Category: business

Dash Cam

Not terribly long ago I was headed to lunch. Pulling into the parking lot I was met by a lady screaming out of the parking lot in “hot pursuit!” She was flying out of the middle of the entrance to the parking lot!

The driver was a Dallas Cop who had setup her “speed trap” in the parking lot of a busy restaurant in Addison Texas. Evidently someone went a couple miles over the limit and she was going to stop them and protect us all from someone going 40 in a 35!

Tracy Jones, K. Beth Burnside, Mia Shagena, Sarah Ramsey, Melissa Person

Had I not stabbed on the brakes, we would have had a head on.

You see, when you leave a parking lot headed for a main road there is this “stop sign” either painted on the road or standing there or assumed. Even if they don’t have one, you should stop and look both ways before screaming out of the parking lot! The drivers license manual even tells you to stop, use your turn signal and then proceed when clear. No where does it say if “you are a cop it is OK to go blasting out of a parking lot without looking, stopping, using a turn signal etc! Stop hiding in parking lots! Had she not been blasting out of the parking lot she would have most likely been to the right of the entrance and we could have avoided one another. She was in HOT PURSUIT!

The wreck was narrowly avoided but, had we collided who would have been at fault? Let me re-phrase that, who would have been blamed?! Do I trust the police??? I would rather not have to. We have seen too many times where if there is a possible way to cover your ass, these guys are good at it!

She would have hit me left front. I was traveling between 5 and 10 mph, no telling what she was doing, as she was flying!

Without dash cam footage, we would have to depend upon forensics and “he said she said” and she is a cop. Had there been a wreck we would have had to call the “cops.” Do you think for a minute that they would have sided with me? Even with the overwhelming preponderance of forensic evidence that would have been there, I can hardly think that it would have ended well for me. Maybe I am jaded but I have been around a long time, you don’t screw with cops! They are innocent until proven guilty, and you are guilty until proven innocent; which with cops, your evidence may never see the light of day. Just saying….

Would she have said, “Oh, I screwed up” and accepted the blame, or would she have somehow blamed me.

She has more to lose than I do. Her job could be in jeopardy where, I would have simply had a wreck on my record.

Dash Cameras take the mist out of mystery.

Dash cameras in theory are supposed to record in 3 minute increments, a loop of events.

When the car is running the camera is running and not only does it get video but, it also serves as a “cockpit recorder.” That is right, your voice or radio are recorded for posterity. If there is no event within that three minute window, that section of “tape” goes into the queue to be recorded over.

If there is an event, there is a “g” sensor in the camera that acts as a mechanism to flag that section of tape(1) as nonvolatile or protected thus, ignored in the subsequent record process. You can also activate that process by pushing a button telling the machine to save the last 3 minutes of tape.

Problems

The button to control that function needs to be easily pushed as we don’t want to cause an accident by saving the tape sequence that is important. “Someone does something incredibly stupid and you want to upload it to YouTube!”
Two cameras that I have tested thus far put out copious amounts of RF that “swamp” the GPS as well as the Satellite radio.
The camera plugs into the cigarette lighter socket or 12v power source and starts shortly after voltage is applied. Problem, those outlets are “hot: when the key is off so there needs to be another form of activation. Not all cars are like this but mine is.

If I were designing the perfect dash camera, I would tie it to GPS and have it actually encode the coordinates into the data stream. Along with the coordinates, I would encode speed. I would make the camera function dependent upon movement either of the vehicle and I would look for movement within the cabin. If someone gets into the car, the camera starts recording.

I would include a rear facing camera as not all accidents happen from the front of the car.

I would tie the camera into the Automobiles security system so if the shock sensor or other sensor is activated, it starts recording.

If it were a commercial vehicle I would tie it onto the on board computer to let me know if the lights were on, were the brakes hit, was the turn signal activated, What was the RPM of the engine, was it going up or down, what was the speed of the vehicle?

I would also offer a version of the camera that incorporated cellular technology that actually sent a data stream up to the cloud for later retrieval. I would do this on all commercial vehicles so at any point in time the person responsible for them could go to a web site and see were their vehicle is, what it is doing and possible retrieve other information like the status of the vehicle.

The creator of such a camera could offer “cloud storage” as part of a complete package, thus not simply selling a device, but a service with a constant revenue stream that goes into perpetuity.

