Compendiums

Retirement

2012-03-26T21:33:00.000-03:00

After such a long absence the title may be a little misleading, but is not intended to indicate my own retirement. However, those planning retirement at some point in life may want to pay a little closer attention.

My work centers around those who are in retirement, or getting ready for it. As such I have started a blog geared toward informing and teaching about that subject. Whether you are young or old does not matter. Planning this part of your life can never happen to soon.

Make sure you have a plan! I see people all the time who do not really have a plan, and who are spending way more than they should. Make sure your plan is solid and flexible. Your circumstances will change from time to time, and you will need to alter your plan to accomodate.

Oh, and check out The Retirement Specialist.

More on Rio de Janeiro

2011-11-13T12:25:00.001-03:00

In the past I have covered some of the events in Rio de Janeiro in which the government is trying to clean up the shanty towns (favelas in Portuguese). This morning I ran across another article about more recent events, specifically that the first person from the press has died. The scale of this war against the drug gangs is huge, and as the article points out it is surprising this has not happened before.

Certain areas of Rio are dangerous just because of stray bullets. Brazilian press is prohibited from wearing bulletproof vests¹.

On Wednesday night authorities landed an early blow, arresting the favela's drug boss, 35-year-old Antonio Bonfim Lopes, as he attempted to flee inside a car boot. Lopes – Rio's most wanted man – was accompanied by two men claiming to be Congolese diplomats.

Life and death in Rio's drug wars at The Guardian

^{1. Though I think I have seen reporters wearing the vests in coverage from the first incursion which I wrote about.↩}

Vinyl Pirates

2011-05-21T15:59:00.000-03:00

This possibility had never really crossed my mind, but it is evidently pretty easy to copy a record.

Stealing for a Living (And it is okay!)

2011-04-08T19:20:00.002-03:00

After coming across this piece earlier today, posting a link to it was not an option. Great read (and pretty short).

You don’t get to pick your family, but you can pick your teachers and you can pick your friends and you can pick the music you listen to and you can pick the books you read and you can pick the movies you see.
[From How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon]

There is so much more to it, and it is so good. It reminds me of How To Be Creative, which is a little longer yet worth every moment and every ounce of energy that goes into reading.

(Via Shawn Blanc)

How to Create Footnotes in HTML

2011-02-19T09:47:00.004-03:00

I first encountered footnotes at Daring Fireball,¹ and have since seen them on Shawn Blanc's site, and a few others. At first it was a novelty I would never need. Then I started really writing.

As a writer, footnotes come in very handy at times. However, as one who is only beginning to learn how the HTML language works it took extensive time, several search engine queries, and a handful of sites to figure out how to make footnotes work. This is meant to enable others to use footnotes in Blogger, Wordpress, or any other blogging system that accepts HTML.

Since there is no way to create footnotes in Blogger's (and most other platforms) "Compose" or "WYSIWIG" editor, the only way to do it is by writing out the HTML code.

The HTML Footnote Code

Many will not care to read how it works, so here is the code I use for footnotes on my site:

Some text with a footnote.<sup><a href="#fn1" id="ref1">1</a></sup>

Some more text with a footnote.<sup><a href="#fn2" id="ref2">2</a></sup>

Some more text with a footnote.<sup><a href="#fn3" id="ref3">3</a></sup>

Some more text with a footnote.<sup><a href="#fn4" id="ref4">4</a></sup>

<hr></hr>

<sup id="fn1">1. [Text of footnote 1]<a href="#ref1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩</a></sup>

<sup id="fn2">2. [Text of footnote 2]<a href="#ref2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩</a></sup>

<sup id="fn3">3. [Text of footnote 3]<a href="#ref3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.">↩</a></sup>

<sup id="fn4">4. [Text of footnote 4]<a href="#ref4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.">↩</a></sup>

Looks like this in your browser:

Some text with a footnote.¹

Some more text with a footnote.²

Some more text with a footnote.³

Some more text with a footnote.⁴

^{1. [Text of footnote 1]↩}
^{2. [Text of footnote 2]↩}
^{3. [Text of footnote 3]↩}
^{4. [Text of footnote 4]↩}

You can bookmark this page, and copy directly from the code above, or copy it and save it in a text file for future reference.

