Yearly Archives: 2009

Golden Ears Bridge, British Columbia, Is Not On Google’s Map

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golden ears bridge


Google Maps is severely broken if you are a resident of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.  The Golden Ears Bridge has now been open for 6 months yet it is not taken into account in the Google Maps service.

If you were unaware of this, just try a few requests for directions with Google Maps and you will see what I mean.  The most upsetting one is how to get from 200th Street in Langley, BC to Maple Ridge.  In real life there is a magnificent new bridge that whisks you directly across the Fraser River and has you there in minutes.  It took two years to build and it’s been in heavy use for the past 6 months. There even is a picture of the Golden Ears Bridge in the Google Street View service.

It is quite clear that many people within Google must be aware of this major omission. There have several discussions on the Google Maps Forum, starting almost immediately when the bridge opened. This is one of the Forums on which Googlers spend a good deal of time, given the frequent glitches that are found in Google Maps.

Nevertheless, here is what Google Maps will show you today.

golden ears bridge is missing

It gets even worse if you move a little to the east.  Try going from a point 1 kilometer to the east to Maple Ridge and this is what Google Maps suggests you do. 

goldenears bridge is missing 2

It involves using a ferry that has now been closed for 6 months following the opening of the Golden Ears Bridge.

How could a major corporation like Google leave a major online property ‘broken’ for so long?  It is not that they have not been told.

On June 16, someone asked in the Google Maps Forum, Could you please add The Golden Ears Bridge to the Langley, Pitt Meadows Map.   

There is a new major bridge that links Langley, BC and Pitt Meadows, BC, a route which used to be taken by a small ferry.  It’s a pretty major change to the infrastructure of the Lower Mainland with many new roads linking to it.  It would be great if you could update the maps in the area to reflect it.

The Google response ran as follows:

For Google, it is up to TeleAtlas as they provide the basemap. A request has been made but they will not say when it will be updated. It is the same for the other major supplier of basemaps, Navteq. Users are encouraged to visit http://www.teleatlas.com and http://www.navteq.com to report changes to encourage them to update the basemap sooner rather than later.

Six months later and still nothing has been done.  The curious thing is that if you do a search for the Golden Ears Bridge, you can stumble on a Google street view of the bridge.

This seems a major blot on Google’s claims to catalogue the world of information.  Perhaps since they have not monetized Google Maps, it does not get the attention it deserves.  I have raised the issue again in a Google Maps Forum discussion.  I’m not expecting a quick response on this.

In some ways it’s a more fundamental problem.  Google is highly product-directed rather than being customer-centric.  They work very hard on developing good technology.   They really need to adopt a customer-centric attitude and make sure they are delivering what customers need. 

It’s fine for them to hide behind their computers and insist that only computer-based processes must handle everything and they will not intervene.  However there are probably 0.0000001% of issues where human intervention is required and human judgment must be exercised. The recent major embarrassment for Google with the adulterated image of Michelle Obama in the Google Image search was one such. 

I would suggest that this inability to use Google Maps for many journeys for residents in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia is another when it persists for 6 months.  Such a major problem in customer service should really get on to the radar screen of the Google CEO.  I’m sure the Michelle Obama image problem did.

Update: Google Maps still had not added the Golden Ears Bridge in March 2010 although Mapquest had. It took a further month before Google Maps added the bridge.

Help Is As Close As Your Mouse

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My social Network on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter...
Image by luc legay via Flickr

One aspect of the Internet that is somewhat mind-boggling is that every moment 24/7 there are other people out there with whom you may share some common interests. There are a variety of ways by which you can find kindred spirits. It may be something as simple as Twitter or a little more complex with say Facebook. Such meeting places are profilerating all the time. In some ways it’s a little like that space that the Greeks called ‘agora’ or market place. There is lots of noise and chatter and people meeting up with people to discuss the issues of the day and to transact all manner of business activities.

Sometimes you may have some task that you want done and you are just a little over-loaded at the moment. In a physical agora, you might just raise your hand and your voice to get a little attention and then in a loud voice proclaim what help you need. Online you can do the equivalent even using Twitter or Facebook or perhaps more appropriately some free ad service such as Craigs List. If you make the right connection, then someone who can work from home can complete the task for you. Since such online vehicles are just to help communication, it is up to you to create all the arrangements such that you get satisfactory work done and the helper gets paid for his or her efforts. An important issue here of course is how to establish mutual trust between the two parties so that both can know they will achieve satisfaction in their transaction.

Payment is less of an issue now since reputable services such as PayPal or Google Checkout exist to make sure that payments are made with full security.

Now a new online ‘agora’ has been created by ShortTask.com that handles all the mechanics of ensuring that the work to be done is handled in a trust-worthy way to the satisfaction of both the Seeker of help and the person who will provide the solution.

If you wish to Work at Home then on the ShortTask website you can do a Short Task Review to make sure that what is required in the task is what you might wish to deliver. If you wish to offer yourself as a Solver on some task that some Seeker has posted, then ShortTask provides the framework within which you can complete the task and receive appropriate renmeration. The mechanics can handle a wide variety of tasks so this should have an appeal as a one-stop place to get the help you need.

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Silent Auctions Move Online

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The Silent Auction / Pub Night combination like that being run by VTEA can be a most useful contributor to the funding of the charity. Folk get together for an enjoyable evening and at the same time the charity gets a useful influx of cash. Depending on the value of the items being auctioned, the contribution for the charity can be very significant.

