The Otterman Empire

I'm sure that I'm about to use irony correctly. Fred Pryor infomercial, er seminars.

2009-04-27T17:17:27Z

How to Communicate with Tact & Professionalism --

I've been in a training seminar two days this weeks with the below goal in mind.

"Become a polished, persuasive communicator and express your thoughts and ideas with clarity and diplomacy"

The diplomacy part likely occurred during my single restroom break,three minutes long, on the second day.

While I'll address the material covered by the class in a future post I have concerns with the intrusiveness of marketing within the curriculum.

Anyone that's read Professor Cialdini's book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials),or Rushkoff's Coercion may have been amused, as I was, that a seminar designed to teach you more effective methods of persuasive communication seemed to be using similar techniques to sell future conferences, audiobooks and training subscriptions.

I have no problem with selling during the breaks, displays within the room ,fliers in the course material. What I'd like is for them to restrict this solely to those areas. In what could be considered a mildly coercive environment the ethics of this practice are questionable. Cheaper dictionaries refer to coercion only in terms of physical force and I can see my usage of this term being confusing in that light.I'm referring to an environment that is engineered to trigger as many of the six principles of influence within the first few hours.

Social proof.(people come forward to buy in breaks)
Scarcity. (have to order by end of seminar)
Authority (The obvious one
liking. (Dr was likable, really good at what he does)
Commitment and consistency ( writing in the prices, and additions to the advert in the same format the rest of the class takes)
Reciprocation(Starts out with hey, schedule runs to 1630 but can get you out by 1600, next day 1530) To many that's doing them a favor)

I can live with all the above, I may even be misinterpreting the above weapons of persuasion. Twenty minutes were taken up with Evelyn Wood's speed reading course,and many other products,in the time preceding lunch on day one which to me seemed rather inconsistent with the stated goals.

Looks like I'm not the only one with this concern.

http://www.viewpoints.com/Fred-Pryor-Seminars-reviews

I seriously recommend both books to anyone that engages in commerce , eg every adult, in the USA.

Shazam.. At the good old hockey game.

2009-03-23T18:43:53Z

We're all wizards now. A C Clarke's often cited,paraphrased or mangle quote is appropriate for many of the daily tasks we take for granted.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' 1972 A. C. Clarke Lost Worlds

Over the last couple of weeks I've found that walk up magic and showing people how to get the most out of a cell phone leads to the same reaction. ( the latter is far less likely to get you burned as a witch in some of our undeveloped 3g areas)

Shazam is one of those apps that is cooler than a cold man's cold bits during an Alaskan Mr Ice Pants festival. For the last few months I've been trying to find out the names of a couple of songs that are played at the good old hockey game. Both tracks have no music , have really short hooks and one could safely classify them as being graduates from the " bleep bleep thump" school.

I'd sat with an iPhone in my pocket game after game while forgetting I had the means to do so with me. Loaded the shazam app from the stadium wifi, awaited the song to come on and set it to capture. This is not an easy capture. That's a PA with cheering and pervasive clapping but Shazam was able to determine most of the songs under these conditions. Just load, lift and listen and it does the rest on your iPhone or Android device and you can save it for later, or buy it now. My god a business model on the mobile web what a wondrous age we live in!

That's still not the interesting part. Why did it take so long to put this 2+2 together? Turns out it was an ambiguity that I could live with but my wife always kept asking about.. "what song's that" is a problem that's harder to live with.

Locating the good apps quickly then finding out what is, and isn't useful , could be a second career, a really badly remunerated second career. So best make it a hobbyto find out what your friends regularly overlook when relating to the net and with your best Carnac the magnificient impression hold the phone to your head and proceed to amaze.

Why spend the time? Most of the coolest apps work when you have an audience, heck in that stadium of 11,000 people only 2 were logged in on the two presence services I use. In general I feel like a "boy and his iPod dog" wandering the desert , Phoenix looks pretty much looks like distopic sci fi anyway so it's not too hard to play along.

CNN continues to willingly misdefine and lie re firearms.

2009-03-13T16:50:58Z

Shooter planned 'to go out in grand style,' investigator says - CNN.com

It's only semantics, right? The reason I am such a pain on the classification on weapons in the media should be obvious to you. If it's not seek help. Here's the wiki entry for the SKS. As you can see does not fit the definition of assault weapon, nor does the Bushmaster.

The weapons restricted under the last assault weapon ban were not assault weapons either. Just read it. If you want to ban things least take the time to understand what you are talking about on the most basic level.

McLendon was armed with two assault rifles -- an SKS..

