Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Tamara's Predictions for 2012

Most of my predictions for the future are long-term.  This means going beyond 2012, but over the next few years I expect:

- Greater austerity measures in the US.  Now that the war's over, they'll be tallying up the cost and it might be a wake-up call that money's not free.  This will be bad in the short term, because it's the people who will be bearing the brunt of the cutbacks, but in the long run it might help if it gets those in power to take money seriously.

Tweet Your Way To Becoming Prime Minister

Yet another Federal election is upon us here in Canada.  What is interesting to note is how our politicians are making use of social media.  One would think that the greatest democratizing technologies of our time would be a key element in modern democracy.  By and large, the candidates are using social media to run their campaigns, and I can see it becoming de rigueur from here on out.  Let’s have a look at why.

Review of “The Adventures of Unemployed Man”

“Do you ever think maybe thinking positive doesn’t mean being happy while you’re getting screwed by the system.  Maybe it means being positive about your ability to change it.”
- Bruce Paine a.k.a. Unemployed Man

Look!  Up in the sky!  It’s a comic book!  No, it’s an economics text!  No, it’s... “The Adventures of Unemployed Man,” by Erich Origen, Gan Golan, and a hero team of artists.

This unique book explains the causes of the Great Recession, touches on several longstanding societal problems, and presents it all in a way that is accessible and fun to read.  Did I mention it’s a comic?

Despite All Your Rage You Can Leave The Cage

Are you a lab rat?

Chances are good that if you're in America, in these troubled times, your state is probably engaged in some kind of experiment.  It might be the changes in Florida () or Wisconsin's cuts (and the weird statements on the National Guard), or California's cut-and-confront budget.  You're probably seeing a lot of very experimental things.

I've ranted on this before - we're seeing a lot of social and financial experiments in the Great Recession.  Some of these are legitimate, a great deal seem to be ideology over practicality.  The thing is they're being done.

After talking to friends in different states, I've come to two conclusions about this:

1. If you aren't paying attention to your state and local budget you're missing a lot, and could be blindsided by some very nasty surprises.
2. You should have a backup plan in case whatever experiments going on in your state/city/location fail miserably.  Or in short, where would you move if all the geniuses making budget decisions screw it up.

Be careful.  Apply all those geeky relocation tips we've discussed here over the years.  Right now it's a pretty unsure time, and that ideal city or state you live in now could end up being the site of a failed experiment.

This applies even to me.  I love California and Silicon Valley, but I like to have a backup plan or too.  I just don't want to USE them.

- Steven Savage

* Bonus question - what's the inspiration for the post title?

Usage Based Billing is an Unfair Bad Bargain

And now, News from the North* with regard to Usage Based Billing and the coverage thereof.  First, a long and boring intro for those who are unfamiliar with the situation.

All of the radio, TV, Internet, etc in Canada is run by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC.  That is, if it involves using electricity to send information a long distance, it’s the CRTC who manages the connections.  Why is it set up like that?  The same reason that everything in Canada is set up as a Crown Corporation and not a bunch of small competitive businesses.  Because, in the early days when Canada was just getting itself together, there was this massively powerful emerging country to the south whose competitive businesses could easily stamp out our own.  Therefore, Canada stuck whatever resources it had all together, so we would have something that would survive and remain Canadian.  The fact that we use our Canadian media to tune into American content anyway is one for the Irony Files. 

Fear not that I have painted a picture of Soviet Canuckistan as a socialist wasteland.  It is required, by law, that our big ISPs (Bell, Rogers, and Shaw) must lease some of the infrastructure to smaller companies.  Even though it’s the big guys who built our infrastructure, they have to allow for some competition.  Now, these little guys often offered better deals and lower prices, until one day...

Dun dun dunnnnn.

Frustration Friday: Can The Recession Keep People From Hating the Unemployed?

One thing I'm hoping about in the Great Recession is that people will finally get over the idea that The Unemployed Are Bad People.

I know that's probably a naive hope, since people without jobs appear to be the favorite whipping boys/girls of any politician who wants to score quick points in the "personal responsibility" category, or preachers who want to single someone out as worthy of their god's wrath.  But I'm hoping, perhaps beyond hope, that people are going to learn the valuable lesson that people without jobs are not Bad People.

I'd like to hope that this comes about from empathy.  As people see their friends and family suffer unemployment, they will understand that the unemployed are all of us.  As we find ourselves encountering the unemployed, we will realize they're like us, they're trying, and things are hard.  As we see more of this suffering, we will come to understand it.

Of course for the case of some people, that is a terribly naive idea on my part.  So I also figure that some people will learn that the unemployed are not Evil Incarnate by joining their ranks for awhile.  It's hard to claim some legion of people are a faceless bane on existence when you're part of them.  If anything, it'll at least take a few egos down a peg and humble them a bit.

Sadly that may be naive as well.  I suspect those who need to believe that others are Bad People will cling to the idea the unemployed are Bad since they make such easy (and powerless) targets.  Those who wish to paint the unemployed as bad people, even if they are unemployed, will find ways to claim they're different.  Their egos can't handle anything else.

But, hey, I can hope - and write rants like this with the hope of helping people change.

- Steven Savage

Why Local Politics Matter When You Relocate

Right now there's a lot of talk about Arizona's recent immigration laws - as well as additional laws and policies following it.  To summarize as easy as I can:

• The governor signed a bill that extended police power to detain/question people over citizenship with reasonable suspicion.  The interpretation of this - and some potential modifications - make it more complicated.  The law is quite controversial as it seems to invite profiling (though people I know in Arizona says it's less change than people may think).
• A bill that would limit ethnic studies (and oddly lump it in with other things)
• An education department policy on teachers with accents that could lead to teachers being fired or limited in teaching.  I find this ridiculous as I live in an area with tons of accents.

Yes, if you read about these laws, you'd get the impression that there's some racial and ethnic animosity here.  I sadly come to the same conclusion, am sure that this is going to be a giant political powderkeg, and that there will be much fallout in the future. 

But ask yourself this (before I turn this into a Frustration Friday), would you have heard of this if it wasn't national news?  I don't think you would.

Frustration Friday: Cult Misses

You'll notice that though I talk economics in this blog, I am careful around the subject of politics.  In some cases, where politics intersects economics (which really is in most cases), I also am cautious about what I discuss.

So for a moment let me throw some caution to the wind and watch it blow away.

I'd like to discuss my caution.

Let Me Bore You: Insurance

It's been awhile since I embarked on boring our readers, and with some of the major issues of the day affecting your career, let's focus on an issue you need to be following: insurance.  Specifically, health insurance.