The RFI issues need to be resolved as we have come to rely on GPS as an everyday thing, much like road signs.

Shielding the camera to contain the RFI needs to be looked at, in the factory.

What is generating RFI in the GHZ range? Is it the on-board processor? Can it be shielded?

This is not rocket science, it is simply best practice engineering.

-Best

(1) Tape is simply used here as vernacular that the public would easily understand. There is in fact no more tape, as everything is recorded digitally. The storage in most cameras are some form of memory card.

The Future

There are many salient words of wisdom that I could pass on to people that some might actually remember.

In many of my writings, I do just that.

I think that one of the most germane “tips” that I could offer today is for folks to learn history.

History is cyclical.

The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire… Why? What happened?
The rise of the Third Reich. How did it happen? What were the mechanism that took place during it, what happened during it and who took the fall? What changed as a result of it?
The Weimar republic, what happened and how did it happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic

I was in an office today talking with some folks and one person mentioned that she had just lost her job and found one where I was. She was now part time but “thank god she got Obama Care!”

She went on to say that it was an HMO through Blue Cross. She could not keep her doctor and had to use their doctors but her prescriptions were free, and her out of pocket was only $30.

My thoughts wondered to Greece as she was lamenting about not being able to keep her doctor, and how she felt that this doctor was not as good as hers. But since it was basically free to her, she guessed that it was ok.

So what will the future look like?

When this monstrosity of a bill was passed that nobody in congress even read, business reacted by changing their employment practices. Whatever the delimiter is between full time and part time, that is the max hours that they hire someone for. If that means hiring twice as many folks keeping them all part time vs full time; thus dumping them all onto the health care exchange (taxpayer funded) so be it.

This is why many companies have agreed to raise minimum wage. They don’t have to pay for health care or other benefits so they can afford to pay a little higher salary and they look like the good guys!

The employment numbers now “artificially” look good but, these are part time positions. Some companies hire through agencies allowing them to bear the burden of insurance and regulations. They become contract positions much like “Kelly Girl.”

Other companies hire folks for just enough hours that the part time minimum wage employee, can stay on government assistance, get a stipend from the company while still qualifying for government assistance. (TAX Dollars)

Now we have a huge percentage of the population at or under the poverty level, and each political party simply has to blame the other to create a voting base for themselves. The narrative is that it is the other sides fault. (It is both sides fault BTW.)

Those millions of dollars that each candidate raises is for the express purpose of manipulating you. Each and every one of them is lilly white and all of the others are bad. You know, throw grandma off the cliff bad! Its all Bullshit smoke and mirrors.

With the massive amounts of data collected, on you, they know where to scientifically play smear campaigns, and on which air time slots, during which programs to place them. for maximum effectiveness.

Swing states will be the target and Ohio will be one of the largest along with Florida!

The more that the government intervenes with its “social justice,” the more the people who bust their ass to work to get ahead, get screwed.

Families are simply too busy being the middle class to “learn history.” I don’t know what college teaches today, but obviously not history!

Just what is your fair share of what someone else worked for?

There should be one price for goods and services and that is simply not the case. If you are working, making good money, you pay much more than the person who is on welfare. As the matter of fact, the person who stays home all day may not pay anything for the same goods and services that you pay through the nose for.

That is socialism.

The progressive agenda that Greece is now the poster child for and why it does not work. Progressives buy votes with the middle class’s money.

The Greeks are so selfish or so misinformed that they want to continue to get free stuff, and allow, nay demand that the EU keep funding them. They don’t know how to fish. They have been on the government tit so long, that they are lost and somehow feel entitled to be provided for, much like your errant teenager who still lives at home after college because playing video games and sleeping half the day is much easier than getting out of bed and securing employment. Some parents enable them which is crippling them even worse!

This president is not the first to bring this country towards socialism, but he has pushed it much farther along than anyone before him by printing money and pushing social justice.

Greece is in trouble and China is now suffering from their economic policies. What we are seeing in the news today could be the beginning of the “crash” that I have been talking about since 2012.

I hope that I am wrong. This house of cards could topple and I am not sure what will happen if and when it does.

I suspect that some sort of financial reset may occur. What will your retirement portfolio look like?