Now Jon Carson, CEO of online auction platform cMarket, suggests that, as with so many other events, the Internet is changing the way things get done. He suggests that the time for Silent Auctions is over and that Online Auctions Provide Greater Convenience and Fundraising Potential.

Although he acknowledges that live auctions are alive and doing fine, he believes that silent auctions are broken. He cites a number of reasons for this but the biggest killer in his opinion is the lack of “competitive arousal,” a condition that Carson describes as “when things get silly before the auction closes.

Clearly, a live auction still has this last-minute frenzy built in, as bidders pay rapt attention and vie to get their bids in while in direct competition with one another. A silent auction, however, dilutes the frenzy; conversation, entertainment, and food compete for attention with the items up for bid. “The clipboard doesn’t exactly get up and follow you around the room,” Carson says.

The online auction changes this, allowing charities, colleges and universities to tap into their unique resources, target a wide range of bidders, and use tools that eliminate the need to lug items for bidding to and from the event venue.

The Internet removes the barriers of time and geography. This is particularly important for higher education, because alumni are dispersed. With the Internet a fund-raising auction can reach a much larger audience of alumni, including those who could not travel to a silent auction event and those who could not make it because of time constraints and/or scheduling difficulties.

Obviously, the fundraising potential of an event increases dramatically if one can target bidders in several different time zones and walks of life, rather than simply those who can attend an on-site event.

It seems quite clear that as with so many other events and processes, the online version of the auction brings many advantages over silent auctions and even over live auctions and all at a reduced cost. That’s an unbeatable combination.

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Immigration or outsourcing

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India is a growing powerhouse of technology. Its position in the global economy cannot be ignored. It is interesting to compare how Canada and the US are reacting to this phenomenon.

For Canada, India provides the opportunity for a new era of trade.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Mumbai and Delhi between Nov. 15 and 18 and meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said, a visit that is intended as a turning point. India and Canada are moving to jolt stagnant trade ties, concluding a series of trade-related deals, including opening nuclear commerce and starting the first phase toward a free-trade agreement.

On the other hand, questions are being raised on where US current policy is headed.

If any foreign policy camp best captures mainstream American opinion in 2009, it is probably neo-isolationism: a return to the inwardness of the post-World War I years, when the country refused to join the League of Nations. Even as intellectuals call for cosmopolitanism, more and more Americans are declaring themselves anti-outsourcing, anti-foreign-products, anti-immigration, anti-international-law — and pro-protectionism. According to a February 2009 Gallup poll, nearly half of Americans view foreign trade as a “threat to the economy,” and 65 percent believe the government is spending “too much” on foreign aid.

That explains why Bill Gates was unsuccessful last year in persuading Congress that it should allow US companies to hire more skilled foreign workers by increasing the number of H-1B visas. Without this change in immigration policy, the only solution would be to outsource more technological work to countries such as India.

India to is now asking the US for more H-1B visas.

India is likely to ask the United States to raise the cap on visas for skilled workers at the bilateral trade forum meeting to be held. India may also push for a special mechanism for Indian professionals travelling to the US for short-term assignments arising out of contractual obligations.

Perhaps the mood is now more receptive since a bill now introduced in the U.S. Congress would double the number of immigrant worker visas available each year under the H-1B program.

The Innovation Employment Act, introduced by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, (D-Ariz.), late Thursday, would increase the cap in H-1B visas from 65,000 a year to 130,000 a year. In addition, there would be no cap on H-1B applications for foreign graduate students attending U.S. colleges and studying science, technology and related fields. Currently, there’s a 20,000-a-year cap on visas for graduate students in all fields.

The legislation would increase the H-1B cap to 180,000 in the years 2010 to 2015 if the 130,000 cap is reached the year before.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates had repeated his pitch:

“We provide the world’s best universities … and the students are not allowed to stay and work in the country,” Gates said Wednesday. “The fact is, [other countries'] smartest people want to come here and that’s a huge advantage to us, and in a sense, we’re turning them away.”

Undoubtedly all countries gain by a freer trade in technical abilities. It is not a forced choice between immigration and outsourcing. An appropriate balance is probably optimal.

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Charity Donations Improve Corporate Reputations

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Even in tough times, it appears that America’s biggest businesses are still donating a lot to charity. If you check out America’s Most Generous Companies you will find some of the biggest companies on the list.

Large companies gave 5.1% more to charity in 2008 than in 2007, on average, even though the recession officially began in December 2007.

During tough times, reputation is everything. A recent survey by Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Hitachi Foundation found that 70% of senior executives considered reputation the No. 1 driver behind their companies’ corporate citizenship efforts. At the biggest companies, 82%. It’s no wonder chief executive officers now directly lead the corporate citizenship agendas at three out of four corporations.

You can find more details of the study on the website of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Newspaper of the Non-profit World.

At the other end of the scale, you have Guerrilla Giving. This is one family’s adventure in philanthropy as they describe it.

For a year (a lifetime?), we’re committed to giving away 10% of our annual gross income in daily increments to mostly random recipients. We have had experience with tithing in the past (10% traditionally) but it was often done as an after-thought, at the end of the month or at the end of the year–written as a cheque or dropped in an offering bowl. Giving like that was rarely joyful for us. Guerrilla Giving, on the other hand, is fun, adventurous, and immediate.

Giving to charities can be done for a variety of reasons. Whatever the motivation or the amount, it seems clear that charity giving brings benefits both to the givers and to the receivers.

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