State gone wild round up. As Rome burns these fiddlers just don't know where to stop.

2009-03-07T16:03:20Z

Yet more proof that legislators should not be allowed to create laws without taking a drug test.I'm not suggesting that they are high on anything more than the smell of their own farts but the resulting proposals do nothing to support that view:)

First let's head off to a tiny little state with big problems.

Rhode Island proposal: Youth sports oversight, or overreach? - CNN.com

Democratic Sen. John Tassoni Jr. introduced a bill that would create a youth sports oversight council on the state level. The council would act as mediator in disputes between parents of youth athletes and sports officials.

I can't wait till they mandate a video playback rule for all games involving more than three people. Let's make an assumption that most of the parents were publicly educated. How has their education and socialization by the state led to them being incapable , least in the eyes of their masters, from resolving disputes of a pretty trivial nature? Some would say it's working too well should you want a relatively docile population that you relies on you for every little thing.

Now off to a tiny minded state, at least where the legislators are concerned.

Oklahoma state rep wanted to prevent Prof Dawkins speaking to university,

"œThe God Delusion", and public statements on the theory of evolution demonstrate an intolerance for cultural diversity and diversity of thinking and are views that are not shared and are not representative of the thinking of a majority of the citizens of Oklahoma;

So says state rep Thomsen in house resolution HR1015 which replaced the foaming that the mouth version.I am glad they are interested in diversity because I can't work out if this is pandering or stupidity.Could Kansas employ Oklahoma as their village idiot? Would more money for education solves this level of idiocy? Maybe not Rep Thomsen is on the education sub committee. Here's a follow up Dawkin's appearance.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves there are other deserving applicants.

Put another ban on the Barbie mate!

"Democrat Jeff Eldridge introduced a bill in the House of Delegates on Tuesday that would ban the sale of Barbie dolls - and "other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful" - in West Virginia."

Yet not a ban on male dolls without genitalia that influence people to become Democrats.

Bring out yer dead. Mary Roach tries to Spook us!

2009-03-03T20:39:36Z

This is a fluffier book than Bonk or Stiff both grounded in a reality that's going to be a lot harder to nail in a book about research into the afterlife. Amongst other things Roach takes a look at ectoplasm, EVP that's the people that listen to noise and claim to hear things, past lives,attends a class in the UK on how to be a medium. She also looks at the science of testing "psychics" like DuBois and other cold readers that are cynical ,delusional or both ( my bias). That blunt an answer is something this book isn't going to provide for you but it's probably a good thing that she's not attempting to do that. She's a very entertaining writer,her footnotes amusing,and there's real science to follow up on. I just didn't learn as much as her prior works since it's hard to accumulate a body of evidence for life after death when all we have is evidence of bodies.

This kind of betrayal demands a special kind of living hell. Kickbacks for jailing youths.

2009-02-23T16:07:22Z

Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal - CNN.com

For the judges that sent kids to detention facilities because they got kickbacks? Maybe, but the real culprits those that allowed it go on. The public. Those that would even support a system that could allow jailing minors for three months for creating a spoof site on MySpace are more of a problem then the idiots that order it.

It's never been the politicians , it's always been us.

Be seeing you.

Phoenix Scottish gathering and Highland games

2009-02-22T23:15:20Z

Dobh walks away,
originally uploaded by haltse.

This weekend the family went to a gathering and Highland cames in Phoenix. Usually I eschew such events because.
1) Those that think they are Scottish annoy those of us who are.
2) They murder the food . Seriously this weekend gets a worst haggis of my life award. WTH is that sauce , tae use a well worn phrase I was fair scunnered after that awfy fuid

More on the type of people that attend a gathering and have no idea what the saltire is later.

Honda Certified used cars. They don't actually have to be certifiable at time of sale. Superstition Springs Honda and the paranormal.

2009-02-17T20:25:58Z

I believe I have a candidate for James Randi's million dollar prize. The prize awarded

"œto anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event."

could be won in Arizona.The unlikely candidate is Honda of Superstition Springs , after all the name fits nicely, for claiming that a car certified as having passed Honda's 150 point test managed to be incapable of passing it at the time I purchased it. During the time the car sat on the lot it lost these abilities with no human intervention.

rear high level brake light. Absent and wiring hanging lose (88. Brake lights)
rear speakers that didn't work. (103. Audio system"”radio/CD/cassette, speaker operation)
Fuel release cap that didn't work. (127. Fuel door release)
and an interior bulb that was out. (123. Interior lights"”switch/door operation)

Which doesn't reconcile well with.

