TTC drivers need to user better judgment

Posted on January 18, 2012 by admin

TTC drivers need to user better judgment. Like many people in Toronto, I get up in the morning and wait for a bus to get to work. I do this because my home is about a two-minute bus ride from the Keele subway station. On Keele, there are regular buses and express buses. My stop at Annette and Dundas Street is not an express stop, but it is on a major intersection with a traffic light.

When an express bus is stopped at a red light, bus drivers don’t bother to pick up passengers waiting for the bus. Instead, the drivers just often look over, smile and then wait for the light to change, driving away, leaving people waiting many more minutes for the next bus.

Now I think this has to be the dumbest thing in the world. Even if the rule is that express buses only stop at certain stops, drivers should use better judgment. What is the harm in picking up passengers waiting on the side of the road?

The TTC is cutting budgets, sending out less buses, making wait times longer and it would be great if the drivers had the wherewithal to pick people up when they can.

This has been really pissing me off over the last two weeks and I needed to get it off my chest.

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Ice Cream Sandwich First thoughts

Posted on December 18, 2011 by admin

I Upgraded to Google Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich this morning and so far is been a mixed bag. Don’t laugh but I honestly missed a call because I did not understand how to pick up the phone. For those who have not experienced answering a call using Google Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich you are presented with a pulsing button in the center of the screen and not a single indication of what to do. Pressing on the button does not do anything but after the second and third time you realize that you might want to swipe the button left or right. If you happend to go left you hung up on the person, choose right you managed to answer the phone, congratulations!! What I really did like about this was the option, swiping up, to send someone a quick text telling them your busy and will call them back.

Overall the UI is not very intuitive. The menu button gone, you’ll have to hunt around the screen for three vertical dots which have taken its place. However, these can be anywhere, so sometimes you’ll get distracted trying to work out how on earth to alter settings.

I also have hundreds of blank contacts and I’m not quite sure where they came from or why they are on my phone.

I have been a huge Android fan, by I was thinking about how my mother would have responded to the complexity of the UI if I am having challenges navigating the system.

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Google buys Motorola — what happens to the Nexus S?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by admin
As a Nexus S owner, a device made by Korean-owned Samsung, I was a bit scared to hear that Google had purchased Motorola’s mobile operations. Google has not had a good track record of supporting all Android devices. Many of my friends are still stuck on Android 2.2 or lower on older Motorola devices that have not been updated, supported or shown any love since the introduction of the Nexus 1 and S devices. I’m afraid that Google might forget about supporting the Samsung devices and leave me stuck on 2.3 indefinitely.However, the acquisition of Motorola was a good move for Google. Google was able to secure thousands of patents that will help it in the ever-escalating smartphone battle ground. It will also enable Google to go head-to-head with Apple, developing phones that work natively with one platform. I know that Google has said Android will continue to be an open platform, which is great news for HTC and Samsung, but it does not mean Google can’t — and won’t — build devices that are tightly integrated with Motorola adding special features and functions that make operating an Android-powered Motorola device so much better that it would not be worth buying any other devices.

I really love my Nexus S, but I fear that in the very near future I will be forced to choose a new handset just so I can enjoy the full power of the Android. On the bright side, Motorola has designed some of the world’s best phones like the Razr and some of the new Android-powered devices like the Atrix look amazing. P.S. Motorola: I would love to test one!!

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Netflix Raising Prices

Posted on July 12, 2011 by admin

 

Netflix is about to become less compelling bargain for people who want to stream videos and also watch DVDs:

The current offering a very sweet urrently, Netflix charges $9.99 per month for unlimited DVD rentals by mail, with one DVD rented at a time, plus unlimited streaming content. Customers access streaming content online, through gaming consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation or Nintendo’s Wii, or via mobile devices.  I have never personally taken advantage of this plan, however now the I do have a DVD Blue Ray player I would have jumped at the chance to try it out. Though I have been told that the DVD selection list is limited, almost never getting your first selection and you do need to play extra for DVD Blue Ray disks.

The  New Plan 

Unlimited streaming will cost $7.99 per month, as will taking out one DVD at a time. The combined cost is $15.98 per month, a huge price increase for those who currently pay $9.99 for a combined streaming-plus-one-DVD plan. The price changes are effective immediately for new subscribers but take effect in September for preexisting ones.

This does not change much for the most of us streamers, but it should aggravate DVD costumers. I just hope that Nexflix continues to grow their content library without raising prices any higher. The Canadian service still needs lots of work!!

 

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IABC San Diego 2011

Posted on July 8, 2011 by admin
Last month, I attended the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) World Conference. This was my second IABC event and I was excited to see old friends as well as get a sense of how the industry has progressed over the last year. The focus of last year’s event was on social media — what it is and should you be using it. This year, the conference was more balanced focusing on key ideas like the importance of storytelling and making internal communications fun again.

Here are the three things that stood out for me about this year’s conference:

More people understood what social media is

However, most people had not figured out how to use it effectively in the context of their business. Not all companies need to be using Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. If your business is not conducive to social communications, don’t force it.

All sessions needed to be cut down to 45 minutes

Talks about internal communication, storytelling and internal content management systems (CMS) are interesting, but don’t need be so long. Most of the speakers could easily wrap their messages into a tight 45-minute talk with the help of Nancy Duarte. I experienced too many talks that just dragged on to fill up time. Even the best speakers like Shel Holtz could have wrapped his message into a tighter package.

The Unconference

This was still the most informative and best networking session of the conference. Last year, I met a few great people including my now current girlfriend, and got a good understanding of what people were really thinking about. This year, we had more inspired discussion, and met more amazing people who helped enhance the IABC experience, although I did not happen to find another girlfriend, not that I was actually looking.

Overall, IABC 2011 was a good conference. The content was engaging but next year all sessions should be limited to 45 minutes and the organizers need to find more meaningful ways to engage attendees in Unconference-like situations.

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