Bombardier Learjet 85

I was reading today in AOPA Pilot magazine about layoffs at Cessna in Wichita, Kansas. The business aviation industry is hurting, especially because of the stupidity of the media and public over the auto industry executives’ flights to Washington. I digress. I hope my friends in Wichita who work in aircraft still have their jobs.

Learjet–where I worked for six years–seems to be be doing well. In fact, they may be hiring workers to assemble the new Learjet Model 85.

Bombardier Proceeds With Learjet 85 Plans
Deidre Woollard, Luxist, November 5, 2008

But Bombardier Aerospace has said that plans for its new Learjet 85 assembly line will go forward. Bombardier spokesman Leo Knaapen has said that the the company is hiring 500- 700 people to work at the Wichita plant on Learjet 85. Bombardier spokesman Leo Knaapen cites the company’s more international focus as a reason for its success at a time when others are faltering. The company has said they are conscious of the financial crisis but for the moment they are not predicting any layoffs at their Wichita plant.

That’s good news.

(more…)

aviation · bombardier · business · cessna · ga · general aviation · kansas · layoff · lear 85 · learjet · wichita

Health system discourages innovation
Andy Sullivan, Reuters, May 28, 2009

I’ve been talking about “job lock” since long before I knew there was a term for it. It is perhaps one of the most devastating consequences of our troubled health care system industry–and one that barely receives mention. Innovation and entrepreneurship are what made this country great. Our health care system is destroying far more than our health; it’s wrecking our economy and global dominance.

Economists call this phenomenon “job lock,” and studies suggest that it keeps between 20 percent and 50 percent of workers from leaving their current jobs.

Because health insurance is tied to employment in the United States, workers who leave their jobs can see health bills skyrocket if they strike out on their own or take a position with a company that offers fewer benefits. Workers who would like to retire early stay on, unable to qualify for the government’s Medicare program until they turn 65.

As head of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Todd Stottlemeyer frequently encountered would-be entrepreneurs who let their ideas go stale and their products languish on the workbench because they did not want to shoulder their own health care costs.

Troubling.

New Jersey saw a 14 to 20 percent rise in entrepreneurial activity due to a 1993 law making it easier for the self-employed to afford health insurance, a study by Philip DeCicca of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario found.

A major problem with most proposed solutions to rising health care costs and covering the uninsured is that there is little support for abandoning employer-based health insurance. The Democrats want to reduce costs and make insurance affordable for all. That’s great, but insurance companies ARE cost, and provide zero value. They make their money collecting premiums and denying care. Perhaps a public insurance option would give would-be entrepreneurs the security to leave their job and the health care benefits that went with it.

The Republicans have introduced a plan that would give each family a tax-credit to pay for insurance and remove incentives companies have had to provide health insurance to their workers. Perhaps these benefits could be converted to cash which would allow employees to shop around, thereby ending the problem of job lock.

Job lock is a real problem and should be a primary consideration in any health care discussion or proposal.

business · economy · entrepreneurship · health care · innovation · job lock · usa

Twitter Power, Joel Comm, John Wiley & Sons, 2009

I opened my Twitter account on August 31, 2007. As you can see from the graph below, it took me a little while to appreciate the value of the Twitter phenomenon.

http://tweetstats.com/graphs/brentdanley

That first day I sent four tweets.

Reading Technology Review and configuring Netvibes
8:06 AM Aug 31st 2007 (more…)

book review · business · joel comm · networking · social media · twitter · twitter power

Porsche Chooses China for Its Entry Into Sedans
Keith Bradsher, NY Times, April 19, 2009

Marijan Murat/European Pressphoto Agency

A dark gray Panamera rolled onto a stage Sunday night on the 94th floor of the 1,614-foot Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest building in mainland China, having been wedged nearly vertical into an elevator barely wide enough for the task.

Now that I would like to have seen.

automobile · business · china · economy · engineering · environment · porsche

The Mile-High Office
William Garvey, NY Times, January 31, 2009

The general public who begrudge the executive her Learjet don’t know what they’re talking about. Business aircraft are an engine of commerce, not just an extravagant luxury. The news media and the public seemed to delight when the executives of the major American auto companies drove cars to Washington D.C. to testify before Congress. I thought it was a stupid waste of time; a gimmick to appease the idiot populace. These guys’ responsibilities are far too important to have them stuck in highway traffic or airport security.

If two companies are competing for business, the one using a business aircraft can fly directly to one of those smaller airports and get to lunch with the client before the other guys taking the commercial airlines show up.

And the business people with the corporate jet won’t just arrive faster; they’ll also show up better prepared. After all, most companies send teams of people, and in their own airplane they’re free to discuss confidential information or polish up that PowerPoint presentation. What’s more, they can use the phones, their BlackBerrys and the Internet en route. In other words, these jets are offices that move.

Bombardier Business Aircraft Services in Wichita, Kansas, where I used to work

aircraft · bombardier · business · business aircraft · cessna · commerce · falcon · gulfstream · learjet · luxury

It’s up.

Today I put up a temporary page at BrentDanleyPhotography.com. I registered the domain some time ago and used it as a sandbox for learning Lightbox. I’ve been feeling a ton of pressure to keep up with web development technologies. I need to be able to perform well should I be offered my dream job. I’ve been reading up on XHTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, MySQL and, especially, how they all come together to create asynchronous dynamic pages.

Lightbox, it turns out, is as simple as adding a single rel attribute to an anchor tag. First you must embed the Prototype JavaScript Framework and the Script.aculo.us and Lightbox libraries.

<script type="text/javascript" src="js/prototype.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/scriptaculous.js?load=effects,builder"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lightbox.js"></script>

Then you simply add the rel attribute with value lightbox to any anchor tag that points to a picture. Voila!

Click <a href="http://url/to/image.jpg" rel="lightbox">here</a>.

The pictures for BDP are served by Flickr and retrieved via the API with the help of phpFlickr. I used Flickr’s machine tag feature to allow me to more precisely search the photos for inclusion in each category of BDP.

Cheers. Let me know what you think.

ajax · brent danley photography · business · javascript · lightbox · photography · php · programming · prototype · scriptaculous · web

I’ve recently been having a discussion with a friend about economic philosophies, among other things. The last three books I’ve read have been about economics. I dig the free market, I do, but only one that is heavily regulated. Capitalists serve themselves first, and society maybe never. Taking care of us is the responsibility of the collective we call government.

I read a very interesting article in the current issue of Esquire magazine about Dean Kamen, his inventions and idiosyncrasies (which are many). One quote that particularly resonated with me concerns America and her values.

you get what you celebrate in a free market and America builds momuments to the things it values and unfortunately most of those monuments are giant sports arenas, which don’t contribute anything to the future.
~John H. Richardson, Esquire, December 2008, page 98+

Well said.

business · capitalism · economy · esquire · government · politics

A few days ago I got a Flickrmail from the proprietor of a gift shop in one of our local malls. They were inquiring about purchasing several of my pictures.

Today I got a check in the mail for Downtown Wichita and Keeper of the Plains. Very cool. They’re going to put them on mugs and magnets.

business · kansas · photography · stock · wichita