Category: Fourre-tout

A little bit of everything

Now you see it, now you don’t

iphone-appsToday a smartphone is a prized technological wonder that is one’s most treasured possession.
Nobody (especially the younger set) would think of leaving home without it.
It is an expensive item coveted by many and always arousing envy.

It is also the favorite target of “snatch thieves” the “rob and run” street crime artists.
Considering its value, you would think that people would be careful about protecting it.
But such is not the case.

Many people are walking, eyes glued to the magic little screen, totally oblivious to their surroundings.
This is when the snatch thief strikes.
A quick grab and your baby is gone. Smartnapped!
Adieu, veau, vache, cochon!
And your chances of getting it back are practically nil.
This is unfortunate.

But yesterday as I was departing a coffee shop I witnessed something that left me shaking my head in disbelief.
In a case of supreme carelessness somebody left his/her car keys and his/her smartphone unattended on a table located outside a coffee shop.
This person probably went inside to fetch something, but how could anybody be so incredibly careless?
I don’t know what happened next, but leaving such valued possessions on the table is an open invitation to theft.
Take me please… I beg you.

Losing a smartphone is one thing, but losing the data that is stored on your device is a more serious matter.
For some, their entire lives reside on the gizmo.
Contacts, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, photos, confidential messages… everything is now in the hands of the thief.
Somebody is about to break into your inner sanctum.
Just think of the ramifications!

But help is on the way.
Governor Jerry Brown just signed a law requiring manufacturers to put a “kill switch” for remote deactivation on their devices.
Starting July 1, 2015, all phones sold in California must have an anti-theft feature that would render stolen devices inoperable.

That is good news, but until the law is implemented, your smartphone (and your personal life) is at risk.
Put it on a leash. Guard it with your life, or delete (hum…) everything that is confidential on it.
Especially those questionable pictures.

Alain

Virginity test

I was flabbergasted to read that In Indonesia (the world’s most populous Muslim country) a woman must pass a “virginity test” to become a police officer.
And nothing scientific about this degrading assessment mind you.

indo-MMAP-md

According to The Guardian, an Indonesian police spokesman declared, “the exam was used to establish whether applicants have a sexually transmitted infection. “
This is the most sexist and asinine statement that I ever heard!

Even if a police officer was afflicted with a sexually transmitted disease, what does it have to do with police work?
Are the people in charge afraid that the new female recruits would go on a sexual rampage and infect the entire police force?

In addition, all females must “follow a recognized religion”, be single and not marry until several years after entering the force.

Again, what does religion and virginity have to do with police work? And why does this so-called “test” pertain to women only?
Why aren’t male police officers also required to be virgins?
It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

I don’t know why some people are so obsessed with this overrated virginity business.
Virginity is often equated with being naive, innocent, or inexperienced.
That’s not what a police force needs.
In my humble opinion prostitutes would be much better recruits than virgins.
They have experienced it all and are not likely to believe any cock and bull stories.

Who would you trust to do a better police job? A virgin or a strumpet?
Personally I would prefer the latter.

I have always thought that women can practically do anything that men can do.
They can be as good or as vicious than any man, and they often are.
But if a male supervisor is unpleasant, an unpleasant female supervisor is automatically a bitch.

As usual I see the pernicious influence of religion in this pathetic charade.
Religion demands unconditional obedience. It is a form of mind control as old as Herod and it has no bounds.
It is the antithesis of democracy and should always be subservient to freely elected (nonclerical) officials.

No man (or woman) will ever be truly free as long as clerics control his destiny!

Diderot said it better:

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. — Denis Diderot

It sounds a little extreme, but there is a nice ring to it.

Alain

Consistency

There is nothing more vexing than recommending a restaurant to some friends and being told a few days later that your suggestion was way off the mark.

But I was there two weeks ago and everything was perfect you tell them.
Maybe they say, but yesterday the food AND the service were terrible.

Crikey!

IMG_9517You usually go to a restaurant to savor some particular dishes, and you know exactly what to expect. But sometimes after a few bites, you realize that your favorite fare doesn’t taste the way it should.
Something happened in the kitchen. Somebody left and the new guy is not up to speed.
Blimey! (I watch too many British productions).

In small restaurants you seldom have a “chef” (a skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation).
They are too expensive or too ambitious.

You might have a “cook” (a person who prepares and cooks the food) but most of the time the kitchen is run by people who never went to a cooking school and don’t even know how a certain dish should taste.
They go strictly by what they have been told and never bother to taste their preparation.

If a new guy shows up, he is probably not familiar with the menu and preparations will suffer.
And that’s when you fail the “consistency” test (something that does not vary in quality over time).
A major sin.

To be successful in any field, you need to be consistent. You need to fulfill customers’ expectations.
Especially in the fickle food business where you don’t often get a second chance. If dissatisfied, a customer might not return for a long time, if ever.

Nobody can afford to be a flash in the pan, a one-time wonder.
You have to be able to repeat past successes again and again to be credible.
If you can’t, your glory days will be short-lived.

Alain