Candid Comment - Titanic Claims 5 More Lives

Hours after the submersible Titan descended to explore the wreck of the Titanic, the ship lost contact with the surface, and a frantic search began. Yesterday the search effort came to a stretching halt at a debris site, and it became clear that the Titan had a structural failure that instantly killed its five passengers. First, condolences are to be extended to the families of the deceased crew. This is a tragic end to what should have been an event of a lifetime for the men who ventured to the site of the Titanic wreck. Instead, it will be remembered as a mission that ended with deadly speed in what appears to be a sudden failure of the hull.

Reports suggest that this was more than just a lets go down and look at the Titanic trip. The crew went down to the site to run experiments and explore the wreck, as has been done in the past. However, in this case, something went very wrong. The team never actually got to the wreck of the Titanic.

So what happens now? An investigation of the accident would be in order here. There have been suggestions of design flaws and other instances of lost communication with the surface. James Cameron, a filmmaker and deep sea diver himself, has commented on the tragedy. In his summation, he points out that since the 60s, there has not been an accident like this and that the design of the Titan may be to blame. Actor William Shatner flew to space. He knew the risks and also had an expectation of what it would be like in space. It was not what he expected.

When I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia. And I was leaving her.

Everything I had thought was wrong. Everything I had expected to see was wrong. - William Shatner.

Diving into the depths has the same effect. It's dark, cold, and dangerous. Just like rockets, the ships that go beneath the waters need to be durable, and the materials used to build them need to be tested for safety not just at one time but regularly to ensure that there are no hidden faults. Aircraft, for example, are routinely inspected for structural integrity, and maintenance is a regular occurrence. There is a gold certification standard in the submersible community, and when followed, the procedures are used to ensure safe and sound work. Accidents can happen even with tests and certifications, but, in this case, the testing may have been less than robust, and the Titan may not have been certified to dive as deep as it did.  

There is an old expression. Curiosity killed the cat. But resurrection brought it back. It means that being curious can be dangerous, and taking a risk unnecessarily is not good. A good result is enough satisfaction to take the risk or repeated risks. 

Exploring a graveyard, which is what the Titanic is, is risky. While there may be some value in the venture, going to the wreck of the Titanic should be rare, for scientific research only and done using state-of-the-art equipment. In general, the resting place of some 1500 people should be left alone untouched and visited, as noted above, very rarely and only by a select few and family of those who died aboard her. Nature
, in this case, water has sent a message. That message is, leave us alone. That is what we should do with the Titanic.

 

Candid Comment - Bill 96 Not The Way To Encourage French Usage

Most politicians are bright people. And generally, they are well intended. This said, there are a lot of really foolish men and women in office who do and say very dumb things while in office.

Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec, thinks it is a good idea to halt the decline of French in Quebec by using the levers of power to dictate what language people can communicate in with government agencies at all levels. Bill 96 is supposed to support and strengthen Bill 101. The laws are intended to ensure the French language remains strong and is used over all other languages in Quebec.  

The body that is tasked with this is the OQLF, sometimes referred to as the language police. They are generally not welcomed by businesses. In fact, the inspectors are widely seen as rude and unprofessional.  Though to be fair, it is probably not the case with all of them.  The agency gets thousands of complaints yearly from people, mostly about how they are served or not served in French.  The critical question is this.  Is French on the decline in Canada and Quebec? The answer is actually YES.  Recent reports in the media, like Global News, point to a recent report by Census Canada that showed a drop in the use of French to 19.2%, down from 20% in 2018.  Many factors are contributing to the decline, including immigration.  To see the full report, visit Census Canada. Ok, sow French is on the decline, and so is English in Canada.  It can be said that English should and most likely will not die in Canada, whereas French could.  That is why Quebec has adopted the charter of the French Language, which came into force in 1977 and is now being bolstered with Bill 96, An Act Respecting French as the Official and Common Language of Quebec.  The problem is what it allows public servants and municipal employees to do: flat-out deny service in English.  Except in health care and public safety, but even in these areas, it is possible to be refused service.  And it is already happening.  The Montreal Gazette reports even those allowed service have been denied service. 

There are Four Groups allowed to receive service in English in Quebec.

• People who only corresponded with the municipal administration in English prior to May 13, 2021.
• People who have been declared eligible for English language schooling.
• Indigenous communities and Inuit.
• Immigrants for the first six months after they arrive and people who live outside Quebec.

