History of the Automatic Teller

XopherMV writes "The line was long and slow, and he became increasingly irritated as his lunch hour dribbled away. All at once, he had a flash of inspiration. 'Golly, all the teller does is cash checks, take deposits, answer questions like "What's my balance?" and transfer money between accounts,' recalls Wetzel, now 75 and still living in Dallas with his wife. 'Wow, I think we could build a machine that could do that!' And with a $4 million go-ahead from Docutel's parent company, that's exactly what he and his engineers did. Read more about the story of the ATM."

Space Technology Helps Save Lives on Earth

Roland Piquepaille writes "Technology developed for space travel has been adapted for uses on Earth for a long time. But now, three articles report that some current customizations can save lives. For example, SPACE.com writes that space technology is entering hospitals. It says that a system originally intended to keep clean the space station Mir, and later the International Space Station (ISS), is now used in hospitals to build temporary 'clean rooms' -- virtually bacteria-free -- around patients. And a video infrared camera developed by NASA's JPL to study Earth is being modified into a brain scanning device searching for tumors. Elsewhere, National Geographic is saying that satellites are starting to aid earthquake predictions. And ESA's satellites are looking at the 'rogue' monster waves which have has sunk many of the 200 supertankers and container ships exceeding 200 meters in length during the last two decades. You need to read the articles mentioned above to realize how all these bleeding edge technologies can really help us on Earth, but if you have a limited time, please read my blog for selected excerpts and photos." NASA has always tried to make a big deal out of how their innovations later show up elsewhere, though some have suggested that they've overhyped this aspect of their research. Still, amusing to note these stories coming out just as a big battle is going on concerning NASA's budget.

Won't Be Able To Get Phone Service From Ma Bell Any More

AT&T keeps on changing. It seems you never can be quite sure what they're going to offer, what they're going to kill, and what they're going to spin off. However, they clearly do realize that the telecom environment they're in these days is quite different than it's been in the past. They've been ramping up their VoIP efforts, and following the ruling that says the RBOCs don't need to share their lines, it appears AT&T has decided to throw all their residential voice eggs into the VoIP basket. Thus, they're no longer selling long distance phone service to residential customers. They will still sell to businesses (where the money is for them anyway) and will still support existing AT&T phone customers, but for the first time, you will no longer be able to get traditional telephone service from AT&T to your home. Of course, between VoIP and the eventual wireless MVNO plan they're going to offer, it looks like AT&T may be the first major telco to realize that many people don't really need a traditional voice line at all any more. Who would have thought that AT&T might lead the way (though, perhaps out of necessity, not vision)?

New Government Computer System Takes 15 Steps To Save A Document

Ah, the federal government at work. When you install a new computer system, you generally do so to make your office more efficient. Not with the government. It turns out that a new SAP powered computer system at two offices of (of all things) the Federal Technology Service (the GSA's info tech procurement group), has slowed things down to a crawl. They're blaming the training procedure, but it says people were trained... but apparently they were trained without actually seeing the system they were being trained on (no, seriously). The article claims that the GSA was shocked to discover that practice and theory didn't match, and that employees actually needed trainers on hand to help them when they actually had the new system in place. Of course, one reason why they might need training is that the system sounds ridiculously complex. It now takes 15 (count 'em) steps to save a file. Meanwhile, bills go unpaid, orders go unprocessed, and the group insists they're going to muddle through because turning back is not an option and "workarounds" will upset the auditors. Apparently, the $46 million of our tax money spent on the system did not go to any usability testing. Among the other descriptive phrases used in the article: "someone bursts into tears almost hourly," "it is very, very difficult to learn the new system," "unnecessarily complicated," and "not always intuitive." Sounds great.

