Jeep Cherokee Owners File Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler, Harman After Hackers Wirelessly Hijack Vehicle

(8/5/2015) This is one of times that "less is more." High-tech cars now are subject to WiFi hijack.

No WiFi technology in the car, please. I don't even want those technology package or upgrade at all. More technologies in the car, more mechanical problems will send the car to the repair shop.

Laundry Pod Need A New Look

(11/10/2014) When laundry pod was launched, I wondered why these detergent makers want to make cleaning stuff so visually appealing? To stimulate consumer's compulsive purchasing? If it appeal to adult shoppers, then its colorful outlook resembles beautiful and tasteful candies to children. According to the news, tens of thousands of toddlers were sent to hospital because mistaking laundry pods as candies. When will detergent manufacturers admit this product design eventually is a mistake and change its packaging?

If you were a toddler, can you tell which one is poisonous?

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GM's Big Trouble

(4/4/2014) GM is really in a big trouble. The recently "admitted" ignition switch problems in some of GM cars has cause 13 deaths. The troubling fact is that GM knew this problem 9 years ago, had a solution (cost around $1) to fix the problem, and decided not to implement that fix. GM's problem does not stop here. GM is facing another quality problem. The airbag issues on some GM models (1.6 millions compact cars estimated) may cause 303 death in the U.S.

In the same time, Chrysler recalled 870,000 SUV's on its brake problems, BMW had around 250,000 X5 trucks recalled due to a fragile bolt, 1.9 millions of Toyota Prius are also recalled due to software glitches.

(5/20/2014) GM's problem continues to escalate. At this moment the total number of GM vehicles recalled has reached more than 15 millions.

TSA Security Program Is Slightly Better Than Chance

(11/13/2013) The tight and tedious security check in US airports trouble many travelers and airlines (if you think of how people try to avoid air travel). We sometimes justify this process as the necessary 'cost' of having a more secure society. US government spent $1B in a TSA SPOT (Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques ) program for behavior screening. The GAO report shows that this money is not well spent because its results are “the same as or slightly better than chance.” Who is the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of US government? Run some benefit/cost analysis on your programs and eliminate those ineffective expenditure. Don't say the benefit of this spending is "creating jobs!" There are some others GAO should check next: Medicare/Medicaid abuse.

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Website Failures - Diagnosis of Obamacare & Common App

(10/21/2013) Obamacare website (HealthCare.gov) has been full of glitches since Day 1 of its launch. The Republican party was so busy wrestling on government shutdown and totally ignore a great opportunity to nail Obama government. Now the shutdown is over, media and Obama critics start paying attention about how wrong HealthCare.gov is. There is a good analysis on NBCNews today.

I like this comment: “Buying a health plan is a lot more complicated than buying a flight," says Brandon Cruz, president of GoHealth, a private health insurance marketplace. “When you’re buying a health plan, you need to know all the doctors in the network, what you deductible will be, what your co-insurance will be. And the terminology is so foreign.”

What is Obama's temporary solution to this failure? "“So you'll find information about how to talk to a specialist who can help you apply over the phone or to receive a downloadable application you can fill out yourself and mail in,” Obama said."

This is a good lesson for complex website launch.

(10/31/2013) Are Obamacare website's glitches contagious? The "Common App" (a platform that allows high school students to send out their applications to multiple schools at one time) just had a huge problem for their users and high school students cannot submit their applications successfully. Common App is not as new as Obamacare registration website. From the reply of the company's executive, it is "technological glitches from some new technology updates" on their platforms. Many universities are forced to extend their application since there are as many as 800,000 applicants impacted. It is not promising that this problem can be solved before the peak time of application. I bet the enrollment offices in many colleges won't be happy this year because their admission process is forced to be delayed.

Obamacare Website Exposed US Gov's Information System's Weakness

(10/10/2013) This is a very scaring news: Obamacare registration website is not working. If it is not because GOP's shutting down the federal government, this news will be the biggest headache for Obama. Thanks to GOP's uncalculated shutdown plan which saves Obama. One thing that should really worry us is: can we trust such kind of government who's IT infrastructure is often not the most advanced and secured system? A hacking or data leaking will put this issue in the spotlight. But so far? Wish us good luck and stay in ignorance, I hope nothing really bad like IS security breach will happen.

