Lines at the Airport

Every Monday I get the joy of standing in the same security line at the airport. If you didn't catch it, the word "joy" was soaked in sarcasm. I hate that line. The funny thing is, if I just wait 20 minutes to get to the airport, there is no line. I can sail through security with nobody in front of me. Instead, I try to give myself plenty of time in case there is a flat tire or some other emergency.

The airport has two lines: one for vacationers and the other for seasoned travelers. One would think that the expert line would move faster because everyone knows the fastest way to get through the x-ray machines and metal detectors. Unfortunately that is not the case because of one moronic TSA employee. There are 4 agents checking tickets and identification. Rather than split the agents between the two lines, he allocates three agents for the vacation line and one agent for the experts. Naturally the line with more agents goes much quicker. Since I travel every Monday, I know this and generally get in the faster line. It is interesting to watch the reaction of the business travelers once they realize their mistake. Unfortunately they are powerless to voice their dissatisfaction. The moment you mention the unfair policy to Mr. Moron, you get volunteered for that all-encompassing-body-cavity search.

Computers have lines or queues for dealing with tasks. That is what allows them to multi-task. Sometimes they use LIFO's (last in, first out) and sometimes they use FIFO's (first in, first out). There are all sorts of algorithms to ensure that important processes are dealt with first and less important ones wait patiently. I only wish the airport operated with such consistency.

Today a couple came through the airport and they were late for their flight. At the time they were sitting in the security line, their flight was boarding. I told them they should go through the empty handicap line and the TSA agents would help them quickly get through security. The couple took my advice and were immediately met by my least favorite TSA agent. He informed them they would have to go to the end of the line and wait like everyone else. Afraid of making a scene, the couple came back to their previous place in line. All of us in line were in a collective charitable mood and allowed them immediate access to the front of the line. The couple was able to make their flight, as I didn't see them hanging around as I passed the gate their gate on the way to mine.

This whole experience left me wondering about the security system at our airports. How do they pick TSA agents? Is it the best and the brightest, or individuals willing to work with grumpy travelers for $13/hour? Don't you think they could find people that at least know how FIFO's (first in, first out) work, so it isn't a guessing game as to when you will get through security.

Naturally I didn't say a word while I was at the airport this morning. My silence enabled me to pass through security without being flagged as a "random" traveler required to go through extra screening. Now that I have safely arrived at my destination, I can post my displeasure of the less-than-intelligent TSA officer. While it is probably safe to assume the guy can't read or even work a computer, it is probably the relative limited readership of this posting that will allow me to pass through the airport unscathed next week.

Bad Spelling

Mark Twain once said, "I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." Those of us that wouldn't make the final round of a third-grade spelling bee have to agree with the famed author. Luckily computers help make spelling mistakes a thing of the past. As I write these words on the computer, it automatically highlights any misspelled word with a red-squiggly underline. I then have the option of fixing it. Most of the time I can figure it out and get the word right. If I try a couple of times and still can't figure out the spelling, I have two courses of action: use a different word, or open a word processor and look at its helpful suggestions.

Recently a coworker asked how to spell ambivalent. Actually he first threw out a phrase that he wanted condensed into a single word and ambivalent is the word he decided to use. His next question was how to spell it. I opened my word processor and gave it my best shot. In my opinion, I wasn't even close. However I was close enough for the program to figure out what I was trying to write and it gave me the correct spelling.

I gave the spelling to my coworker, who crafted it into an elegantly worded sentence for an e-mail that even Mark Twain would be proud to claim. This reminds me of a cartoon I once saw with the punch-line, "On the Internet, nobody knows your a dog." I'd like to add a phrase to the end that says, "or spell like one."

Obscure Configuration Files

A coworker and I have spent the last three days trying to get some open source software to work. We had it working enough so that it was usable for most situations. Yesterday we found the magic key that suddenly fixed everything. I have to say that I am glad to have figured out the problem, but somewhat frustrated it took so long. In the end, it turned out to be a problem with a configuration file buried deep in the software. This leads me to the question: why wasn't the configuration file located in the configuration directory with all of the others?

The product we are using is open source, which means there is no cost to use the software unless you count our time trying to configure it. It also means that the software was put together by any number of people working in their spare time. The product is rather large and complex, requiring a bigger development team. Unfortunately the guy responsible for the part we needed, never got full credit on any of his homework assignments in college.