What a ridiculous thing to do.  Essentially allowing people paid by taxpayer dollars to deny service based on language.  It's offensive, racist, and unsafe.  In 2007 Robert Dziekański was tasered to death by members of the RCMP, part of the issue was that he did not know English, and no one thought or did such a lousy job trying to find someone who spoke Polish to avoid the incident.  There were other factors, but the core reason was communication or the lack of it.  This kind of thing could happen in Quebec.  Other errors could become pronounced in hospitals and nursing homes because of language barriers.  A person from another part of the world or Canada could get lost or taken advantage of due to not knowing the language.  English is a universal language. Even in countries like France, it is spoken.  This said, learning French or at least having an app like Google Translate or Reverso may help. The best way to learn is to learn the language through a course. The Government of Quebec has a site that you can use to find a good course.  It would also be a good idea for the servants of the people in Quebec to speak English.  

There is a right and wrong way to encourage the use of a language; Quebec's approach needs to be revised. Even the Parti Quebecois, an ardent proponent of Quebec sovereignty and advocate for protecting the French language, think it a bad bill. Pascal Bérubé, with the Parti Québécois, whose MNAs voted against Bill 96, was quoted saying, "The measures are not essential because they don't make any difference. It doesn't create the desire to live in or even learn French." "It doesn't promote French." "It gives the impression of doing something, but we are not in favor of this."

Promoting and protecting the French language is one thing. Denying citizens who pay taxes service in another language when you can is another.  And it needs to be said Quebec is a province, and Canada is a bilingual country.  That said, provinces like Ontario and Manitoba may want to consider doing what New Brunswick has done by making it official. They are the only true bilingual province in Canada.

Mr. Bérubé has it right; no one favors this except the CAQ.  And in a culture that is supposed to be guided by respect and solidarity, this nonsense only damages the reputation of Quebec's francophones.  I learned that the French pride themselves on being respectful. Allowing officials to be rude and deny service based on language is repugnant, no matter what language they speak or are supposed to officially speak.

Canid Comment - They Keep Going and Going - Articles You Love That Go Way Back

 

Wow, look at this the blog still going strong in 2023.  That is so nice and awesome to see.  Some people tend to go meh about blogs, but let's stop and take a look here for a moment and consider that this blog has been around since 2009, though I generally state 2010 as the year the blog was created.  2009 was a short year for the blog.  Since that time, 129 posts have been added since the start date.  Averaged out over 13 years, that is 10 posts per year or 1 per month, which is not exactly accurate.  In 2018 only one post was added, the lowest number ever, and in 2022 49 were.  The consistency does need a little work.  

Much of that has to do with finding people to interview or things to talk about here on the blog, and there have been years where life events altered things so much that I just could not add content here.  So the fact that Candid Conversations has done so well is impressive to me. And you, the reader, are a large part of that success.  The data shows that the blog has 25K total unique visits, according to stat counter.  Blogger combines unique visits with pages viewed up to 51K.  618 over the period that is how many people returned to read this blog.  So which posts have the most significant number of all-time visits since the creation of the blog?  Ah ha, well, I have the list right here.  Let's dive in.

1. The interview with the most views is about Sports Betting with Robert Ferringo.  The post date is April 9, 2012.  For 13 years, this interview has been getting read. In the last year alone, 119 views, according to Blogger.  The links are still working, so you can still visit the site. As for Robert, I do not know if he is still with the firm, but I may reach out and ask him back for another interview.  Note that the information in the post may be somewhat dated, but much of the advice is good.  Remember that this post is not an endorsement of the site or gambling.  

2. Becca Kidwell joined me in a Candid Conversation in November 2015.  The interview had to do with Twelfth Night by Shakespeare.  The hook, it was being done at the time in a jazz style.  I thought this was interesting, so I caught up with Becca and did this interview.  It's still a good read, with 69 views for the last 12 months.  Though the last time it was read was in Feb of this year.  Yes, all the links still work.  This artist is a shoe in for another interview request as they are still active today.

3. Look at this interview. Wow, I am still seeing reads on it.  Published in August 2015.  Mae West was the subject of the conversation.  LindaAnn Loschiavo, the playwright, spoke with me about her, what she did, and how her legacy is remembered.  I think every young man of the day and, who knows, maybe some of today's generation may find this story and Mae West interesting in more ways than one.  It's interesting to see that this post still has people reading it.  Ah, but she got beat out by one view.  Sorry, LindaAnn.  By the way, there is a second posted interview with LindaAnn.  Check it out as well as the main, and yes, I will see about a 3rd interview with her.

4. The next post on the list is the 1 Million Pixels Project.  Sorry to say, but this post has links that are no longer active, but the story behind selling pixels for a dollar was interesting at the time.  I never bought one.  The post date for this interview is March 13, 2012.

