Canadian Hover Board

October 21, 2015 is the date that Marty McFly borrows a hover board to escape the bullies that are chasing him in the movie "Back to the Future II". He steers the board over the water, only to discover that it doesn't work over water. The real future has finally caught up with Mr. McFly, but the real hover boards are not quite there yet.

A young Canadian inventor has come up with a prototype hover board invention that works over land and water and skims along very much like Marty's. Catalin Alexandru Duru's propeller-driven hover board was recently demonstrated for the Guinness World Records. He managed a total distance of 275.9 metres (905 feet) achieving a new world record title for the farthest hover board flight, easily beating the old record of 50 feet. Duru's invention was featured on Tuesday night's CBC National News. The image of a man flying on a hover board revived the dreams I had of owning one like Marty McFly's.

I'm sure it had the same impact on many viewers and, based on the worldwide reaction to his test flights and the Guinness World Record, I have no doubt that the first production models will sell like hot cakes once all the bugs are worked out.

It's amazing how science fiction movies have previewed some of the products we use today. Here are a few examples I can list of just off the top of my head:

• Mobile flip phones were originally envisioned as the communicator in the original Star Trek TV series (1966 to 1969)
• Voice activated computers, now a reality with virtual agents like Apple's Siri made their debut with the Hal computer in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). They were also also prominently evident in the "Back to the Future II".
• Anatomically correct female robots have been around for decades in the movies, but my favorites are the fembots in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997).

While it's exciting to get a glimpse into our futures, we also have to remember that sometimes these envisioned advances never come to fruition. For example the concept of a flying car, seen in many popular movies including "Back to the Future II", has been around for over a century, but all we've seen so far in reality have been prototypes. In most cases these vehicles were actually planes with folding wings that just barely fit an automobile footprint - hardly the Star Wars landspeeder that I'd certainly like to own.

But having this technology begs the question about the safety of others around the rider(s). Currently daredevil skateboards are the villains that sidewalk pedestrians love to hate. But imagine hover boards that could also travel over grass or water. Suddenly hover-boarders would become hazards to picnickers in a park and even to boaters. Regulation won't stop those who are looking for new thrills. We need only to look at the hazards being created by owners of the new hobby drones for examples of how people will ignore regulation and use their "toys" for unintended purposes. In one recent report in the Washington Post, the reporter noted: "drones have smuggled drugs into an Ohio prison, smashed against a Cincinnati skyscraper, impeded efforts to fight wildfires in California and nearly collided with three airliners over New York City".

We'll have to wait to see if other imagined technologies ever comes to fruition, but for hover board aficionados, perhaps the wait won't be much longer. One day, the streets may be crowded with hover board riders zooming past pedestrians the way that skateboarders do today, and we'll wonder how we'll be able to regulate and control this growing safety menace.

Works Cited

"Back to the Future II: Hoverboard Scene" Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2006. Web. 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ZdMOMUgXE>.

"Back to the Future II". Wikipedia. Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future_Part_II>.

Lynch, Kevin. "Video: Watch incredible footage of farthest flight by a hoverboard record set by Canada's Catalin Alexandru Duru”. On line video clip. Guinness World Records. Guinness World Records. 22 May 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/5/video-watch-incredible-footage-of-farthest-flight-by-a-hoverboard-record-set-by-379420>.

"Communicator (Star Trek)”. Wikipedia . Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek)>.

"Star Trek: The Original Series". Wikipedia . Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series>.

"Apple iOS 9 – Siri. Your wish is my command". Apple iOS 9. Siri.Web. n.d. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <http://www.apple.com/ca/ios/siri>.

"2001: A Space Odyssey". Wikipedia . Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)>.

"Austin Powers Fembots". Online video clip. Youtube. YouTube. 03 Mar. 2007. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTv9AhCuSU4>.

"A Brief History of the Flying Car". Online slide show. Popular Mechnics. Popular Mechanics. n.d. Web. 18-OCT-2015. <http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/how-to/g1038/a-brief-history-of-the-flying-car>.

"Landspeeder". Wikipedia . Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 14-OCT-2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landspeeder>.

Whitlock, Craig. "Rogue Drones: A Growing Menace Across the USA". The Washington Post. National Security. n.d. 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 18-OCT-2015. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-rogue-drones-are-rapidly-becoming-a-national-nuisance/2015/08/10/9c05d63c-3f61-11e5-8d45-d815146f81fa_story.html/.

Why 1984 wasn't like "1984"

Original Apple Mac

In one of the readings for today’s class, Matthew P. McAlister describes the impact of Apple’s “1984” commercial broadcast during the 1984 Superbowl (220) in his article entitled Television Advertising as Textual and Economic Systems. He defines this commercial as the first ever “event commercial” (220).

