The Man In My Head Is Going Out Of His!

Back in 2018, I couldn’t stop singing Aira’s praises. I still appreciate the Aira agents, but last week, their executives made a really bad move and they’re going to spend a lot of time trying to recover.

At the end of last year, they were warning us that their prices were going to increase. It sucks because the subscription fees are already kind of expensive, but I know prices are going up everywhere. Then, the prices came out, and Good sweet merciful god in heaven on a pogo stick!

So, a few things they are trying to explain in stammers, stutters, splutters and gasps after most of the community came out with torches and pitchforks:

  1. They never intended consumers to pay those prices. That, apparently, is what they are charging businesses if they want to be an Aira Access location.
  2. Consumers would only pay a portion of that, and that portion would be determined depending on the answers to some mysterious questions that a customer care agent asks the would-be subscriber. More on that later.
  3. You can see the offset prices. Honestly, you can. You just have to fill out this form that you can only find if you’re on our mailing list.

That sounds really shady. Really shady and super open to misinformation and abuse of power. It makes me worry about what is going on at Aira.

Thankfully, Jonathan Mosen explained the history of what’s going on, and diplomatically tore them a new one.

I totally agree with him when he wants to know why they tried to placate the big businesses at the expense of the consumers. If you scare away all the customers with those ridiculous prices and hide the actual cost, no one new is going to sign up. I know I sure wouldn’t, no matter how enthusiastically someone sang its praises.

Next, what’s up with the secrecy on the amount of offset that is available to each customer? Why do people either have to fill out a form or call in and get interrogated by a customer care agent before they get the straight goods? Why not have a table that shows how much offset is available to each income bracket, or whether or not the person receives disability benefits, and whatever else goes into calculating the price? If a table is too hard, have a little calculator where you fill out the values for the formula and then it spits out the results. Anything is better than making people call in to find out what their offset will be. Plus, I worry that making people call in to get their magic number leaves the customer completely at the mercy of the customer care agent. What if they decide they don’t like your face, so don’t allow you to get the offset? How are you going to fight that? You have no proof of what the offset should be.

But one point that made me raise my eyebrows a bit was this one:

At first, the disclosure of these plans without information about the subsidy caused considerable confusion and distress. Anyone who knows how a lot of screen reader users engage with information could have told Aira this would happen. When I ran Mosen Consulting, I used to have what I believed to be clear text when you added a product to the cart, telling people how to download their purchase instantly and that a link may not always reach their email because of spam filtering. No matter how clear that message was, I would frequently get people emailing me not realising that they had missed the opportunity to download their purchase right away. The reason for this is that many screen reader users will search for key phrases, or controls on a page. So I can imagine that a lot of consumers searched on a dollar-sign and completely missed the messaging, misguided though it was, about the prices being listed not being what they would be asked to pay.

I definitely agree that sometimes, we look for controls. But there’s a time and a place for searching for controls and a time and a place for lots of reading. I would think, when there are 9 pricing brackets, that’s a time to slow down and take in as much as you possibly can.

Personally, I did not search for the dollar sign. I read the whole page, and I was still mad because they were being all vague about whether or not I would get an offset, and they wouldn’t tell me how much. Then I saw the prices. Without knowing the offset, I ran screaming.

I still find their tactics shady and sneaky, but I appreciate Jonathan’s blog post at least trying to explain what was going on in their head, even if their thought process was dead wrong. One thing is for sure. If things don’t change by the end of the year, I am going to have to do some really hard thinking about whether I stay with them moving forward.

What The F Keys?!

Last week, I got a new computer at work. My old one was pretty old, and kept showing its age by randomly shutting itself off at inopportune times. So getting a new one should have been a giant upgrade. But I discovered a couple of dumb things about this new computer that baffle me. Thankfully, they’re conquerable dumb things, but they’re still dumb.

