That Sinking Feeling

So much for optimism, now it's time for a good old- fashioned whack on the side of the head. What the hell is wrong with everybody? It's as if America has taken one giant stupid pill. I swear, I've never seen any more piss poor driving and rude public behavior than I have lately. Sure the economy is in the shitter and the Gulf of Mexico's floor is gushing oil like a cut jugular, but is that any reason to ignore the most basic of common courtesies? Like putting your headlights on in a downpour. Not only is it the law, but it's the smart thing to do and could save lives, maybe even your own! What most people fail to realize is that although they may be able to see OK in the rain without turning their headlights on, lots of other people cant see them. And how about  a turn signal once in a while? After all, automotive engineers have worked hard to put it literally at our finger tips, but alas, getting people to use it is like pulling teeth. They'd more readily text their agenda to their friends than let an oncoming motorist going 50 mph know that they are about to make a left turn. They'll just sit there and text while the traffic signals are changing and expect everyone else in the intersection to guess which way they are going. Arrogant bastards! Do you know how many accidents you have caused with your self-important attitude? I doubt that you care, but soon enough you will do yourself in with your relentless need to text while driving.
Why don't you give us all a break and concentrate on the road in front of you instead of that puny 2 x 3 screen in your hand? And back to the Gulf of Mexico, BP screw up. If we pass up this wake up call to make a serious move away from fossil fuel, then we are indeed all screwed. Nobody is really serious about getting rid of the internal combustion engine as the model of transportation. If they were, they would have done it already! They've been talking about it for 30 years and still, the best alternative cars they have come up with are the Chevy Volt, an overpriced GM product that has yet to hit the showroom floors of the good ole' USA, and the NISSAN Leaf, which, by all accounts I have read so far is not going to do the trick either. So , if it's going to be business as usual, then so be it. I have tried to convince people of the advantages of car pooling lanes and other incentives to reduce the terrible traffic congestion that haunts us all, but getting people to listen is virtually impossible. So when the shit really hits the fan, don't be too surprised when I say " Told You So".

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.