The impact of this commercial is hard to understand in an era where we are bombarded with commercial messages from everywhere, and where computers seem to be dominating everything. But in 1984, the Internet was still a text-only based precursor of its current self. Everyone had home entertainment systems built around their TV’s, not their computers. In thirty-one years since then, all that has changed. This type of commercial would never have the same dramatic impact today.

The paid commercial was only run once during Superbowl, but it became a news item and the "1984 commercial" was shown repeatedly at no cost to Apple on news broadcasts around the world. It is still available on YouTube (which also did not exist in 1984) and currently shows over 10 million hits.

The impact of the ad was the genesis of recognition for Apple as a serious company and it had a profound impact on the way people thought about computer products. For the first time a company was supplying a computer that was not mostly text-based, like the MS-DOS or Windows 3 computers that other manufacturers, including IBM, were offering at the time. It had a black and white screen (colour screens were an option the next year), instead of the green on black or orange on black screens that were typical of other systems including the Apple II. The commercial emphasized difference, and people flocked to the stores attracted to the promise of a computer that was easy to use and that everyone could afford. It wasn't long before Microsoft brought out newer versions of Windows to resemble the Apple graphic user interface, which has evolved into the versions of Windows we see today.

In 1985, Apple tried to create another Super Bowl commercial sequel called “Lemmings”. That one too is still available on YouTube. This time the commercial failed miserably and attracted a lot of negative press versus the all positive reactions to “1984”. The commercial essentially showed thousands of blindfolded persons being lead off a cliff to their deaths as they chose PC’s versus choosing Mac’s. From a public relations standpoint, the commercial was a disaster and Apple had to go into defensive mode. Apple didn’t air another SuperBowl commercial until 1999.

TV advertising, and now Internet advertising, can be powerful tools, but they can also lead to disastrous mistakes. When they work, the advertiser will reap the rewards of increased sales and more loyal customers. But when they fail, just the opposite may happen. In the case of Apple, the company was able to recover eventually although it happened slowly. During that painful transition, Steve Jobs was fired and John Scully, who came from Pepsi Cola, took the reins. Without any knowledge of computers or the passion of Steve Jobs, he almost destroyed the company. Eventually the board of directors, after firing Scully,  wisely brought back Jobs to begin rebuilding the company and today it is the largest company in the World.

These two ads clearly show the importance of advertising with the first one having a massive positive effect and the second one just the opposite. In 1984, I was so impressed with the Superbowl commercial and the Apple Macintosh I bought 100 shares of the company for just over $3,000. I sold the stock in disgust when Jobs was fired. If I had kept those shares, with stock splits I would now own 2,800 shares and the value of my investment would be worth as much as $400,000, based on recent stock prices. And it all started with one SuperBowl advertisement in 1984.

Works Cited

"Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial Introducing Macintosh Computer”. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube.08 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axSnW-ygU5g&feature=youtu.be>.

McAllister, Matthew A. “Television Advertising as Textual and Economic Systems.” A Companion to Television. Ed. Janet Wasko. Malden MA USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 220. Print.

“Apple Lemmings Commercial”. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 19 Mar. 2009. Web. 13 Oct 2015. <https://youtu.be/V-SJQdREDKM>.

“Lemmings (advertisement).” Wikipedia. Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemmings_(advertisement)>

Where is a typewriter when you need one?

Underwood typewrite keyboard (Wikimedia Commons)

My trepidation at writing my first blog for my Communications course at Carleton is probably why I’m up at 2am. My favourite tool for writing, editing, and researching the Internet is my Apple iPad but all my Microsoft apps started crashing yesterday as soon as I tried to open them. I was not even able to get the documents I had saved copied to my computer.

All my class notes, all my essays, virtually everything since September 1st is now locked inside my iPad and currently inaccessible. This brings up an interesting issue for media creators, especially those in the Communications and Journalism fields. We are all tied to new technology and depend on these computers, laptops, and tablets to compose, edit and then submit our creative writing. What happens when they don’t work? What happens when you have hours invested in creating notes, writing articles or reports, composing essays or putting other efforts into your computer only to have it all disappear with a crash? Don’t expect understanding from your peers. The first words out of their mouths will probably be: “You should have made a backup copy”.

It’s not impossible to recreate the documents I’ve lost. In many cases, I printed out my assignments since I find I catch my spelling and grammatical errors better when I review them in printed form. In some cases, there is no need to recreate them because they have already been submitted. In other cases, especially if the course requires electronic submission, I’ll have to retype them from scratch.