The solution to our problem was found through a number of Internet searches. Another group was having a similar problem and was kind enough to post their solution on a software-help forum. Unfortunately they had an error in their solution, but we were able to figure it out without too much difficulty. Knowing which file to edit was the difficult task in our exercise.

Once everything was working correctly, I pulled out my engineering notebook and recorded what we did to fix the problem. Should a similar problem happen in the future, I have the solution written down.

Three Browsers

Yesterday I was trying to hunt down a very annoying problem with database reporting. In the course of troubleshooting I ended up installing yet another browser on my Windows laptop at work. So now I have Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox all on the same machine. They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

My preference is Firefox. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Internet Explorer only runs on Windows. Chrome is something new and so I have tried to avoid it until recently. The one advantage Chrome has over the other two browsers is security. If you need to visit a website where there is a chance it will try to install a virus or malware on your PC, Chrome is the browser to use as it does the best job of keeping that from happening.

The only problem with Chrome is its user interface. Google (the developer of Chrome) does a great job of adhering to the KISS principle. KISS is an acronym that stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. While that generally works to its advantage for its search engine website, it becomes a negative for its browser.

The sad thing is that I use all three browsers. If I am reading some of my old e-mail that uses Microsoft Exchange Server, I use Internet Explorer because the interface is so much better. If I am using my work computer back on the boat and surfing the net, I use Chrome just in case I unintentionally visit a site that may try to zap my computer. Then I use Firefox for everything else. Wouldn't life be simpler if the best features of all three products could be found in one?

A Good Desk

I have been fighting a cold since last Thursday and so when I went home over the weekend, I didn't do much but rest. Snowbird was still open and so I could have gone skiing, but didn't. I had some friends that wanted to go sailing, but I didn't. About the only useful thing I did do was clean off my desk in my office.

Yesterday I flew back out to the Bay Area feeling slightly better but still under the weather. When I got back to my boat last night, I made dinner and then sat down on the couch in front of the TV. I thought about doing some work on a project my son and I are collaborating on, but decided against it. My boat normally has a great desk to work at. When my family came out to visit San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, we turned the desk into a bed. This involved partially dismantling the boat. Normally the desk should turn into a bed with a minimal amount of work. However, due to a busted screw, the process turned into an hour long process. I have yet to repeat the equally lengthy reverse process. First I would like to fix the broken screw.

Thinking back to my clean desk at home versus the non-desk on the boat, it made me realize how important a good work environment is. If you don't have a clean desk or a proper area to work, it may be hurting your performance. So if you find yourself putting off working on the computer, take a look at your work environment. Perhaps you might want to clean up the area and then it will be easier to do your work.

There is a Home Depot near my office and so I stopped in on the way to to work. Now I have the tools to fix the desk on my boat. Afterwards maybe I can work on my son's project. All that is on TV are reruns anyways.

The Bookstore

Last night I spent some time at the local bookstore. There is something nice about being able to leaf through a number of books trying to decide what you are interested in reading. It would be a shame if electronic books completely displaced all bookstores. Don't get me wrong though, I am a huge fan of electronic books.

When I was in college, I used to carry around an overloaded backpack filled with my engineering textbooks. We had the technology back then to reduce all of those books to their electronic equivalent and I would have paid extra money to do so. Electronic books should cost a fraction of their printed equivalents. There is no need to cut down a tree for the paper. There is no need to do elaborate four-color printings. There is no need to ship the heavy product to warehouses and then onto stores.

Lately I have found myself doing a lot more electronic reading and less magazine and book reading. I'm not sure what is causing the shift in my reading habits. However last night it was comforting to go back to the bookstore and read the old fashion way.

Wife Reading E-mail

Today I caught my wife reading my e-mail. This is not a bad thing as I don't have any secrets that would get me in trouble with her. I believe that every spouse has a right to know what the other is receiving as electronic correspondence. It has a tendency to cut down on secret liaisons and infidelity. Furthermore my wife had a legitimate reason to check my e-mail this morning. My youngest son is leaving on a summer trip and I had some information that my wife needed to get with regards to paying for the trip.

The only problem with my wife reading my e-mail is due to the convoluted way I have my e-mail configured. When I am on the road, I use a webmail client. I can delete unwanted messages directly on the server and read the important stuff. When I get home, I download all the e-mail from the web and store it locally on my desktop machine. This keeps my e-mail server from having to store more than a couple dozen messages.

