Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[Lee]

Try whitepages.com too. See how many different people you can find with my name

About 5, FWIW.

Back to the topic at hand...
Boy, that MM+ sure is buggy, huh?

 

[WDW1974]

Just to point out how much the world has changed since the 60's and 70's for people in the bottom 5th economically, I remember how much a job at WDW meant to poor people in west Orange county. I remember a friend of mine who proudly showed me the the house his folks were able to buy just a year or two after WDW opened. His dad worked at the pulp mill in Winter Garden (it made cow feed from orange pulp waste) and they lived in company housing until his mom got a job at Disney as a housekeeper at the Poly or Contemporary. After that they saved up enough to put a down payment on a house of their own. I wonder if that story could be repeated today and I wonder if George K. remembers how much it meant to be a CM to so many folks who got out of poverty because Disney hired locally instead of getting cheap labor from overseas. I imagine that many of those local CMs were the reason so many guests have magical memories of WDW.

Great point ... but even when George K started he had an advantage. He was the son of one of the first pharmacists in Winter Haven, which was once a sleepy tiny town. I know George worked as a busboy because ... well, I actually know the man. But a better question is how long he held such a lowly position back when WDW was incredibly selective about any/every one they hire?

An even better question is if anyone who is a busboy at the Contemporary Resort today could ever move up to even be Food and Beverage manager of the resort (let's not even talk about being WDW Prez with a net worth upwards of $10-15 million).

 

[unkadug]

Generally, on this site, people are usually busy trying to disprove who people claim to be.

Here we have people trying to prove that someone IS who they claim NOT to be.

What difference does it really make?

 

[Snowflake82]

Do you really not understand that video conferencing is not my magic or anything to do with that book you found? And again you distort what I said about speaking engagements too. Again, those were in MY industry - video. You do realize Cisco is in dozens of industries with virtually no cross pollination of those.

Just curious from what you have posted here - are you referring to Tandberg?

 

[WDW1974]

That also makes logical sense - in either case, the system should either be shut down, or reverted to a previous, functioning iteration.

Ah, Kevin, that's what they should do. But it isn't what they are doing. They are letting information that should be private and SECURE (again, using non-technical, everyman speak). Since they can't do this. They should shut it down and take any financial and/or PR hits because clearly a woman named Maggie living in Oregon with eight nights at the GF in October shouldn't be pulling up a ressie for a dude named Steve from New Jersey who has three rooms linked for a family reunion at PO in June.

I am dying to know how many gift cards are going out and if they all have the same value (is your privacy worth $50 or $500 or $1500 etc?)

 

[WDW1974]

Don't the CP kids get a head start over the regular CM to become mid level executives?

At one time, yes.

Now, no, not at all ... it's basically slave labor for the Mouse and extended vacations for the kids, who get sold on the line 'Disney looks great on a resume' ... It did in 1983 ...1993 ... now? Not really. What looks great on a resume these days is great past jobs and connections, not working at the Liberty Inn for a summer or lifeguarding at the EPCOT resorts for a summer etc.

 

[George]

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to come clean. I'm Bob Iger.

Side note based on post above - Anyone who has ever designed, built, or organized anything sees they need to roll this system back or turn it off for a while. They didn't do near enough testing. You can't beta test something like this in the real world. It is not a friggin' video game app that features birds and pigs.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to come clean. I'm Bob Iger.

Side note based on post above - Anyone who has ever designed, built, or organized anything sees they need to roll this system back or turn it off for a while. They didn't do near enough testing. You can't beta test something like this in the real world. It is not a friggin' video game app that features birds and pigs.

!!!!!!!!! Gasp. After all this time, now you decide to tell us.

 

[unkadug]

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to come clean. I'm Bob Iger.

I knew it all along!

 

[WDW1974]

Man, NGE really is having a lackluster roll out. It's like watching the Titanic sink.

Well, see even there Disney is playing coy.

They can say the system isn't even in 'testing' now ... or they can say elements are ... or they can say 'aspects are being continuously rolled out across property as they are ready to make MAGICal vacation experiences for our Guests' ... it's all semantics, all BS.

There are aspects of NGE that have been going for three years now ... at least backstage. ... And then there's a big deal made by new cheap park maps that explain (do they? I haven't looked at one!) MM+ despite the fact we may be over a year from it even getting close to being ready.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to come clean. I'm Bob Iger.

No Way!!! I'm Bob Iger!

 

[Cody5242]

At one time, yes.