With a typewriter, you always had a carbon copy of the document you typed. That copy went into a filing cabinet, the equivalent of a computer hard drive today. It would be filed alphabetically by title, or perhaps chronologically by the date created. Retrieval was just a matter of knowing the filing system.

Today our trust in technology leaves us vulnerable. We don’t save or file hard copies in filing cabinets. We save documents in virtual filing cabinets either on our computer’s hard drive, or to a “cloud” service or an on-line server. In most cases, the document will be there when we go back, but I’m noticing more and more that the increasing complexity of the systems used to store these documents is creating inaccessibility and frustration. Software developers are doing less and less testing before releasing their software or updates making us vulnerable to catastrophic losses.

I’m sure Microsoft will eventually come up with a fix for my problem. In the meantime, deadlines loom and it looks like I have a considerable amount of re-typing to do. Now if I only still had my old typewriter.

Works cited

"File:UnderwoodKeyboard.jpg". Web Image. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons. n.n. 13 Oct. 2015 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UnderwoodKeyboard.jpg>.

No-Service Canada

No-Service Canada

A few years ago, after moving to the province of New Brunswick, I became familiar with Service New Brunswick. This was an ingenious invention of the provincial government to consolidate all provincial departments into one department of multi-skilled, trained agents who could handle any customer service needs at one location. This meant one visit to one place to get my drivers license and health card, for example, replaced. During that visit I was photographed for the new identification cards and left the building with these new plastic additions in my wallet. One visit, one location. It was fast, simple and efficient and a big improvement over the previous multi-location visits required in the past.

The fact that this approach saved money and increased customer satisfaction did not escape the notice of other cities, other larger provinces and eventually the Canadian Government itself. When I moved to Ottawa, I was pleasantly surprised to find Service Ottawa, Service Ontario and Service Canada offices. Of the three, Service Canada, initially one of the best, is today officially the worst.

Service Canada which was first setup religiously following the New Brunswick example, has seen its staff decimated since Harper took power. Long lineups and wait times have returned and increased complaints from those in line are apparent on my every visit. Thank you, Steven Harper, for making dealing with the federal government more unpleasant than it ever has been in the past. Let me give a few examples.

This year, shortly after I retired, I visited the downtown Service Canada office, which is in Ottawa City Hall and is located at the back of the same large space shared with Service Ontario on the left and Service Ottawa on the right. Both of these latter organizations still follow the Service New Brunswick model with numbered multiple counter stations where you go to speak to an agent when your ticket number is directed there. The service provided by both of these organizations is quick, efficient and painless.

The Service Canada counter at the back had a similar system - but no more.

On that day, I found a single desk (yes, a sit-down desk) had replaced the multiple service counters, which had dropped to two on my last visit. This time I had to take a number before approaching the desk and could then only do so when my number was called. At the standard office desk I spoke to a seated agent while I stood hovering on the other side of her desk to inquire about my pension benefits. The agent advised me I could get all my answers by calling different phone numbers. I asked if I could speak to an agent - no, I had to phone these 1-800 numbers where I would get all the answers to my questions. She dismissed me by handing me a few forms and then called the next number. The visit and patiently waiting had been for nothing.

Last week I decided to change banks and went back to Service Canada to update my  information for auto-deposit of my government pension cheques, but this time I chose the Westboro location which was closer to my home. This was a Service Canada only location, but the long lineup leading to a single office desk with a seated agent behind was very familiar. Still, I was there and determined to get this done, so I waited patiently behind people making passport inquiries, baby bonus applications, etc.

When my turn came, I approached the agent and explained my purpose. The reply came back in a strong Slavic accent, and I could not escape the feeling I was being suspiciously interrogated before being admitted to the inner sanctum of some Cold War Soviet Embassy.

"I would like to update my banking information for my CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and OAS (Old Age Supplement)," I began, after providing my name and social insurance number.

"You can do that on the phone," came the reply.

"I would prefer to do it in person," I rejoined.

"All these changes are done on the phone now." At this point the expression on the agent's face appeared to me to be one of mild irritation, combined with slight amusement.

"Do you mean I can't make the changes here today?" I asked.

"You can make the changes on the phone," she repeated adding "I'll give you the 1-800 number."

Having noted she was probably trained at the Steven Harper School for Evasive Answers, I pressed the issue, "You mean I CAN'T make the changes here today?"

"You're insisting on making the changes here?"

"Yes, I'm here now and I want to make the changes."

"The wait time is over an hour."

