Friday, June 02, 2017
Notes about an overheard conversation while driving to lunch
“Oh my! That's so pretty! I wonder what it is?”
“A tree?”
“I know, silly. But what is its name?”
“Frank?”
“No, no. A lot of streets down here are named after it.”
“NW 25th Street?”
“Must … control … fist … of … death … ”
Thursday, June 08, 2017
You know, giving the customer unfettered access to a device that can scan credit cards might not be a good idea
A few cow-orkers and I are at Chili's for lunch and I'm disappointed to see they still have those insipid Ziosk things on the tables. I personally can't stand them (and it seems like I'm not alone in that) and I'm heartened to see the waitron remove the thing from our table.
Lunch passes. We're waiting for our waitron to bring the bill. And waiting. We wait some more. It becomes apparent that our waitron has been abducted so one of my fellow cow-orkers grabs the Ziosk thing so we can pay our bill.
Only the Ziosk thing has crashed.
We flag down another waitron to explain our dilemma. The waitron grabs the Ziosk thing, rips the battery out and snaps it back into place. “It's the only way to reset the thing.”
A few minutes go by and we attempt to pay our check yet again. And yet again, the Ziosk thing crashes.
We flag another waitron down and explain our dilemma. This time, the waitron retakes our order so that the check can be split four ways. And here I thought it was supposed to save time and be an easy experience.
Friday, June 09, 2017
I can't decide if this is an inspired or insipid idea
I've just come across what has to be the oddest feature I've ever seen on a laptop to date—a physical on/off switch for the wifi connection.
Not one for the camera, mind you—the wifi!
I can only guess it's there to keep those wily hackers off the computer.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Perhaps this time, there is a difference
First it was CGP Grey and his video “Humans Need Not Apply.” Now it's Kurzgesagt and their video, “The Rise of the Machines.”
There's not much more I can add to this but … um … I—for—one—welcome—our—new—robotic—overlords.
