Today I got the strangest email from Clear / Verified Identity Pass - the company that provides a registered traveller service in some of the major U.S. airports. The email told me that they were unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations. I loved the $120-$130 a year service - you used a special identity card and sailed through security, but this all-at-once disappearing act strikes me as ill planned.
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One of the reasons people buy SUVs is because they like to take road trips. They may not need the size or cargo hauling capacity on a day-to-day basis but for packing up the kids and going somewhere - particularly if you need 4WD - SUVs are great. We have owned an SUV and recently concluded a two-year stint of renting them for road trips. Our conclusion: If you’re particular about your ride - or about getting an SUV period - for your road trip, either rent a day or two in advance of your trip or have a backup plan. Or both.
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The past year or so since getting a Macbook Pro I’ve been a fairly vocal Apple fan, but a couple incidents recently leave me wondering if they are running the risk of alienating their best customers - the early adopters who will pay premium amounts to have the latest gear that looks good and works well.
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The
public reaction to the Mattel Toy Recall is somewhat disappointing in that the focus seems mostly on the lead and the oversight process. My heart goes out to any family with a child affected by lead but it really shouldn’t surprise anyone in the slightest degree that this could happen given the way we’ve delegated our children’s’ playtime equipment to the lowest common denominators of the global economy: Retail at Walmart or Target for convenient purchase a cheap toy from a global marketing engine like Mattel and outsource the production (and likely the design) to China. Both China and Mattel need to answer for their parts in this play but this really isn’t about China - it could happen in any outsource scenario - to me the issue is that we have a part to answer for too: we’re fueling the demand for these crap plastic toys.
This past weekend Kathy and I took a Cadillac SRX up to Sonoma to get away and just relax a bit. In my driving impressions I shared my frustration with the fact that Cadillac’s designers intentionally crippled various functions while the vehicle is moving. That got me to thinking — what are people’s attitudes on driver distraction? Are these types of design decisions just fear of litigation or is there popular support for such restrictions?
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