I would keep my eyes on what the richest people in the world are doing with their resources.

With Millions of folks crossing our southern border; most if not all adding to the already “entitled” section of our population, disaster is not too far away.

Will it be a repeat of the 20’s.

http://www.history.com/topics/1929-stock-market-crash

The path that we are currently on is fraught with dangers. Those who manipulate the masses, are playing Jinga with the economies of most of the world’s super-powers, knowing full well that printing money is not the answer, but yet they are all doing it.

Where do the current billionaire’s invest their money, what is in their safe?

Know history…

Most of history is not worth repeating.

By the way, entitled is a misnomer in the way it is used today. To get entitlements, that means to get something that you are entitled to! That means that you did something to earn it! So, I ask again….Just what is your fair share of what someone else worked for?

-Best

Inventions, should we even try?

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. Having been down that road so many times in my life, I would have to say that is one of the truest statements ever said.

The problem with this is that the system is rigged against you (the inventor.)

Back during the days of VCR’s I was one of those that went to school to learn how they worked, and how to repair them. Back in the day they were $1,200 for the cheapest, and it went up from there.

End of tape sensors back in the early day were accomplished with visible light. Tape makers would have some clear leader spliced on to the tape so when light was visible the machine would know to stop, “whatever function it was doing.”

Later in the years infrared light was used instead of visible, which made troubleshooting much more difficult. As the light was 950nm instead of the 850nm currently used in night vision cameras, there was not even the slight red glow.

950nm led — As seen through a CCD camera sensitive to 950nm light

m2CXJ_tx1KhmWQwO-Sgcv5w — 850nm infrared LED visible glow to naked eye

Infrared light as soon through camera with no IR CUT function

I devised a portable infrared detector. When the test button was pushed with the sensor in the path of the infrared light a green LED would illuminate thus telling me that the emitter was not the issue. If no light was visible a red LED would illuminate thus telling me to check the voltages on the emitter “which was a job” and if present, replace the emitter, which was also a job as it was soldered in unlike the bulb which was plugged in.

This was also handy for testing remote controls as they too were using, and still do use 950nm infrared LED’s so you would get a pulsing green LED if the batteries and or remote was functioning.

In short, this was the “cat’s ass” and it was my invention.

So, now that it was built I needed to downsize it into a more portable device, like a pen.

I started the process of downsizing the electronics and was trying to figure out how to get a “housing” created for it when a family member came to visit who is “was” handy and knew certain things that I did not.

Long story short I called it the B.I.R.D. Battery operated Infrared Detector.

Before my “family member came for a visit” I wrote a letter to Sencor, which was a test instrument maker in the day. I did not divulge anything of my idea other than I had one and a working prototype that I would like to discuss with them.

The response went something like this:

Dear Mr. Taylor,

I work in the mail room and it is my job to look for and intercept letters like this and send them back to the sender.

We hire the brightest and best here at Sencor and therefor do not need input from the public as we have the best. If it is a new device that is needed, our engineers will think of it and create it and we will market it. If we don’t create it, it is not needed. “Damn what hubris!”

Thank you for your time, good day!

It was about this time my “family member came” and I shared my frustration with him. He was very interested and sympathetic. Looked over my invention as well as the schematics etc. and told me he knew some folks and would get back with me.

Of course you know the rest of the story without me typing it but….

Two months to the date of his visit in the back of one of my electronic magazines that I took, was the BIRD complete in a pen enclosure with my wording verbatim!

This family member came into copious amounts of money, and never spoke to me about the invention. Because I could not prove what happened, I did nothing but learned, never share any more inventions with even family as when money is concerned; blood means nothing.

Some of my ideas over the years were too grandiose for me to create a prototype of, and some are as simple as the following:

I am a technician by trade, but an engineer at heart. While working at many companies in my life, I have re-engineered their inventions. Many of those modifications have been incorporated into their products making them better. Working for them however; you get your paycheck, and maybe a pat on the back, and maybe a $200 American Express Check thank you check! Don’t spend it all at one place….

Dyson Vacuums’ is another company that I contacted because their product lacks in certain design areas, and I really thought that they could benefit from my ideas. I am a nice guy, had they treated me with any respect I might have given them the damned ideas.

