MEME: Raskin’s Design Principle: “Computers should never lose work or waste time.”

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

http://www.svenread.com/dont-harm-a-human/

Don’t harm a human

During reading Jef Raskins “Humane Interface” for the first time I came across him quoting Isaac Asimov’s famous first rule for robots: “A robot shall not harm a human, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.” He rightly pointed to the deep meaning this quote should have to every interface designer and it got me thinking about how right he actually is.

Raskin exchanges “robot” for “computer” and “harm a human” with “lose work” or “waste time”. But I actually would prefer to leave the “harm a human” as is, because it encapsulates both lost work and wasting time, as well as other disastrous events that can occur while using a computer / applications / websites.

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Raskin’s Design Principle: “Computers should never lose work or waste time.”

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RANT: Cracker Barrel twice wrong

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
Restaurant · 1,530,109 Likes

Dear Cracker Barrel Customer:

When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done.

You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong.

We listened.

Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.

And, we apologize for offending you.

We respect all individuals right to express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think different.

We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker Barrel family.

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Yeah, I guess there are more “Duck Dynasty” Customers than not!

What a bunch of weasels.

Can’t stand on what they believe. They just shift with the wind.

Argh!

Think Henry Ford, Sam Walton, or Frank Mars would be like that?

(I don’t think so. They might be wrong, but they were business leaders.)

Argh!

Phil from “Duck Dynasty” might be a lot of things, but those are his beliefs.

A&E, Cracker Barrel, and how many others have none!

Personally, WWJD? I think he might say: “Awful lot of judging going on. Isn’t that the Big Boss’ job? Get back to the Golden Rule.” 

Merry, or whatever seasonal greeting, if any, is appropriate for you.

(Remember I’m a “bah humbug” guy who cheers for the OLD Ebenezer.) 

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SERVICE: Yahoo Mail is “Not Recommended”!

Monday, December 23, 2013

 

Yahoo Customer Care Satisfaction Survey

Dear Ferdinand

Your opinion matters. Hearing about what you think will help us improve our products and services. Please take a couple minutes to complete our short online survey about your recent experience with Yahoo Customer Care.

Please select the link below to complete the survey: Take the survey now

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Yahoo Customer Care Team


Case number: 131210-081188
Property: Mail
Contact date: 12/10/2013 07:01 PM

    

take the survey

take the survey
New from Yahoo
Don’t just check the weather, see it. Introducing the Yahoo Weather app. The forecast is beautiful.
Download for iPhone. Download for Android.

Copyright © 2013 Yahoo Inc. All rights reserved.

My feedback: “I’m exiting Yahoo Mail as soon as possible and urging others to do the same.”

Partial outages, nonexistent support, and “doesn’t play well with others”.

Steer clear!

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FUN: Movie AMERICAN HUSTLE — recommended

Sunday, December 22, 2013

AMERICAN HUSTLE — recommended

Interesting plot, but the two girls steal the show. AA for the sex that just exudes thru the screen JL for a yeoman’s job at taking a small part and stealing the show. This movie actually made me feel sorry for the politicians. That’s a powerful statement since they are like used car salesmen. Worth the price.

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LIBERTARIAN: Murder and restitution

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Newark, Irvington Men Accused of Deadly Short Hills Mall Carjacking

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This is a difficult one for me being a little L libertarian.

One presumes that the Zero Aggression Principle is the operative “Golden Rule”.

So hence, I derive the corollary “No victim; no crime”.

And shortly after that: “Justice is restitution”.

If I accidentally injure you, I have to make things right. 

If I intentionally injure you, not only do I have to make it right, but there should be a penalty to ensure I don’t do it again. That’s why I like the concept of “punitive damages”. No better way to get people’s attention than to pile on. (“Now listen McDonalds, juries have been telling you that too many people are being injured by super hot coffee. Will a 16m$ judgment get your attention?” And, it did.)

After a while I came to the realization that the “death penalty” administered by a Gooferment court is too capricious and arbitrary. And, there’s nothing in the Constitution that permits this. So, the Gooferment shouldn’t be killing anyone unless they are preventing force or fraud on a citizen. Beside once they kill you, they can’t fix that mistake.

I can see a possible exception where someone is a convicted felon and they are too dangerous to keep around. Although there’s a lot of land in Alaska for the bad guys to try farming. 

Where my thinking (i.e., memes and paradigms) break down is in cases like this. Intentional, or even unintentionally, killing a fellow human being who has done nothing to you.

How do you make restitution in this case?

And, more importantly, how is the bad guy prevented from doing it again?

“Alaska farming” and if you go outside our “security zone”, then your “restraining collar” blows your head off.

So cases like this really stretch my little L libertarian meme.

Help me?

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POLITICAL: Obamacare makes fraud legal

Saturday, December 21, 2013

http://www.strike-the-root.com/has-government-legalized-fraud

Has Government Legalized Fraud?
Column by Lawrence Samuels, posted on December 12, 2013
in Statism Health Care Fraud/Waste/Abuse
Column by L.K. Samuels.

Exclusive to STR

*** begin quote ***

The federal government must have made fraud a legal practice. What else could one conclude in light of Obamacare?

