Why don't we take the $25 billion, $50 billion, $100 billion, or whatever it is that automakers are begging congress for, and instead of helping them keep their dying business models alive, invest the money in building a kick-ass US rail system like Europe and China have? This would be better for US workers because it would create new sustainable jobs to replace their inefficient union jobs that still may vanish even after a bailout.
If a company is “too big to let fail”, such as Citi, AIG, GM, shouldn’t we not let them get that big in the first place? I’m not sure they actually are too big to let them fail… But if the government thinks they are, then isn’t the government negligent for putting us at risk by allowing these companies to get this big? Do we need anti-monopoly style laws to break up these giants early so that some can fail without government bailouts? If not, then these companies aren’t too big to let fail.
While watching College Gameday this morning I decide to make my Firefox act like Google Chrome. Here is how…
Install these Firefox add-ons:
Speed Dial
– Displays thumbnails of your most frequently accessed sites on new
blank Firefox tabs. (not automatically populated like Chrome, you must
add sites manually)
Tiny Menu – Lets you collapse your menu to save space.
Locationbar2 – Emphasizes the domain name in the address bar, to reduce risk of being tricked by a spoof site.
Prism – Application shortcuts for online apps. This one was tricky to get working with Ubuntu. The firefox add-on didn’t work and v0.9 had some style issues. To get it working I installed v0.9.1 from Fabien Tassin PPA.. https://launchpad.net/~fta/+archive …it’s probably much easier in OS X and Windows.
Then you can create Webmail Prism app using URL:
https://beta.mailtrust.com/mailbeta/login.php?user_name=EMAIL&password=PASSWORD
(filling in your email address and password)
Here is the launcher icon I used:
Not quite as pretty as Chrome, but its a good start…
(oh ya, and I turned my Ubuntu desktop into a Mac. More on that some other time)
Ubuntu 8.10 didn't come with OpenOffice 3.0 (for good reason it seems). Once v3.0.1 is released they'll put it in the Ubuntu backports repository, but in the mean time you can get it here: https:/
I upgraded to Ubuntu 8.10 tonight. It went smoothly.
The new mobile broadband connection management looks awesome, but it only supports AT&T and T-Mobile by default. Anyone know how to get it to work with Sprint?
Targeted advertising at it's best:
http://www.davidcatalano.com/article/perfect-ad-placement/
After a horrible 20 hour airport experience flying from Boston to
Charlotte in July, I received the email below from US Airways. This
was one of many bad experiences I've had on US Airways over the years,
so I thought "Wow, their customer service dept actually did something
right!".
Well, I just got off the phone with US Airways to book a flight for my
brother and I using our free vouchers, and guess what?… the vouchers
saved us $27 per ticket!!! Is it just me or does the email below do an
awesome job at setting their customers' expectations high (free ticket)
and then not meeting those expectations. This is the opposite of what
a good customer support organization should do. If they had not emailed me these
vouchers, they would have only let me down once, not twice.
US Airways: Please have the
leader of your customer support department call me so that I can him/her a good book to read.
—–Original Message—–
From: "Customer Relations" <customer.relations@usairways.com>
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 11:44am
Dear Mr. Boebel:
We
are truly sorry for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of
flight 2127 from Boston to New York on July 27, 2008 and for the impact
this situation had on our valued customers. We recognize you expect
reliable, convenient service and realize we fell short of that standard
for your flight.
A thorough investigation of this incident
revealed that weather was the reason for the unexpected cancellation.
As the safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority, we
would not operate an aircraft that compromises this objective. Prior to
departure, every aircraft must undergo numerous system checks by both
certified mechanical and flight personnel before they are given
clearance to depart.
As a result of the inconvenience you
experienced, we have authorized one Electronic Air Check Plus (E-ACP)
Voucher per passenger. You may apply this voucher towards the purchase
of travel on US Airways. To take full advantage of this compensation,
please review the enclosed terms and conditions of use. When you are
ready to make your future travel arrangements, please call our
Reservations Department at 1-800-428-4322 and refer to your voucher
locator:
XXXXXX – BOEBEL/SCOTT
XXXXXX – BOEBEL/WILLIAM
We
are grateful for the opportunity to explain the circumstances
surrounding your travel with us and would like you to return to US
Airways for future travel. We appreciate your business.
Sincerely,
Lori Flores
Customer Relations
Corporate Office