Category: Rant

Republic Air CEO puts his faith to work

 Republic Air CEO puts his faith to work – The Denver Post

I find this extremely disturbing. It is part of a major trend over the last couple of decades whereby self-proclaimed “people of faith” try to inflict their beliefs on those around them. It is especially inappropriate when the CEO of a corporation makes it clear that the organizations beliefs are Christian beliefs. While the article says:

Bedford says he doesn’t try to convert anyone or require faith as an employment litmus test.

Unfortunately that fact that he makes it clear that the organization’s beliefs are Christian beliefs, any employee who does not share those beliefs is going to feel extremely threatened. If I am an Atheist, Wiccan, Buddhist, or an adherent to any belief system which does not match the Christian view of God, I would feel pressured to either pretend to share Christian beliefs, or leave. I would certainly feel like I had no career path in this organization.

I am not saying an organization should no put forward a value system. What is wrong is to bring an explicit statement of a specific religious doctrine into it. If his vision statements such as “every employee, regardless of personal beliefs or world view, has been created in the image and likeness of God.”, that is imposing upon me a creationist, fundamentalist view of the world, which is inappropriate.

Also implicit in this kind of thing is the commonly held belief (among “true believers”, anyway) that if you do not believe in God, and specifically a Judeo-Christian God, then you do not have beliefs, or morals, or values, or principles. I would put my beliefs and morals and principles up against any Christian on the planet – and am fairly confident my values are more “Christian” than those who support war, capital punishment, intolerance, racism, and yet call themselves “Christian”.

So, bring all the values and principles you want into a company, but please leave your religious dogma at the door.

PS – I did not mean to imply that my values are perfect, or that I am in any way perfect – only that being “Christian” is hardly proof positive that you have strong values, or any values at all for that matter.

Man fined $305 for smoking in workplace – his truck

 Man fined $305 for smoking in workplace – his truck – Canada – Canoe.ca

Ok, this is going to be another rant.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Another example of our government sticking their noses into things that are none of their damn business. Whether smoking is bad for me or not, it is none of the government’s business if I do it in an environment which is not harming anyone else (I do not smoke, by the way).

If they can give a ticket to a truck driver for smoking in his own truck with no one else around, what is next? Will they come into my house and give me a ticket because I work from home?

It is long past time to stand up to our governments and stop them from invading our privacy. It is none of the government’s business if I smoke when I am by myself. It is none of government’s business if I wear a helmet on my motorcycle, or a seatbelt in my car. I wear both helmets and seatbelts because I am a compulsive “rule follower”, but I should not have to. It is none of the governments business if I want to watch TV purchased from south of the border, without the CRTC’s interference. I should even be able to smoke a little marijuana if I so choose (I do not do that either).

Just think of all of the money our various levels of government could save if they would just stay the hell out of things which are none of their concern!

Guardian: “Microsoft beats Apple to the Tablet”. Really?

I hate to point this out, but contrary to what the Apple fanboys would have you believe, Microsoft beat Apple to the Tablet 7 years ago lol – they just f***ed up the marketing (as always).

As always, Apple loses the time-to-market battle, but will no doubt win the fanboy opinion battle. A few months a from now, the notoriously anti-Microsoft media will be proclaiming how brilliant Apple is for “inventing” the Tablet. 

Guardian: “Microsoft beats Apple to the Tablet”. Really? « Sharing the truth one thread at a time

Does anyone else hate video on news sites?

This is something that really bugs me – when I am looking around on news sites (CNN, Canoe, whatever) and I click on a headline to see what is behind it. Then I get a video – generally with little to no textual summary. While video is a wonderful medium, a lot of the time I have no interest in watching a video. I can find out what I want to know in an article by scanning the text in 10-20 seconds. On the other hand, if there is video I generally have to sit through 20-30 seconds of advertising, and then 2-3 minutes of content to find out the little bit of information I want.

So please, news sites, stop wasting my time!

Bad Airline Customer Service: No One to Complain To – TIME

 Bad Airline Customer Service: No One to Complain To – TIME

So this article strikes a nerve with me – and probably with almost anyone who has the misfortune to travel on an airline these days. Let me recount for you the story of my latest adventure flying on Air Canada…

A couple of weeks ago I found out I needed to go to Toronto (from my home in Moncton, NB) for a day of meetings. Several days before the trip, I went to the Air Canada web site to see what my options were (normally I avoid Air Canada  because of the consistently bad service, but in this case I had no choice). I booked a flight leaving Monday, August 24 in the evening and taking me to Toronto via Halifax. My return was the next evening, and was a direct flight.