"œWe've taken the headache out of used car research by doing the homework for you. So when you choose a Honda Certified Used Vehicle, rest easy knowing it passes more than just a 150-point inspection. It passes our strict standards as well."

Honda's strict standards are letting the dealer certify it and in case of a dispute passing on what the dealer would be willing to do. They seem to have little purpose other than to be a heat sink. Throughout the process the weasel apologies of "œwe're sorry you feel that way" began to grate. In short as long as the car is fixed afterwards they are happy.

Not sorry it happens, not sorry they can't do anything about it but just sorry that someone actually fell for their line of BS.

After certification the car sat on the lot over 100 days and during that time the above items are meant to have changed condition. This is why they should be going after that million dollar prize because I've yet to see a tail light, wiring and fixture separate themselves from a housing and then hide.

The speakers are unlikely to have failed but Chris ,general manager, said the didn't at the time check those just the main function not per speaker. I had pointed out the poor wiring and asked them to check it prior to purchase, they said they had. So even if they missed it on the first occasion there's little excuse for the second.

The light bulb certainly could have blown any time and the fuel release? It's doubtful as they filled the gas prior to the delivery and it had to be self evident that people were needed to open it up.

Morris @ Honda USA is unconcerned with this state of affairs and doesn't see any incongruity between the quoted paragraph above from the Honda site and my experience.

The remedy took 8 hours of waiting,as they didn't, actually wouldn't, give me a loan car and it was claimed it would only take two hours on the first occasion. In the end two 60 mile round trips were needed.

All they had to do, take car, get me to work/ back and return it in the condition they advertised it as . Annoying, yes but livable. Sadly that wasn't the case.

I believe the cars price was influenced by the certified program and that inherent in that offer was the reasonable expectation that all of the items on the provided list were functioning at time of purchase. Seemingly that's not the case and Honda appears to value the delivery condition as being valueless but backed up by their valuable warranty.

The dealer believes that no breach of the contract was evident which is a matter I disagree on. Had the car worked as advertised I would not be out 10 hours of time. Apart from offering a paint warranty which I didn't want ( retail about$400 but practically free to them) and a future loan car they consider the matter closed.

The take away from this is that you should not expect a car from a Honda certified used program to be in the condition advertised and why should you? Apparently Honda and at least one dealership believes as long as it's fixed you should be grateful.

The UK disease that seems to be catching on in the USA: Everyone's a victim.

2009-02-16T14:44:46Z

BBC NEWS | Business | 850 jobs go at Mini car factory

The UK has a cradle to grave welfare state that may, arguably look after the body, but the real damage is done to the mind.

"I've worked here for three-and-a-half years and now I'm being sacked for no reason. I've been used."

What else did they think they were doing? Of course they were used that's the whole bloody point. Rather than being people that are in , at least illusory, control of their lives the opposite seems to be the mindset.

Auto annoyance.Camelback VW. Our attempt at buying a car. Honesty is most certainly an option.