Now, no, not at all ... it's basically slave labor for the Mouse and extended vacations for the kids, who get sold on the line 'Disney looks great on a resume' ... It did in 1983 ...1993 ... now? Not really. What looks great on a resume these days is great past jobs and connections, not working at the Liberty Inn for a summer or lifeguarding at the EPCOT resorts for a summer etc.

Well I'm senior in high school and right now my current plan is to do the CP and at one do a professional internship. I've always wanted to become a mid executive or maybe something even higher and now I feel like my plan pointless and that dream is crushed

 

[Monty]

Well I'm senior in high school and right now my current plan is to do the CP and at one do a professional internship. I've always wanted to become a mid executive or maybe something even higher and now I feel like my plan pointless and that dream is crushed

That would mean you take '74's word for anything... Why? Live your life, fulfil your dreams. One person on a Disney fan site shouldn't disrupt that.

 

[Lee]

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to come clean. I'm Bob Iger.

Thanks, Bob. Good to have you here.

As for the drift that has been dominating the thread...

I'm tired of it. Enough already with the overly technical discourse and never-ending defense of what has turned out to be a hugely flawed system. It has chased some valuable posters away from the thread and veered into a territory that is dangerously close to derailing the whole discussion. THAT I don't want.

Flynn doesn't like being accused of being someone he claims not to be. Ok. I get that.
But if you are going to take an "out front" position in defending MM+, you have to be prepared to deal with the hassle that comes with it. Honestly, giving everyone a heads up about the basis of your knowledge would have prevented much of this. Full disclosure and whatnot.

You have to admit...looks fishy.

Now then...let's get back to the MM+ bashing. Why are they still trying to use such a buggy system at this point? Is someone's job on the line or something?

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Well I'm senior in high school and right now my current plan is to do the CP and at one do a professional internship. I've always wanted to become a mid executive or maybe something even higher and now I feel like my plan pointless and that dream is crushed

I'm the same as you. Except I probably won't participate in the DCP and that I'm a freshman in College. But never hold out hope though even if it seems more likely to happen in the near future. Maybe I can be the resort manager at the Beach Club and you could be pres at WDW. Doesn't hurt to dream and no one can stop you from doing so. Like this (old dead guy) Walt quote: "If you can dream it, you can do it". Back to MM+, even though this latest round of testing is being dubbed as a failure or "below par performance", when can we expect to see the next round of testing take place? Also which park(s) and/or resort(s) will take part?

 

[Funmeister]

Trying to get back from economics to NGE/MM+ ...

Here is what I know:

NGE/MM+ is a deeply troubled project. A project discussed at great length and in great detail here.

A regular poster on this site appeared to hound every criticism and dismiss concerns relating to said project. A project which will affect every visit/visitor to WDW.

No matter the substance or emotion or just plain good old-fashioned skepticism for this project that poster did not relent only tempering his pointed rebukes with a 'we just don't know' or we should all 'wait and see' retort on occasion.

At no point did this poster assert that he is an expert on network security and works in that sector. This, despite the fact that network 'security' was and is central to many of the concerns raised here.

Whereas others came in and offered some valuable and valued insight after asserting where their knowledge comes from (@Lil Fort immediately comes to mind and @dhall also rings a bell, but there were others), this poster just spoke from 'up high' about some technical aspects of what NGE/MM+ could deliver and the how and why of it.

No problem thus far. Except, again, every time someone questioned the project this same poster with no proffering of his background/interest with said technology came in to essentially shout-down that question. Not in a smack-you-upside-the-head way, but in a condescending 'you-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about' way.

Now, it turns out this poster is an expert on computer/network security. He is employed by the lead company charged with implimenting the NGE/MM+ project for TWDC.

He admits he is an expert in this field.

He challenges the point that he has been paid to speak at various conferences as an expert on network security and related technology by parsing the wording. No, he says, he is not paid to speak. He speaks on these matters as part of his job. Difference? Well, I suppose, no, he does not have an agent who books lectures for him. Instead, it is incorporated with what it is he does for his employer.

Not sure of any real difference given the context here. Bottom-line, he gives lectures on the subject.

Lastly, his name is rather unique and -- he admits -- it is widely and easily located on the Internet by doing a simple Google search. Yet, rather than link himself to a book on datamining and network security with his name on the cover as generated by Google (the very place where he directed this community to go for remediation on exactly who he is), he linked us to an online bookstore that omits this mention.

When another poster drew his attention to this, he said he had never heard of the book -- on an area in which he has already identified himself as an expert -- and is not related to it or the man with his name on the cover. The other experts on the cover all are in the same field as this poster and this poster admits he knows of only one other individual in the United States who shares his name.

