Marketing fun

This creative video pokes fun at what would happen if Microsoft designed the iPod packaging. I’m an MS fan in many ways, but this is creative criticism at its best.

Butler Field, this time with cameras

Daryl (fellow flight simmer) and I visited Butler Field in Saanich today and completed the photography. We bumped into the owner John Howroyd. And what tales he had to tell! There is a sharp dirt cliff (falling off to to gravel pit) just at the approach end of the runway, and he showed us the groove in the edge from a nosewheel that missed the approach by just 18 inches. We could still faintly see the corkscrew grooves in the turf from the prop. The field runs uphill from that approach, with trees at the end. If you land halfway down the field, go-around ain’t an option with most aircraft, as one pilot learned. He gunned it at that point and didn’t quite clear the trees. His plane flipped and landed on its back. John saw the accident and ran to attend to the victims. They had minor injuries, and as he pulled them out, he heard the deep thwop-thwop-thwop of a rescue chopper. A USCG heli from San Juan Island had picked up the ELT signal, and arrived at the same time as the local ground emergency crews. As everyone was ok, the chopper pilot asked folks if they wanted pictures: black-and-white, or colour.

The field is a shadow of its former self when it was home to dozens of aircraft, and was 1800 feet long. There are still 8 aircraft based there,  including:

• Piper J3-65 CF-IWO
• Stinson 108-2 CF-NSY
• Robinson R-22 registration unknown
• Luscombe 8F CF-SHE
• 2xTaylorcraft – CF-YLS and registration unknown
• Pietenpol Aircamper CF-AOG

This last was built in February 1933, and is reputed to be the aircraft with the longest continuous registration in Canada, and has been featured on TV and in books.

Many thanks for Daryl for his help, and John for the history. Daryl has posted some pics here.

Mitak’Oyas’In

I was saddened to see a comedian on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network ridicule white people wanting to take part in First Nation ceremonies, labelling them as “wannabees” who wished they had a native heritage.

I was saddened for two reasons.

1. Racial slurs are seen as ok by some, when directed at white people.  To me this reflects an unfortunate discrimination.

2. I was saddened that it bothered me.  Perhaps it was the sincerity of the sarcasm that I sensed from the speaker, but I’d prefer that I could take it as humour and take or leave it on that merit.

I was blessed to be taught once upon a time by a First Nations elder that he believed the Creator intended that white and red and black and yellow and all cultures take the best from each other.  I believe that pride in ancestory, when it assumes or implies a superiority over others, is divisive and unconstructive.  DNA testing has shown we are all something like 99.95% identical, and perhaps all our ancestors are in common as little as 20-40,000 years ago. 

We are all related.

Group/Choral Arrangements available

Denis Donnelly has created a new website, www.choralsongs.com to market his amazing multi-part vocal arrangements for vocal groups, large and small.  These include Irish and Scottish songs, Gospel Songs and Spirituals, Songs and Chants from World Traditions and Christmas Music.  Denis, co-director of the Gettin’ Higher Choir and director of the Soundings vocal ensemble has over the years pleased many thousands with his innovative and magical arrangements.

Congrats, Denis!

Does intrusive marketing work?

Here’s a shocker:  McAfee installing spam pop-ups on a machine: http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2006/02/mcafee_how_to_d.html

I got a call from a CIBC Visa telemarketer at 8 AM this Saturday with an inquiry about some promotion that was irrelevant to me.  They asked if I had received a Christmas promotional CD as this was only sent to a few customers.  Evidentally they don’t keep records of their junk mailings and want the customers to do their job for them.  CIBC is the same company that inserted a nag screen (promotional junk) on my online account that I had to acknowledge prior to allowing me access to my account.  I yelled at them about that and it vanished.

And my alma mater, without my permission, gave my supposedly confidential contact information to a credit card company so they could fire aggressive telemarketers at me. 

But does this kind of intrusive marketing really work?  Certainly it completely turns me off an organization (as it apparently did Rick Segal), and if it repeats after a complaint I terminate the service.  But am I just intolerant?  Do organizations actually earn extra business by abusing (IMO) their customer relationship in this way?

Another Vancouver+1 Review

This review by the German site flugsimulation.com (in German) is quite thorough.  I note that the reviewer has likely not fully followed installation instructions, as he should not be getting roads across water under bridges.  That’s likely because he has not disabled Joel’s freeware BC Roads.  The tree issue he reports at CYPK is a new one, and Arno points out that it’s likely the result of using a custom tree texture.

Honesty and perspective

Unfortunately here in British Columbia we have made a decision that vehicle driving skills are less important than the risk of injury and damage in an accident: the driver’s test is trivial and there is no mandatory retesting until a very advanced age, and then I believe only every five years.  Enforcement is sporadic.  Here in Victoria, as well as the run of the mill “bad” drivers, as a retirement haven we also have a large elderly population driving, many of whom should no longer be on the road.