2009-02-14T22:09:49Z

I posted this over at Yelp but after I've just had another surprise , e.g a loan application that I never requested, I think it's time to expend some time on informing people what they are getting intoÂ if dealing with Camelback VW EXEC Summary: +Wasted our time with childish obfuscation of the sales price +Disregarded our ceiling for buying a vehicle +Changed terms of finance and what it would take to qualify + Ran aÂ loan application for me instead of a credit check after telling them we'd not be using them then having it denied. In fact I am checking to see if this was retaliatory strike. Some of this is a review of the used car sales process and while the staff at Camelback VWÂ insist that we must have somehow misunderstood them I don't think that. We went to look at a car, tested it,and left. We liked it enough to discuss termsÂ the day after andÂ that's where the fun started. We had simple needs. Tell us the car price + tax, fees and registration.Â That's it we didn't want a warranty or many of the other add ons that they try to foist on you.Â They made an offer, we declinedÂ as it was above our stated max of 10kÂ out the door max. Strike 1:Â Failing to listen to your customer. Forward a day and a call fromÂ James called wanted us to consider it again at what they called the auction price. (Claimed car was a week away from being auctioned)Â Â This sounded better so we found sitter for the kid,Â drove down and asked for a new price. It was $200 less than previously and still above $10k. They had taken up yet another night and this offer just plain sucked. They could have told us on the phone but no they think it's clever to waste people's money acting like a paranoid secret squirrel on a meth bender. Strike 2:Â Treating us like children will not make us respect you or even be civil.Â We should have walked at that juncture. The usual what could we do to guarantee you'd buy it discussion occurred?Â EasyÂ 8k out the door, that's a pretty low offer,insulting? Maybe but hey once you take the piss with an offer that failed to meet our limitÂ and lose us a few hours of spare time then I get pissy.Â They didn't even counter, just said no way, can't even get close and the poor dealer's story of how much they were in for that car etc came out.Â I really thought they would break out some violins. Next dayÂ call about how the night guy mustn't have been informed of the "auction price" offer and really they would let us get it forÂ 9200 out the door Yay:)Â Erin went down on her own to fill out the paperwork. ( Sidebar) I have really good credit ( there's a reason Scrooge McDuck is Scottish after all) my partner less so, ok it's poor. That's ok we expected to pay dearly for this , her first car, but 20% is just plain awful. Hell when I was new to this country I got a lower rate on a new VW bug.) They came back over 20% and I suggested she not do this without talking first or seeing if my bank would be a better bet. After she spentÂ more hours at VW Camelback they wanted to run the numbers with me and her ( they still sucked being aÂ full 12% over the number my bank qualified me for today) but in the meantime they told her she no longer qualified at 20% , that it would have to be co signed BUT if we added an extended warranty onto it, they could call in a special favor and they could see about it. This scam is so well known I can link to it:) That's when we walked for the last time. I could have bought the car, cash but that defeats theÂ rebuilding credit goal.Â Simply didn't trust them. I think the withholding of credit unless you get to the figure by adding warrantiesÂ is problematic andÂ coercive in a manner that I'd consider unethical given a prior indication, the reason we were even back in the dealers , that she'd been approved.Â Â We received a call sayingÂ "they are sorry we misunderstood"Â some apology, we understand that you get so used to BS that you can't stop doing it even if you want to. Ended the day at Superstition Honda and bought a used Civic so HAÂ we were serious. you jack offs! Loan? 6%Â . What's sad is that I really like diesel cars and have bought a new VW prior. I've had service at this dealer prior and this is how they go about building a long term business. Morons lost a car sale, a potential car sale andÂ service for both. Time passed and I just got a letter from the bank saying they'd denied my loan. I never entered into a loan with these people just a credit check. I'm doing some research on the dates/ times this occurred because it seems a tad malicious to apply me for a loan I'd not filled out the paperwork.

Honda of Superstition Springs, Mesa, is driving me to be "certified" : Playing phone tag with Honda.

2009-02-08T06:04:52Z

Buying a certified car from these people? Maybe have someone else check it out first. Here's my first review on Yelp prior to their attempts to fix the car.

Following on from a day two weeks ago Camelback VW we drove to see a Honda Civic at this dealer. Decent test drive , I like (Suzanne) the sales person and once again I find it hard to divorce the idea that the initial tier doesn't know what the sales manager and Fi guy are going to pull.

The car is a certified Honda meaning that it should have had 150 items checked and they all should work. To this dealer it means "if they notice fix it" actually it meant pretend to fix it. So yes I bought the car ( sorry to spoil the ending) but am still trying to get it to match the condition at which I negotiated the price for.

Manager tier pulls the usual car dealer tricks. Unable to answer an honest question. E.g What's the price of the car +tax + doc + vlt with NO other add ons for paint coverage, window etching or a myriad of other things you can acquire for far far less if you add them after market. I nearly walked out as the $200 etching fee made it into the paperwork. He claimed it's an error, said it would hurt the salesperson and the usual emotional BS they teach at weasel school. Having said that I liked the finance guy , Kiko, which is a total first for me.

If you paid $800 for a factory alarm it will do your sanity good to avoid checking the part number and installation procedure.

So why the two? The fuel cap on these can only be released from the inside and it doesn't work. Noticing this on your trip to San Diego after buying the car is not a lot of fun. Once it was opened it had so much grease, fresh, that it looked like an attempt to cover it up/ fix it. The radio that I pointed out had the speakers incorrectly installed was meant to be remedied on site. They did a little but still doesn't work and the central cabin light isn't working. The latter 2 are livable the former is not. Yes it's picky but the inflated value of a cert car is mostly the happy fluffy knowledge that it's been checked and has no major issues that would prevent your enjoyment or necessitate a trip back to the dealers to resolve.

Today I took a trip back to the dealer to remedy these items. Was meant to take a couple of hours. I left without the speakers being replaced as they had none in stock and waiting for them to be brought in , plus another two hours , would have resulted in me spending over six hours in a building without a working internet connection ( Oh they have an internet area it just wasn't working on this , or the prior, visit.

