Is Trust a Commodity Like Everything Else?

 The recent Toyota debacle underscores just how important consumer trust is, and the jury is not out yet on how it will ultimately affect the Japanese auto giant. But one thing is certain; they will spend millions on a well-crafted PR campaign to convince the masses that they would never compromise that trust. The facts, however, belie even the best of spin, and a sharp cookie doesn’t have to look too far to see why.
 Although Toyota has had a history of building reliable vehicles, the truth is that they, as well as many other manufacturers have recalls all the time for everything from defective tires to faulty ignition systems. If Toyota is so confident in their brand image and their products, how come they need to do a mega-million dollar advertising blitz with 0% financing and everybody under the sun appearing in it? Because they are scared, damn scared. Toyota, by its own admission has never offered this type of financing before because its line was always considered a premium brand, it didn’t have to. Now that its backside is up against the wall, they need to compete for sales any way they can, even on price. Toyota says that they are offering this incredible, possibly “never again” offer to reward its customers for standing by the company and continuing to buy its cars. I say not. The real reason is, of course, Toyota’s wallet. If Toyota tanks, Japan is in deep shit. Everything, and I mean everything Japanese is at stake here, and the mighty Toyota will do whatever it takes to avoid that. Even if it means hiring the best god damn American PR firm to clean up its mess. And the American PR firm will gladly take Toyota’s money because Americans, unfortunately, are whores for the dollar. We will even jeopardize our own safety on the road as well as others, if the price is right, by allowing faulty products to be imported with our consent. So if our trust can be bought by a slick ad campaign and a good deal on a car, why are people so reluctant to trust each other on a personal level? It doesn’t make sense. But then again, so many things don’t. I guess I shouldn’t be all that shocked by what Toyota is doing, after all, they’re just using us as guinea pigs in a grand auto marketing experiment to see how stupid we are and how much shit we will take.

 Trust used to be an inherent part of a relationship, but now that it is bought and sold, it conforms to the laws of supply and demand the same as any other commodity does. Right now the demand for trust is very high, and the supply is low. But don’t worry, Toyota’s got deep pockets, and they’ll be glad to throw in a Camry or two to sweeten the pot.

Source Code: Jason - Part 3

Settling in for some serious trouble shooting, he wondered if there was indeed a way around revealing his identity or was he just kidding himself. He was frustrated all- right, aside from a few minor scares at the onset of this virtual foray, everything had worked like a charm. Back to square one. It still all came down to the choice of running the debugging scan or not. It was the only way he knew to tell for sure if he had been infected. Again, but without result ,Jason searched thousands of submenus in the hopes of finding an answer. It was getting light out when he noticed a small line of code tucked away on a secondary drive that didn’t look right. Suspicious, he went in for a closer look at some file directories and that’s when he discovered how they got in. Son of a bitch ! They came in through the back door. The secondary drive was a backup system only and it didn’t contain a crucial link to the main OS that would have prevented entry. He fucked up. Boy wonder had fucked up. He was in deep shit now, much deeper than he’d been before There was no way out, his identity was being held in some hidden cache that would open a link once he executed the scan. If he didn’t, the operation would time out and open it automatically. But the only question really was, how long ? How much time did he have ? It was impossible to predict, and given that lady luck had been on his side so far, he wasn’t feeling all that bad. Should he venture out ? Staring at the screen anxiously wasn’t helping matters and he didn’t have any food in the house. He got himself cleaned up and headed into town. The real world seemed like a scary place to Jason sometimes. Customers, salespeople, his boss. What the hell was their problem anyway ? Always complaining about this , that, and the other. Fuck them ! He didn’t need to listen to their trivial tales of woe. All he needed was a dedicated high speed connection with a secure server and he was in play. But that was off limits to him tonight, so reality it was, like it or not. He noticed a new place driving in that looked pretty good and pulled into the lot. They served cocktails and had a full menu, just right. Thankfully, the dining room was somewhat full. You couldn’t say that the joint was jumpin’ but it wasn’t dead either. With the surrounding buzz providing just enough anonymity, he found a dark corner near the bar to sink into. He hated eating alone! Especially outside. It was his admission to the world that he couldn’t get a date, that he was a failure with women. But he was in need of a good hearty meal. All this recent stress was taking its toll on him and he could use some serious chow to revive himself. He hadn’t enjoyed much for a long time, not outside his sordid little world. He’d been burned, and badly. When he discovered his fiancée banging his best friend it was too much for him too take. That’s when he retreated into the cyber chasm of his making. Virtually cutting himself off from the world except for work, he avoided socializing like the plague. He could get away with it, lots of guys get reclusive after a snub like that. Nobody would think it was anything else. And why should they ? Surely there were bigger fish to fry. That was his thinking anyway, until this latest twist. The waitress was polite, but after his third beer, she reappeared suddenly with her pen and pad ready to take his dinner order. The management didn’t like guys hanging out and drinking without ordering food, this was more of a family place. Jason listened to his server rattle off the specials and decided to go with the pasta. The waitress scurried off to the kitchen and that’s when he caught sight of the same chick who’d given him the slip at the parking lot. This time, he thought, he’d play it cool, real cool. Avoiding direct eye contact but keeping her in his field of peripheral vision, he began to scan her more closely. She was a good forty to fifty feet away and it was dark. Was it the same girl ? If it was, and she was spying on him, why was she being so obvious about it ? Did she want to meet him? Or was she on a different mission, perhaps a clandestine meeting to resolve some unknown issue? He could only guess at what the answers might be. He didn’t want to create a scene in the restaurant that would only bring unwanted attention. As the waitress approached his table with a steaming plate of hot pasta, his focus drifted just long enough for her to make her move. Whoosh! Gone. As if she had never been there. The sight and smell of real homemade food brought much needed comfort and a brief smile to his face. There would be other opportunities to unmask the mystery lady, and right now he needed to be as cautious as ever. On the way home, Jason noticed some headlights that seemed to be tailing him. He was suspicious, but not scared. Actually, he liked a good caper, and this was quickly turning into one.