Google Toolbar v2.0.112 [458K] Win9x/2k/XP FREE

Search Google, block popups, and much more. As toolbars go, this is one of the best! [MajorGeeks]

Daddy A Go Go

Are you looking for some music that your young ones can listen to, but not have to worry about the lyrics or hidden content? If so, do we have a site for you! Called Daddy A Go Go, this site literally rocks! It features music for children aged two through ten (and even their parents) - and if your mamma don’t dance and your daddy don’t rock and roll, they will after hearing songs such as “The Scaredy Cat Cowboy” and “Come On Get Happy.” Daddy A Go Go is the brainchild of John Boydston, who writes, records, plays, and produces the music you hear on a Daddy a Go Go CD.[Daddy A Go Go, continued] [Family First]

Living La Vida Broadband

Admittedly, it's an article with just a few anecdotal stories, but the NY Times is trying to get a feel for how broadband changes many people's lives. Basically, the story suggests that broadband becomes like a utility that people who have it come to rely on completely. There's one story of a family who found the perfect home they wanted to buy, but when they found out there was no broadband service in the area yet, it became a deal breaker. Of course, if the Times really wanted to see what happens when broadband becomes a utility, they should be looking at South Korea and Japan. Even if they only looked in the most heavily broadband saturated American cities, we're still way behind a few other countries that have made a much bigger effort to push broadband adoption.

New Hampshire To Tax Instant Messaging, Email And Chat Rooms

Brian writes in to point out that "New Hampshire’s tax collecting agency wants to apply a 7 percent tax on a variety of telephone and Internet services from chat rooms to voice mail." They also include web mail and instant messaging in the things that would be taxed. This is even more ridiculous than Florida's plans to tax your WiFi network. The New Hampshire "Department of Revenue Administration" tries to lamely justify this new tax, saying they're just updating old rules for new technologies, but can't seem to come up with a good justification for doing this... perhaps because there is no good justification for doing this.

Bait-cars play theme from "Cops" during bust

Cops in Minnesota and Ohio have developed a fleet of "bait cars" -- cars left on the street with the keys in the ignition as a honeypot for snagging car thieves. The cars are equipped with hidden cameras and satellite trackers for evidence gathering and apprehension, and with specially fitted car-radios that play the theme from "Cops" during the bust itself.

I remember the Toronto cops once tried a bait-bike and were quite successful, snagging dozens of bike-thieves in a short time, but had to give it up because the bait-bike got stolen while the cops were busy arresting someone for trying to steal it. Link (via Engadget)

How Verizon Wireless Puts Politics And Profits Ahead Of Safety

There's been an ongoing battle recently about what to do about the fact that certain Nextel mobile phones cause interference problems for public safety dispatchers. Unfortunately, the battle has become a big political game between Nextel, the FCC and Verizon Wireless. The main issue here needs to be public safety, and every player in the battle has let politics and profits creep into the question. Today, the FCC finally (after many months of very public wavering on the issue) came out with their compromise plan, which is designed mostly to piss off both sides. Basically, Nextel gets the spectrum it (and Verizon Wireless) wants, but has to pay more for it. All in all, it's a reasonable compromise in the interest of public safety -- which means moving Nextel off of its old spectrum as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, in the ongoing game of politics, it's looking like Verizon Wireless may follow through on threats to sue to stop this deal (possibly even suing FCC commissioners personally) which would only result in putting more lives at risk. Verizon Wireless should admit that this is a compromise deal. They don't get the spectrum, but Nextel had to cough up more cash, and in the interest of public safety, it's time to lock up the lawyers and let this one go.

Let The Dead Speak: Put Video Screens On Their Tombstones

A few years ago, video game company Acclaim came up with the idea of advertising their latest video game on cemetery tombstones. Obviously, this was a bit of a publicity stunt, but someone is now going a bit further with the idea of making better use of all that tombstone space and is trying to offer video screens for your tombstone. The idea is that sometime before you die, you can record various videos of yourself talking about whatever you want such as final messages to loved ones (though, the inventor suggests: "having the final say on a disagreement" making you wonder what's been going on in his life lately). However, given Acclaim's publicity stunt, I wonder if people could just sell advertising space on their video screen? These video screens would be interactive as well. The graveside visitor could click on the segment they wanted to watch. He even suggests hooking up the tombstone video screen to the internet, so the person who died could use one of those silly "after I die" email services to update his messages. Why not just put this on the web? Well, that's no fun for people who (apparently) want to wander aimlessly through cemeteries listening to the last thoughts of random dead people. As for the business model, well that's still a bit up in the air, but he actually suggests making the tombstones coin operated, so you have to plunk in a couple quarters to actually watch your loved one's message. Either that, or the cemetery could rent out headphones (just like airplanes) for anyone who wants to listen in on the messages from beyond the grave.