Podcast 382

Travel Frustrations. When traveling sometimes, nothing goes as planned, and even the smallest effort to go where you intended, or do what you intended, fails. Its frustrating and eventually mind numbing. The bane of the digital traveler these days is Internet service that is too slow, spotty, or not robust enough to accommodate file uploads. Attempt after attempt to upload failed, in different villages all over Maryland’s Eastern Shore. From Salisbury, to Easton, and finally to Rock Hill. Literally the ends of the earth … but in the process riding on two lane farm roads in what is probably one of the most beautiful parts of rural America, in the middle of some of the largest population centers on the East Coast. There’s a great opportunity out there for enterprises to get free WIFI and robust Internet service right. As more and more people consider ‘untethering’; Something more big companies than you think are considering. It means closing offices, getting rid of big staffs and running things from the road, untethered. This is supposedly made easier with high speed Internet and WIFI, and autonomous software that does the work of the back office. All fine and well, but the places you want to go sometimes just don’t have the capabilities to accommodate a digital ‘road warrior’. So far, Starbucks has it down cold, with high speed internet for uploads, and free WIFI. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to log in on, no nonsense. There may be other solutions fine for surfing the net, but when it comes to uploading it’s a different story. Note to someone; We can’t work untethered if the upload capacity isn’t there. In spite of all that, there is enough technology present in the Mobile Podcast Command Unit, to make it possible to do quality audio from the road. The bottle neck is sending it somewhere. Travel may be frustrating but the happy accidents are what makes it worth the time. Having the opportunity to literally drive all over Del Marva Peninsula from the Atlanta to the Chesapeake Bay, from Norfolk and Virginia Beach, to Baltimore, also provides an opportunity to see a lot of this part of the country from the backroads. The reality? Some people may think the United States is coming apart at the seams, but it looks pretty prosperous from this perspective. Maybe some ought to stop shouting about the end of the world and start talking about how and why they think things should be a certain way. It’s hard to think people are enjoying these perfect summer days on the East Coast, shaking their heads and waiting for the ‘Walking Dead’ scenario to play out. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 380

Rural Virginia. The road trip continues in the Old Dominion. It’s already hot in the south. As darkness falls, the night is alive with frogs, and insects; Many invading the Mobile Podcast Command Unit. With no bug spray, an interesting collection of available tools was used to rid the unit of critters. A hair dryer, compressed air for cleaning electronics, swatting, biological cleaning spray, and lysol air freshener. Then, finally down to business. A few hundred yards down a dirt road where this podcast was recorded are the remains of a village that has been here since before the revolutionary war. How often do we think about where this country will be in one hundred, or two hundred years. The people who lived here two hundred years ago depended on an expression of modern technology – at the time – to assure their livelihood; The mill. They did not know they were living in ‘ancient’ times by our standards. They didn’t worry about slow Internet, or decry broadcast television and its endless commercial clusters detailing drug side effects or how much cheese is on a pizza. When it comes to the news, this podcast has some stories for political junkies to consider. No one seems to be able to say with any clarity or authority what’s wrong with economy, or why its important. Meanwhile the same story lines regarding the latest GDP numbers keep replaying. Then there is the trans pacific partnership trade authority bill republicans are inexplicably supporting. More executive authority for this president? American citizens can’t review or read the bill and reporters can’t read it either. That doesn’t stop Paul Ryan and the Speaker, and the Senate Majority leader and other so called ‘conservatives’ from supporting it. Meanwhile, the Chinese have apparently hacked all the US Government data bases and extracted potentially damning information about high US officials. How is it possible the FBI can fly over our cities listening to our cell phone calls, but the government is unable to protect our privacy rights from the Chinese? We have a government that can’t seem to protect our rights, is riddled with incompetence and corruption, but seems to be quite capable of violating our privacy, and running amok. Why couldn’t Americans find reasons to shut down the federal government, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. And another theme that comes up every time we approach a presidential cycle is ‘why don’t we have an independent political party’. The solution, according to some brainy analysts, yet more candidates in the debates. Sigh. The fact is, American political parties have traded places, shifted and changed names, and have been born and died throughout our history. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 368

Asteroid. As a huge asteroid comes within striking distance of the Earth – relatively speaking – one wonders whether the now controversial Jade Helm exercise in the American West, and the mood of people in the last few weeks is connected somehow. While the object in question (1999 FN53) will come only within about four million miles of earth it’s the one they don’t see that will hit us. Begging the question, if they knew an object that was over a mile wide and could do catastrophic damage to the planet, would they tell us? This is a great story that provokes all kinds of questions. So much of our lives these days depends on supposedly making precise predictions about the future that are expected to be correct, even about outlier events. Yet life is rarely predictable and very messy. A person’s life can be changed in a blink of an eye, as can the life of a nation. This podcast shares one friend’s story of instant change. Probably everyone has a story about something that happened, and after that, their lives were different. There’s plenty of books, TV shows and movies about these kinds of situations, from The Walking Dead to Jericho and of course the Mad Max movies. What happened? Sometimes the show’s story line tells us and sometimes they don’t. Not knowing is half the fun, and maybe that’s what keeps us watching. Oddly enough, at the same time a new survey from Pew says that fewer and fewer Americans identify with the Christian Faith, provoking an honest personal observation about religion, religious people and the movie ‘Left Behind’, with Nicholas Cage. What role does religion play in our lives? After 9/11, people were more likely to go to church and identify with a faith. As the old saying goes, there’s no atheists in Fox Holes. Or are there? One of the topics of the Bob Davis Podcasts is often technology, disruption because of technology, and the impact it has on the way we work. This has been a topic of discussion on these podcasts since almost the start. Suddenly a lot is being written about autonomous machines, robotics, 3D printing, and automation in industries that have never been automated before. Now, we’re starting to see the first impact of truly autonomous machines in retail, fast food and semi skilled labor and a lot is being written about the impact. Sometimes the writer tries to persuade the reader that it must be stopped, other times writers appear to be trying to predict a jobless future because of these machines. What will happen and how do we get ready for it. A lot of things to think about in this unusual, candid and off beat midweek update. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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