5. The number of views drops significantly from her on.  The threshold for this list is 10 or more views in a year, and with 20 views is an interview with a flea circus ringmaster.  Walt Noon, an inventor, amongst other things, runs flea circuses. I thought that was odd, but I appreciated his work after the interview.  October 1st, 2011, is the date this post was added to the blog.  Another posting with 20 views is also one of my favorites of all time.  Chris Roberts discussed self-defense techniques with me.  I am going to reach out to him again because I think he is interesting, and also, with the way the pandemic affected people, his course may be one of the most important ones you can take.  The posting date is June 8, 2012 

6. This is a bizarre and maybe creepy entry, posted in 2011 the interview got very few views.  During the height of the pandemic that changed.  Robert Barrows interview about video grave markers garnered 1.4K views.  This post got 13 views this going 12 months back.  And yes his site that has the video grave marker is still there.  I am hearing the Twilight Theme as I write LOL.

It goes without saying that there continues to be a lot of engagement here on the site.  Some other real cool interviews here include.  Peter Anthony Holder, discussing his show the Stuph File, Lucas Furst and his interview about the Sushi Popper and Christopher Roberts in his first interview about a program to help students at Troy University exercise while they study.

Take a look at these posts and let me know what you think of them.  Thanks for continuing the journey with me.  The blog is doing great and I am looking forward to more interesting conversations with people via a written and now my new Zoomed in feature on YouTube.  Thanks for reading and viewing the videos.  See you in the next one.

C. T.

Candid Comment - Freelancing

Freelancing, ever done it? I do, or at least I try to do it. Freelancing is a great way to learn how to run a small business. It's also a good model for deciding what you want to do in your business or a particular line of work. However, you should not be fooled into thinking that the freelancing world is a super-way to earn fast cash. Competition is stiff, and getting a good paying customer long or short-term is very challenging. Frankly speaking, I have only ever had one customer that did repeat business with me. That was back in 2011ish.  

You should know that when you dive into this world, you are driving into a fish tank, not an ocean of sellers and buyers.   Everyone is looking for each other. One group looking for the cheapest deal, and the other trying to get as many orders as possible. Some are really great at doing this work, others not so much. And you have to be aware that there are others out there looking to make a fast buck with fake accounts and jobs. So it pays to keep your focus and educate yourself on what the benefits and risks are when it comes to working as a freelancer. So what are the benefits and risks? Let's take a look.

1. You work at your own pace. You are in charge, and the hours you set can be fixed or flexible. Because you can decide when you work, you can have a more balanced life.

2. While you can set your hours to a fixed time, a lot of the work comes from people in different parts of the world, and that means you may need to meet deadlines outside of your regular schedule.  

3. You can charge what you want for the services you offer.  The flip side or con is that if you set too high, no one will look at your offerings; too low, and you won't make a decent amount of money.  

4. You can choose who you do business with, which is excellent.  You may find someone that you work really well with.  This said you want to ensure you do not get too cozy with your client.  Familiarity can breed contempt; some customers are dictatorial and may make demands or try running your business via remote control. In short, handle the business. Do not let the business handle you. You must always be in control of what you are doing while still providing service and building a solid relationship for your personal brand.  

Besides these things, you need to be aware of tax rules, know that you have to pay for your own expenses, and if you take time off, you don't make money. You may have to find a regular full or part-time job to supplement your freelancing work. You may have to do work that provides you with a continuous income in an automated fashion.  A webstore or YouTube channel can help, but you really have to research that too. The bottom line is that you must do some leg work before diving into freelancing.  Research, research, research.  It's all about knowing what people want, where to find the people, and how to manage time and the work.  

I hope you found this article interesting. Please feel free to comment and share this article.  I hope you have a successful run if you decide to try freelancing.  It is a lot of work.  But it is also fascinating and fun to do.  You can learn new skills and earn money at the same time and get a feel for what it is like to run a business.  See you in the next article.

C. T.

Candid Conversations - 1 Blogger + 1 Person Being Interviewed = A conversation About Cool Math Race Games With Vinod Ravisankar

Math was not my strongest subject in school. Hence the reason I became a call center rep by day blogger and YouTuber by night. Many kids struggle to learn math and as the equations get more complex the tougher it is to solve them especially if you have not had a good base to work off of. Simple math adding, subtracting, division and multiplication form the root base for all math and kids now have a new tool to help them gain the important base for all math. Cool Math Race Games for Kids developed by VionixStudio is a new and fun way for kids to learn math while playing a racing game.

I reached out to Vinod Ravisankar at VionixStudio to find out more about the game and how it works and he’s joining in via a Candid Conversations interview across email. Thanks for taking the time out Vinod.

Vinod R.: Thank you for taking the time to interview me.

Cliff T.: I have to admit my math is OK but I did struggle with the basics. I could have used this game when I was a kid. Vinod, how did this game come to be in the first place?

Vinod R.: The game was made as a tutorial to learn about Car controller physics in game development. Since it turned out to be very kid-friendly, I decided to publish the game as a math-learning game.

Cliff T.: How does the player interact with the game? What is the goal?