And a couple of such old folks backed into my car, wrecking one car door, while I was off for a walk.  It’s the fifth time in two years a local driver has banged into my car when parked and then left the scene, although the others were mostly quite minor.  The good news: two witnesses took the time to provide details on what they saw (vehicle description, license, etc.) and provided that info.  It’s a criminal offence to leave the scene of an accident, with up to two years in jail.  So those folks are in quite a bit of trouble.

I’m grateful to those good folks who took the time to get involved.  I think most people have such good intentions.  And most people I’ll bet consider themselves “good” drivers while very few are driving defensively, with attention and focus, anticipating and reacting to keep them and others safe.  It seems skewed that so many parents are concerned with issues like their children being kidnapped by a stranger (which I understand is a very rare occurance in Canada), yet are nonchalant about the far higher risk they expose their children to every time they put them in the car and chat on a cel phone.

On the other hand, if driving tests were truly designed to ensure driver competence, I suspect that many, many people would not be able to get a license.  That would have a significant social and economic impact which, as a society, we’ve decided is more important than the damage, injury and deaths that occur.

So I suspect that the status quo will remain: folks will blame “dangerous” roads (I’ve yet to hear of a road actively attacking anyone), the “other guy”, cars that “came out of no-where” and the weather.

Media-free

There are times in my life when I’ve gone for years at a time without picking up a newspaper or watching TV news.  I’ve found it refreshing, and kind of fun to catch up a bit when I connect again.  The last few years I’ve been watching the news, reading the paper, etc., and can only conclude that it’s morbid fascination that brings me back.  This latest phase of news-watching started after 9/11 and I feel no wiser for most of what I’ve read or heard.  I do often feel angry at what I hear, which reflects my frustration at feeling challenged in my belief that as a society we are improving and progressing.  And subscribing to specific newsfeeds, be they technical or focused on other areas of interest, can bring me the info I really want.  Watching historical documentaries, given the passage of enough time, is cool.  That time seems to allow for perspective and something possibly closer to reality.

IMHO, what we see and read is heavily filtered, not by some great conspiracy, but by the natural biases and limited perspective that any reporter will have in real-time reporting.  When I’ve personally experienced politics or business or native community or whatever, the conclusions I reached were vastly different than those of the media, and what I’d read or seen on TV was of little relevance.  So I think media watching is of more value as entertainment, or as fodder for conversation than of true understanding.

It seems like I’m telling myself it’s time to turn it off again.  Time to chill.

How about those Italian women?

The Olympic hockey team, that is. To field a team in a country where only a few hundred women play hockey is gutsy. And they were tiny (some 55kg, 160cm, etc.). But they played a very disciplined defensive style despite being so dramatically outclassed by the Canadian team. The 16-0 final score doesn’t reflect their tenacity and determination.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

I was introduced to Science Fiction by a friend when I was 12, and gobbled it up as best I could considering that there were no SciFi sections in the bookstores at that time. Mail-order was our only source. And in one order I snuck in a little “science fact,” a book by George Gamow (who was also the author of one of my University physics books in later years) called “1,2,3 … Infinity”. The descriptions of relativity and assorted physics, explained for the layman, blew me away, and 40 years later I still remember my astonishment and delight as I inhaled its magic.

For Christmas my wife gave me a similar book, but written in 2003, so somewhat more current, “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson. Since my university science training was complete in the 70s a lot has been learned about physics, astronomy and geology, so I’m getting a bit of an update. Written somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the scientifc updates are interwoven with fascinating historical snippets about the men and women who discovered, researched and theorized.

It’s a must-read for anyone with an interest in science, and shows too that politicians are not alone in their egocentric silly sniping. It’s amazing the lengths that so-called “scientists” will go to to refute theories contrary to their own. Sure, their research funding may be at risk, but it’s hardly scientific to ridicule, shame, sabotage and undermine colleagues with differing opinions. On the other hand, such silly, immature behaviour may goad researchers to dig deeper and seek further.

As an example, at the same time in 1963 that plate tectonics theory was first being proposed by researcher Drummond Matthews and his student Fred Vine, Canadian Lawrence Morely apparently submitted a paper proposing the same theory to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The editor is quoted as replying, “Such speculations make interesting talk at cocktail parties, but it is not the sort of thing that ought to be published under serious scientific aegis.” Apparently by 1980 one in eight geologists still did not believe in the theory.

The book abounds with such anecdotes and stats, and I’m not looking forward to finishing it … it’s much too fun.

Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote review

I recently purchased this device. Here’s a copy of the review I submitted to CNet.

