Techno Hassle

I'm having intense techno hassle today. This first manifested itself at the subway station when I attempted to add some money to my "Easy Card" (travel pass). It's normally a good system. One simply stuffs one's Easy Card in one slot, and bank card in another. One then tels the machine how much money to transfer from bank to Easy Card and it does it. Today however, as I went through this familar routine, I experienced one of those agonising delays that signals a problem. I hate that, late for work and at the mercy of a machine that may have digested either my Easy Card or my bank card. A friendly message popped up on the screen telling me to inform my bank if my card wasn't returned in two minutes. This worried me because it made me think that the machine had become sentient and not in fact made it's mind up whether or not to return my card. As luck would have it, I did get both cards back and it did appear to have completed the transaction as expected. But I don't need this kind of stress, I'm an expectant father for God's sake.

Then, upon arriving at work I discovered that a document I know I updated yesterday had reverted mysteriously back to a previous state. I'm trying to recreate the problem now, but as I type this, I am waiting for Visual Source Safe to check files in. It appears to have hung. This does not bode well for the rest of the day.

Why is it that technology programs on TV and radio are so crap? I was listening to "Go Digital" from BBC Radio 4 today and it suddenly occured to me that the presenters were clowns with absolutely no feel for the subject of technology at all. They're just advanced users who liek to play. They throw around buzzwords like "digital" and "bandwidth" with no real understanding of what they mean. Why can't real engineers present these programs? Pick up a copy of New Scientist and you'll find intelligent, witty articles written by people who really know wha they're talking about. And it's entertaining and accessible. It's begining to piss me off to tel you the truth. Bill Thompson at the BBC is a prime example of a technology "analyst" with no real feel for the subject. It tok me a while to work out why I don't like him, but it's just because he's a geeky journalist pretending to be an engineer.

I just read that someone in Britain is studying for a PhD in "Air Guitar". How the hell will she actually write an entire paper on something so shallow? I think I am going to see if I can do a PhD in sleeping, or going to the pub every once in a while. Maybe I could do a PhD in watching films, or surfing porn sites on the internet. What's the point of giving out qualifications like this? If it's that easy, what's the point in working for a worthwhile qualification? Click.