Thing 1. It came without an Ethernet port! Seriously, I know it’s a laptop and all portable and stuff, but wifi isn’t so universally awesome that someone would never need to hook up to the hard wire ever. My wifi is decent, but there’s a lot going on at work. Most things require me to be connected through a VPN. One of those things that requires a VPN connection is my license for JAWS, which is server-based. I have learned painfully that if the Wifi is even dreaming about choking, JAWS is the first thing to notice, and it falls over in a dishevelled heap. JAWS is my screen-reader, which I need to use for testing and using my computer in general. So…I kind of need rock-solid internet. Then add on the fact that I use Zoom and share my screen, and…Oh! JAWS is down again. Wifi isn’t going to cut it.

Thankfully, there are dongles that have Ethernet ports and additional USB ports to replace the one that needs to be stolen to plug in said dongle, but it still baffles me that they would remove something that’s still pretty common. Wifi is not that awesome.

Thing 2. The keys that used to be called f1 to f12 are given different primary functions like media playback and print screen and crap. I totally understand giving keys secondary functions to save space. But the additional functions should be secondary and the original ones should be the default functions. Last time I looked, keyboard users still need alt f4 to close windows. They still need f5 to refresh websites. They still need shift f10 to right click things if they don’t have an applications key. Yes, I know you can hold down the fn key and press the f keys to get their original f key functions back. I challenge you to hit alt fn f4 or shift fn f10 together with any kind of ease. I’ll wait.

The function keys are not so obsolete that they aren’t necessary if you don’t use a mouse. But the people who made this decision probably don’t primarily use the keyboard. It just makes me mad. Also, the most common solution to this problem is to go into the BIOS to fix it. That is something screen-reader users can’t do without sighted help. And screen reader users primarily use the keyboard.

Thankfully, there are other solutions, like if you’re lucky enough to have a computer that has the keyboard stuff in the windows mobility center you can change it there, or some keyboards have a fn lock like fn escape that will change the f keys back to their other functions, but what if you’re not that lucky? Then, just to get f keys back to their defaults, you have to get help. Or, you’re stuck doing finger gymnastics to carry out really common tasks.

I know I sound old right now. But I think I have a valid point that goes beyond “Gaaa why did they have to change stuff?” People making decisions have to think beyond their own bubble before they release something. Otherwise, some people might feel like their new machine is a downgrade. Thankfully, I think I have this one whipped into shape, but others might not be so lucky.

Let’s Talk About 2022

As I sit here in the middle of January of 2023, I guess I should try and reflect on 2022. I meant to do this on New Year’s Eve, but I just didn’t manage it. So since it seems I do everything late, here it is.

The funny thing is I don’t know what to say about 2022. It was a year of ups and downs, but isn’t every year? I guess I could say at least this year we had some ups because they were hard to find in the couple of years before. It was a year that urged us to try more things, conferences and travel come to mind, and then made us nervous about trying them. Thanks, COVID. It was a year with a lot of waiting to see if things would fall into place, like Santa and a new guide dog. It was a year that forced me to dust off some old ways of getting around, and forced me to make some quick changes of direction for Tansy’s future. Finally it was a year that reminded us that people’s health isn’t what it seems.

I said I was waiting for things to fall into place. Not everything has. Yes, I have Santa, and that is doing wonderful things. But I still have no idea when I’m getting my next guide dog, which makes planning of life things a barrel of fun. I understand that the school is trying its best with the circumstances under which we’re living, but that doesn’t take away the frustration of planning around a floating target…a target that has been floating for at least a year now. For example, I’m speaking at CSUN. But I’m worried that the school will call me with a class date that conflicts or immediately follows CSUN. But I don’t want to rush them in finding me a dog by asking them how things are progressing because the right dog is what I want to come home with, but I also want to warn them that some dates might be less than awesome! Aaaaaa!

Thankfully, some of those health things I linked to are headed in the right direction, even though there is still some uncertainty in some cases. But at least they aren’t keeping us in crisis mode as much anymore.

Another thing I haven’t mentioned in a while is the progress towards having a new office. It keeps getting later and later. I think maybe we’re planning to move in by March. March of 2020 was when I started working from home. That’s just crazy! But I’m glad I’ve been able to pull it off for so long and haven’t driven Steve around the bend with me being here all the time.