I wrote them a letter regarding some ideas I had for their product and not unlike the letter from Sencor, they too were rather insulting with their response. They too hire the brightest and best and they certainly don’t need the input from someone who actually bought one and uses it! Yes, they were about that truculent.

While I will not give the ideas for free, if at all, I would tell them that they should have their engineers and or technicians actually use their vacuums, and pay attention to all of the ways that it works. I don’t mean throw some dust on the floor and suck it up, they all do that, actually take the damned thing home and use it! I think I know the secret to why their product “sucks so well,” It starts with management…

The simple fact is that I have several ideas which some I can create myself, and some like the BIRD, I need others to add to the collective, to make it the best.

The problems with inventing are many and they start with “protecting your idea.” You can see that if a family member that you trust will screw you and then pretend that they don’t know you when the money comes in, what would others do?

A couple of years ago I wrote Apple because they needed to re-design their app so one could re-design the app layout on your phone through the Itunes app on your computer. I wrote them a nice long letter telling them what I needed, why, how it would benefit their customers and ask them to do it. Three months to the date it was done. Do you think I even got a thank you from them? Some employee at apple I am certain read the letter and said, wow, what a great idea and submitted it from him or herself.

I needed it done so it was the most expedient way to get it done. I have written them since on this blog with ideas because let’s face it, they hire the brightest and best and don’t need you or I telling them anything….. Did I mention that I actually met Steve Jobs years ago when I was working on NEXT computers, I wonder if he was British at heart?

Now, let’s revisit the BIRD and let’s say, I wanted to protect the idea.

You go downtown wherever and find a patent attorney, have them sign a non-disclosure so you can talk with him or her and then basically tell them what you are up to.

They either listen intently or they pretend to listen waiting to see if you can fork over a check to retain them. Back when I first checked on this for an idea I had for a security device for all of the world’s airports and government buildings, this is the way it went down.

“I will need a check for $10,000 to start the process.” For any country that you want it protected in other than the US; that is another $3,000. For arguments sake that is 196 countries. So for another $588,000 we stand a pretty good chance of protecting your idea but, we have to catch them stealing your idea and then we have to take them to court and with luck before they saturate the place with a knock off of your idea, maybe we can get the courts to get an injunction and stop them from creating any more widgets (in that country) while they drag it through the courts for years all the while selling the widgets that they have already created or are having created in other countries that you have not caught them doing so yet. You might be able to do your own patent search these days but I would suspect that the attorney will have to do it officially via some flunky intern and charge you as if they personally did it.

Now, maybe you have some appreciation why I have been known to give ideas away, just to get the damned thing out there as the world needs it. I have actually tweeted ideas to the whole Effing world just to get the thing done!

Much like the artist that creates a masterpiece does not get the accolades or the dollars that it is worth, I think the same is true of the inventors. Someone somewhere at some time in the future may benefit from it, but not you, so the question that has to be asked, why?

Farnsworth was screwed by RCA on the Television / video camera and while he had an ok life, RCA got the patent and profited through licensing such inventions. Tesla was a genius but had no business acumen; he too was screwed by the greedy bastards of the world including Edison, and died poor and somewhat nuts!

Philo Farnsworth — Farnsworth the guy who invented TV

TeslaPortrait — This out of the box thinker is a personal hero of mine…

I hesitate to even mention the vultures that want you to buy their easy patent guide. The simple facts are that a lot of inventions go nowhere. Some might end up on those late night commercials with “but wait” as the tag line but, some people just need to be told the truth. The folks that will take your money to “help you” are in business to “take your money.” Much like the companies that are in business for those that want to write a book. No publisher will touch them “because they suck, or are too much of a risk, or an unknown,” so people spend thousands to self-publish! Some actually promote their books through enough different outlets to break even; but not really. They have failed to include their time and efforts into selling the 500 copies that they had to buy in the first place. The simple facts are inventors, artist and authors are seldom objective when it comes to their project. Much like a mother with the ugliest hair covered baby you ever saw.. She will think how great the baby looks, and the husband and family will cringe and say oh yes, that is the best looking one around. (PS one of the few times it is OK to lie, not only OK but advised! another is “does this dress make me look fat!? Oh Hell No! )

Am I telling you all this to quash your dreams? Hell no! I am telling you this to give you the reader, a dose of reality,the naked truth!

Guess what, this is at no charge!