OK...shame on all of us for not running a background check on our fellow fans who we thought were here to share their love of and/or frustration with TWDC, but then we go do as you suggest and you go beyond actually challenging the Google search results to assert you have never heard or seen a book on Web security and other matters in your own field BUT you are in no way related to THAT GUY.

Fine. Many of our regular posters questioned why someone whose life was all over the Internet, including scary-crazy details of said persons 'private' life, and who worked in computer security would hijack such a discussion and fail to mention this as a foundation for all of that commentary. Many messages were exchanged over whether this person should be exposed.

I said, repeatedly, no. On a fan forum, of any kind, it should be the participant's decision to do such a thing if he or she is so inclined. Many fans on here were not happy with the fact I implored them to not name this poster. Privacy is sacrosanct. I would be a hypocrite otherwise.

I stand by that decision. As even in his biting retorts about how his life is 'four clicks away' for anyone with at least 'three brain cells', it was/is his decision.

Note that in his replies referencing his own work, his name, his blog ... all about 'him', he chose to not actually place that information here. Again, fine.

What is not fine is coming in and talking down to the posters here for respecting his own privacy and treating him as he wanted to be treated -- as just another Disney fan. Once more, unlike @Lil Fort and others, Flynnibus elected to not preface his extensive and unending drumbeat for NGE/MM+ with a brief introduction to his background and from what perspective he is viewing this troubled project.

When people engage me in a conversation, no matter their implied background (from likely high schoolers to top executives of major companies who all share an interest in TWDC), I make an effort to respond to them. Perhaps I should have been more selective over the years, but, to me, communicating with the community is an essential element of social media. Speaking with them, not merely to them (that's Disney's strategy).

I extend respect to those who do likewise and even some who probably missed that mark. But, make no mistake, I have been as honest as a person on any fan forum can possibly be.

If Flynn believes he has as well, I will simply disagree and allow him to continue his lectures. For me, to not assert your status as an expert on the topic at hand that you are virulently endorsing is not honest. It is profoundly disingenuous.

And, yeah, I stand by my observation that it appears Flynn is precisely as I described him. No, he has no pony in this race. He's the guy who juices the ponies before they ever leave the stable.

Enjoy the lecture. But remember why he is the professor and from where it is he speaks.

(Oh, as for the Klout reference, it was made because several fellow posters noted that Flynn linked his account here at wdwmagic.com with Klout Perks. I know very little of it, and give it no credibility in the real world. In fairness to Flynn, he may well have even forgotten he linked the accounts as I really do not think he is posting for a free Blu-ray of Disney's latest. ... Although, he does always need to get the last word ....)

I agree 100%. With all due respect...does this mean we can get back to more important things like the great Perkins ice cream sundae debate of 2012?

I do not deny that Flynn knows what he is talking about (usually...but not always) but there are so many times he comes across as trying to start a pi**ing match for no reason except to start and try to win an argument. By posting this reply I am in no means trying to pick an argument but I usually just scroll past his posts...as I am sure he does mine.

 

[George]

Well I'm senior in high school and right now my current plan is to do the CP and at one do a professional internship. I've always wanted to become a mid executive or maybe something even higher and now I feel like my plan pointless and that dream is crushed

At one time, yes.

Now, no, not at all ... it's basically slave labor for the Mouse and extended vacations for the kids, who get sold on the line 'Disney looks great on a resume' ... It did in 1983 ...1993 ... now? Not really. What looks great on a resume these days is great past jobs and connections, not working at the Liberty Inn for a summer or lifeguarding at the EPCOT resorts for a summer etc.

I should note that the mistake I made was lifeguarding at EPCOT and not the EPCOT resorts. The one time someone fell into WS lagoon, I too was scared to jump into that toxic sludge. Luckily, Worldy, the WS lagoon monster of legend, made a surprise appearance and rescued the scared and confused tourist.

 

[flynnibus]

Just curious from what you have posted here - are you referring to Tandberg?

Yup Cisco bought us in 2009 (closed in 2009)

 

[AVPTI]

Is the issue of users seeing someone else's data a product of MM+/Disney security or just a poorly designed website that clearly doesn't work properly?

 

[Funmeister]

Well I'm senior in high school and right now my current plan is to do the CP and at one do a professional internship. I've always wanted to become a mid executive or maybe something even higher and now I feel like my plan pointless and that dream is crushed

Good luck. You have to leave the company now and come back in order to move up jsut to start the process.