Snapper Hop

I read the herald article today regarding the penalty charge for users of te "HOP" card that do not tag off the bus.

I guess that this functionality is to solve the problem of bus users paying for one stage and taking a 4 stage ride.

I do not know how prevalent this problem is (although some simple statistics of what percentage of North Shore to City commuter’s bus passengers have a ticket for less than 3 stages would give an idea of the potential)

Of course, a significant percent of each passengers fare is covered by government subsidy in any case.

I am all for a solution to the problem of fraud but I do have a number of other issues listed below.

1.  If an honest commuter forgets to tag off (or the tag is not successful) then that commuter is charged a penalty which may double the cost of commuting.

2.  People trying to get back onto a bus to tag off causes a danger to themselves.

3.  Tagging off slows the flow of passengers from the bus.

People concerned by the above may choose to pay cash. This has the effect of:

1. Not being able to catch fraud as was the goal above.

2. Slowing entrance onto the bus as cash payment is slower.

3. Make commuting by bus less convenient

In addition there is a macro Economic view.

The biggest issue related to Auckland transportation in my opinion is the congestion of our roads.

A very successful way of reducing traffic congestion is to promote public transport. 

The primary obstructions that I see to increased public transport are:

1.  Lack of park and ride parking spaces. (Particularly in relation to the Northern busway.)

2.  Cost of bus tickets versus vehicle running costs.

3.  Bus atmosphere

4.  Commute time (affected by the time taken to get on and off.)

(The move to tagging off may be working against this) 

Are we focussed on the right issue with Tag Off?

Griftopia

I read Griftopia last weekend which is quite an eye opener on current US economics.  It is from a conspiracy viewpoint but is not that far fetched and a lot of the details could be easily verified.  The author Matt Taibbi is an editor with Rolling Stone magazine and some further information regarding Matt can be found on Wikipedia.

The full title of the book is "Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America."  It covers in sufficient detail the shenanigans of the past few years as well as some history of the people and entities involved.

A lot of the book tells us what we already know.  Something is broken in America.

We know about the huge lobbying money that hits DC and suspect that gas prices are not based on supply and demand, and that health insurance is to expensive but Matt goes into more detail regarding these and other matters.

Goldman Sachs has always been an interesting phenomenon with alumni all over the political spectrum but Matt goes further pointing out the many cases where "Goldman politicians"   were making decisions that ended up being very advantages to Goldman.

The argument in favor of minimal regulation is that capitalism is self balancing.  The irony here is that the health and financial sectors are being heavily subsidized by the Government through bailouts and policies whilst the upper echelons of these sectors make huge incomes.


Some links to excepts can be found below
 

The Great American Bubble Machine. From tech stocks to high gas prices, Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression and they're about to do it again
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405


Exclusive Excerpt: America on Sale, From Matt Taibbi's 'Griftopia'
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/exclusive-excerpt-america-on-sale-from-matt-taibbis-griftopia-20101018

North Shore User Group Meeting - Visual Studio - Application Lifecycle Management‏

On the 1st February at the North Shore .Net User Group we have Anthony Borton speaking regarding Application Lifecycle management.

Application Lifecycle Management‏

Part One – What’s new on the Visual Studio ALM scene?
In the first part of the talk, Anthony Borton will run through an overview of new and updated things from the past couple of months that relate to Visual Studio ALM. As a few examples, he will walk you through the following;
1.       Visual Studio Feature Pack 2
2.       Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1
3.       TFS Admin Tool 2.1


Part Two – Continuous Delivery can be a reality
Continuous Delivery is the next logical step after Continuous Integration for modern software teams. In this session, Anthony walks you through how you can automate the build, deploy and test of your applications using Visual Studio 2010.

One lucky attendee will also win a free ticket to the inaugural New Zealand Visual Studio ALM Conference in Wellington on the 6th & 7th April 2011. Sponsored by Microsoft, this conference will feature both international and local presenters in two tracks over two days. If your team builds software, this is a conference not to be missed. Keep your eye on the conference website at www.nzalm.co.nz for more information.

About the Speaker

Anthony is the lead ALM consultant for Enhance ALM Pty Ltd, an Australian consulting and training company specializing in software development process and Microsoft Visual Studio. He has been working with Visual Studio Team System full-time since 2005. Anthony has worked with a variety of companies ranging in size from just 3 employees up to some of Australia’s largest companies and financial institutions. Anthony is the lead Microsoft Technical Readiness Instructor in Australia for Microsoft Visual Studio and has presented at the Microsoft launch events for both VSTS2005 and VSTS2008. Anthony is a Microsoft MVP (Visual Studio ALM), a Certified Scrum Master and a member of the INETA Speakers Bureau. He is also the president of the QLD ALM users group and maintains a blog at http://www.myalmblog.com

Meeting Details
Date: Tuesday  1st February 2011
Gather for food and drinks at 5:45pm,
Presentation starting at 6:15pm
Door Charge: Free!
Venue: Quadrangle B; Seminar Room 3(QB3), Massey University, Albany
To register please email:  nsug.net@live.com

Also coming up is the inaugural New Zealand Visual Studio ALM Conference

Kindle

Kindle 

I bought a Kindle six months ago after spending most of my life firmly set on paper books. 

I sit in front of a screen most of the day and research but don't enjoy reading large documents on a computer screen.

I read a number of books every year, the majority are technical, heavy (physically and in terms of content) and therefore are not something that you want to catch a bus with or hold up in bed.

When the current Kindle came out at $139, I jumped at it and now have over thirty books on it and have completed reading several.

The following lists the things I like about the kindle.
- It is only really good at one thing - presenting books for you to read.
- It is light 205g (8.5 ounces)
- The battery lasts for a month with the wireless off.
- E-Ink is very different to standard screen technologies and much easier on the eyes


People compare it to the IPad and other similiar devices and the features fall short but this is some of the beauty to me.  I want to read, I spend enough time in front of a computer and email I have on my phone.

I have also downloaded a number of books from The Gutenberg Project and for some publishers such as Apress and Manning have taken advantage of their free and cheap offers to buy digital versions of paper books that I own.

I am a contract developer so having these resources with me is at times invaluable.  I have also had occassion to buy books directly from amazon and found the process quick and easy.  I live in New Zealand and finding recently published technical books here is challeging to say the least - and expensive.

I bought the WIFI version as I usually have or can easilly access WIFI and am not wanting to browse the web with the device.

I have also used my kindle email address to email free books, web pages, and recipies to my kindle.


Quotes regarding the Kindle:


"New Kindle leaves rivals farther back." - New York Times


"Amazon's newest Kindle is the best ebook-reading device on the market. It's better than the Apple iPad, the Barnes & Noble Nook, the various Sony readers…" - Fast Company


"Battery life is long enough for space shuttle missions." - Wired


"What's clear, however, is that if you're looking for a standalone e-reader (i.e., a portable replacement for physical books), this is the go-to, standard-setting device." - Engadget


"Its solid build quality, along with its improved design, integrated store, and cross-platform transportability… all add up to a winner that shoots to the head of the pack." - PC World

"Simply put, it's the best dedicated ebook reader you can buy… Amazon has managed to increase the contrast on the Kindle in a way that sets it above the Nook, Sony Readers, or any other dedicated ebook reader we've tested." - PC Magazine


There are also useful readers for other devices that can share your Kindle library.


I find this useful when working through a tutorial using multiple screens