Caution:You can not use this with Blogger's WISYWIG (Compose) editor. You have to use HTML editor. If the editor is switched to WISYWIG (Compose), it will replace the some of the code, and disable the functionality. I am not sure how other editors will handle it.

If you have switched your editor to the "Compose" tab in Blogger, go to the HTML editor and delete the URL that replaced the <a href="#ref4"> or <a href="#fn1">.

How HTML Footnotes Work

For a proper footnote, the number (or letter) should be in superscript. For it to scroll to the bottom, where the note is, it needs to be a link. The note at the bottom should also have a link back to the noted text in the body of the work. Here are the tags used, and their purpose (Remember to close the tags by using "/" in the same tag you open with.):

<sup> makes text in superscript.
<a href="fn1"> creates a link to wherever you put id="fn1".
<a href="#ref1">↩</a> makes a link back to the reference number, in this case, the first footnote. Wherever id="ref1" is, this will create a link to it.

title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text." creates a tip that says the text in the quotes when the user's mouse hovers over the link.

<hr></hr> simply creates the line, or horizontal rule, which separates the body of the post from the footnotes.

The character ↩ is created by writing the text "& # 8 6 1 7 ;" without the spaces.

My hope is that this is helpful to those looking for a way to make footnotes in HTML. If you try this with success please let me know. If you have problems, I will do my best to help if I can. However, since I am pretty new to this I can not promise I will be able to.

^{1. Here is John Gruber's post About the Footnotes. Besides, what would a post about creating footnotes in HTML be without actually having at least one footnote to demonstrate?↩}

Rio de Janeiro Crime Update

2011-02-14T16:54:00.000-03:00

Back in December, I wrote a series of articles on Rio de Janeiro's police invading the Complexo do Alemão. They have taken that a step further, and arrested around 40 police who were also involved with, or "bought" by the crime syndicates.

Unfortunately, I do not have time to write in detail about these events due to preparations to return to the US. Rio Gringa wrote a great post on the subject, though, and I wanted to point you to it.

Trans-Atlantic Kayak Trip

2011-02-11T09:55:00.000-03:00

Ran across a great story this morning:

After 98 days, 23 hours, 42 minutes at sea, Doba and his custom 23-foot-long, 39-inch-wide human-powered kayak landed at Acaraú, a city on Brazil’s northeast coast.

Aleksander Doba pulled off quite a feat. Sure, it has been done before, but over 3000 miles in a kayak in open sea is nothing to scoff at. Oh, and he is 64 years old. Just look at the pictures of him, though, and one would think he is much younger.

He landed not far (relatively speaking) from where I write this. The plan was for more of a straight line of navigation, but due to wind and oceanic currents many miles were added to his trip. He planned on 2050 miles out of a 1950 mile straight line.

Only three other people have done this before, but the others landed on islands in the mid-Atlantic, and none were as old as Doba.

Samba School On Fire

2011-02-07T18:29:00.000-03:00

No matter how one views Carnival, it is a big deal to many Brazilians both emotionally and financially. Preparation begins as soon as the last Carnival is over, if not before. Rio's samba schools are housed in a complex of buildings which were built for them.

This morning a few of the schools' buildings caught fire, taking all the costumes, props, and other materials with it. Fortunately no one was hurt, aside from one person who was treated for smoke inhalation. Reuters puts it this way:

At least three of the 12 top samba groups, or "schools," were hit badly by the fire, media said, just weeks before their scheduled parades through Rio's Sambadrome for Carnival, which gets under way on March 4.

Workers were shown entering the complex trying to salvage some of the elaborate floats as 80 firefighters battled the blaze, which had been brought under control by mid-morning. It was unclear how the fire started.

When we saw the footage on TV this morning it was gut-wrenching. A lot of people put many hours of hard work into ensuring each sequin is properly placed, and every feather facing forward. It all went up in flames. The BBC says:

The most affected group appeared to be Grande Rio, which said it lost almost the entire contents of its parade: eight floats and 3,000 embroidered costumes.

