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Google Streetview Car at Winco

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

googlecar1Well,  I guess even Google employees have to have a lunch break. 

While at Winco today I parked near this Google car so I thought I would snap a picture.  For those who don’t know, these are the Google cars that drive around and take pictures of every street in America so that people can view them on Google Maps.

A little side note here… they are also collecting other data from people, like personal wireless (WIFI) signals and anything else they can get for free. See article here. So be careful.  Remember… there are no secrets anymore.

googlecar2Ironically, the guy sitting in the car didn’t like me taking his picture.  If I had been thinking more quickly I would have set my razr phone to “Movie mode” and put forth a focused effort to really make him nervous. But then again, I’m not really the harassing type (these days).

I’m just wondering when one of the following inevitable events will happen with Google Street View:

  •  Street View Becomes a Paid Service – You know good and well that when enough people get hooked on the service, they will decide to make it subscription based. (can anyone say “HULU” or “Netflix”?)
  • Street View Gets Sold to the Government – Oh wait, they wouldn’t sell themselves to themselves would they? (You already know my feelings about this one: Article 1 | Article 2)
  • Google Street View Decides to Record Infra Red Signals – As long as they’re capturing your car license plates, kids playing in the front yard, house numbers, etc., they might as well record other sensitive data too. How about, how many people are in your house and what activities you’re engaged in when the car passes by. 

111[1]I use Google. In fact I have an Android tablet arriving at my house today. But I also have a healthy distrust of any organization that can gather so much information about me without my permission.

Oh, and yes. I still use a Razr phone.  So what!

Have you ever seen a Google Street View car in person?  If so, what were your thoughts about it?

Police Officers: Really… To Protect and Serve

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

police_officer-13035 I have to say, I have a list of things that immediately come to mind upon seeing a police officer stopped along side the road.

  • Why is he harassing those poor innocent drivers like that?
  • Doesn’t he have anything better to do…  like CATCH BAD GUYS.
  • We need MORE police in this state? Why, to catch more speeders late for work? Really?
  • Does it really take FOUR police cars to stop that guy in a Ford Focus who forgot to signal his turn?  Come on.
  • Do they really need to issue a ticket for 4 miles over the speed limit?
  • Do they have to stop right in the middle of the driving lane?
  • etc, etc, etc.

Until today I have never had what I’ve considered to be a pleasant encounter with a police officer. Officers are usually thought of (by me) as scary, self absorbed, bossy, arrogant, power tripping, ‘wanting any excuse to shoot you’, people in blue who simply want me to pay their salary by fining me for something stupid and irrelevant.

HOWEVER, I need to give credit where it is due.  This morning on my way to work I looked over in the oncoming lanes to see a policeman stopped, lights on, helping a woman bolt her spare tire onto her car.  The lady was just standing there and the policeman was working the tire iron.  She had obviously got a flat and couldn’t change it herself.

I was amazed. Here, right in front of me, was the very definition of “To protect and server” being acted out for the world to see.  Not a PR promotion or marketing campaign on the evening news. An actual live, act of kindness and service by a paid public servant.

For a few minutes I was actually proud of our police force. I was shocked as my cynicism over the general abuse of power we live under on a daily basis was lifted and for a brief moment in time I felt that the Tigard Police were actually on my side.   That is until I realized that in my 37 years of life to this point, this is the one and only time I can remember ever seeing this type of service from our “public servants”.

Cynicism aside. Whoever that officer was, Oregon state police, Tigard police, I don’t know, my hat is off to you. I’m proud of what you did and I wish this type of service was considered the norm.  

To be fair, maybe officers do this type of thing all the time and I just don’t see it. I hope that is the case.

Do you have any stories about POSITIVE dealings with the police, where they actually impressed you with their service level?  If so, I would love to hear them. Comment below and tell your story.

Shouldn’t we reserve legislation for systemic problems?

Friday, March 11th, 2011

laws This country in general, and Oregon in specific has a sever lack of perspective  with regard to the laws we let our representatives discuss and pass.  We’re passing bills left and right and the public mindset for some reason seems to be “the more laws, the better”. I feel like I’m the only one in Oregon that thinks congress should just stop passing laws. Period. Stick to solving our current budget crisis.

I cringe when I hear someone say we need a “bi-partisan effort” and get this legislation passed “for the good of the people”. Or “Congress needs to work together on this”. No they don’t. There are very few laws in the past 20 years that have actually been for the “good of the people”.  Honestly, we’ve passed thousands, and I really can’t think of one off the top of my head that is actually beneficial.

Our state and federal reps routinely use rare one-off events as excuses to change huge facets of our way of life.

One person gets mad in traffic and shoots someone else, so we draft sweeping road rage laws. Is road-rage really a problem? Of course not. The incidents are extremely rare.  But it’s a good excuse to pass a law.

A careless biker gets hit by a car, so we pass tight restrictions and stiff fines for drivers who look at a cycler wrong.

Give a job to someone who is not an “approved” government sanctioned minority and you could face prison time.

One kid in some rural town accidentally gets shot playing with their father’s gun so let’s make it illegal for anyone to own a firearm…  till the end of time.

No Smoking in public; No talking on cell phones while driving; No bike trailers carrying children under 6; No eating fattening French Fries; No guns – ever; No walking people to the airport terminal;  No liquids on the plane; Red light cameras at every intersection; On-star tracking in every car;

Isn’t it time we just STOP making laws?

The Oregon House approved a bill Thursday that would remove legal protection for parents who choose faith healing over medical intervention when treating their children.

The bill passed unanimously, though two Republican representatives raised concerns that the legislation was taking the issue away from juries and sending the state down a slippery slope.

The legislation comes in response to an Oregon City church, the Followers of Christ, that has a long history of child deaths even though the conditions from which the children died were medically treatable.

Oregon House unanimously votes to end faith healing exception | OregonLive.com

I hate it when these fringe churches and Christian sects do stupid things that make the rest of us look bad.  I can’t stand the thought of people letting their children die of very curable illnesses. I think it’s stupid, irresponsible and shows the gospel in a very negative light. But really, that’s beside the point. This legislation is potentially dangerous if walked out to it’s logical end and ultimately infringes on the religious (and ethical) rights of all US citizens.

I agree that this is a bad situation. But can’t we find a better solution to this isolated incident of stupidity than making a state-wide law?

 

Am I way off here?