I grew up in the days when we had friendly station masters, that would let me pull the the points levers in the signal boxes. Tram conductors who would give the correct change, help you on your journey and let the kids ride up the front in the W-Class trams.  All these wonderful people from my childhood loved their jobs, and it showed. They also were worthy of the title of Customer Service – at least by my definition.

Fast forward to 2011 – it’s an ugly sight. The hated goon squad, full of anger and authority. It’s a familiar setup. 1 lady, who is the “good cop” and at least four large heavy-set thugs. Their role is to harass anyone that’s within an inch of their rule book – travellers with improperly validated tickets, cyclists, and even outside their immediate jurisdiction.

Riding along this morning on my pushbike, I spotted a goon patrol doing their thing. I had to stop and take a momento of the occasion, in a public place. The large gentleman in the fluorescent jacket, immediately started telling me I can’t take photos, that they haven’t received my consent to publish, and even chased me as I rode off on my bike. I can pedal fast, fast enough today it seems.

They are a breed of nastiness, universally despised in this city that really needs deprecation from our society that will need to use more and more public transport.

When will things change?

What do you think?

Sam.

@samotage

It talked about the goodness that is Internet Explorer 9, and how wonderful it’s reviews have been and how large it’s user base will become.  Then it went on to say how Google, Youtube’s owners now being evil by posting a warning that IE 9 doesn’t make  it’s modern list.

I’ve got an alternate point of view.

Internet Explorer 9 only runs on Vista and Windows 7.  It’s not platform independent like the browsers on the youtube shortlist, i.e. IE9 will not run on Linux, OSX or other non microsoft operating systems.

Microsoft aren’t really going out of their way to change this.

This makes it kinda hard for people who make the nice modern websites people like to visit in 2011.  Also, I’m not really aware of many cutting edge web developers who make awesome stuff using a windows platform, nor do I know any that espose the benifit of any Microsoft browser.

In fact, not being able to install IE9 on Linux or OSX actually puts web app developers at a disadvantage in supporting it.  I’d even to go so far to say that I consider it a B grade gated browser.

In terms of my own web applications, I’ve had reports of some fail - surprisingly with it’s Javascript engine.  Because I don’t use Windows 7, and am unlikely to – I’m not really going out of my way to do anything about it.  Besides it’s enough to support IE 7 and 8 at the minimum functional level.

There isn’t a business case to build out suport for IE9, including Windows 7 infrastructure and then add a third layer of browser hacks when it delivers nil or negligible value.

Until we can bill Microsoft directly for browser compliance infrastructure, development effort and customer support time, I think the best option is to post the message like Youtube has and tell people to use a modern browser.

What do you think?

Sam.

@samotage

Pencil: I’m sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you’re always there to erase it.

But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That’s true. But I don’t really mind.  You see, I was made to do this.   I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I’ll be gone and you’ll replace me with a new one, I’m actually happy with my job.   So, please, stop worrying.  I hate seeing you sad.

I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational.

Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They’re always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes.

Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller/ older, and eventually pass on.

Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what  they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.

For some time, I was the pencil, and now I’m an eraser.  The relevance of this story is now absolute, both considering my parents, and my children.

For I know that one day, all that I will be is shavings and memories of a story that was once written.

What story are you writing today?

Approaching the airport, inside – and now more than ever in the plane we are being mind spammed to consume, consume consume.

• The terminal is filled with Plasma TV’s spamming our minds with all sorts of consumption options.
• An inflight magazine, filled with places we will never go, products we will never buy like the $590 magical stereo headphones that feature a foam padded ear cushion.
• An in seat display that won’t switch off, requests money for live to air TV, and even the map switches to an advert before its possible to determine the location of the aircraft. Even the earphones (without foam cushion) are free – another mind spamming opportunity.

It seems the advertisers know they have a bored and captive audience and use this to indulge their spamming desires. I think of the erosion it does to people still captive to their messages.

However one thing amused me. There wasn’t a Buy NOW button for the headphones. How log will it be before passengers will be hand complimentary in flight tablets, complete with a sheltered Internet of flash advertising?

Sam.

@samotage

• The death of Carolyn  Rawlins in 2008
• The 12 months it took to remove the busses from the “Middle Section”
• Robert Doyle floating an option for Swanston street that would reduce discourage or even remove cyclists from Swanston street
• The recent cyclist police blitz, that could be seen as revenue raising instead of awareness raising

The City of Melbourne seems to have a strange approach to cycle safety, providing lip service on their website, and installing some proper infrastructure however for me and many others who come into the city from the South, there are many hazards and death traps to negotiate each day.