Their spokesman, Avelino Ribeiro, told AP news agency that this year's show was a $5.5m (£3.4m) investment and about 7,000 people worked for about eight months to pull it all together.

Carnival is about a month away, and there is no way to completely recoup those losses in that short time. At this point, they are looking for a way forward.

The Fruits of Brazil

2011-01-21T08:09:00.003-03:00

Bananas and other fruits at a farmer's market in Teresina. (Original on flickr)

There are a great many things about Brazil which are similar to other parts of the world, including Europe and the United States. Some things I have discovered here, and later realized that it was available at home and I just did not know about it. The wide variety of fruits which I had never seen was incredible. New flavors, textures, and sensations. Here are a few that stuck out.

There are more pictures on my Flickr page. They are also annotated, so you can get a clearer idea of what I am talking about. I have included a link to each of my original photos below its copy here. Also, this is a post I have re-worked and added to, previously published on another blog.

Acerola

Acerola (Original on flickr)

The acerola (also) is about the size and shape of a cherry, though usually in my experience slightly larger. They have a rather pleasant bitter flavor, which, with a bit of sugar is very good. Typically they are served in the form of juice¹.

It is very high in vitamin C. I have been told that in one of these cherry-sized fruits, there is as much vitamin C as in five oranges.

Jaca

Jackfruit cut in half. (Original on flickr)

The jaca struck me as a very odd fruit (called Jackfruit in English) is similar to the size of a basketball, and is covered with short green spines. They are not super-sharp, like a cactus, but they are slightly sharp. The edible part is around the seeds, which are many. The pulp has the consistency of garlic, or similar, but not much flavor. In the lower center of the photo there there are two seeds, one with the pulp, and one bare.

Pitomba

Pitomba (Original on flickr)

The pitomba is also about the size of a cherry. However, the seed takes up such a large portion of the fruit area, that there is nearly no fruit. I have most often seen at the intersections of major streets, where various vendors are selling their wares.

The outside of the fruit (the skin, or peel) is sort of like a leathery orange peel, but thinner, and not connected to the fruit like an orange peel is. The texture of the fruit pulp is much like a peeled grape. But the flavor gives kind of a dry aftertaste on the tongue, while being in reality, wet. In a way, it is reminiscient of lemon, but not nearly as strong.

Piqui

Piqui (Original on flickr)

Of the fruits covered here, this is the only one for which I have a strong distaste. The piqui² is eaten after being boiled. The seed with the pulp on it is cooked alone, or with chicken (at least these are the only two ways I have seen them cooked). After this, the pulp can be scraped off the outside of the seed with one's teeth. The smell is very distinct and pungent, and reminds me of--well, it just reminds me of the first time I ate the fruit, and a little bit of a moldy smell. The texture is kind of grainy and a bit flavorless to me, but my wife likes it, as do others. When cooked with chicken, the chicken tends to take on a flavor similar to the smell.

If you get the opportunity to try it, do. I don't want to discourage anyone from trying new things just because I don't like them. Just don't bite into the seed, there are spines in there that will stick in your tongue, requiring tedious and painful removal.

Bacuri

Bacuri (Original on flickr)

This is a fruit called bacuri. It is a very good fruit to make juice out of. It has been a while since I had any, though, so remembering the flavors is tough. Since I am having trouble remembering the flavors, I went looking, and found Seeking Sustinance.

Bacuri is common (wild) in the Amazon region of northern Brazil from Maranhão to Goias. It’s abundant in the State of Pará, especially around Marajó and Salgado. Its native territory extends across the border into Colombia and northeast to the humid forests of Guyana. It’s seldom cultivated, but when the Indians clear the land for planting or pastures, they always leave this tree standing for the sake of its delicious fruits. The latex derived from the bark is also used in veterinary practice in Guyana, and the seeds contain an oil that is mixed with sweet almond oil to treat eczema and herpes.

I ended up learning a lot about bacuri.

Cupuaçu

Cupuaçu (Original on flickr)

Here is probably the oddest fruit I have ever seen, touched, or eaten. Cupuaçu (coo-poo-a-su). It grows on trees in a nut-like enclosure³ around a foot long, by about 6 inches around. This first picture shows the removed fruit of one enclosure, as well as the inside of half of one of the nut-like enclosure.