10 days after the first launch, Obamacare registration website still has huge problem. I totally agree with the analysis below: Shutdown that website, Fix it, then reopen it. It is a shame. No real business website will allow a glitch like this alive for so long.

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Quality Control and Customer Expectation

(10/9/2013) I posted this on my factbook today (see the picture below). I was thinking why does the retailer sell jeans so cheap on their website? Well, definitely, the quality control of the production did a very poor job. How can two jeans of the same size (even in the same style, just different wash) has 2-inch difference in waist? Poor supplier selection. Next year, the same supplier probably won't be selected. What is the impression of this online shopping for a buyer like me? I can return it but I feel it is too much work. With the price I pay, I will not waste my time doing that. This over-size jean might be a good fit one day when I really gain weight.

The problem is that I will not buy their product again from the retailer. Why did the retailer salvage these poor quality jeans on their own website? Why didn't it salvage to retailers like TJMax or Ross? If I am a consumer and I find the jeans in TJMax, I will try it on and will not notice the inconsistency of poor quality control. This retailer probably thinks discounting in its own website gets a higher salvage value then sell to TJMax in bulk. Selling on their own will also get consumer's personal information (and it will be good for marketing to customers directly in the future). However, once a consumer loses confidence in the quality, it will probably not come back. I don't think this retailer made a right decision.

Recall? No Recall? Can Car Buyers Trust Jeep?

(6/30/2013) For an issue as big as life and safety, can it be more confusing like Jeep's handling their safety issue? After three year's investigation about Jeep's SUV over fuel tank leaking and causing fire, the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration recommended Chrysler to recall its 2.7 million SUV. Several weeks after, after some talk between the CEO of Chrysler and DOT secretary, Jeep corrected that this recall only covered 1.5 millions of SUVs. Some years and some models won't need recall because they have different designs. Some Chrysler Jeep owners now are confused and concern their safety driving their Jeep.

Jeep's argument might be valid since the recall is expensive. However, the communication from Chrysler to their Jeep owners is definitely not sufficient. Losing the trust from their loyal consumers might outweigh the saving from a smaller recall.

Boeing 787 Battery Problem

(2/21/2013) If this finding is final, then the reason caused many airlines to ground their Boeing 787 aircrafts is due to miswiring.

According to this news: "A probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 that made an emergency landing found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday. ... The Transport Safety Board said in a report that the battery for the aircraft's auxiliary power unit was incorrectly connected to the main battery that overheated, although a protective valve would have prevented power from the auxiliary unit from causing damage." At this moment, it is not clear that the miswiring is a single episode or a more systematic problem that spreads to all 787 aircrafts. But Boeing needs FAA to certify a fix to lift the grounding and Boeing need to show this solution is adequate.

How much will it cost Boeing? It is hard to estimate. But ANA (that found 787's problem and ground the flight first) will experience $1.1 million per day to ground its 787 flights. This quality issue definitely shows that it is very costly to airlines and Boeing. (Note, on 3/12/2013, FAA approves Boeing's solution for the battery problem.)

Watch Out the Seafood We Eat

(2/13/2013) This is a disturbing news as I still eat seafood. Quite a lot of seafood sold in the supermarket is mislabeled. Oceana (an international ocean advocacy group) tested the DNA and the label of the food and found snapper and tuna are those most commonly mislabeled. This is their report in PDF. A longer food supply chain definitely alienates consumers with the food they eat. But I wonder whether a shorter supply chain will fix this problem.

Source: Oceana

Chinese Babies Hungry for Foreign Milk

(1/24/2013) Four years ago, China had a huge scandal about adding carcinogens in the baby milk powder. Now the Chinese parents are buying baby milk powder crazily in Hong kong and Australia (through people traveling overseas) because they don't trust their Chines baby milk powder anymore. With such a huge demand (look at so many newborn babies in China), it empties the shelfs in HK & Australia. It also triggers some milk powder smuggling from New Zealand, which is a major milk powder exporting country. When New Zealand government announces that they will block illegal export of baby milk powder, the price of the NZ milk in China jumps immediately (news in Chinese).