I arrived at the office this morning and had the usual nightly messages. Then I noticed that my messages suddenly disappeared. For a moment I thought my server had a bug. Then I realized that my wife must be going through my e-mail and so I gave her a call. My suspicions were confirmed and we had a good laugh. She didn't understand the whole delete-from-server process and felt bad when I explained it to her. Luckily I had finished reading all my new e-mail and so there was no harm done. I was just glad there weren't any messages from BIG-WANDA@your-love-connection.com.

Computer Monitoring

I was at a family party this weekend and was talking with my brother-in-law. He was asking about one of my job functions which amounts to watching a number of computer servers to make sure they are running smoothly. This is one of those paradoxes that can be found throughout the working world. If I am doing my job correctly, I should be sitting around with nothing to do. If I do it wrong, then I am always busy and look productive.

To help illustrate the point, I used a boat analogy. Something going wrong is like getting a hole in the boat. If I do a good job with the repair, then I shouldn't have to constantly check for leaks. If I do a poor job, then I have to spend my time watching the patch and pumping out water.

This makes it very difficult for management to reward good behavior. Management doesn't like to pay for an employee to sit around all day playing video games. However it is much worse for that employee to constantly be working on trouble issues that never really get resolved. Good management understands that stable computer systems are the desired goal and rewards this behavior accordingly. That must explain why the number of things on my plate continues to grow. Now how am I ever going to finish my video game?

5-0 Radio for the iPhone

This past weekend I got the chance to help my nephew with his Eagle Scout service project. He is part of an Explorer Post that specializes in HAM radio. So for his project, he helped out with radio support for the Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run. People actually start running at 5:00 am and run all day long until about 11:30 at night. There are 10 aid stations along the way. My job was to help staff one of the stations and record when the runners came in and when they left. I would then relay this information back to the start/finish so they could post the times online.

It was a lot of fun and I was glad to be able to use a skill for something other than just playing around. When the last racer left my station, I jumped in a 4x4 and headed back to the start/finish. I was having so much fun, I decided to help there and stuck around for another couple of hours.

On Sunday evening I was able to participate in a HAM radio emergency practice drill that takes place every week. It only took 10 minutes of my time and was something I could do while packing to leave town.

Yesterday I must have been going through HAM withdrawals because I did an Internet search for the Amateur Radio Disaster Services (ARES) group that is responsible for the area where I keep my boat. I discovered that they do their weekly drill on Monday evenings. Unfortunately I don't have my HAM radio with me and so I couldn't participate. Then I remembered that I have an application on my iPhone called "5-0 Radio." It allows me to listen in on a large number of HAM radio conversations. I did a quick lookup and the Monday evening drill was available to listen to. So I sat down on the couch in my boat, put my earphones on, and listened to the drill. I couldn't talk as the application only allows users to listen. However, I probably wouldn't have talked anyways. I just wanted to get a feel for how the drill was conducted and to make sure my own radio etiquette is as it should be.

When you see the Apple iPhone commercial and listen to them list a bunch of different applications, they aren't lying. If you have a need for any type of information, there probably is an app for that. Now if I can just get my iPhone to do my laundry . . .

Be Careful What You Write

A few weeks ago, I attended a presentation on Internet Security. The purpose of the talk was to expose the dangers of putting too much personal information on the Internet. With the advent of Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, there are a lot of ways to keep all of your friends up-to-date with your latest activities. However this can be a bad thing. Perhaps you mention that you have just acquired that rare item on e-bay that represents the bulk of your net worth. Then a few weeks later, you mention that you are on vacation. Any thief with Internet access and a willingness to do a bit of research can figure out how to unburden you from your prized possession.

For some in the audience, it was difficult to see how one could make the jump from reading a blog (like this one) to knowing the exact location of a person. The speaker then gave an illustration of how a teenager was befriended by an online predator. The teenager was smart enough to know better than to give out personal information but that didn't stop the predator. He was able to discover her e-mail and did an Internet search. He was able to find a post on a collectibles website where she gave her mother's phone number. The predator was able to do a reverse telephone lookup and get her address. It was only a matter of luck that the authorities were able to apprehend the predator before any damage was done. When they caught him, he had a map with driving instructions to the teenager's house.

At the end of the presentation it became very apparent that the speaker was against any type of online presence. While that may be a bit drastic, he did have some good points. First, make sure you have a valid reason for posting information. Second, be careful what you post as it may become a lure for tragedy. Finally, be aware of what your children are posting. While I may be upset if someone were to steal my favorite pair of skis, I wouldn't cry too long. If someone were to harm one of my children, it would be a much different story.