I had asked to bring it down during the week and get a loaner car to get to work and back which they wouldn't do. I'm fed up with being reasonable. After discovering tonight that the third brake light didn't just work but was absent from the enclosure entirely I can reasonably claim that the additional price they factored into this car based on it being "Honda certified" is a value that I didn't receive.

In short Superstition Honda represented this car as having passed as certified without legally required lighting present let alone not working.

As for Honda they have been playing phone tag with me and I've yet to find out if they have anyway to resolve this.

Creddy and Hal at the entrance to Quiessence

2009-01-16T02:06:26Z

IMG_8287,
originally uploaded by Yelp.com.

While I look like a bottle of wine / upright aubergine it was quite in character for the event.

Full review to follow;

Number 6 wasn't always a hot Cylon. Greatness doesn't always equal prodigious output.

2009-01-15T16:43:50Z

ThenÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â andÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â now

TVÂ itself may need to spend some time on the island. Be seeing you .

Ritz Camera store at Scottsdale / FLW: Some reasons you may not wish to buy from them.

2009-01-11T19:37:04Z

Copied from myÂ Yelp review.

Ritz Camera Center

16255 N Scottsdale Rd # C4 Scottsdale, AZ 85254

(480) 609-8650"Ž

--------------- Update: Corp officeÂ appears to have resolved this.Â Meant to pickÂ up lens on Friday.

Twas the night before Â Christmas and I'd left the house I hadn't her present, I felt like a louse, So leaving work early , prior to falling to bits I popped in a camera store, of the name Ritz The model I wanted I Â spied Â on the shelf I inquired of its features before reducing my wealth "it has to have", the salesperson said. It better I responded or Â in morning I'm dead. Checked though the menu, the manual and staff and Â pulled out my iphone just for a laugh found out Â that this camera didn't auto bracket. Is the advice in this Â shop ,merely a racket? So back to the shelf the d60 went and out came the A200 sony instead, it had all the features Â and cheap second lens, Now sadly this isn't where my rhyme ends. The lens , wasn't in stock , but that was ok I could come back and get it Â in a few days the time came to pass and alas I was told. you can't have the offer Â because it's now old. No matter had I offered to pay in advance we're now stuck in some weird customer service dance Were he said and she said Â drives me round the bends when all Â I want is the aforementioned lens. So people let this be a lesson to buy in advance Or maybe you'll be the one taking it in the pants Even if you get a promise in writing it makes no difference you still end up fighting. Take that Vogons Â I totally Â own you ! Â I'm still waiting for the regional manager to intervene since the store is now unable to proceed without this step To date not one returned call and Â I'm tired of chasing them around. Â The offer was a Â second lens for $50 Â with new camera Â ( saving about $200) and this was a key factor in the purchase. Â This with the rep's name was written on the receipt Â ( Â which is misplaced , thank the kid) Â but all the info is on my Â amex and their till has the transaction and the rep knows she did it. Â Â Regardless of a happy ending here Â I get Â very little feeling of urgency Â from the store in question.

Next step Â I think is returning the camera since we're now Â close to their limit on returns. ( which they say they will extend while resolving this Â but to date my confidence Â in their proclamations is quite low:)

Then I posted an update.

After a few more days of waiting,Â four separate promises to contact me re this had elapsedÂ and they have basically failed to honour the deal.Maybe the salesperson ( Kim) messed up in offering this to me but I bought this in good faith with the expectation of returning to store the following week and getting the lens at the price stated.

This offer was material to my choice of camera and no transaction would have occurred without it. While he ( manager John) Â would like me to wait for their regional manager to get back from vacation I don't find that to be an acceptable state of affairs and will likely be returning the cameraÂ and while they have said they wil extend the return period in this case part of me fullyÂ expects them to renege on that too.

next step: Head office andÂ also find out the franchise owner.

Don't tell mom the babysitter's making shit up. 4 year olds armed and a little dangerous

2009-01-06T04:49:19Z

I'm calling fanciful bullshit on this one.

That must be a really light and small shotgun because I've had experience being young with them. A four year old that holds that kind of grudge is , well sorry. I'd like to know more about these witnesses because the idea of a 4 year old shouldering and aiming a 20g that's not a youth size is pretty frigging suspicious, that there are many teens present.. Let's just say the reports elsewhere claim a 4 year old , got mad, got a shell, got a gun , put them together and boom.

Let's see how this turns out:)

breaking news - national news - world news - azcentral.com

JACKSON, Ohio (AP) -- Police say an angry 4-year-old Ohio boy grabbed a gun from a closet and shot his baby sitter. Nathan Beavers, 18, was hospitalized Sunday with minor wounds to his arm and side after the shotgun attack. Police say another teen was also injured.