"That's fine. I'll wait. Since I'm here I want to complete the changes now."

"I'll put down that you declined to do them on the phone and insisted on doing them in person. The wait will be at least an hour. We are short-staffed today." Yeah, today and every other day I said to myself. "Please have a seat until I call your name.

I sat at one of the many empty computer desks provided for the public and explored the various menus of government jobs, government benefits, etc. NOT FIVE MINUTES HAD PASSED when I heard my name called. It was the same agent I had dealt with at the "reception desk". She led me into the offices in the back and then sat at the desk in that office and proceeded to complete my request. Five minutes later, it was done and I left the office.

Here's the time tally:
- 29 minutes: waiting in line to be served
- 14 minutes: arguing with the agent that I wanted to be served today, in person and not on the phone
- 5 minutes: waiting for the agent who would complete my request
- 5 minutes: completing request, with the same agent from the reception desk

It is astonishing to me that an organization that calls itself SERVICE Canada is more attuned to NOT providing any service, but instead is geared to passing the buck. I hate calling 1-800 numbers, waiting in a queue, listening to elevator music and "your business is important to us" messages. I prefer face-to-face interactions and said so to this agent. She implied that in the future that may not be an option and only phone service would be available.

Really? Is that what we've come to? Even the Canadian government is going to outsource their Customer Service to Bangladesh and the Philippines?

In this case, the agent appeared to have tried to pass this 5-minute task off because it was one that SHE HAD TO DO HERSELF. Is this the new paradigm for Canadian civil servants? They show up for work, but then spend their days avoiding any work by passing it off to someone else. Does that sound familiar?

Welcome to the Soviet Canada.

The problems with customer service today.

THE PROBLEMS WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE TODAY.

Many of us seniors remember a time when customer satisfaction was the rule rather than the exception. Slogans like "customer satisfaction guaranteed" or "money refunded cheerfully if not satisfied" have pretty much become dinosaurs.

Today, you have to call a customer service line that will play this headache-producing music with either constant reminders "your business is important to us" or ads about all the other great products and services they have to offer. If your lucky enough to get a "customer service representative" in less than 15 or 20 minutes, you will have to argue, yes argue, about why you feel you should get a refund or a credit. The representative will point out you didn't read the disclaimer in paragraph 22 on page 695 of their 20,000 page terms and conditions agreement which is only available in micro print on their website, although that website is currently down for maintenance. Finally, after asking to speak to a supervisor, you'll be offered a partial credit of 10% of the price you paid which will eventually will rise to 59% the longer you stay on the phone.

Assuming nothing but 100% refund is acceptable to you, after 2 hours on the phone, the agent will transfer you to a supervisor. You will have to go through your whole story again and wait another 15 or 20 minutes before you finally have an agreement for a full 100% refund.

Then the fun begins. You'll be offered a credit to apply against any future purchase, and, if you have a monthly account, you'll be told that no, this credit can not be used to lower or pay off the balance owing on your account. At this point, if you decide to close your account, you'll be advised that a refund cheque will be issued after all pending charges and account closing fees have been applied, usually in 4 to 52 weeks.

If you insist on a refund cheque, you'll be transferred to a manager where you will start all over again. Up to another hour will be spent as this individual will try to convince you to keep the product and your account before they finally agree to send you a refund cheque in 4 to 52 weeks.

By this time you are angry and frustrated and you tell the manager you are closing your account and won't send them another penny, even to pay off your outstanding balance. The perky, cheerful manager suddenly transforms into Billzilla (the Godzilla of bill collectors) and begins threatening your credit rating village. If you don't pay your balance, this monster will rampage through your credit rating killing and destroying any chance you have to live a normal life, buy a car or mortgage a house. Plus after all that you will owe the balance currently on your account multiplied by ridiculous interest rates and late fees which will be turned over to collection agencies run by ex-mafia who are experts at offering "a deal you can't refuse".

In frustration, you hang up, swear you will never patronage that company again, and switch to a different company that offers better customer service. Your blood pressure returns to normal, your life becomes enriched with all the spare time you have from not having to spend hours on the phone arguing with reps in companies that provide bad service and you actually feel you might experience happy once again.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have company reps treat others the way they want to be treated? Instead it is this avaricious pursuit of every last dollar. That sucking sound is the sound of money being sucked from the pockets of the poor and being channeled into the off shore accounts of the filthy rich. THIS HAS TO STOP!

SHARE THE WEALTH - POVERTY NO MORE.

How to fix the world.