Pros:

• clear color display
• sophisticated flexibility
• extensive database
• contoured buttons helpful in dark or for sight-impaired
• good telephone support

Cons:

• painfully slow web-based programming,
• not clear how to replace macro functions,
• poor email support
• no written manual included with product,
• online manual is meagre
• web manual hotlinks don’t work (did they not buy the Adobe PDF writer?)
• button text is too small for many functions (mute, for example)
• I don’t want yet another application sitting in memory all the time looking for updates
• I don’t trust Logitech to use all the personal information they collect (as the result of using a web-based application) in a way that is in my best interest
• the programming module reorders programmable button to match some paradigm, ignoring user preference, diminishing the value of programmable buttons
• the web interface detects that FireFox is not a supported browser, and since the resident process fires up the default browser, if you have FireFox as your default, this is a major annoyance
• the exit option is obscured when right-clicking on quick-access icon if the taskbar is four or more sections high (he pop-up window has lower priority than the taskbar)
• they use a proprietary rechargeable battery (big mistake!) which does not seat positively in the battery compartment

Comments

I was excited about the potential of this remote to help my Mom whose eyesight is poor and who can get confused (as can I!) when she has to deal with a handful of remotes. The clear, programmable color display (with a large-text mode) is impressive. The first disappointment was the programming process: the web-based system is very slow. The website timed out frequently (and no, my ISP was doing just fine). Once preferences were set, it took a while for the programming request to be queued and processed. Then followed a binary download and programming of the device. Except for the choice of devices, this whole process could have been a local PC application. And having to test this on my system, and do a number of iterations was extremely frustrating.

I was amazed to see my ancient Altec-Lansing audio system as the example Altec device. I’d hijacked it from an old computer system. All devices I tested (a total of 8 ) were in the database: well done.

Documentation is minimal and incomplete. Support-wise, the web-based email support was virtually useless, it took 5 days to get a response. In contrast, I found the toll-free phone support to be prompt, courteous and informed.

My mother ran into problems though fairly immediately when using the unit, it would often reset (show the “testing” screen and go back to the intro screen). Of course on/off device synchronism is lost when this happens so it’s quite a mess. Customer support immediately recognized this as probably caused by poor battery seating and recommended I stuff a strip of paper in the compartment to put upward pressure on the battery against the contacts. Eek. After a couple of weeks though, the device “blue-screened” (literally!!!), and the only way to fix it was to take the battery out and put it back in. Customer support then suggested it was time for a new unit, which I have just now picked up.

Another somewhat scary bit: the “aspect” function did not change the aspect ratio for one of the TVs I tested. With no macro programming capability there was then no way to duplicate the keystrokes needed to achieve this. So unless I’m missing something, this is a serious limitation.

Summary

I would not recommend this device for anyone non-technical or if any of the issues I outline here are a concern. It’s a remarkable product considering it’s Logitech’s first foray into programmable remotes, but their lack of experience is glaring. If there were an equivalent competitive product, I would encourage folks to look at those, but I found nothing that had the same features. So unless it continues to crash I will stick with it.

Phonetic Silliness

In November, to echoing “Bravo!”s, Quebecers Charlie and Oscar golfed at the Sierra Delta Hotel with Juliet’s poppa, Mike. Taking the Alpha Romeo many kilos from India to Lima, x-ray or not, Yankee-born Victor would tango and foxtrot with Zulus in his whiskey-stained uniform.

Vancouver+1 Review

Lydell Stelmack has kindly done a review of Vancouver+ Part 1 for AVSim. It can be found here.

Middle School

Last night my wife and daughter and I attended an open-house at the Middle School our daughter will be going to in the fall. It brought back of course memories of my own schooling in the 60s, but with a twist: the environment seemed dramatically more positive and supportive. There were far more activities available for the kids, including on-site afterschool care, and various posters spoke to school guidelines for respectful behaviour or bluntly encouraged the kids to reach out (800-668-6868, Canada only I believe) if they were dealing with sexual or other difficult adolescent issues. Very cool.

Defection

Here’s an interesting one: only two weeks after the Canadian federal election a Liberal member of parliament has chosen to change his stripes and become a conservative, and has been appointed to the cabinet.  After criticizing the conservative leader Harper in the election campaign, he now joins him.  I’d love to hear the inside story on what really has happened here.  The conservatives had no members from Vancouver, and now they do.  So do folks that had voted for this man feel betrayed, or glad their constituency had the local MP as a member of the cabinet?

And is as the first move of a Prime Minister who promised ethical government, I think Harper blew this one.

Sports dabble

Yesterday I watched a couple of periods of Canadiens hockey and the Super Bowl.  The last Super Bowl I watched was VII, so it’s been a while.  At least three Seahawk rushes (including one with a TD) were called back due to penalties and fizzled.  And what happened to the Seahawks at the end of the halves?  Strange plays.  Entertaining overall though, and today at some point I’ll catch up on the commercials.  In Canada, the commercials are mostly replaced with boring, ordinary spots.

It’s not been quite so long for hockey, perhaps only 20 years or so, and it was good hockey.  I still am amazed that a bizarre play that started in the 70s is still used: throw the puck into the corner or behind the net, giving up possession.  No, not on a line change.  There is something there I must be missing.

Boys and their toys

Who needs a simulator?

FS9 in the real world

Butler Field

I had a meeting today very close to Butler field in Central Saanich, so although I didn’t have my camera with me, I dropped by.  What a fun little field!  Only 800 feet or so, with some nice high trees at one end, and a steep drop into a gravel pit at the other.  And some great little hangers with lots of character.  It’s going to make a nice addition to vicenh06 (upcoming FS9 enhancement for Victoria).  Daryl and I hopefully will make it out there next week to do the photography.