As usual, I received an email 24 hours before my flight telling me I could check-in online at the AC web site. When I went to the web site, I noticed that the flight from Moncton to Halifax was already showing as delayed by 40 minutes. I was concerned, because this left me only 27 minutes to make my connection.

This worried me, and the next morning (early, about 3 AM) I called AC to see if I needed to change flights in order to make my connection. The agent put on hold, claiming she was contacting AC operations in Halifax, and then told me that there should not be a problem as they would hold the connection in Halifax. SO, I did my web check-in and went about my day.

I get to the airport Monday evening, and my flight still shows 40 minutes delay (you would think that if they knew it was delayed 24 hours in advance, they might find a way to recover). Then it was delayed another 5 minutes, then 10, then….well, when the departure time of my flight out of Moncton was the same as the departure time of my connection out of Halifax, I figured I was not making my connection. I decided to talk to the agent at the gate. Turns out the plane we were supposed to take had not even left Halifax yet – it was broken. I told him of my conversation with the customer service rep that morning, and he basically called me a liar – that no agent would make that statement, that they never hold flights for connections, and that besides, the flight had only been delayed for the first time at 5 PM (this despite the fact that I had an electronic boarding pass on my phone from 3 AM showing it already delayed at that point).

At this point I cancelled my flight, and got a prompt refund (though for the wrong amount – I will get to that later). I asked if there were any other options for getting me to this important meeting at 0900 the next morning, and was told that there was no way AC could get me to Toronto before late Tuesday.

On my way out of the terminal, I noticed that the refund amount was wrong. Going to the check-in counter, I find out that they cannot refund the “advanced seat selection fee”, and I would have to contact the refund processing centre to sort that out. I am given a card with contact information for AC. I also discover that it will take 1-2 billing periods for any refund to show on my credit card. Funny how they can take my money instantly, but it takes 4-8 weeks to give it back.

I get home. I call the refund centre. I eventually get routed to a voice mail box, which is unfortunately full, and I am summarily disconnected. Next, I try the eMail address provided. I receive an auto-response telling me they will get back to me – within 6 weeks.

I then start looking at options to get me to my meeting. Looking at he the AC web site, I discover that there are several options that will get me to Toronto in time for my meeting – none of them are great, but they can get me there. Funny that the agents at the airport could not be bothered helping me find a way to get there. I also end up spending twice as much as my original ticket, all because Air Canada cannot keep its planes in working order (this happens a lot flying out of Moncton).  I also spend up having to drive 100 miles each way to an airport in another city. I also forfeited a hotel room I had pre-booked in Toronto for Monday night. Too bad AC won’t reimburse me for all of those costs.

(not that on the way back, my flight out of Toronto was delayed 30 minutes as well – again because of a mechanical problem with the plane)

I would like to file a complaint with Air Canada, but they make this extremely difficult to impossible. It is completely impossible to speak to an actual person about it.

Air Canada (and most other airlines) makes it abundantly clear that they have no interest in their customers. This is why the airline industry is in the state it is – it is not high fuel costs, or other expenses. It is mismanagement, and a complete and utter contempt for their customers. An organization run this badly deserves to go out of business!

Making it hard to buy stuff

I have been looking around at computers for my daughter who is starting university in a month. I am leaning towards the HP TouchSmart TX2 tablets. Now, if you follow that link there is some slick content about this Tablet, and a button which says “Shop for it”.

Well, clicking that button takes me to the following page (and has for several weeks):

image

Talk about not making for a good shopping experience!

De-orbiting the ISS in 2016? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

 De-orbiting the ISS in 2016? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

This is a perfect example of what I was saying in my post yesterday. Given that any space program is going to be a large scale, multi-year (possibly multi-decade) effort, how do you accomplish anything when it is tied to the constant budgetary and political bullshit that infects our governments? Without the ability to define programs which are immune to political tides, it is virtually impossible, and the ISS is prime example.

As long as we have few if any leaders in the world who have any vision beyond the next election and their own (very well financed) retirements, there is no hope for space exploration.

The only hope lies in non-governmental space exploration. 

Michael Vick should be banned for life from NFL – George Dohrmann – SI.com

Michael Vick should be banned for life from NFL – George Dohrmann – SI.com

I have a lot of issues with the NFL’s attitude towards players who commit crimes or other actions of which the NFL disapproves.

