Transit / Utilities and Technology

Public Transport

   Don't need it, not outside the region service provided by CATS, or what used to be called CATS. I liked the idea of a regional service that provided transport to people who needed it but the CATS service was mishandled, underfunded by us and the State and the transfer to Butler (as a private service, publicly funded) was bungled. See the section below.

CATS

   Alas, poor CATS (or Trailblazer, whatever) we knew you well. Um, maybe, kinda, sort of. Yes, I will admit that I never needed to use the service myself, and probably neither did 90% of the county, but it was a good idea that was poorly executed. They had too many different kind of vehicles, operated under two names and never could figure out if they were supposed to be a general transport service for the public or a special service for the disabled and infirm.

   I know they claimed to be a general service but they always advertised their services for the disabled and senior citizens, then complain that became the image the public had of them. They always used a ticket book system for getting rides instead of a monthly pass which would have saved them money. You bought group of tickets instead of just paying a monthly fee. The ticket makes sense for one-time ride requirements but for regular users of the service it won't work.

   There was also a problem with the routes and selected service areas. Carroll County is a spread out rural area, housing is not dense and residential property like apartments and row-homes only exist in clusters and specific areas. Yet the service is designed to serve such areas and most routes are between nursing homes and doctor offices or row-homes and shopping centers. So once again we have the oft-denied image of being a senior care service for transport.

   After being taken over by Butler there doesn't seem to be much of a change in the service or how it's handled. And the current operator doesn't seem to have made any improvements. We need to take a look at Rabbit Transit in PA has been functioning.

Fiber Optic Network

   This is a needed service that should be a public utility and not a private service or product. These days a business expects the consumer to have a persistent online presence and continuous ability to access services. But no such service exists and networks that do exist, do not possess the required bandwidth (bandwidth and speed is not the same thing).

   Companies like Comcast and Verizon have totally dropped the ball and the County Fiber plan or Westminster plan have become a non-starters. No one has made the required investment to support necessary networks to use services from companies or the Internet. Half of this problem is web services that use too many resources from the client end of the connection. With computers becoming more powerful and capable, there is an assumption that we can handle more processing ourselves than the servers online. Except there are two flaws with this assumption; One, we do not have the network bandwidth to transfer large amounts data back and forth; and Two, with the rise of tablets and smartphones you cannot rely on the presence of desktop units with larger processing capability. Too much effort is being made to develop handheld computers and the workstation has been complete ignored, yet it is the workstation that the Internet was made for and now is being abandoned for toys and appliances. We are losing productivity in the name of progress and not getting either.

Net Neutrality

   ISP's don't like the Internet. When the so-called World Wide Web was 'invented', it was services like AOL that let people access the 'world' far outside their homes. However such services were limited, when you clicked on 'news' it was their news or 'music' was their music. Once people could make and host their own websites, services like AOL crashed and burned. Now we have a repeat of the same old tactic by companies like Comcast or Apple and Google. Don't you dare access a service that competes with your ISP's services. Comcast would love to prevent you from watching Hulu or Netflix in favor of their own Universal entertainment services.

   But it isn't just competition, censorship has become a part of the dark underbelly of this whole quagmire. And I am not talking some of the more obvious controversies like pornography or radical politics. It has now become fashionable to be offended by everything you can read online and if one person is 'offended' by a topic then everyone must fall in lock step or they won't 'belong' to the group no more and be shunned and ostracized like the so-called 'offender'. Thanks to our ill-begotten president, we are now forced to fight the fake 'fake news' epidemic and censor or block sources that aren't verified. But the 'experts' who determine what is real or not are themselves the ones creating the propaganda in the first place (we used to call 'fake news' propaganda, what happened to our language).

   This all boils down to not being allowed to read what we want to read online or not post what we want to post. We can no longer have free speech or free association. This is a violation in not just preventing someone from speaking their mind or having an opinion but it also violates the right to associate with those groups who you want to associate with or use those services you want to use. It is your choice to use whichever service you wish or can afford to use and ISP's or other corporations (including governments) cannot be allowed to make that choice for you.

Big Data != Catch-all Solution

   The grossest and largest of all lies about technology. This is literally the 'we can't find a needle in the haystack without a haystack' argument. There is no benefit to the collection of all data into a pot and using an algorithm to find something in there, anything at all.

   This is one of those stupid marketing morons playing at scientist we get all the time from the so-called IT industry. One-half religion, one-half magic and two-thirds bullshit; mix, lather and repeat often. There is no proof that invading peoples privacy and collecting uncorrelated data into a database and then letting a computer spit out reports will solve any problem. Nothing has ever been fixed by Big Data or even proved to do so. What happens is a large data analysis company shows up and says "We can solve your problem". You never asked them to and never told them your problem. Then they proceed to tell you all they need is all the information on everyone and they can fix you right up with a solution package that will cost millions.

   Then they run off with your money and our data, selling it to marketing firms for even more millions.

   You want to use Technology to solve a problem ? Then follow three easy steps that will cost you little to no money; One, state the problem; Two, state what you need to know to solve the problem; Three, learn those things. There, done and no loss of our privacy or identity to those bastards who want to get rich off of our lives.

Drones

   First, I don't like the word 'drone'. It does nothing to describe what it is or to its purpose. It is a Remotely Operated Vehicle, ROV, or Rover if you like; you know that word that has been around for what 30 years ? (Longer if you talk about the automobile) Why do we keep making new words for old crap ? They're not unmanned, there is a pilot on the ground. And they're aircraft or model aircraft, just like an already existing term.

   Second, I don't approve of unmanned or unattended flight. This is similar to the issue of self-driving cars. There has been no proven technology or system to prevent accidents and protect public safety.

   Third, there needs to be licensing and protection of those with such a license. The FAA has been dragging their feet on rules and licensing programs. Then after they came up with a set, they scrapped the whole thing and may be redoing it or not all. I don't know what is going on but once again the so-called rule makers can't seem to figure anything out. Look it isn't hard, it's an aircraft, remotely operated and can be programmed; what does that sound like ? Yep, model airplanes; there has been an entire industry already with experience in this matter. Maybe we should look at what is already in place ?

Self-driving Vehicles

   Despite wanting to get bad drivers off the road, these automated automobiles are no better. Self-driving cars will replace taxi services who are already hurting from illegal Uber services and truck freight as industries hurt from scandals of drivers asleep at the wheel causing accidents. Self-driving cars also do not heed to the rules of the road and have failed to yield to traffic or brake behind larger vehicles. We need less of bad drivers on the road, not more of them.

   The second problem with these vehicles is the requirement of online services like Google Maps for navigation. These systems are not self-contained and the internet connection can leave you vulnerable to privacy invasion or hacking. We already have a problem with cars being hack-able as it is, we don't need yet another attack vector for criminals and the government to exploit.

Cellphone Services/Networks

   Once again corporations and companies cannot permit consumers basic rights and services. The corona-virus has poked open another hole in SOP thinking. When corporations opened up their networks so people could use remote learning and other broadband services in place of real-world interactions, what happend ? That's right the world didn't come to an end.

   For years we were told that we couldn't have unlimited data or the networks would melt. Well lookie-lookie, AT&T, Verizon and all the mobile companies opened up their networks and nothing happened. As usual we have been lied to again and now they are starting to close up the networks as they were before. There is no reason that every consumer cannot have unlimited bandwidth in their data plans; the hardware can handle it and the consumer gets access to the services business keeps saying we need. So why does the cell companies not want to leave their networks open; oh yeah, they want to gouge you for all you are worth. How silly of me.