This post is a little late, but I’ve thrown in the towel at big ol’ Ma’Bell and took a job at Apple. Here’s to the future.

Think Different.

[image courtesy Stephane]

]]> http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/1010/feed 1 http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/985 http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/985#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:15:14 +0000 admin http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/985 “There’s been a lot of talk about the recall.”

Jim Lentz has his hands full lately thanks to his title of President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. If you’ve watched or read the news via any credible media outlet the past couple of weeks, it’s been hard to ignore the catastrophic Quality Assurance (QA) falters of Toyota Motors. To date, 11, yes, 11 Toyota vehicles have been issued recalls, and the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood even has gone as far as to suggest that owners of the recalled vehicles cease use and take them to a dealer for repair immediately. [video link] The United States Transportation Department has formally opened an investigation into brake problems on the company’s Prius line, what the AP describes as “the latest in a series of safety troubles at Toyota that have confused drivers and strained the Japanese automaker’s relationship with U.S. regulators.”

First it was the aptly-named “Floor Mat Entrapment” recall where certain floor mat designs would entrap the accelerator pedals in nine Toyota models (dating as far back to 2004 to the present).

Then there was the “Pedal” recall to solve the issue of uncontrolled and unsolicited sticking pedals that would cause the car to accelerate beyond what the driver’s expectation.

And now the company’s flagship Prius line of cars is coming under fire for brake problems that can be blamed for a handful of accidents in North America already. The problem with the Hybrid line is that there can be a split-second delay in communication between the cars actual brakes and the motors that help slow the car down, motors that also produce an electrical current to charge the car’s main battery. Toyota has already addressed the issue in Prius vehicles coming off the production line as of late, citing on-going quality assurance tests for the computer programming change in newly assembled Prius’.

The company is exhausting all efforts, though, to regain not only the approval of transportation safety boards and regulators in North America, Japan, and across the world, but to regain the confidence of its consumers. We’ve seen Jim Lentz’s media tour already, apologizing to the American consumers and promising increased quality control and oversight.  [video and more after the break]

Toyota is extending hours of its dealerships, keeping some service centers open 24/7 until the company is confident they have resolved all outstanding quality assurance and safety concerns with its lineup of vehicles. For up-to-date information, visit www.toyota.com/recall for more information.

All of this bad publicity comes at an unfortunate time for the Japanese automaker. Amidst the worst economic downturn and consequently, lackluster automotive sales, the news of such a massive recall, already extending to over 4+ million vehicles, is damaging to the Toyota brand and to its bottom line. The company will likely spend billions fixing it’s mistakes over the course of 2010 and perhaps beyond. But this kind of brand trouble isn’t new for automakers. Remember the American automakers bailout of 2009? And 2008? [Read Where's the Responsibility? and At What Cost?] GM, Chrysler, and Ford were all facing financial troubles, and their image, as well as their companies, almost took a dive to oblivion.

What are these three companies doing today? GM filed for bankruptcy protection and re-emerged leaner and hopefully meaner than before, less than two months later. Chrysler similarly filed for bankruptcy to liquidate billions in debt and monies owed, including more than $7 billion in tax dollar bailout funds it received in 2009 from the federal government. Ford escaped largely unscathed, refusing bailout money and today its sales are increasing and the company regaining momentum.

So why don’t we see any American automaker advertising campaigns in light of the recent troubles for Toyota? The “Big Three” should be taking this opportunity to resurrect their brand images, to capture some market share from Toyota consumers. With such large safety concerns surrounding Toyota vehicles, consumers may consider alternatives, if they are given a reason to. Get with you ad agencies GM (Ford and Chrysler too). Make your case. Sell your product. Sell your brand.

How Toyota can fix its troubles [CNNMoney]

[image courtesy of Getty via CNN]

[Thanks to the crew at Semper Fi Web Design for the plug-in]

[image used with free permission from Mike, Creator of Team Conan]

Sherlock Holmes, Detective Extraordinaire. A curiously quirky individual (played by the appropriately able-bodied, yet unexpectedly quirky Robert Downey Jr.), Sherlock Holmes is a film bringing to life one of the most fabled of detectives in literature. The anthologies and tales of Sherlock Holmes to this day sit on my bookshelf, tucked away in the lower left-hand corner, though largely un-read and admittedly dusty (it failed the white glove test miserably).

