Tag Archives: Computer Misuse

Color Me Disappointed

Posted in Abuse of Power, Communism, Communist Takover, Computers, Dyslexia, experience by

My oldest brother was in the Army Signal Corps.  My second oldest brother repaired TV’s and then became an engineer for a big radio station.  My third oldest brother had a degree in electronics and a master’s in math.  He designed computers.  It only made sense that I would become involved in electronics.

Unfortunately, I was somewhat dyslexic, though I was never diagnosed with it.  By definition, dyslexia is not caused by trauma.  Because I had two traumatic events in my early childhood, I might not be dyslexic, even if I meet the criterion otherwise.

That eliminated college.  I am prone to mistakes when I write and I can’t type.  I simply cannot complete a term paper.  Also, I would have never been able to complete college English.  I have this problem with homonyms.  I know the difference between there and their, but, for some unexplained reason, I occasionally use the wrong one.  Worse yet, I have a problem with spelling.

Nowadays, we have word processors that help somewhat.  Still, even after checking and rechecking my work, mistakes get by me.

Still, I did get into electronics.  I went into the Marines and completed a 16 week electronics course in thirteen weeks.  I graduated second in the class.  (I think the other guy cheated)

The last week of the course was on computers.  In 1969, computers were still somewhat new.  Many banks just began using them.  Most TVs used vacuum tubes and transistor radios had just come into their own.

So, at that time, there was little time spent on computers in the school.  However, and this is the whole point of my post, the instructor said something about computers that I still remember, “The only reason for computers is to save time.”

Though one of my brothers designed computers, the thought really surprised me.  Over the years, I thought about the statement many times.  To some degree, the statement is still true.  However, today we have at least three more reasons for computers, graphics, entertainment and saving space.

I don’t think I need to explain the first two, but saving space might not be so obvious.  We used to use fiche.  Now we use disks.  A few optical disks can replace thousands fiche.  Besides, going back to the first reason for the computer, the disk is much faster.

Unfortunately, some have found another reason for computers, keeping track of employees… or citizens.  Today, computers are being used for the BIG BROTHER effect.  Instead of the computers being used to help the employees work more efficiently, they are being used to keep a thumb on the employees to make sure they don’t make too many keystrokes on their keyboards (for example).

For a person who studied computers from my youth, it is a great disappointment.  Instead of being an aid, it allows the boss to spy over the employees shoulder.  It allows the governments to track its citizenry.

Today I am disappointed in the way computers are used.  They are used for games.  All right.  I admit it.  I do play more solitaire than I should.  Still, we have simply overdone it.  Pseudo football games are played on which people gamble, by the millions.  Some are addicted to the games to the point they ignore everything else.

Then, of course, there are those who use the computers to steal.  Some folks have lost their homes to those who know how to use the computer for this purpose.  Then, when the deed is done, almost nothing can be done to make it right.

I have seen the good that computers have done and I have seen the bad that they have done.  Like any other tool, they can be used for good and they can be used for bad.  Seeing the bad I find it very disappointing.  No one seems to care, not even a little.

If I am a computer salesman, I don’t sell to the employee.  He doesn’t control the purse strings of the company.  So, if I hope to sell the computer, I need to show the CEO how the computer the benefits management.

Now, which will have the most successful outcome?  If I explain how I can help the employee or if how easy it makes it to spy on the employees.  And so it is that the computer is abused and will continue to be abused.  I see no way to stop it.

 

So, just color me disappointed.  Instead of the computer helping to free men, they have been used to enslave them.

Now, as near as I can tell, the communists seem to have discovered computers can be used in taking over a country.  It can be used for finding the individualist.

By the way.  How can I forget one of the most obnoxious abuses of computers… Robocalls!

Kiosks and McDonald’s

Posted in Abuse of Power, Computer Hacking, Food, Uncategorized by

Eons ago, I am sure that a man used a rock to pound on something. Maybe he was building an arrowhead or he might have been using it to build himself some kind of house. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Then, one day, someone came on the brilliant idea to affix a rock on some kind of handle. Hence, the hammer was invented. Over the years, the hammer has gone through countless improvements. Moreover, there are at least a dozen variations to the modern hammer.

As with most inventions, it can be used for good or it can be used for damage or harm. Indeed, some hammers were actually designed as weapons, though today, most of them are found in museums. Still, a little two-pound sledgehammer can be quite lethal, though it is not designed as one. Please stay with me as I spring forward to a more modern invention, the computer.

By itself, it is neither good or bad. However, it can be used for either one. Being as I was born well before the modern electronic digital computer, being as I have been around them most of my life in one way or the other, I have seen plenty of both. Ideally, when the computer first came onto the scene, their primary is to save time. They save time because they can perform repetitive tasks very fast.

They save time because they perform complex calculations in a timely manner. (for instance space travel) Now that financial institutions use them, errors are as rare as hen’s teeth, which saves time and frustration. Since they first arrived on the scene, they have one more real advantage. (that is, besides games) They provide enormous amounts of storage. In the time before computers, papers had to be saved for years, taking up rooms of storage.

Now, years of data can be stored on something not much larger than a stamp. It even makes Microfiche old-fashioned. Along the way, the computer has changed the worlds of photography, music, teaching and, of course, literature. My wife hardly goes anywhere without her Kindle. The books she has on the little electronic tablet would fill a couple of good sized chests. About all of us carry phones around, which are full of music and photos. I listen to mine wile walking.

One can hardly imagine such a wonder being used for bad, but it started almost from the start. The first place I noticed it was when they were used for tracking employees. Some employers used computers to track the number of keystrokes by the employee as well as how many errors they made. It is a way to keep an employee under thumb. I actually worked under those conditions for a while. Worse, if I did one thing, I was wrong. If I did the other, I got scolded. Instead of using the computer to streamline things, they used the computer to become Big Brother.

Speaking of Big Brother, the government is using computers to track our ways more and more and they are not the only ones. Though they do not yet use the info for such purposes regularly, they certainly can. It would not take much to make it happen. Indeed, it is quite possible that the foundations are in place.

One of the uses that management has found for computers is in fast food. Most of the major chains have computers tracking how long it takes to process an order. While I am not completely in agreement with the use, it does help to make sure the that the guests receive their order in a reasonable time. It does have a problem. Most frequently, the employees simply delay in taking the order. This allows the staff to apparently provide fast service, though the computer is collecting false data. Recently, McDonald’s has started using kiosks to take orders.

I have had the opportunity to use them a few times and I now have an opinion about them. On the positive side, the staff no longer is able to corrupt the data. The computer times the order from when the customer completes the order until it is completed. Also, the employee brings the order to the customer’s table. For me, that is not a big thing, but I do realize it is for some.

On the negative side, the kiosks are difficult. For me to say that it is something. I was a computer operator for about twenty-five years. It takes me twice as long to enter the order on the kiosk than to provide the order the old way. Moreover, I am not sure of what to do next after each step. The other day, the employee entered the order on the kiosk, and even she entered the order slowly.

I am afraid this was one step backward. The fault, as usual, is not the computer but rather those who programmed it. My personal opinion is that the project will likely go through a number of revisions in the next few years, that is, if they hope to have success with the kiosks. Otherwise, they will simply frustrate their customers. Those like me will simply go to the counter and order the good old fashioned way.

Then again, those like my wife will likely stay away altogether. She does not like computers at all and she lets me know it every chance she gets. To be sure, this is in spite of the fact that they helped me put food on the table through most of our marriage.