Vinod R.: The game aims at teaching the basics of math operators to kids and provides a way for them to test their skills using the race. It also has a multiplayer option to compete against your friend.

Cliff T.: So Vinod, I would assume that this game is for a particular age group mainly kids in grades 1 to 5 would I be correct in that assumption?

Vinod R.: The initial version was launched without any difficulty setting in mind. Based on player feedback, the version now available at Google Play store has two difficulty settings. One controls the speed at which you need to solve the problems and the other controls the complexity of the question. The difficulty at the highest can be hard even for adults.

Cliff T.: Looking at the graphics of the game I noticed a simple design, from what I can gather here the idea is to focus on the math, not the racing or the cars doing the racing, or is it more or less an equal balance between the two?

Vinod R.: The idea was to hit the balance between the two so that Kids both enjoy the game and learn math in the process.

Cliff T.: Is VinonixStudio planning other games like this one?

Vinod R.: Not in the near future. But we plan to update this game based on user feedback.

Cliff T.: Speaking of VionixStudio. Vinod, can you tell me what the company does?

Vinod R.:VionixStudio is a game development help site. We provide tools and tutorials required for new game developers to get started. We publish games sometimes for fun, but teaching game developers is the main purpose of VionixStudio. We are currently focused on the Unity game engine but we plan to expand to other game engines too.

Cliff T.: How did you get started doing this kind of work?

Vinod R.: I started game development as a hobby and found that there is no proper path for new game developers to follow. This led to the creation of VionixStudio. VionixStudio guides new developers in a step-by-step process to learn game development.

Cliff T.: Have you tested the game out with your kids? And, overall what has been the response to the game?

Vinod R.: Yes. The game was initially tested with local kids and was received well. We also took the help of the Educational App Store to test the game using teachers and we made lots of changes based on their feedback. You can read the review by EAS here https://www.educationalappstore.com/app/math-race-1

Cliff T.: What is the exciting part of all this for you?

Vinod R.: The best part is when I see a kid with zero interest in math trying to solve the math problem to win the race. I feel like this game can make many kids interested in Math.

Cliff T.: And from what I can see this game is found on Google Play, any plans for the IOS platform?

Vinod R.: Depending on the games performance in Google Play store, we might publish the game on IOS too.

Cliff T.: If anyone wants to develop their own game through VionixStudio what do they need to do?

Vinod R.: They can just go to VionixStudio.com and start following the steps on the homepage. If you are someone with basic knowledge of how games are made, then you can go to the Learn Unity page and start following the tutorials.

Cliff T.: Excellent Viond, thank you so much for taking the time to do a Candid Conversations interview. It’s been fun learning about Cool Math Race Games for Kids and VionixStudio.

Vinod R.: It was fun talking to you and thanks for having me on Candid Conversations

Vinod Ravisankar, VionixStudio. Here is where to find them on the web, https://vionixstudio.com to get the game go into the play store and look for Cool Math Racing Games for kids. Vinod wrote to us from New York NY.

Candid Comment - Video Edition - Jimmy Soul If You Wanna Be Happy

First, welcome to the refreshed Candid Conversations blog. I hope you will find it more appealing to view and that you find the content interesting to read and, of course, share.

Today I will link to the YouTube page and feature a Candid Comment about Jimmy Soul and his song. "If You Wanna Be Happy."  

Jimmy Soul recorded the tune in 1963, and it charted, reaching number 1 in May 1963. He had a few more hits, ended his musical career, and joined the U.S. Army. Later in life, he got hooked into the drug culture and was imprisoned in the late 80s for possessing a controlled substance. In 1988 he died of a heart attack, most likely while serving time in jail.

Many people love this song finding it catchy and funny, and this was the song's intent. That said, when you look at the song's wording, it slams marriage and suggests that women who are "ugly" are a better catch because they will just stay at home and tend the house. Whereas a pretty woman is a troublemaker who will cause their husband grief and even ruin him.

I would love feedback here and on the YouTube site.   To read more about Jimmy Soul, you can visit the wiki page. To see the video, head to YouTube via the link below.

Candid Conversations - Zoomed In With Jim Frankenfield - Avalanches

 Every year people fall prey to avalanches while skiing.  Statistically speaking, if a person gets caught in one, they must be found and freed from the snow in approximately 15 minutes, or they will die.  Many, if not most, die from severe trauma.  

Understanding what to look for and what to do in an avalanche is essential.  Jim Frakenfiled is an expert climber and skier, and he's been in 2 avalanches and has escaped injury.  He is the founder of the Avalanche Center hosted on the web at https://www.avalanche-center.org/, and he joined me in a Zoom chat about his book Fatal Avalanches in the US: 2021-22: A Review of the Season's Fatal Avalanches.

Here is the link to the video on YouTube.