One cannot miss the smell. It is a heavy, almost liquor-like odor that left me wondering whether it had fermented the first time I encountered it fresh. Usually it is in pulp form, and frozen in plastic bags. The fresh fruit is much more pungent.

As one may be able to ascertain from the pictures, the the fruit pulp is a strange rubbery texture. Getting the seed out is quite a chore, and trying to chew the pulp is nearly pointless. It eventually "melts" in your mouth. Generally it is blended into a juice with milk and sugar.

This has been one of my ongoing favorite foods of Brazil. I could not find a nutritional information form like the one I found for acerola, but I did find a list of some nutritional facts about cupuaçu.

Cupuaçu shell, pulp, seeds, and juice. (Original on flickr)

Açaí

Açaí palms

Likely this is a fruit you have heard of. There are a great many products in the US which have açaí⁴ on the label. The truth about açaí is that many of those products are diluted, and/or mistreated in such ways that they are worthless for the cures they claim.

The only way I have seen this fruit here in Brazil is after it is already in pulp form. Often shipped here to Teresina from the state of Pará in frozen one kilogram packages. It is fragile; once picked, it cannot be in the sunlight, so it is picked at night and pressed by dawn.

It has a deep purple color, and a semi-grainy texture. The flavor is somewhere between a blackberry and a blueberry, with a very rich aftertaste. Nothing I have had in the States tastes like the "real" thing.

There are some great health benefits to açaí, however, when ingested in modified forms (as often is the case for the exported pulp of this fruit) the benefits can be completely cancelled out by the processing.

^{1. Juice is a bit of a misnomer in my experience. We in the States would call it a smoothie, most likely. It is made from the fruit, sugar, crushed ice, and water or milk. ↩}

^{2. Original. "Piqui" would be a good Scrabble word, by the way--if its in your dictionary. ↩}

^{3. I was going to use nut-case, but thought the connotations that went along with it might be misleading. Also, check out more information on cupuaçu. ↩

^{4. The correct pronunciation is ah-sai-EE. I dare you to ask me what I think of marketers who consistently get this wrong. ↩}}

Blast From the Past Links

2011-01-20T11:59:00.001-03:00

Today there are a bunch of bloggers linking to their favorite articles from the past. This is a great idea, so to join in, here are some of my favorites.

When I think of my favorite articles, the first that pops into my mind is a story on Wired.com about driving across the US in a modified BMW. Something I would never do myself, but there is no crime in doing it vicariously: The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory
As a Mac user, I like to keep up with what is going on. My favorite of the many authors that write on this subject is John Gruber at Daring Fireball. Not only does he know his stuff, but he regularly calls people out for what they say when it is wrong. Here is one of many examples: New High-Water Mark in iPhone Jackassery
Finally, yes, I am linking to myself. This is an entry on which I worked very hard. About a week ago I decided to re-work a few sections, add some material, and re-publish the article here, which I plan to do tomorrow. What better way to celebrate than link to the old one here? Strange Fruit

Enjoy the reading, and participate if you wish. Let me know if you do!

UPDATE: Remembered one which had a big impact on my life: How To Be Creative

A Miracle

2011-01-19T08:27:00.002-03:00

A Miracle Has Happened:

Less than an hour later my phone rings and it was him. “Do you have any money?”, he asked. Not one for negotiating either, I said, “Well, we raised about 50k for a down payment.” “Ok,” he said, “I think God might be in this… would you like to meet and discuss further?”

“Yes, when?” (I tried not to sound too eager) “This Friday at 10am.” He said.

I needed this story exactly when I read it. Maybe you need this story now. Well worth the read.

Rio de Janiero 2016 Olymic Logo

2011-01-15T08:04:00.002-03:00

Making of Rio 2016 from Tátil Design de Ideias on Vimeo.

The above video´s audio is in Portuguese, but there are English subtitles.

The Rio 2016 Olympics logo has been unveiled. My initial reaction when it was unveiled on New Year's Eve was, "Wow, they nailed it!" The design firm captured in a graphic the essence of Rio de Janeiro. Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açucar) figures in the image, as well as three persons dancing or hugging. The colors also capture the vibrancy and diversity of Rio.

