One of the interesting parts of my job is that I’m expected to “think ahead”. One of my favorite things to ask myself in this role is, “What could go wrong?” Not surprisingly, my education helps frame this examination–a broad understanding of issues makes it easier for one to understand the actors at play. And of course, even those with strong academic backgrounds in a subject still make stupid mistakes. But one really bad mistake was recently written about in the Washington Post.

Call me crazy on this one, but there are some big corporate names included as victims of this one–doesn’t anybody think about the implications of their actions? Haven’t we all gotten E-mails that have “do not reply” addresses or E-mails where somebody hits “reply all” by mistake? Put them together and you have this! This has got to be one of the best tactical-media-projects-that-should-have-been of all time!

Monocle has a great photo feature in May 2007’s issue about “the brands that make our lives work”. In this particular instance, Monocle examines the Finnish fire department, and looks at what brands are represented when laying out the department’s equipment.

In addition to the obvious infrastructure tie, I think it’s interesting to look at the brands (i.e. companies) that are behind our daily lives. That’s infrastructure itself. Of course, it’s from Europe where they have a broader view of what’s behind the scenes, and they aren’t afraid to bring it out into the open…

(Though you can’t see the brands due to Monocle’s subscription requirement, know it’s mostly Siemens and other European companies. No surprise… but do pick up Monocle if you see it!)

A few weeks ago, Alex and I found a Dyson DC-07 in the trash in Squirrel Hill. We, of course, picked it up–it’s a $400 vacuum! It smelled rather musty, and it was caked with mud in a few places; it was also missing the footplate, the hose on the bottom, and the attachments. But it started–and it sucked. So far, so good, I thought.

I took it completely apart (you need a Torx driver to do so), soaked any plastic pieces I could in vinegar water and wiped the rest with the same. I ordered the two replacement parts for ~$30, and put the thing back together. It ran! Sure enough, the canister fulled with hair and dirt as I moved it around the floor. What do you know? Resurrected from the trash to achieve vacuuming greatness once again…

But one question remained: is the Dyson really better than any other “standard” vacuum? Consumer Reports says “no.” But I wanted to try a simple experiment myself. If I vacuum the floor with my regular vacuum, a Sharp “Twin Power” vacuum, and then vacuum with the “much better” Dyson, will I get a significant amount of additional dirt that the Sharp missed?

The results: not really. The Dyson did pick up an additional amount of hair, but I’m not sure it’s enough to warrant spending $400. Consumer Reports says to buy a Kenmore–it’s the best value for the money, according to them. Frankly, I was appalled at how flimsy the Dyson was. Everything on it is plastic. For $400, I wanted to see at least some cheap metal. On top of that, it has *stickers* on it for various notices/warnings. Stickers? Come on, Dyson. I thought the construction left much to be desired. The only innovation I see on the Dyson is the clear dust bin. It’s surely been imitated by every other manufacturer, and it gives you the thought of, “Wow, that was in my carpet?” Previous vacuums assumed you didn’t want to see the dirt, and hid it in a disposable bag. Props to Dyson for figuring out that a clear dust bin sells millions of vacuums.

Back to the test, look at the pictures for yourself, then look at YouTube and Google for others who debate the matter. If it doesn’t help you buy a better vacuum, at least it’s good for a laugh…

It was a long day yesterday–Alex and I, after going to the safety parade, went to the Delmont Apple and Arts Festival in Delmont, PA. There was cider(!), a tractor pull, apples for sale, crafts and an antique farm equipment show.

One of the most disturbing things we saw at the show was the proliferation of manufactured crafts. Almost all of them had UPC tags that said “Made in China”. Even crafts without the tags were assembled from manufactured pieces. The closest we came to handmade were some wood crafts made on a laser cutter. Not exactly a craft per-se, if you just load the software and watch a machine cut.

The whole thing was a fun time, but it left us wondering: “Doesn’t anybody make anything by hand anymore?”

Yesterday, Alex and I stopped by the “safety parade” in Munhall, PA. What *is* the safety parade, you ask? The safety parade is an event to promote the neighborhood’s block watch program. There were appearances from the Steel Valley Marching Band, a Lutheran after-school ministry group, the police, the EMS and the volunteer fire department. There were roughly 40 people there, and everybody looked like they were having a good time.

Since Munhall is such a small community, local businesses pitched in and donated cups, iced tea, lemonade, goodie bags for the kids and even pizza. Whether the block watch program gains more participants through the parade, I’m not sure, but either way, I think everybody had a good time, and the event can’t hurt in framing the police force as a friend as opposed to a foe in the eyes of residents.