If you truly want to write there are some great books at Barns and Nobles that walk you through the process. Bottom line, start with short stories and submit them to magazines. After you get paid your $500 per story, and get published a dozen times or so; on your cover page of your manuscript you simply say published in …….

If you get that far by all means purchase the book and follow all of the guidelines including how the manuscript should look. Different publishers have different ideas of how the manuscript should look and how it should be submitted so do your research and edit edit edit…..

Does that guarantee you will get published, shit no. What it does; if the person who opens your manuscript sees “published in and the format looks acceptable…. they might read more than the cover page. Much like writing a good resume or CV, you got about 15 seconds to grab their attention and that includes the time it takes to get it out of the envelope!

-Best

www.timedok.com

www.guard-protect.com

I want a good deal! #Rapidprint #Widmer

I want a good deal! #Rapidprint #Widmer

WWW.TimeDok.Com

How many time have you yourself searched and searched online to find the best deal?

We are all guilty of looking for the best deal and if we can save a few dollars, we are all for it. How could you not be?

The truth of the matter is, the best deal is not always the best deal.

I submit to you “Radio Shack.”

Why has Radio Shack become the latest victim to go by the wayside?

What is its competition?

As far as small components are involved they have little competition, most probably a small percentage of folks order direct from China however there are very few specialty electronic stores who specialize in small electronic components.

Fry’s electronics being one of the largest.

Small hand held or other consumer grade electronics would also be Fry’s, Best Buy, and to some extent Wall-mart to name a few.

Cell Phones have way too much competition including the carriers themselves.

Radio Shack indeed has survived past its time with all of the competition and one has to wonder how much of it actually comes from China direct.

On-line sources such as Amazon and eBay are probably responsible for more than just a few dollars going away from the retail giants here in the states and I would imagine that we will soon see legislation introduced by someone in the pocket of the large retail chains to levy heavy taxes on imports from China by way of eBay and other online partners.

While the “Walmart Effect” took out the mom and pop shops all across America other big box stores will put the nail in the coffin of the smaller stores who try and sell consumer electronics.

As a business Owner; I sell and service a device that is made lock stock and barrel here in the USA. Because these two companies that I represent have not farmed their stuff out overseas the prices are higher than what you would expect. The interesting thing though is that these devices last for over 10 years and even with abuse can usually be resurrected and sent back into to the office for another 10 years.

productline1ad — Full Rapidprint line of file mark machines.

t3led-127x153 — Widmer T-LED 3 Time Stamp File Mark machine

Widmer Check Signing Machine 300 checks in about a minute.

One interesting aspect of this is there are Internet companies that sell a plethora of equipment including my two lines and they depend upon volume to make ends meet. Doing so, they sell with little markup and make it tough on the little guys to compete as we don’t do volume. Basically what WalMart does.

While my prices are competitive, I am not the cheapest. I provide something that most internet companies do not however, I provide service. That is service after the sale!

http://www.timedok.com/gallery.html

Many companies find me after they have had an unpleasant experience with one of my competitors and I earn their business as well. While I may not have made the original sale I get their subsequent business because I stepped up and actually lost money doing a warrantee repair for their customer!

bad_wiring-405x294 — Electrical tape has no place in these machines.

My point to all of this is simply don’t look for the cheapest, look for the best.

I build relationships with all of my clients and work hard to keep them. I must however turn a profit to stay in business.

There are times I feel like one of the last American business hold outs as I have managed to stay in business while many of my competitors are going or have gone by the wayside.

The technology involved is over 30 years old. Very few know how to repair these things as there are so many variables that must be taken into account when they are disassembled and re-assembled after the cleaning process that one missed step will cause the machine to not perform accurately.

There are no shortcuts. They might use a Band-Aid of sorts, but it is a shortcut and will not last.

There is an air-conditioning advertisement on the radio here in North Texas. They de-bunk the outrageous prices the other guys offer and then tell you to call the other guy first, check out their prices and then call them. Honesty above reproach.

I don’t know if that commercial is gaining traction, but it caught my attention as that is the way I do business.

Do business with the mom and pop companies, if you want them to stick around. Small towns all across America have vacant store fronts because of retail giants and I would submit, online direct from China.

www.TimeDok.com

Dok at TimeDok.com