Source Code: Jason - Part 2

Jason took a deep breath and regained his composure. The missing icons on his toolbar, the strange e-mail he received the night before warning something was afoot, it was all coming together now. But who could have sent it ? And why would they want to warn him? Was it a ruse to help ferret him out of his web hole? All these questions needed answers, but right now Jason had more immediate concerns. His cock was throbbing furiously and it was pointed right at his monitor, like a Polaris missile primed for launch.
He desperately wanted to come with his favorite lady of late, Cindy. All along, Cindy thought she was banging her boyfriend Don, while Jason was really the one enjoying her tele- caresses and broadband moans. Don, a Geologist on a long assignment overseas for BP wasn’t any the wiser, so Jason thought. One thing was for sure, Jason couldn’t think clearly in his current state, and he didn’t want to make a rash decision when everything was on the line. He decided to go manual and with a few swift strokes relieved the pressure that had been building between his legs. After a few minutes, the old Jason returned. The cool, confident, calculating one. Not the panicky freaked out one that only recently emerged. His reassessment of the situation suggested that things might not be as bad as he thought. After all, he was the original master hacker and it would only be a matter of time till he figured out a way to cover his tracks. He began to doze and realized he needed to forego any action till morning. In sleep mode his computer was safe. Everything was frozen, suspended in a deep memory bank somewhere. Only Jason could access it. It was just a temporary solution, but it would buy him some time. A solid night’s sleep always recharged his batteries and he was in need of a good crash.
The ring tones Jason downloaded to his cell phone were like Nine Inch Nails’ old stuff, and the volume had been left on high. It succeeded in waking him. His boss was on the line and was he ever pissed. Being consumed by his current conundrum, Jason forgot all about covering for a co-worker’s vacation. He was ordered to " get your lazy ass down here lickety split or get canned". Jason chose option A. It was a lame job, but one he needed nonetheless. Being an Internet stud as he was (at least in his own mind) had become an expensive proposition. The sensors, the software, the whole shebang was adding up to a tidy little sum and he couldn’t afford to tell his boss to fuck off just yet. He mumbled the obligatory apologies and promised to be on his way. Throwing his jeans on, he tapped his mouse to see where he was at. While his pride and glory rebooted, Jason found a shirt and managed to brush his teeth. He re-entered the room with anticipation. Glancing at the screen quickly he could see that nothing appeared to have changed overnight. He stepped closer for a better look and after a few moments determined that he’d be better off leaving things alone. The sleep mode strategy worked last night, why shouldn’t it work again? He put his machine back to bed and scurried off to work like the loyal employee he wasn’t. At the store , the usual bullshit was ensuing. Some bitch was complaining about a bad color mix while an old fart was trying to buy drywall tape for his son’s contracting business. Such was his lot in life, but he really didn’t give a shit anymore. As long as he could get his rocks off at night, he didn’t care about the rest of the world. He put in his eight and punched out. Not getting lunch, he stopped at a local grease pit for a burger and fries. Nothing unusual, or so it seemed, until Jason noticed this fine chick across the lot checking him out. He approached her but she didn’t stick around long enough to say hello. Damn ! It was a long time since any woman had given Jason the eye, even if it was a mystery gal. Things were definitely getting weird he thought, especially with this latest encounter. He couldn’t chalk all this up to coincidence, he didn’t believe in that kind of stuff anyway. This was Jason, the poster boy for the new generation of cyber pervert who had created an entire virtual domain to fulfill his sexual fantasies. And now, someone was trying to look into that private little world of his. He had to find out who,and quickly. Rushing home to see if the sleep mode was still working, he clicked his PC to life.His luck was holding, and it was still frozen in it’s exact state after discovering the missing toolbar icons. Now time was on his side. He had the night ahead of him to think of a solution, and all the next day if needed. Tomorrow was Sunday,and the store was closed.