Parenting 101

I'm on my way to work today at a little after 8. If you're not in Calgary, it's cold.
As I was crossing 8th Street at Royal Ave., out of the corner of my eye I spotted a girl, a little girl. I sized her up at my son's age - about 7. I suppose I heard her wimpering first, which is why I turned around.

J: "Are you OK?"
G: "I'm waiting for my bus."
J: "Oh, can I come talk to you? You shouldn't be out here by yourself."

It's 15°C below, windy, not quite light yet, and this little girl (I would soon learn her name was Lionella and that she was in fact 7) was waiting for a bus to school (French school - her petit accent gave it away).

J: "I don't think your bus is going to come."
L: "Are you a stranger?"
J: "Yes, but I'm a 'good' stranger. I'd like to help you. Do you know your phone number?"
So, I call her Mom - no answer.
J: "Do you live close to here and is anyone home?"
L: "Yes, I just go this way, and then that way..."
J: "Lionella, I'm going to take you home safe."
L: "But I'll miss my dicte!" (that's a spelling test for those reading along in English).

So, I hold onto her elbow as we cross a very slippery and dangerous street. I fell in the same intersection the day before and damn near brained myself. She knew exactly where her house was and knew the route intimately - which suggested to me that she does this almost every day.
I get her home. "Hello!", I holler as we pass the threshold. The papa is in the livingroom with a toddler. He's confused and not enough wary.

J: "I brought your daughter home. It's too cold and I don't think her bus is going to show."
D: "I called the bus company. They told me they were only 10 minutes behind."
J: , "Have you been outside? It's nasty and traffic is crazy."
D: "Oh, thanks."

He was almost annoyed. And, thankfully, a little paranoid. At least he had enough papa bear instinct to think that I might be dangerous. I did introduce myself and told him that I lived around the corner so that the cops don't come looking for me.

Here comes the rant. We're talking about Lower Mount Royal. These people have money. Even if they didn't have it, common sense dictates that you bundle up the 2 yo and walk across treacherous streets and wait with your daughter for the bus...

A 7 yo girl by herself on a well traveled street...Well, you can do the math. She could have gotten snatched or hit by a bus. Or, two minutes after I passed her... she could have gotten on her bus and that would have been have that. But I wasn't prepared to take that chance.

UPDATE:

Since this incident, I often walk past her (and her Father) waiting for the bus in the morning. I suppose I might have put the FOG into them, but a least there is one less child in harm's way.

The Twitterverse

An interesting article in the Globe today about Twitter and why corporate brands should stay away: "company names reduce authenticity and transparency," and that "brand names and logos, as opposed to full names and user images, are not in the spirit of the Twitterverse."

I tend to agree. Facebook, YouTube and Flickr are better social media milieu for this type of thing.

PowerMapper

I've been meaning to download and try this tool. I saw it on Boxes and Arrows today and couldn't resist. It's a pretty cool way to map existing sites for architecture and page count.

Cake or Death

Izzy Izzard is funny. Being in a North Korean Prison Camp is not:

Here are the 10 rules of the prison camp, as translated from Shin Dong Hyuk:

Camp Rules: The 10 Commandments

1. Do not attempt to escape. The punishment is death.

2. Never gather in groups of over three people or move around without the guard’s authorization. The punishment for unauthorized movement is death.

3. Do not steal. If one steals or possesses weapons, the punishment is death. The punishment for failure to report the theft or possession of weapons is death.

4. Obey your guards. If one rebels or hits a guard, the punishment is death.

5. If you see outsiders, or suspicious-looking people, report them immediately. The punishment for abetting in the hiding of outsiders is death.

6. Keep an eye on your fellow prisoners and report inappropriate behavior without delay. One should criticize others for inappropriate behavior, and also conduct thorough self-criticism in revolutionary ideology class.

7. Fulfill your assigned duties. The punishment for rebelling against one’s duties is death.

8. Men and women may not be together outside the workplace. The punishment for unauthorized physical contact between a man and a woman is death.

9. Admit and confess your wrongdoings. The punishment for disobedience and refusal to repent is death.

10. The punishment for violating camp laws and rules is death.

What is this Kano of which you speak?

As a follow up to the CANUX conference, I received a set of UX Method Cards. They are used by usability professionals to facilitate thinking and inspire collaboration. Cool. But, a Fail on my part - I didn't know (or have forgotten) what Kano analysis is.
The Kano model offers some insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers. The purpose of the tool is to support product specification and discussion through better development team understanding. Kano's model focuses on differentiating product features, as opposed to focusing initially on customer needs. Kano also produced a methodology for mapping consumer responses to questionnaires onto his model.