Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The Rattletrap
I wish I'd had my camera with tonight when we went out for pizza. Parked a couple of car-lengths ahead of our car was a motorcycle with a trailer and sidecar. I use the terms motorcycle, trailer and sidecar loosely here. Very loosely. The motorcycle was old school in a way that was dinosauric. The whole setup was cobbled together, but just barely.
Now, I'm all for recycling and the creative reuse of things, but this was danger incarnate. If you're an adult and want to risk your life on a rickety cycle that doesn't come anywhere near road safety requirements, fine. It's your life. What was horrific about the contraption was the sidecar - which appeared to be four unfinished pieces of plywood held to a metal frame by no more than chewing gum or bandaids. (I'm exaggerating about the chewing gum and bandaids, but not much.) Inside the sidecar was an infant car seat so old that it was no longer road-worthy. Actually, the sidecar looked like a mini-trailer filled with junk, which is all I'd transport in it. But, no . . . a CHILD got into it. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, although I'm not sure how much good that would do if the whole thing gave way. The situation makes me shudder and pray, for the child's sake, that the thing is better constructed than it looked. Honestly, when it comes down to the safety of children, get something street legal.
Now, I'm all for recycling and the creative reuse of things, but this was danger incarnate. If you're an adult and want to risk your life on a rickety cycle that doesn't come anywhere near road safety requirements, fine. It's your life. What was horrific about the contraption was the sidecar - which appeared to be four unfinished pieces of plywood held to a metal frame by no more than chewing gum or bandaids. (I'm exaggerating about the chewing gum and bandaids, but not much.) Inside the sidecar was an infant car seat so old that it was no longer road-worthy. Actually, the sidecar looked like a mini-trailer filled with junk, which is all I'd transport in it. But, no . . . a CHILD got into it. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, although I'm not sure how much good that would do if the whole thing gave way. The situation makes me shudder and pray, for the child's sake, that the thing is better constructed than it looked. Honestly, when it comes down to the safety of children, get something street legal.
Labels: children, creative, danger, motorcycle, pizza, recycling, safety
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
We Can't Always Be Prepared
The Virginia Tech tragedy has been playing non-stop on our television. Tonight, on the CBS News, I saw photos and heard the stories of some of the victims. It moved me to tears, especially the story of the professor who was a Holocaust survivor who got shot while attempting to save his students.
There are all sorts of questions about why students weren't notified and the school locked down after the first shootings. I think that it's natural for people to think about how the further shootings could have been prevented, but two hours (the amount of time between the first shootings and the first notification) is not a lot of time to figure out what happened, try to find the suspect, and compose a response that tells everyone what happened. There has also been talk of how other schools can prepare for similar situations. While this, too, is a natural response - we all want our children safe - we cannot possibly prepare for the various permutations of a mind that has gone awry. We cannot prepare for every possible disaster. What we can do is realize that whatever gets thrown our way, we will find the best way to cope while we are in it. We are remarkable in our adaptability and ingenuity.
My condolences to those touched by this incredible tragedy.
There are all sorts of questions about why students weren't notified and the school locked down after the first shootings. I think that it's natural for people to think about how the further shootings could have been prevented, but two hours (the amount of time between the first shootings and the first notification) is not a lot of time to figure out what happened, try to find the suspect, and compose a response that tells everyone what happened. There has also been talk of how other schools can prepare for similar situations. While this, too, is a natural response - we all want our children safe - we cannot possibly prepare for the various permutations of a mind that has gone awry. We cannot prepare for every possible disaster. What we can do is realize that whatever gets thrown our way, we will find the best way to cope while we are in it. We are remarkable in our adaptability and ingenuity.
My condolences to those touched by this incredible tragedy.
Labels: condolences, disaster, preparation, safety, school, shootings, virginia tech
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Radical Transparency
This month's Wired Magazine centers around the theme of Radical Transparency. This is the notion that companies need to be open about their inner workings in order to build trust among their customers and vendors. Radical Transparency is also about managing a company's image on the web, because if the company isn't going to talk about itself in an honest way, warts and all, someone else on the internet will be talking about the company and it likely won't be nice at all.
Now, if we're all trying to achieve Radical Transparency, how far do we go with it? Wired says to let it all hang out, yet doing so may lead to results that are unintended, like those experienced by Kathy Sierra. I would love to see Wired do an issue on ways we can protect ourselves in this era of Radical Transparency.
Now, if we're all trying to achieve Radical Transparency, how far do we go with it? Wired says to let it all hang out, yet doing so may lead to results that are unintended, like those experienced by Kathy Sierra. I would love to see Wired do an issue on ways we can protect ourselves in this era of Radical Transparency.
Labels: business, internet, kathy sierra, radical transparency, safety, wired
Sunday, September 17, 2006
How to Stop a Terrorist
Make him/her so happy with day-to-day life that (s)he has no desire to topple buildings with airplanes or bomb a country's infrastructure.
Recipe for general happiness: Food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, a living wage & fulfilling work. Mix with a few close personal relationships, a general atomosphere of safety & security, and a societal attitude of acceptance of personal differences.
This isn't freaking rocket science, folks.
For a great discussion of the biological means of happiness, see the book Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment by Gregory Berns.
Recipe for general happiness: Food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, a living wage & fulfilling work. Mix with a few close personal relationships, a general atomosphere of safety & security, and a societal attitude of acceptance of personal differences.
This isn't freaking rocket science, folks.
For a great discussion of the biological means of happiness, see the book Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment by Gregory Berns.
Labels: rocket science, safety, satisfaction, terrorist
