from the usability problems that the MUI has.  As well, the angst and overall condemnation of Windows 8 and its MUI doesn’t appear to be abating but rather increasing.

All in all there are multiple strikes against the traditional PC at this moment – but nevertheless, the PC is still a viable instrument in the field of computing.  And although the PC industry has been shot several times – it can, just like J.R. Ewing, recover from its injuries and continue on with life.