When President Obama, his administration and his Democratic cohorts promoted the Affordable Health Care Act, they advertised it with a slew of silver-tongued falsehoods, eloquent misstatements and outright lies. In other words, Obamacare was passed by Congress under clearly fraudulent statements of epic proportions. Almost every promise devised to sell Obamacare to the public and Congress was untrue. Millions of people have lost their coverage, although President Obama stated in 30 to 40 versions that, “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” There were no caveats, no exceptions, period.

And yet Obama and his staff knew for years that millions of health care plans had to be cancelled because they would be considered substandard by the new law. Lisa Myers at NBC News revealed this shame. She said that the Obama administration had known since the summer of 2010 that millions of Americans could lose their insurance under the law, where “50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a ‘cancellation’ letter . . . . ” As more information keeps coming out, it turns out that Obama’s polished statements had been carefully vetted by his staff, but coldly calculated to deceive the buying public.

Any salesman employing such deceitful business practices would be prosecuted in a New York second. But nobody has brought a class action suit against Obama or his administration for massive and unmitigated fraud. No attorney general from any one of the 50 states has filed charges. The conclusion one would have to reach is that the government has the right to commit fraud.

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It would certain appear that “political lies” have reached a new level of audacity.

“I wouldn’t believe you, if your tongue came notarized.” … attributed to Judge Marilyn Milian, but may have an earlier history.

Clearly, anything that the Gooferment, politicians, or bureaucrats say or publish can not be trusted.

Wonder when the revolution will start?

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GUNS: Why Good People Should Be Armed

Friday, December 20, 2013

http://youtu.be/20RoAfflGCM

Why Good People Should Be Armed

Josie Outlaw Josie Outlaw·4 videos

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This young lady says it all in 15 minute video. 

Simple.

Clear.

and concise!

It’s the Gooferment, stupid.

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Why Good People Should Be Armed

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MEMORIES: An anniversary passes

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Today is “one of THOSE days”.

Just another sad day in the “sad season”.

It would have been 43 years today.

Saint Henry’s in Bayonne. High Hat reception. Pocono’s for a quickie honeymoon.

So much promise; so much life. And it was cut short. Longer than expected; shorter than needed.

Life’s just not fair. It’s just life.

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RANT: Why subsidize ANYTHING?

Thursday, December 19, 2013

http://washingtonexaminer.com/bill-de-blasios-first-decision-corporate-welfare-for-the-yankees-and-an-arab-sheik/article/2540574

Bill de Blasio’s first decision: Corporate welfare for the Yankees and an Arab sheik?
BY TIMOTHY P. CARNEY | DECEMBER 11, 2013 AT 3:50 PM
TOPICS: BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL NEW YORK CITY BILL DE BLASIO SUBSIDIES

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Progressives like NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio want Big Government to work for the deserving. So, the question is: How deserving are the New York Yankees and Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan?

The New York Daily News reports:

Under the complex proposal, the new soccer team — a joint venture of the Yankees and Manchester City Football Club, a British team owned by Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan — would pay virtually no rent for 38 years for the largely city-owned land on which the proposed 28,000-seat soccer venue would sit.

The new franchise would also be permitted to divert the property taxes it would normally owe the city to pay off its bonds, the sources said — a deal similar to the one the Yankees and the Mets got for their new stadiums in 2005. The soccer club would be exempt from sales taxes or mortgage taxes.

Sports owners may be the most subsidized class in America. Every year, we hear of a few new stadiums getting taxpayer subsidies.

Today, the Atlanta Tea Party filed a lawsuit to block subsidies for a new Atlanta Braves baseball stadium in Georgia’s Cobb County. Washington, D.C., is going to spend nine figures on a soccer stadium and charge the team $1 in rent. There are hundreds of examples of this.

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There is no justification for this type of favoritism.

It should be de facto not even eligible to be considered by any politician or bureaucrat.

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INSPIRATIONAL: I like ‘redneck engineering’

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/522371/how-remote-places-can-get-cellular-coverage-by-doing-it-themselves/

COMMUNICATIONS NEWS 4 COMMENTS
How Remote Places Can Get Cellular Coverage by Doing It Themselves
With Swedish telephone numbers and a tree-bound base station, a remote Indonesian village runs its own telecommunications company.

By David Talbot on December 11, 2013

WHY IT MATTERS

Much of the world still lacks even basic cellular access.

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A four-hour drive from the nearest cellular coverage in the remote highlands of Papua, Indonesia, a new kind of guerilla telecom network is operating, albeit outside the law, using a cheap base station roped into a treetop.

The technology could provide a new model for self-managed “last mile” mobile coverage in the world’s hardest-to-reach areas, where traditional top-down telecommunications business models don’t work.

The project was set up by a team from the University of California, Berkeley. The resulting network is now operated by a tiny stand-alone telecommunications company run by a local NGO, with a laptop for local billing and a satellite connection to the rest of the world. The network relies on Swedish phone numbers because no local telecommunications company would provide them.

“It’s a telco-in-a-box that we put in a tree,” says Kurtis Heimerl, a developer at Range Networks and grad student at UC Berkeley who led the project. “It’s a demonstration that these populations can profitably and sustainably manage their own networks. We don’t need telcos to do this; these communities can do this by themselves.”

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The system includes some elements of “redneck engineering,” Cutrell says. “They just hauled a base station up into the tree and roped it in, and they’ve got a signal.”

*** end quote ***

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