So 2022 is in the bag. What does 2023 look like? Well…interesting, both in the positive way, and in the “may you live in interesting times” sort of way. I have mentioned from time to time that January hates me, and because it brings illness, death and upheaval more times than it doesn’t, I tend to dread it. This January is sticking to the tradition. My dad had to have surgery. Thankfully, he seems to be recovering well, but I don’t think I will truly relax until he gets the news from the doctor that he’s all 100 percent good. On top of that, an older person I know caught COVID. I just found out today.

But on the better side, if I can pull it all off, I might be taking several trips this year. There’s the CSUN trip and another possible work trip in the summer, plus guide dog school if it happens. On top of that, Tansy’s puppy raisers want to see me, and I’m gently trying to convince them to come up here so they can also see Tansy and I can do my best to show them around Ottawa. Plus there’s one other possible trip, but like I said before, it’s hard to plan trips with a floating target in the mix.

We’re also going to a concert! It’s not until April, but we have tickets. It’s the first one we’ve been to since the dawn of Omicron, which is long for us. We don’t recap every concert, but we like to go to a lot of them, so not going for a long time has been weird. Hopefully going to a show won’t feel equally as weird.

We don’t have any real New Year’s resolutions, but one thing we want to do is get back in the habit of going to a restaurant for no reason. We used to do that whenever we decided it would be a good idea, but since it wasn’t a good idea in COVID times, we’ve gotten out of the habit of going. But we really want to do it again because it’s fun, and we have accumulated a total whack-load of restaurant gift cards. Between getting them as gifts and me winning them at work, we have a ton of them. We should definitely use them when the mood strikes.

Another goal, for me personally, is to walk around more so my cane skills don’t suck. They’re passable, but they’re not awesome after a 9-year hiatus. The easiest way to rebuild them would have been to use them going to work and back, but since work is at home, that isn’t a thing. I would have done more walking in my neighbourhood, but there were multi-month-long construction projects that kind of messed that up. Now that they’re done, it’s freaking cold so less appealing. But I’m really hoping to pick that up some more.

My hopes for 2023 aren’t huge. Like last year, I’m hoping for peace and calm and some simple joys. Anything beyond that is gravy. But I’m encouraged that some gravy is possible, since I didn’t ring in the new year crying my eyes out like I did in 2022 because everything seemed to be going backwards. Things aren’t going as forward as some people think they are, but I at least hope we can hang on to what we’ve got. I hope everyone has a better new year.

Can We Please Not Create Another Wrestling Monopoly?

I absolutely love AEW and I respect the hell out of everything that Tony Khan has been able to accomplish in the few short years that it’s been around, but the Khan family buying WWE gets the hardest of hard nos from this guy.

Wrestling has only just started recovering from the damage done by having been a virtual monopoly for the better part of the last 20 years. A “good” monopoly is still a monopoly, which is to say that even if the Khans did their absolute best to do everything right, it would still be a step backward in the long-term. NO matter what, it would mean less work for wrestlers and less choice for fans. Yes, I know that there are a million small to medium sized wrestling promotions around the world. That’s great and I love it. But none of them ever have or ever will dominate the market like WWE has just by virtue of being huge and having lots of money. We’ve seen that play out for decades now. An AEW run WWE, while perhaps being more creatively enjoyable, would ultimately put us right back in that spot. Try not to forget how much that spot sucks.

I feel for Triple H and Stephanie, too. If they want to keep the business in the family, they should get every chance to do that and to sink or swim on their own. The place isn’t exactly hurting for cash, so it’s not as though a sale should even be necessary. It’s something that, from the outside, seems driven almost entirely by greed. That shouldn’t surprise me as a citizen of the world who understands how things tend to work, but that doesn’t mean it’s right or that I have to like it. So many good things in life are ruined by this idea that you have to wring as much monetary value out of them as you can in the shortest amount of time, product quality and hardworking people be damned. I’ve seen it happen to things I care about over and over again, and it’s never not disappointing. I would love for wrestling, one of my favourite things in the world, to not go down that path any further than it maybe already has.

Axios reports that former WWE co-CEO Stephanie McMahon and current chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque opposed plans to sell the company, according to its sources.

