MassPerception.com

While standing in line at the local UPS Customer Center (a story I’ll recount latter), I noticed a sign on the counter that read “A government issued photo id is required when shipping or picking up a package at a UPS Customer Center”. More security theater I’m afraid.

While I can understand the checking of ID to verify you are the actual recipient of a package you are picking up, someone with ill intent attempting to ship a dangerous package is unlikely to provide their real ID . . . they’ll just use a fake.

So, who does this policy actually protect? UPS . . . you want to weigh in? Your website does not seem to disclose any information explaining this change.

false security, identification required, security theater, united parcel service, ups

Great note over on Doc Searls Weblog regarding the imminent bloodbath on Madison Avenue.

Kind of makes sense in the age of TiVo and Pop-up blockers, the audience is rebelling against the marketers’ message. I’ve long thought (and vocalized) that product placement is the way for this issue to sort itself out. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not for commercials embedded in, and/or thinly disguised as programming; rather honest to goodness use and placement of products in everyday TV shows. If anything, it adds to the realism and believability of the storyline when you see products you use everyday in use by your favorite stars. It can actually create a bond between the audience and the character using the product.
How many people have noticed the huge number of Apple products that have found there way into mainstream TV shows? Apple products have cropped up on hit shows such as “24″, “House”, “Las Vegas”, “The Office” and “CSI: NY” . . . sure they look cool, but do you think they are there by accident? The Washington Post had an interesting article earlier this year on product placement.

Of course, no one wants to go back to the days of blatant Colgate and Geritol pitches worked into the evening news copy . . . but product placement could be good for the viewing public . . . recovering the 15-20 minutes of every programming hour currently dedicated to commercial advertising could allow for more in-depth, compelling and entertaining content for the viewing public (though it may expose reality TV for what it is . . . garbage).

tivo, advertising, television, product placement

Looks like the University of California has had another database breach, this time impacting nearly 800,000 current and former students, faculty and staff. Interestingly, it appears to the investigators that the Social Security Number (SSN) and other Personal Identity Information (PII) was specifically targeted in the breach.

CNN has an article on their site: “Hacker attack at UCLA affects 800,000 people“

I’m not quite sure how they were able to tell, but UC officials indicate that “there was no evidence any data (has) been misused”. An interesting statement, and completely untrue, as improper access is clearly misuse of the data in itself.

I’m really starting to suspect that this data is going into a fraudsters’ data warehouse somewhere . . . someone is systematically acquiring this data for some purpose that is yet to be realized by those of us on the good side.

Maybe we should start putting up marginally defended data systems containing real looking, but false data in order to pollute the fraudsters customer data collection attempts.

data breach, online fraud, online security, privacy, identity theft

So I’ve discovered that I need to add an extra shot of espresso to my morning latte for every time zone between home and my current location. So, it breaks down as follows:

• PT = Normal Coffee Intake
• MT = Depends on the Season
• CT = +1 Shot
• ET = +2 Shots

Needless to say, I’ve been consuming triple shots all week long Though oddly enough, I seem to have less of a problem adapting my internal schedule to Eastern Time than I do to Central or Mountain Time. Guess I need to skip over the middle stuff a bit more

travel, coffee

New twist on one of those mirror self-portraits that
everyone seems to do once in their life . . .

Image Courtesy of NASA

nasa, spaceflight, spacewalk, space

Or at least the mile high airport . . . stuck in Denver waiting for my flight back home. Thought I would recap a few things from the trip home.

First, United is awesome! When I was checking my bags in San Antonio, the ticket agent looked up my flight status and realized that my flight to Denver was delayed and would not likely make my connection in Denver . . . with a high probability of an overnight stay in my future. So instead of sending me on my way, he booked me on an earlier flight to Denver, handed me a boarding pass . . . and then thanked ME for flying with them!!!! It’s rare for me to be speechless, but I found myself without a response . . . other than “awesome”.

Second, on the plane ride out to Denver I pulled my headphones out of their carry case, only to discover that they were developing stress cracks in the plastic where the headband attached to the ear cups. Having purchased them in Denver Airport a couple of years ago, I thought I would drop in at the Bose booth to see what they could do for me. I showed them to the Bose rep, and she recognized the problem right away, you see, it seems this was a design flaw in the first model of their QuietComfort 2 headsets. Instead of arguing about the warranty status and age of my headset, they looked me up in their computer, verified I did buy them from them, and then swapped them out for the new, upgraded model! No questions asked! Again, all I could muster was an “awesome, thank you!”

Third, have I mentioned how much I hate the cigar tube with wings they call the Canadair Regional Jet? Seriously, these things are awful to travel on (but would make a nice private jet!). The only saving grace was not being in coach. Coach on a CRJ makes Soutwest seats look like first class by comparison!

So, I’ve got a few more hours before my next flight, hopefully it will be uneventful. I’ll enjoy listening to my new headphone on the ride home!

bose, crj, canadair, quietcomfort 2, regional jet, united airlines, air travel, coach, customer service, awesome