How very true.
Me, I appreciate technological advances that make the vehicle more reliable, more consistant over a wider range of conditions, and more long lasting. Technology like GPS, run-flat tires, “touch screen operated” basic controls and I-Drive they can keep.
There was a study recently about people who rely on GPS…
People who rely totally on GPS have no sense of direction. People who use maps have a much better sense of direction.
I use maps a lot…but also have a GPS…Some of my sons soccer games were nearly impossible to find without a GPS…There were at least 20 turns in a 10 mile route. When he was 9…he couldn’t really read a map very well…and tough to drive and read a map at the same time.
Here’s some technology to be concerned about.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/elections/2011/09/27/votinghack/
There was concern for the security of electronic voting from its introduction. It seems there is a great deal to be concerned over.
There should be a great concern…And the manufacturers should take this seriously and do something about it. Right now it’s not considered a problem so they are ignoring it. But if they want to make it secure it can be made secure…Our company designs and builds Telecommunication equipment. We have equipment in foreign countries that really need to be secure. One installation in just under a year had well over 15000 security attempts…NOT ONE WAS SUCCESSFUL. We designed major security features into the hardware and software. We’re constantly testing changing our security strategies. If a company wants to make a system secure…it CAN be done…It’s NOT that difficult. Movies like Swordfish where a hacker breaks into a 64 bit encryption in 15 seconds is “PURE FICTION”. High end security systems use multi layers of 128 or 256 bit encryptions. It would take the fastest computer in the world over a year to cover all the combinations. And to program that level of security into a system is NOT that difficult to do.
MikeInNH wrote:
People who rely totally on GPS have no sense of direction. People who use maps have a much better sense of direction.
I have my own version of this theory. People who set their GPS systems to “north up” are the ones who generally know where they’re going and who use the GPS systems more for confirmation (which is how I think it should be). People who set their GPS systems to “heading up” are the ones who blindly follow them and take crazy routes or end up in lakes.
Rod, it seems to me that the voting machine question is one of poor security rather than one of technical weakness. There is no machine that is allowed to be taken home and left unsecured in storage areas for extended periods will be untamperable.
I’m amazed that these machines are subject to better security. We’re simply talking about secured storage here, not protection against nuclear fallout. This ain’t rocket science.
If the same degree of checks and authorization were applied to voting as have been applied to merchant transactions, we could all vote safely and securely over the internet from home.
Regarding tech in cars, I think we should have a more rigorous driver education program, much like European countries have, before letting people get behind the wheel. ABS and ESP are great technologies, as useful in their own ways as smoke alarms and GFCI outlets, but we need to teach people to actually drive their cars. Let them skid and face problems in a controlled environment and learn to deal with it. As far as GPS goes, it’s far less distracting than trying to read a map while driving.
A lot of high tech stuff gets slapped onto the car by different manufacturers often, to one up the competition. Over time, the steering wheel push button shifting, Audi central control unit etc, get modified, dropped or accepted as is by everyone else. The good tech wins out and becomes indispensable and no longer considered high tech, while the Edsel approach is long forgotten.
I’ve got to give Oblivion a big thumbs-up here. I remember when I was living in Germany, and we went out to a soccer (football!) game with some German friends, he drove the car like it was his only duty. And it is. Here in the US it’s considered by many to be a right, rather than the privilege it is. This is a very old argument, and most of us here have made it, at least to 1 person, whether on this site or not.
Tech, be it cell phones, nav systems, auto dimming mirrors or daytime running lights, is neither good nor bad. It all has its place, and it’s still up to the driver to decide how important driving is to them. The manufacturers all try to produce a good product, that meets all our needs, and provides us that little bit extra so we come back.