Harvey Norman: Ripoff, or Clever Marketing?

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An interesting full page ad in The West (24 Sep 2011) from Harvey Norman:

It looks like an ad for Microsoft Office.

Just after the last words, "1 USER" is footnote "*2": "for non-commercial use only. Available to personal and educational users, i.e. kindergarten to Year 12 and higher education students, faculty and staff. Conditions apply. See in store for details.

It looks like a good deal for educational students, faculty and staff.

It looks as though you can buy MS Office for $88.

The truth is in the fine print... As long as you understand what the fine print actually means. Can you read the fine print? See it, just under the words "Product Key Card"? Okay, in the newspaper ad it is readable: perhaps 8 point font. Here's what it says:

Designed for purchase with a new PC preloaded with Microsoft Office 2010

But what does this really mean?

Speed of Light -- Never a Limit

Your problems? Solved. email nick leth at gmail dot com. No worries. Now.

The weekend's newspaper provided a little bit of very late scientific news:

The science world was left in shock when workers at the world's biggest physics laboratory announced they had recorded subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light -- a feat that Einstein said was impossible.

... The West, "Doubts over Einstein Theory", 24 Sep 2011

So what's new? Here's an even older story:

"Nothing can go that fast..."
"Einstein’s Theory is still a theory... And theories are modified to fit facts. Hokay."

... The Skylark of Space, E.E. "Doc" Smith, 1928

... Following which discussion, our heroes blithely accelerate their spaceship -- the Skylark -- to travel faster than the speed of light.

The newly reported "doubts" have been anticipated and tested, long before "workers at the world's biggest physics laboratory" even began to suspect that Einstein's theory is, in fact, only a theory.

Hokay?

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems. Agamedes Consulting: Support for your thought. email nick leth at gmail dot com

Avoid Congestion - Travel by Bus !?

Your problems? Solved. email nick leth at gmail dot com. No worries. Now.

In the last twenty years, Perth traffic has slowed down. According to The West (Peak-hour pain grows and 'likely to get worse', 22 Sep 2011), reporting on statistics from Main Roads WA. From the article, driving a car from the suburbs to the city will take between 50% and 75% longer today than it did twenty years ago.

So what should we do?

Take public transport, I hear you reply...

According to Google Maps, I could get from home to the city -- if I left now -- in 75 minutes. If I travelled by bus. Take the car and I can be there in 17 minutes.

Comparison 1: Travel by car: 17 minutes. Travel by the best available public transport: 75 minutes -- including a 25 minute wait for the next available bus.

Truth to tell, I'm writing this at 10 pm. The car time will be about right -- with not much traffic. Buses are less frequent at night -- if I wait at home for 68 minutes I can catch a closer bus and have only 37 minutes travel. Of course I will arrive in the city 30 minutes later. And 87 minutes later than if I'd driven my car.

Public transport at night? You have to be kidding!

Please Give Generously

Your problems? Solved. email nick leth at gmail dot com. No worries. Now.

It's only when it's close to home that the truth really hits you: There are people starving in our world. And they need our help. Take a look at pages 4 and 5 of today's West (22 Sep 2011).

It's so sad.

How can we sit back and enjoy ourselves, while women are starving -- in our own city. How can we pretend to any sensitivity -- any pretence at humanity -- when our daily newspaper shows pictures of skeletal women -- in our own city.

Please give generously to prevent starvation.

These people need our help.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems. Agamedes Consulting: Support for your thought. email nick leth at gmail dot com

Fire & Fury Fails to Impress

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Have you ever tried to fight a fire? No? Why not?

Because it's dangerous. Difficult. A job for professional firefighters.

So why do we put bureaucrats in charge of Western Australia's fire-fighters?!

Last year, we had a major bushfire in the hills beyond Kelmscott. Houses were destroyed. Was anyone killed? I can't remember... The facts of the disaster have been swallowed by the mud-slinging, fault-finding and blame-allocation that has followed.

Let's look at rule one of "quality management": Blame the process not the people. Rule two is: So fix the process.

To fix the process you first have to understand the process. The West Australian is having great fun tearing apart Mick Keelty's "fact finding" report into the people and processes involved in fighting a major bushfire.

"Serious questions have been raised about the accuracy of the document..." writes Ben Harvey, State Political Editor (The West, 3 Sep 11).

Further:

Sunday Times employs Journalist !

Your problems? Solved. email nick leth at gmail dot com. No worries. Now.

Don't get me wrong: there is a place for the Sunday Times. For one thing, it provides something to read on a Sunday morning. It's not a newspaper though.

For a few months, Sunday Times tried to be a "news"paper. Thank goodness they are now back to their standard, no matter how low that standard.

Then, this weekend, the Sunday paper provided a surprise: an actual story! Possibly written by a real journalist!

Gerry, the star maker

What a great article! Thank you to Entertainment Editor David Craddock!

Here's a paid promotional opportunity: "Perth boy" Rove McManus is launching a new TV show... give it some publicity... on a page clearly marked as being "NEWS". (Sunday Times, 4 Sep 2011 page 18). TV show promotion is typical of the "news" in this light-weight paper.

Craddock took the press release -- and found a real story.

McManus took time to thank Gerry Atkinson for the influence of his childhood drama coach and mentor. Craddock took this and created a story about Gerry Atkinson. A story with human interest. A story specific to Perth. An interesting story. Much more than the standard press release pre-packaged pap.

An amazing effort!

Thank you, David Craddock!

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems. Agamedes Consulting: Support for your thought. email nick leth at gmail dot com