Stephanie resigned from the company on Tuesday, four days after Vince McMahon returned to the company as executive chairman of the board of directors.
Elsewhere, both Barron’s and CNBC reported Thursday that AEW’s Tony Khan and Shad Khan have been linked to WWE’s “strategic alternatives” process as potential buyers for the company.
Barron’s states that AEW is a potential buyer, but “…the Khans will likely look for a financial partner to acquire the asset.”

CNBC couches a potential AEW and WWE merger as a longshot, but notes that the Khans would be open to discussing a continued role for executive chairman McMahon should AEW and WWE merge:

That’s Not It, Deer

We all love misheard lyrics, so here’s another one. I’ve been meaning to write it down since last summer when the song came on one night, I remembered the story and said “that might make a decent post.” That’s me, as on top of things as ever.

One day many years ago when I was just a wee lad, my dad and I were riding around in the truck. Most of the time we would listen to country music because that’s what he liked, but on this day I was given control of the radio for some reason. I took full advantage of it, and used the opportunity to put him through one of our local rock stations for a while. For the most part he didn’t seem to mind it, either that or he uncharacteristically decided not to complain about something. I’m not sure which it was, but that’s likely not important to anyone but me. I really wish I knew, though.

Anyway, there we were, going wherever we were going and talking about whatever we were talking about. And then it happened.

Dad: “What in the hell is this song?”
Me: “I like this one!”
Dad: “But what is it?”
Me: “It’s Bon Jovi!”
Dad: “What are they saying? It sounds like…like…like… “dead Venison?”
Me: *dies*

Eventually I was able to explain that it was “Bad Medicine.” I don’t think we talked about music the rest of the trip.

But you know what? He’s not wrong.

If Only We Had A Serves You Right Tag

We all need a good news story now and then. this one did it for me today. 2 men accidentally set themselves on fire trying to torch immigration centre

Two suspected arsonists accidentally set themselves on fire as they attempted to burn down an immigration centre in California on Monday.
In shocking security camera footage, the two men, whose faces are hidden by masks, splashed what appeared to be gasoline across the outside of Servicio de Inmigracion in Bakersfield, Calif.

As one of the men continued to pour accelerant over the parking lot, the other bent down to ignite a fire. The flames instantly blasted into an inferno.
One of the men immediately took off running away from the building with his leg engulfed in flames. The other shouted and fell twice as he tried to flee the scene, also on fire.

The news wasn’t so great for the centre itself. It suffered smoke and property damage. But even that isn’t all bad. A GoFundMe set up to raise $5000 to cover damage related expenses has raised nearly $9000 as of this writing.

So far no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named. Swear to god I almost wrote maimed completely by accident there. We can only hope.

A Modern Christmas Classic. Better Than That Hallmark Crap, At Any Rate

I’m not sure which bots wrote this or what if any human assistance they may have had in doing so (parts of it are so perfectly ridiculous that I feel like there has to have been some), but I enjoyed it more than I do most Christmas movies, so that’s good enough for me.

By forcing bots to watch every holiday film ever made, Netflix has created our own mathematically perfect Holiday film made entirely by bots. Please enjoy “Carol’s Christmas Carol For Carol, A Woman Named Carol.”

Wonderful Deep Space Nine

This one’s for Carin and my other Star Trek loving friends. Me? I have no idea who anyone is here, but I enjoyed it all the same.

In the grand tradition of Star Trek captains singing holiday standards, for your consideration: “Wonderful Deep Space Nine” sung by Captain Sisko, Major Kira, Constable Odo, Lieutenant Commander Worf, Chief O’Brien, Congenial Barkeep Quark, Plain Simple Garak, and the rest of the Star Trek: DS9 ensemble. Special appearances by Morn, Martok, Moogie, and Vorta Iggy Pop.

Apologies to Berman, Piller, Brooks, Visitor, Farrell, Auberjonois, Siddig, Shimerman, Meaney, Dorn, Robinson, Eisenberg, Lofton, Grodenchik, Alaimo, Biggs, Marshall, Jens, de Boer, Barrett, Sadler, and Combs.