Tech in the Trenches

Hands making a heart in front of a sun from Unsplash.com - https://unsplash.com/mayurgala

Trying harder is my customer support secret

On April 1, 2016

Today I have tried to live up to my own ideal of trying harder and caring about other people’s problems.

I received a call from someone working for the local state government. He was frustrated because he had been trying to access a database hosted at the Food and Drug Administration. He’s been unable to access it for over two weeks.

I had no idea what this database was or know anything about it. But I was determined to help him where others had passed him off. So I asked him for his email address and his ticket number.

While he was on the line, I searched for the site in question on the FDA’s Intranet and found it. But it had no contact information for support.

I told him I would contact the technician assigned to his ticket and find out who he could call for support.

He was very appreciative and we hung up.

Now the real work began. I could have ignored him and gone about my day. After all, it’s not my job to support everything the FDA does. But I was determined to help. So I did as I said.

I emailed the technician assigned to his ticket and asked for a better contact number since the site in question had no support information.

The tech got back to me quickly with the proper phone number and call tree options to press to get support directly.

I thanked him and sent the information back to the guy working in the state government. I hope he gets what he needs. The rest is out of my hands, but I did my best to give him an avenue for support. Now it’s up to the technicians on the other side to fulfill his request.

As an experiment, I recorded today’s post using Anchor. It’s slightly different from the written text but the message remains the same.
It’s embedded below. Or you can listen to the file directly.

Ford won’t let Tesla bring the SEXY back

By Carl

On April 1, 2016

In Links and Quotes

Joe Steel cracked the Tesla car code on Twitter earlier today.

Model S
Model 3
Model X

Well, I cracked the code.

— Joe Rosensteel (@joesteel) April 1, 2016

Turns out he was right. USA Today reports:

CEO Elon Musk told shareholders Tuesday that a friend joked to him that with the S and the X, all Tesla needed was the E. “It kind of stuck even though we were just kidding.” The name Model E was talked about as the designation for the third model. Then, “Ford called and said they were going to sue us for using ‘Model E,'” Musk said. “They are killing SEX.”

Ford is no fun and has no sense of humor.

But, it’s still a shame that the S-E-X naming structure was never, um, consummated. Musk says the company even took a trademark on Model Y.

RIP SEXY car line. Long Live S3XY car line.

From Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/VCVI5QUvFAY

Scaring the piss out of people

By Carl

On March 25, 2016

In Links and Quotes

Rolling Stone has a great post about Why Conservatives Increasingly Care Where You Pee. In short, this law (and the others like it in other states) have nothing to do with protecting people and everything to do with fear. The Republican party has gotten very good at scaring their constituents into action. Emphasis is mine:

It’s troubling that bathroom bills could be used in a naked ploy to dominate downticket races in this election, as it further demonstrates that American conservatives have perfected the art of striking fear into worried audiences. All it takes is the suggestion of danger to create a highly reactive response that could restrict trans rights even as the community makes its way into the daylight.

And that issue of safety of trans men preying on little girls in the bathroom. It hasn’t happened. But trans people are the targets of harassment.

To date, there have been no cases in which a transgender person has committed assault in a bathroom — but 70 percent of trans people have experienced harassment and assault when trying to pee.

Good job opening up an already misunderstood, harassed segment of society up to more harassment. Honestly now, how you even intend on enforcing this law? For the party of small government, it seems they’re awful curious about what’s in our pants.

After the Dark

By Carl

On March 24, 2016

In Movies & TV

After the Dark is an exercise in choosing which 10 people out of a group of 21 will be admitted into a bunker to survive nuclear war.

There are three scenarios all playing out in very different ways. It’s a lot of fun to watch how logic is used to choose who will get a spot in a bunker and who will be left to (presumably) die from the nuclear fallout.

In the classroom

Does logic win? What is the most important basis to choose survivors on? Physical prowess? Profession? Mental capabilities?

I won’t tell you the answer as I don’t know it myself. But it’s a fascinating exploration into the choices we make and what drives them.

Like all movies of this type, the real story is what comes after the story. What is the point of this movie? The reviewers on Netflix and I agree. The movie would have been better off without the last 10 minutes after the third thought experiment.

After the Dark on Netflix

Eagle feeding time. All images © American Eagle Foundation.

Watching the Eagles

By Carl

On March 23, 2016

In Observations

When my wife and I went to the National Arboretum last year we heard there were Bald Eagles nesting there for the first time in nearly 50 years. The entire area was blocked off and a park employee was there with a telescope setup pointed at the nest. He was there to answer questions about the Eagles.

The Eagles weren’t in the nest the day we were there but we did have a great day exploring the beautiful lilacs and other flowers. We also found a wallet that looked to have been thrown over the fence. It had been there quite awhile so we dreamed up a story about it being evidence in a crime.

Recently, I found out there was a webcam setup to watch the Eagles nest and their newborn eaglets. Ever since then I’ve become somewhat obsessed with watching it. Being the geek I am, I was curious how they pulled off the setup.

From the American Eagle Foundation’s Press Release (PDF):

The USNA ran about a half mile of fiber optic cable to the cameras’ control box located about 200 feet from the base of the tree. The entire system is powered by a large solar array designed and built by students and staff from Alfred State, SUNY College of Technology.

There are two hi-def webcams. One providing a side view and the other setup above the nest. I was curious how they managed to set them up without disturbing the eagles. As it turns out, the whole thing was a big gamble.

“Bald Eagles don’t always return to their first year nest. We took a huge risk investing in this project and partnering with the Arboretum without any type of certainty that the Eagles would actually return,” says AEF’s P.R. Coordinator Julia Cecere, “It was happy day for everyone when both Eagles were spotted back on the nest this past October.”

I’ve enjoyed watching Mr. President and The First Lady, the names of the two eagles and their two baby eaglets on the Washington DC Live Bald Eagle Cam.