Category: Techspeak

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Are We There Yet?

This weekend, thanks to my friend’s small child, I had a brilliant suggestion for auto makers and after market car whiz-bang installers: Stop installing DVD players in the back seat (which just perpetuate the military industrial entertainment complex) and GPS receivers in the dashboard (which lead to distracted drivers and accidents).
Instead, put the display for the GPS in the back seat. What does this accomplish?

  1. Drivers are no longer visually distracted by GPS maps. Instead, they can ask the kid in the back seat, who will be more than happy to provide navigation functions.
  2. Drivers are no longer distracted by the sound of “are we there yet? Are we there yet,” from the back seat.
  3. Kids learn the value of being helpful, which both pleases the parents and speeds the journey.

Obviously a person driving solo can’t use a GPS display in the back seat, so maybe you need two, but still, skip the DVD player.
Think about it.

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Information Disclosure: A Real World Example (non-IT)

A friend of mine collapsed on New Year’s Eve (no, not from drinking) and was admitted to the regional hospital. I called last night to ask when visiting hours were. I gave his name and was transferred to the department where he was (in the ICU). The gentleman I spoke with there told me to come by after 8AM to visit my friend. I told him I preferred to call ahead, since I live about an hour away, and he said that made sense.
This morning, I called to see if I could visit. However, I specifically asked if he was admitted. (Now, I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t say “My friend was admitted, can I come visit” instead, but that’s just the way the words came out of my mouth). I was asked for my friend’s name. I gave it, and was told “that patient hasn’t given permission to give out his status.”
I pointed out to the person on the phone that she had just confirmed to me that he was admitted, which was my original question. She replied “Okay…” I thanked her and hung up.
What conclusions do you draw from this?

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Painful Lesson on Legacy Software

My mom is in the middle of a (potentially painful) lesson on legacy software. Namely, don’t use it. She has… *ahem* had all of her addresses in an ancient copy of Parsons Technology Addressbook 7.0. I forget exactly how many years ago Bob Parsons sold to Broderbund and they killed the product off, but it’s been a while. Complicating matters, the software appears to use a proprietary format MS Jet database to store the info in, and I’m having trouble (read “okay, what possible formats could an ABA file be?”) opening the stupid thing with anything but a text editor. Continue reading “Painful Lesson on Legacy Software”