I agree that what Vick did was horrendous. It is unthinkable to me that any human being could torture and kill animals for recreation (though for some reason shooting animals for entertainment is still acceptable).

That being said, the United States has a legal system. Michael Vick has been judge and punished for his actions by that legal system. If we disagree with the severity (or lack there of) of his punishment, then the issue is with the legal system. Vick has been sentenced. He is serving the terms of his sentence.

What right, then, does the NFL have to impose further punishment on him? Why does the NFL have the right to do what other employers can not?

Say I am a developer, a consultant, or a journalist, and I commit some crime not related to my profession – say DUI, drug possession, jay walking, animal cruelty, whatever – and I am held accountable by the legal system. My actions do not affect my ability to do my job. Would it then be appropriate for my employer to impose a suspension on me? To levy an additional fine? To tell me I am no longer allowed to work in my field?

Then why does the NFL have the right to impose its will, it opinion above and beyond the legal system? 

A Giant Leap…

I have been sitting and thinking about this day in history – obviously, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Like many others, I grew up watching the Apollo program. Honestly, it was a major aspect of my childhood. I remember being up in the middle of the night in 1969 (at 7 years old) to watch Neil Armstrong descend to the moon’s surface.  I remember sitting glued to the TV to watch every second of coverage, not just of Apollo 11, but of all of the missions which followed. I remember setting up my little cassette recorder in front of the TV speaker to record the audio so I could listen to it over and over (my first act of copyright infringement).

It was really a magical time for me – I was a little kid, and all of this real-life adventure was going on. I was already interested in astronomy at that age – I had started carrying astronomy books around with me when I was about 4. These events influenced much of my life – leading to my obsessions with astronomy and physics. It also led to my early career choices – working in remote sensing, and later working in satellite flight dynamics (sometimes I wonder why I ever stopped doing that).

It seemed at that time like we had just embarked on the first steps of a grand adventure, and that the adventure would only get grander.

So what the heck happened? Apollo rapidly lost it magic for the world. Skylab was interesting, but was ultimately a dead end. The shuttle as a program seemed exciting, but has never seemed to escape its problems. And there has never seemed to be a grand, long-term, sustainable vision for manned space flight.

Looking back, as impressive as Apollo was, mankind went to the moon for the wrong reasons. In the sixties,  there was no clear, long-term reason for going to the moon, at least not at the public and governmental levels. It was all about “we have to beat the communists to the moon”. It was not about “we need to go to the moon as a first step of humankind’s push to explore, to learn and expand.”

That is why interest in Apollo died. Once the Russians had been beaten to the moon, the race was over and there was no longer any reason to keep going back. The Soviet Union seemed unlikely to catch up or leap frog the US at the time, so there was no real motivation to go further.

Then came the Space Station. A grand vision. A permanent home in orbit. A platform not just for scientific study, but as a platform to reach further. Unfortunately, the Space Station as it came to be is a pale shadow of that vision.

This highlights the problems with the space program still. The percentage of the population that really, strongly believes in manned space travel is small. Every so often, someone will stand up with a grand vision. Occasionally, it will get funded (but never properly, just enough for promotional purposes). Then comes the next budget crunch, economic downturn, or election, the the vision gets revised, the scope reduced, and the budget whittled away.

We are seeing this right now. George W. Bush had his grand vision for going to Mars (trying to be like JFK?). Even at the outset however, it was not funded properly (cannot take away from the budget for blowing the hell out of everyone who disagrees with you). And this summer I see that a round of reviews are underway to assess (i.e. reduce) the scope.

So how do we actually have a space program? How do we push forward?

Well, the best way (maybe the only way) is for private sector to see a profit in exploration. Nothing gets people moving like dollar signs and ROI. Unfortunately, the ROI of space exploration is long term, and the vast majority of our political and business leaders are unable to think beyond the current quarter, current year, or the next election.

If space exploration remains in the hands of government, a way must be found to fund it, in a way that protects it from political games played by small minded people.

Unfortunately, I see very little hope for any of this. The magic has died – or maybe it was really all just an illusion to begin with.   

Apple plays softball with Palm – Fortune Brainstorm Tech

Apple plays softball with Palm – Fortune Brainstorm Tech

Once again, Apple demonstrates that it is the most proprietary, closed organization in the consumer marketplace. Again, is MS pulled something like this, there would be lawsuits and a DoJ investigation.