In a first for Olympic logos, the logo is also a three-dimensional sculpture.

There are always detractors, though. It seems that the Telluride Foundation thinks this is to close to the appearance of their own logo. I see similarities, but nothing worthy of clamoring about. While I don't claim to be a designer, the one thing I would change would be the font used for "Rio 2016." It isn't a bad font, it just does not seem to fit the overall design. It feels uncomfortable to me. That said, I think it is a great logo, and fits the general vibe of Rio.

I have been to several cities in Brazil, and most of the major metropolitan areas in the States. Rio is without question at the top of my list of cities to which I would like to return.

The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist | Magazine

2011-01-14T12:29:00.000-03:00

A very interesting read, this is. The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist:

Bill Rothstein may have appeared to be just a man who owned a house next to a TV tower. But he turned out to be hiding a dark secret. On September 20, less than a month after the bomb killed Wells, Rothstein called 911. “At 8645 Peach Street, in the garage, there is a frozen body,” he told the police dispatcher, referring to his own address.

Intrigue, mystery, and evasion. It feels like it should be a film from Hollywood. Unfortunately it is real life.

Death Wears a Snuggie

2011-01-14T10:51:00.000-03:00

From In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie:

Old hats, the squadron commanders who pulled nuclear alert during the sunset of the Cold War, spin tales of the good old days over sweaty mugs of beer at base officer clubs. The harsh mediocrity of missile duty is demanding enough to extract an emotional and physical toll, but cushy enough that missileers are too ashamed to acknowledge any misery. Missileers get warm sheets and hot food; Marines sleep in the mud.

Interesting insights into a mostly unknown world.

TSA Worker Gets 2 Years

2011-01-13T07:54:00.000-03:00

TSA Worker Gets 2 Years for Planting Logic Bomb in Screening System

Douglas Duchak, 46, had worked as a data analyst at the TSA’s Colorado Springs Operations Center, or CSOC, since 2004. He planted the malware in late 2009, after the agency gave him two weeks’ notice that he was being terminated from the job he’d held for five years.

Which begs the question: Why would an agency give a person with access like this two weeks notice?

A Possible Permanent Cure for the Comb-over

2011-01-05T09:55:00.000-03:00

That might be stretching it. But if
the possible discovery of the cause of baldness eventually leads to comb-over elimination, we will all be better off.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go polish my dome.

Griffin CarTrip

2011-01-05T08:36:00.003-03:00

When I first got my iPhone I wondered if this was a possibility:

CarTrip is a Bluetooth-enabled monitor that plugs into your car's OBD-II port and compiles the data logged by the car's onboard computer. Data accessible to the Griffin device includes car acceleration, top speed, fuel consumption and diagnostic codes. The module can store this information to an external SD card using the built-in SD card port, or you can access the data directly using your phone or iPod touch/iPad and Griffin's CleanDrive application.

From Griffin's site:

Your car has a lot more to say than just what its "Check Engine" light can tell you. CarTrip makes you a better listener.

The only niggle I have with that for now; it actually seems to make your car a better communicator, rather than you a better listener. Depending on how the application works, this will be an awesome way to keep an eye on your car's health. I would like to have something like this eventually.

More On Brazil's President Dilma

2011-01-03T10:07:00.000-03:00

Since I published yesterday's article on Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, the BBC News has published a good article outlining the tasks ahead.

With Brazil's domestic savings and investment rates stuck at 17% (in contrast with 35% in India and 50% in China) and the public sector investment capacity limited by growing government expenditure, the Rousseff government will have to foster an environment that can attract foreign capital.

Her immediate challenge is to reduce current public expenditure - not a popular move among her Workers Party and the other parties of her coalition - and enable the Central Bank to lower the domestic interest rate of 10.75%, the highest among emerging economies.

It is really a great read, and also brings to mind the article on infrastructure which I also noted yesterday.

Android still has horrible text messaging bugs that'll get you fired, busted, or otherwise embarrassed -- Engadget

2011-01-03T08:36:00.000-03:00

Here is yet another argument forAndroid and openness.