So ride with care, and your peril for it seems nothing Changing on Melbournes busiest cycle path – and look out for the new hazzard, the Cops.

Sam,

@samotage

Put together enough of them, and something fantastic may just be the result?  Some things that take about 2 seconds:

• Write this tweet.
• Butter a piece of toast.
• Say I love you – and mean it.
• Realise that big idea.
• Make that big decision
• Get on with doing it, one task at a time.

So if you want to do something, or just add extra awesomeness to whatever it is you do, think about what you do between each 2 second task, every day.

1 million seconds elapse in just under 12 days.

Sam,

@samotage

I cycle into the city, most days of the week and often I take a northern route along Elizabeth street in the morning, where the traffic is generally sparse.  Along this route, I often encounter one of your smaller Skybus coaches, the ones with the left hand mirrors mounted about the same height as a cyclists head.

I write to you not because of any specific incident, however to bring to your attention the nature in which some of your drivers use the road. At some points along Elizabeth st, because of tram infrastructure, parked vehicles etc, the available space for cyclists decreases.

This morning marks the third occasion where a Skybus driver has passed quite close and I’ve very nearly been struck by the left hand mirror, luckily for me on this occasion like the others, all I’ve suffered is a scare.

I write this morning to request your drivers take a greater awareness of cyclists with whom they share the roads, and perhaps avoid overtaking when the road is constricted?

I’m sure both cyclists, and Skybus would like to avoid an incident where somebody was avoidably hurt.

If you have any questions, you may contact me on return email or telephone, 0403 245 139.

Many thanks,

Sam Sabey.

@samotage

In the industrial era, Governments were formed, they organised, they built, they developed. They pulled together resources, people, initiative and made the societies we live in today. They did great things.  Along this journey, policy was formed, that in turn made rules and became legislation – our law.

This process gave birth to the bureaucracy, as a child it grew, became effective, delivered. It resisted change buy governing (defined as control, preventing runaways, maintaing order ) it’s bubble of influence expanded through adding new laws, regulations and legislation.  Unsurprisingly, we’ve developed processed that works pretty well when we want to add new legislation. In fact, it could be considered that adding legislation is the hallmark of a successful Government?

Perhaps we are at a time of legislation saturation? Existing rules disqualify, contradict or make impossible new rules that could otherwise help the change we need to make, as us as a society needs to make to survive. Remember, Nature bats last.

We can’t change without de-legislation as rules already in place contradict, disqualify or annul new rules that would make for a better society.  Some examples:

• Fringe benefits tax laws that encourage people to drive more to pay less tax on their cars, and turn them over more frequently.
• Subsidies to the coal industry in the form of clean coal and other lending supports the generation of electricity that is killing out planet.
• Housing policy which encourages the consumption of increasing amounts of farmland in far away places known as “Springs” built from cookie cutter homes.

Is it possible that we’ve reached a time where our government can’t make change because the existing rules prevent it?  Do we need to find new ways to de-legislate, clear the cobwebs? Perhaps then we may be able to actually move forward.

Sam.

@samotage

• The public would be told to stop drinking the water, and instructed in what circumstances we could use the water, e.g. boil drinking water.
• The waterworks engineers will test the water, and find the cause of the toxin – usually by travelling upstream from the reported location
• Steps will be taken to stop the cause of the toxin, and return the water supply to safety.
• When the water was safe to drink again, we would be told when and what to do.

In fact, this happened to Sydney in 1998 when their water supply was found to be contaminated.

Compare this to the internet.

We all know there is objectionable, undesirable and even illegal content inside the inter-tubes. Other governments around the world tend to follow this approach, they seek out the host servers and shut them down.

Contrast this to how Senator Conroy and his mates would act on a water contamination problem:

• Allow the contaminants to continue to be released into the water system.
• Ensure everybody’s kitchen drinking tap is fitted with a filter, that only works on low pressures.
• Permit unfiltered water use in other parts of the home, e.g. bathrooms, laundry’s and gardens.
• Force everybody to record and tell the government what water they drink, just in case somebody drinks some bad water.
• Insist this is the this is the best approach to protect ourselves from the contamination, even when the water experts protest.

Kinda scary really, that in they year 2010 politicians can think they can actually filter our internet.

Sam,

@samotage

#nocleanfeed