damn

My motto here at “A Few Clowns Short” is lighten-up. 

A 9/11 remembrance. 

Damn the motto for this post. Nothing to lighten-up about given the enormous sadness that filled that September week and lingered like a dirty film on the days that followed. 

The heroes were a bright spot. The coming together of strangers seeking to help others provided hope to keep many going. 

The tragedy reminded us that an awful dark side exists in enough people that we need to be aware. 

Painful. 

Forgetting about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happened. 

I don’t have some hero story of my own, but I found myself working with someone who was pulled into the tragedy. Her name is Lisa Jefferson. It forever changed her life.

The week previous to that Tuesday, I had interviewed for a job at GTE Airfone (name was changed to Verizon Airfone months later) and I was still waiting get an offer.

We live near the flight paths for both O'Hare and Midway airports. It’s very common to see and hear airliners flying in and out. Those September days following 9/11 had a noticeable empty sky above us.

The small act of kindness we were able to provide that day was helping Johnny, our daughter’s friend who was stuck at O’Hare airport. We picked him up and gave him a place to stay for a few days.

I flew a flag. I talked with family. I watched the news. I cried. We all cried.

I took that job offer from Airfone. It was a great job. Airfone (yes it’s spelled with a ‘f’) was the company offering a public phone in the seatback of a few airlines. United Airlines was one of our biggest customers/partners. Flight UA 93 was the hijacked plane that did not hit the terrorist’s target.

The passengers and crew learned after contacting the Airfone operator that other planes were hijacked that morning. A group of passengers decided not to allow the terrorists to use their flight. The flight ended in a fiery crash in a Pennsylvania.

While at Airfone, I worked with Lisa Jefferson and her husband who also worked there. She was a calm and peaceful lady. I don’t pretend to know her well, but all my interactions with her tell me she is a wonderful kind person.  She passed along Todd Beamer's last words, "Let's roll".

Someday 9/11 will be another history lesson like Dec. 7, 1941. If we are lucky some will learn from it. The National Geographic Channel has a site dedicated to it’s remembrance.

I want to leave this post with a better word than it began.

Peace.

tech fake fraud or fun

Over at Lilly's Life is a post about picture technology and how it can be misused.

Well I consider this a technology story because about 15 years ago the technology for it to happened didn't exist. Actually the story involves a number of technologies that are converging to create both new options and new problems.

So here's the brief summary of the story. Lady from St. Louis posts a nice photo of her family (herself, husband, two kids) on some social community sites (believe it was facebook). Somebody thought it was a great picture and the picture ends up in a big store ad in the CZECH REPUBLIC. A college friend noticed it and alerted her.

If you check the story further, you'll learn that the family got interviewed on a morning TV show because of it. (not such a bad outcome)

The photo wasn't even modified much. Now modifying photos is a fun thing that I've played around with. I've made some special birthday cards with photos. I don't use the expensive photoshop just shareware and tools that came with the digital camera. I'm no expert in this.

This slideshow shows two things I did NOT do.
There a picture of me NOT hosting a TV show and another picture of me NOT at a red carpet event.



That last picture - the one of me, Cyndi Lauper and Freddie Mercury hanging out. They are wax. But is that much different than if I doctored a photo? What about those cardboard cut-outs stick their heads in? It's just easier to do it digitally.

On his blog, CJ also shows some altered photos that may have had a political impact.

One interesting aspect of this is how society starts using new technology without thinking about possible downsides. Don't misunderstand - I love digital photography, social sites (I'm blogger duh) internet communications and most technology. I'm suggesting people think a little more before acting.

Technology users benefit from giving some thought to how the technology might have negative impacts before they jump in. Sharing is great but often your control of who you share with is very limited. I posted about some great Chicago pictures. In this case the photographer wanted good control so he paid to join a photo site. Remember that saying - get what you pay for.

Technology keeps advancing (good) but the bad guys always find an unintended harmful use for it.

security idea

I remember there was serious money looking into on-board cameras after 9/11. Security is very important but it should be focused on everything before the plane leaves the gate, not afterwards.

This is another "after the flight has begun" approach. Here's an idea - Maybe they could make the seat belt secure. Only allow the crew to release the seat belts. Hold everyone in their seats - panic attack anyone?

Nothing wrong with thinking of different solutions - but I sure hope the bracelet one doesn't get too far. The money should be spent improving the security before the bad guys get on the plane. Also, the lawyers would be waiting for something to go wrong with the system.

Here's some links - story, company behind it (from Canada)