In other words, unless you pull up the Message Details screen after the fact, you might not even know the grievous act you've committed until your boss, significant other, or best friend -- make that former best friend -- texts you back.

Holiday Perspective (Infrastructure, part n)

2011-01-02T15:50:00.017-03:00

On the infrastructure here in Brazil:

In addition, I have just read that this is the average number of ships lined up to enter the Santos Port, Brazil's most important one. Considering each ship is roughly 200m long and 500m away from the next one, we are talking about a 30km queue... on average.

In November, I had met with a supplier and he told me that while he was awaiting urgent cargo, his ship's captain decided, while in queue, to continue the journey onwards to Buenos Aires first, to unload a part of his cargo, as Santos had informed him he was 55th in line and would take roughly 2 weeks to enter the harbor.

Since my first arrival here in 2004, infrastructure has been one of the things that I felt was missing. The Northeast is less developed than the South (where lie Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo). Certain areas are well-developed, like the city bus systems. At the same time, the city streets are so under-maintained that the buses frequently break down.

The interstate highway system? Not unlike a two-way, two-lane country road in the States.

Holiday Perspective (Infrastructure, part n)

Brazil’s New President, Dilma Rousseff

2011-01-02T12:23:00.004-03:00

Brazil inaugurated its first female president Saturday, the first of January, 2011. We were able to watch live as Dilma Rousseff ascended to power. Diplomats and heads-of-state from all over the world were in Brasilia to help commemorate the event, and to congratulate President Dilma.¹

After the New Year celebrations the night before, the inauguration ceremonies seemed a bit dry, and possibly not as organized as was intended.

You may recall that President Dilma won the office only after a runoff election², so she has much less political capital than President Lula did.

As for her personality, The New York Times says the following:

Strong-willed and short-tempered, Ms. Rousseff, 63, is viewed as more of an ideologue than Mr. da Silva, for whom she worked as chief of staff. She favors more state control over industries, including Brazil’s rapidly expanding oil sector. But she also has a reputation as a pragmatic deal maker.

She will have the support of two-thirds of Congress, and analysts see Mr. da Silva working behind the scenes with the leaders of the 10 parties that form her presidential coalition.

This is not out of line with what we saw during the campaign. In fact, there were several instances during at least one debate where the Brazilians of the household were discussing her rudeness and lack of tact.

Representing the United States of America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in attendance, and even had an encounter with Hugo Chavez.

Dilma's Vice President is a 70-year-old senator who is married to a 27-year-old. Twitter was all aflutter yesterday about her since she was at his side the entire time. She is a former "Miss" of her state, and, though conservatively dressed, her class upstaged the President herself.

The exiting President Lula was clearly the star of the show, though. He has made clear that he did not wish to leave the presidency, and even stated that he would like to be re-elected again. He has a fourth-grade education, but more charisma than anyone I can think of. It was an emotional parting for he and his wife, and for the multitude of PT³ supporters assembled to watch this event.

^{1. Here I take with the Brazilian tradition of [title][first name] as opposed how many, if not most English-language news sources cite [title][last name]. This works better in Latin American countries where a person has two last names; a paternal, and a maternal. So the New York Times got Luiz Inácio da Silva's last name half-wrong. The really should have said: "Mr. Inácio da Silva." That said, he is almost not known by that name here in Brazil. It is far more common to hear "President Lula."

President Rousseff was born in Bulgaria, therefore her name goes with the European tradition. ↩}

^{2. In Brazil to win a political office one must win 50% plus one of the electorate. The first round, Dilma took around 47% of the votes, where she was expected to take around 10% more than that. ↩}

^{3. Partido do Trabalho, or Worker's Party. Both Lula and Dilma are members of this Comunist party. ↩}

This Is Likely The Best Photo You Will See All Day

2010-12-29T11:21:00.000-03:00

No matter how many pictures you have seen today, This Is Likely The Best Photo You Will See All Day.

The Wrong Way to Conduct A Customer Survey

2010-12-27T14:24:00.002-03:00

Nailed a great many of the issues I have encountered in taking online surveys.