HOW TO FIX THE WORLD

The biggest problems in the world today are caused by the increasing divide between the rich and poor. I see one of the most powerful forces creating this divide is the pressure from rich and powerful shareholders to continually increase profits by driving up prices and reducing customer service. While there are exceptions, for most large corporations, who are governed by Boards of Directors who themselves belong to this wealthy shareholder class, there is only an incentive to increase the shareholder dividends. In any business there are only two ways to do this: increase prices or cut costs.

My solution is at add a sales tax to every dividend cheque issued that is inversely proportionate to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction would be measured by an incorruptible third party organization who would issue "grades" similar to school grades rating customer service from 0 for the absolute worst customer service in the world to 100 for the best. Whatever the grade is, it would be subtracted from 100 and the resulting figure would be the tax applied to every dividend cheque issued in that fiscal quarter. If companies decided to not issue a dividend cheque because of bad customer service, the taxes would be applied anyway based on the maximum dividend paid over the previous 10 years. This corporate tax would be taken from worldwide gross income before any expenses or deductions are applied.

How would this work? Let's take a few examples - note these are examples only so the numbers are used for illustration purposes only, not based on actually statistics.

Let's say Apple Computer, who consistently has among the highest customer satisfaction rates in the world, ends the year with 90% of customers saying they are satisfied. Apple issues a dividend of say $20.00 per share.  Those receiving the dividend cheques would see a tax deduction of 10% (100 - 90), or $2.00 per share deducted from their cheques, netting $18.00 per share. The deduction could not be claimed back either on corporate or personal tax returns.

Let's now look at XYZ Cable Company (actually his could be almost any cable company in North America) ends the year with one of the lowest customer satisfaction rates at 10%. It too issues a dividend of $20.00 per share. Those receiving the dividend cheques would see a tax deduction of 90% (100 - 10), or $18.00 per share deducted from their cheques, netting $2.00 per share. The deduction could not be claimed back either on corporate or personal tax returns.

Suppose ABC Company, having had a terrible customer rating over the last year and also having increased profits 1000%, declares they will not be paying out dividends but will instead start a huge share buyback to allow shareholders to benefit from the rocketing share price. At this point the government would tax them the same tax they would have paid as if they had issued dividends, based on the dividend history for the last 10 years. In addition, companies that use any tactic to transfer more wealth into the pockets of rich shareholders without improving customer service scores would find those additional "gains" taxed at the highest 90% tax.

What would be the outcome of all this? One hell of a lot of complaining from the uber-wealthy to start, and a flow of investment into companies who have outstanding customer service. We have suffered long enough. Companies like Apple have demonstrated that there is money to be made in providing quality products and superlative customer service. Other companies have to get on board even if it means dragging their board of directors and wealthy shareholders kicking and screaming in the process. In the end, better customer service will leave more money in our pockets and happier consumers. Anything else will result in chaos and continuing decay of our consumer society where the rich will live in exclusive gated and armed enclaves while the rest of the population scrapes through their discarded scraps outside.

SHARE THE WEALTH - POVERTY NO MORE.

Trailhead building in Westboro has been sold

Happy trails, Trailhead!!!!

Sadly, the Trailhead building in Westboro has been sold! The developer next door (see the cranes in the background of attached picture), BridgePort Realty Capital Partners, has bought the building, probably with the intention of demolition and expanding their already enormous project on McRae between Scott and Richmond. The days are numbered for this beautiful, all wood structure that has been an Ottawa landmark since 1991. 

The building was started in 1990 by partners Chris Harris and Wally Schaber after they bought a piece of property at the corner of Scott & McRae. They put together their own architecture plans and construction crew and built, what was at the time, the biggest post and beam building of its kind in Eastern Canada. Trailhead’s new Westboro home was finished in December 1991, and has been a destination for outdoor enthusiasts from all over ever since. Now, 25 years later, it may be demolished in 2016 when this purchase agreement comes into effect. We will be losing an iconic landmark that can never be replaced.

The new development on McRae is set to be completed in early 2015. This so called "Westboro Connection" will be a mixed-use development including two towers that are connected by a street-front retail podium and two levels of underground parking and a seven-story office building. The residential component includes 126 rental apartment units. How interesting that something called "Westboro Connection" is actually removing an historic landmark that connects Westboro to its past.

The news release also states "there will also be surface parking on the site". Since the current site is one big hole that will be completely occupied by the new buildings, it sounds to me like the developer needed the Trailhead building for this promised "surface parking". What a waste. As Joni Mitchell would sing, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

And what will happen to the Trailhead business? And the other small businesses renting space from Trailhead? What a coincidence! New retail spaces, probably at much higher rent, just became available next door.