(CC) Baby: I want to grow healthy.

11" 'Footlong' Subway Sandwich

(1/22/2013) Will you quit Subway sandwiches just because it is 1 inch short? Will it trigger customer boycott like "Papa Johns against Obamacare" or "Oreo cookies for supporting Gay?" Even though Subway's official response is not well handled,  I guess not many people will really boycott Subway. 11" 'footlong' sandwich for less than $6 is still a bargain for many people.



(1/27/2013) Days after their ridiculous and not so smart excuse of length short, Subway now says they will make sure their footlong subway sandwich is really 12" long.

How Does Google Revise Their Google Map?

(1/21/2013) You might be surprised that many google map errors have to be changed manually. Next time, when we use google map, let's say thank-you to Google and their engineers.

(7/17/2013) Today Google just releases their new Maps Web App, which is OS independent web application. Try it yourself. It will be years for Apple or other competitors to catch up with Google.

Virus for Medical Devices

(10/17/2012) Before this news report, I have never thought of this potential problem - Computer viruses invade into medical devices. Imagine that someone's life support now is on a medical device that is not updated for a long time. If it gets a virus, will a computer virus in this case really kill a patient? Or if I know someone is wearing a WiFi connected device, is it possible that I may use a Trojan virus to attack that device and kill that patient? It is more like a SiFi.

(10/21/2012) It looks like killing someone from a distance is not a SiFi, it can be a reality. From a heart defibrillator to a insulin pump, any medical device that can be remotely controlled is subject to hacking. Remember the Matrix? Cypher in the Matrix kills Neo and Trinity's teammates by just pulling the plugs...

iPhone's Biggest Trouble.

Story 1:
(9/24/2012) Because it is iPhone 5, every flaws is magnified. In just several days after a new launch...

iPhone 5 Problems: Users' Biggest Issues With Apple's New Handset

(9/28/2012) Apple finally apologizes for its terrible map application on iOS 6.

Wrote Cook, "While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app."Why there is no old map system?

It looks like that Apple will not re-introduce its old map app that utilizes google's map technology. Ego? or that is really the best for Apple?

By the way, iPhone 5's Map is now on the "16 Epic Product Fails" on the Huffingtonpost.com. It is like Lady Gaga's song landing on #1 of Billboards in the first week.

(12/10/2012) Australia police warns the usage of iPhone map can be life threatening. However, at this moment, Apple still has no intention to drop its notorious Apple Map application on iPhone. It's probably for its self-pride. The followings are some examples of how bad and how wrong Apple map application is. On November 28, 2012, the Apple map supervisor was fired according to Bloomberg's report.

(12/24/2012) Map failure is not just on iPhone. Here are some other historical map flops.

(12/13/2012) Three month after Apple's iOS 6 removed google's map from its platform, Google makes a come back. A new google map application will come back to Apple iOS platform, and it is more powerful - a much needed turn-by-turn instruction. Hallelujah!

(9/25/2013) It's been around a year, right? and Apple is still struggling with its map issue? It may guide you to drive through airport runway.... Bummer!

Product recall

Story 1:

Peanut butter recall expands beyond Trader Joe's

(9/24/2012) This story is a simpler form of product recall. The buyers of contaminated peanut butter can get refund from the retailer. As long as the retailer responds to this food crisis earlier, there will not be a big damage to the retailer. The bigger problem is tracing the batch of production. If the peanut butter supplier is responsible enough and release the list of recall production lot number (or production dates), they can also contain the damage better. Otherwise, it will seriously impact on the consumer's trust of this product, and that damage may spill over to the same product that is not contaminated (consumers stop buying, unsold food...). (well, however, sometimes tracing the contaminated products is not that easy. Last year, there is a news about FDA cites dirty equipment in cantaloupe outbreak)
Compared to automobile recall, this is much simpler in reverse logistics and has relatively less recall cost. 

(10/6/2012) Sony Xperia tablet is pulled out of the market after one month of launch. Sometimes you really what goes wrong with this old-time electronic manufacturer. How can this type of design defect even pass their internal quality control? Or they have no quality control at all?