What is it about this man, this character, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle so brilliantly captivated generations of readers, enthused detectives, and the curious amongst us all? His “intellectual prowess, astute observation, deductive reasoning and forensic skills” for lack of a more perfect summation (thank you Wikipedia for formulating the inner-goings on of one Sherlock Holmes). When all resources have been exhausted, and all methods utilized, there lies the consultive genius of Sherlock Holmes that finds answers using science to prove the illogical as logical, the magical as mathematical and chemical.

Guy Richie may not have intended to direct a film that not only pits religion against science, magic against showmanship, but it would be inappropriate to not discuss this centuries-old debate. We live in a world that has succumb to the advancements of science and technology, a world of (hold all fanatical and even reformatory remarks on religion and beliefs as that is a discussion for an entirely different forum, and blog) decreasing belief in organized religion. But despite one’s beliefs, (I am trying to make a conceited effort to remain non-denominational and respectful to the beliefs of others, thought admittedly I am more atheist than my Jewish blood would have) science can provide logical answers to our way of living, to our being.

As we watch this masterfully crafted film portray the witty work of a consulting Private I, we discover, (SPOILER ALERTS, be forewarned), that the magic of the villainous Lord Blackwood was not magic as Webster would define it, but a magic that other films have so often revealed as stage work, entertaining performances that juggle the logic of the human mind with the powers of deception and camera tricks (The Prestige comes to mind). That which lies in the depths of dwelling 221B is more than a lunatics thinking factory of toys, notebooks, and discoveries. It is the laboratory of scientific fact, a brewery of knowledge. Ok, done with the ridiculous clichés, I promise.

Sherlock Holmes (2009) is one amazing movie. Now, for full transparency, I, like many men, were partially drawn to it because of the beauty of Rachel McAdams. But, despite my desire for more Rachel McAdams in the film being my only (albeit selfish) criticism, from art and photographic direction to casting and post-production, Warner Bro’s and Co. put together one great film. The inseparable duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) are the Jack Sparrow and Will Turner of police detective work, bridging comedy with action and mystery. Much like Johnny Depp in Jack Sparrow wardrobe, Robert Downey Jr. acted in a manner befitting of such a witty genius. His boyish and giddy demeanor, mixed with an utter curiosity for all things illogical, draw Holmes to solving the mystery of black magic and defeat those who practice it.

My apologies to Rachel for seeing this without her. It was a late development in a far away town (namely Rancho Santa Margarita). I’ll make it up to ya.

[image courtesy of Warner Bros]

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

But I did go to about 15 games this season.  And the trek through the freeways of LA from Irvine, California ain’t a walk in the park.  Those miles gotta count for something.  Regardless, check out this promo video for the LA Marathon this year, enjoy!

Call it insignificant, call it game-changing.  Whatever you call it, whether you use it or not, Firefox has become the big dog of the little dogs.  No longer do we have to browse the Internet in the bloatware that consumes the code of Internet Explorer, nor do we have to worry about waiting for “Patch Wednesday”  from Microsoft to download a security update to surf the net with a reasonable level of security.

So whether you use Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or any number of competent alternatives, take a moment to look back to what started the revolution.  The European Union forced Microsoft to stop pre-loading Internet Explorer, and in recent usage polls, it’s market-share has continued to dip drastically.  It pays to develop an open-source browser on a platform built for how users really use the Internet.

]]> http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/695/feed 0 http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/689 http://www.aflickringlight.com/blog/689#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:20:32 +0000 admin http://www.aflickringlight.com/?p=689 Let the countdown begin to the years most anticipated video game release.  Seriouslys, if they put this trailer out there, who wouldn’t be amped for the release?  See all you nerds at midnight on Live.  Nerd out.