communication. community. cognition.
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Capitol Punishment
Nov 20th
The is the first part of my Modest Proposals for Change. Change I can believe in.
Get Congress out of Washington.
Greater Washington is one of the most segregated, dysfunctional cities on the planet. Having our elected representatives spend the majority of their time in a toxic place cannot be good for their outlook. Even worse are those that cocoon themselves within the padded and happy bubble of private schools and swank surroundings. They go, they plug in, and they lose touch.
So let’s get them out of there.
Telecommute. Don’t Pollute.
If telecommuting is the wave of the future, let’s get our Federal government in front of that movement.
Let’s get them back to their home districts. Let them do video conferencing with their committees. Let them vote remotely, and have every vote electronically tabulated (no more voice-vote games). Let them eat breakfast with their constituents. Let them be more open and transparent, with more meetings available for people to peruse online.
Most importantly, let’s get them out of a cluster that is convenient for lobbyists. K-Street can only exist if there is in fact a street close enough to lobby all of them on the cheap. No lobbyists, no revolving doors, no secret huddles. Let them lobby in person by flying around the country, where they can be tracked. Let them lobby over the phone, where there are records that can be subpoenaed, and make those phone records public and searchable too.
We the People don’t trust our Congressmen as far as we can throw them. So let’s keep them close enough that we can throw them. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a better degree of representation. It would certainly cost less than what we have now.
Why Does Facebook Hate My Wife
Sep 6th
My Facebook experience is episodic, intermittent, and intense. I really don’t hang there much, but occasionally I get a flurry of requests from a new pack of old friends who have just discovered it and I interact with them a bit. Facebook is not my life.
Recently, my wife asked me to get her started with a Facebook page. Apparently she has had a couple of friends ask if she’s on, so she wants an account.
My efforts to start her page have hit a snag. Apparently, she’s not allowed for some reason:
Our automated system will not approve this name.
No specific reason given, and my email to their support staff got an automated response five days ago. No other contact.
Also, absolutely nothing on the help pages to give clarification as to why they deny accounts.
How much were they worth again? For what Microsoft paid in, it could have bought an even more-difficult-to-comprehend Seinfeld commercial.
Facebook, you have until Tuesday. Then I start a countdown clock on you.
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Facebook, customer service[/tags]
Cutting Loose
Aug 20th
My wife sent me the following in an email:
Superman’s cape has bit the dust! Ryan was spotted with a pair of scissors earlier today and when asked what he was doing replied, “Cutting off superman’s cape” When asked why he was doing this the small human responded, “Because I don’t want him to fly.”
It’s easy to gravitate to the cape as the source of flight, when really it was meant as an artistic convention to demonstrate movement in a two-dimensional, still-frame comic medium. But at some point, we cut the strings when we realize the cape isn’t necessary anymore. (Besides, Batman doesn’t fly and he has a cape…)
Which leads me back to a question posed the other day. 
When do we finally reach the point where we ditch the old technology? I know of two accomplished and very intelligent classmates of mine who graduated high school without being able to tell the time on an analog clock. (I can vouch that one has since learned, and probably the other…)
The fact remains that one could indeed be fully functional in 1986 without needing that particular skill, and moreso today. So when do we realize that the magic isn’t in the hands and the gears? When can we cut the ties?
I think there are several factors that play a role in allowing us to assign certain standards to the fate of the buggy whip. What I haven’t figured out is the relative importance and ranking of those factors:
- Percentage adoption
- Generational immersion of replacement
- Fear of translation
And for that matter – what besides the analog clock and the shoelace is destined for the dustbin of history? (Considering that for many us, the dustbin is history too.)
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, technology[/tags]
Quality Control
Jun 7th
Mistakes happen, that’s to be expected. Some are more inexcusable than others, because they aren’t errors in execution, but rather a signal of a flawed process.
I had a great birthday, and it was a cap to a great week. The kids were eager to help me with my “party,” and took an active role in building a makeshift piñata for me and picking out their own birthday cards. Being on a long superhero kick, Ryan picked out a nice Justice League card for me.
Upon a closer look, something around Green Lantern’s leg caught my eye.
It doesn’t photograph well, but in the glare on the glass you can read “QA/PASS”. I’m certain that was a sign that an entire batch of these cards passed the printer’s Quality Assurance test. Unfortunately, it also was a sign the manufacturer was careless about letting internal messages spill outside.
Why mar a perfectly good card, when there are better ways to track stacks of objects? More importantly, how often do we really think about the things that we do and how we do them? Is it time to completely rethink a procedure? Is it necessary anymore? Is there a better way to achieve the same goal?
And most important… if you can’t focus on the first thing an end-user will see, then you’ve become your own worst enemy.
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, quality, manufacturing, printing, greeting cards[/tags]
Premium Problem
Apr 30th
I recently saw a billboard for a local State Farm agent. It had a tag line:
“Premium Service without Premium Price”
- Does that mean the insurance is free?
- Can I get the service without paying any premiums at all?
- Did someone in the marketing department just have a pun backfire?
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, insurance, marketing, State Farm[/tags]
My Chuck Heston Story
Apr 11th
Charlton Heston at the 1963 Civil Rights March.
Charlton Heston died a few days ago. I never met him, but he did provide for one of the most memorable incidents at my last television station.
Several years ago, Heston was visiting Birmingham, waiting in our lobby for an interview appearance on our noon newscast. Our Managing Editor, Al Volker, was running a last-minute script update from the newsroom to the studio. As he rounded the corner at the reception desk, he spotted Heston — and without breaking stride — blurted out:
“OH JESUS! IT’S MOSES!“
We asked Al if he ever went back and talked with Heston, or got an autograph.
“Nah. It would have ruined my story.”
In hindsight, what would he have gained from knowing Heston’s reaction? Nothing. The story is better left unfinished.
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, television, Charlton Heston, ABC 33/40[/tags]
Expectations
Feb 4th
“Most problems to be solved are really just a matter of expectations. The trick is knowing when to raise them, when to lower them, and when to change them completely.”