The first question of the survey asks why I’m logging in. Frankly, I was logging in to see what the experience was like. I hadn’t any other agenda, but I imagine I’d probably use it to keep in touch with my office and friends, along with checking my email. I had plenty of work to do, but it had been a long week and I might do something else. However, I hadn’t given it any thought until they asked.

There are four answers: working, checking email, leisure/entertainment, and all of the above. I would’ve liked to say I was just checking out United’s internet offer, to see if it’s something I’d be willing to pay for. That wasn’t a choice.

Almost any survey I have ever taken has had at least one of these 19 issues. Probably more. The basic problem as I see it, is that companies are more interested in selling something than knowing what the user wants. Then again, maybe it is just laziness.

19 Lessons from United Airlines on How to Build a Crappy Survey

Brazilian Woman Declared Dead, Was Not

2010-12-27T05:43:00.000-03:00

I am pretty speechless, really.

An 88-year-old woman in Brazil who had been pronounced dead last week narrowly escaped being buried alive when she woke up inside her coffin two days later.

Full article.

FCC, Net Nutrality, and The Consumer

2010-12-22T10:31:00.000-03:00

For the past couple of years the Federal Communications Commission has been mulling a stance on network neutrality, and yesterday announced a decision. In what is likely an oversimplification of the things that are at stake, there are two basic arguments:

Content delivery companies should be allowed to throttle bandwidth (i.e. content delivery speed), and let the market decide what is best.
Consumers need protection from corporate interests, and access to the whole internet, not just the content a given company, or group of companies has an interest in delivering.

Having heard some arguments from both sides, in my view, the more cogent argument is that of protecting the consumer from companies.

The basic question is whether or not any given content delivery business can limit the delivery speed - or in some cases even exclude said delivery - to end-users. Herein lies the problem; without regulation by a third-party how will consumers know (anecdotal incidents aside) what content is being subverted? Evidently, the FCC seems to think that open source software will solve that problem¹.

Up to now, the internet has been a pretty equitable place. As long as one consistently provides great content, one can get noticed anywhere in the world². Does this set of rules mean that what hosting company one chooses will have an effect on the amount of traffic one gets, and the speed with which one's content is delivered?

Some see this as the end of the internet as we know it. I don't know that it is that extreme, but I do think the FCC is marching in place, rather than doing anything. A waste of energy. The debate is truly far from over, though. Or, as Ars Technica puts it:

"Yes, it's a step forward," declared Harold Feld of Public Knowledge, "but hardly more than an incremental step beyond the Internet Policy Statement adopted by the previous Republican FCC. After such an enormous build up and tumultuous process, it is unsurprising that supporters of an open Internet are bitterly disappointed — particularly given the uncertainty over how the rules will be enforced.

Steve Wozinak points out in his recent open letter on the subject:

The early Internet was so accidental, it also was free and open in this sense. The Internet has become as important as anything man has ever created. But those freedoms are being chipped away. Please, I beg you, open your senses to the will of the people to keep the Internet as free as possible. Local ISP's should provide connection to the Internet but then it should be treated as though you own those wires and can choose what to do with them when and how you want to, as long as you don't destruct them.

In other words, it should be like the consumer is renting a home from the owner. A great read, by the way, from the co-founder of Apple.

Some of the details of the new FCC rules at least appear somewhat favorable for consumers:

The FCC's decision is a mixed bag for consumers. The new rules—which haven't been released in full—say that land-line broadband providers can't block legal content from websites, or "unreasonably discriminate" against companies like Skype or Netflix that want to use broadband networks to provide video or voice services. They also require providers to give consumers more information about their Internet service, like actual download speeds or usage limits.

The problem remains of how these rules will be enforced (assuming they withstand upcoming political and judicial tests). How will "unreasonably discriminate" be interpreted? Will consumers need to pay extra for access to content-heavy sites? There seem to be more, and bigger, questions with regard to these rules than there were before.

To top all this off with a cherry, Obama seems to be hailing this as a landmark moment, even after being very assertive about his position being in favor of an open internet during his campaign. Sorry Mr. President, this is not really a win.
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^{1. This is reminds me of a recent post I read about convincing UN delegates at a climate change conference to sign a petition to ban dihidrogen monoxide, H₂O.

2. Notwithstanding government censorship, etc.}