cellphone ban # 2

So why is it that we feel the need to answer our cellphones when they ring at an inconvenient time? So much of technology involves us becoming slaves to our gadgets and instead of making our life less complicated.

Everyday we must check our emails and our messages and play doctor to our computer overlords, lest they throw a freezing up tantrum. Who dares to opt for videos over Blueray DVDs? Listen to records instead of CDs? Watch a black and white television.

One of the big mistakes that human technology has come up with, as far as I can see, is abstaining from knobs abd dials. To change chanel on a car sterio is far too complex, when a simple dial would easily suffice. You guys speak of techno-phobias but whatever happened to taking things one step at a time?

Rushing technology does not allow the general public to get to grips with one thing before they are urged to part with more money on an upgraded version of what they are not really sure that they need.

Forget the hassle of going to a bank use a compture instead and let some hack clean out your accounts. All forms must be completed without question. Those who dare to keep back any info are not welcome. How else will everyone build a complete dossier on everyone else. Is it any wonder that our phones are plagued with telemarketers, endless surveys and a raft of emotional blackmailers.

Jimmy Hoffer, an aqctive trade unionist in the Teamsters Union (around the 1960s era), use to say: "Give the man whatever he asks for". If he was alive these days perhaps he would say "give the computer whatever it asks for." Who needs privacy. Give them all your most personal details -date of birth, your mother's madien name, where you live, your phone number, when the last time you had a shit...just enter it into the boxes and except it.

Scammers and hackers get rich simply because no one wants to be accused of being techno-phobic.

cellphone ban

A new Law has come into New Zealand banning the use of cellphones whilst driving, the penalty is quite high: involving a monetary and demerit points.

Hands free kits are allowed but there seems little in the way of requirement for employers to install them in their fleets. Some people from other countries have tried getting round this by placing the cellphone on the passenger seat and using the speaker-phone option, or attaching it to various parts of their body where they hope it will not be detected. New Zealanders have been warned that the local law and order enforcers will not put up with such shenanigans.

Distraction free driving has been a hot topic throughout a number of dimensions for quite some time and each intelligent life form has their own unique ways of dealing with it.

The most fascinating case I have been studying of recent times is that of the Oomptychars, a life force that communicates via telephony. After much study they linked telepathic communication whist driving to a number of fatal accidents, and thus laws were passed prohibiting telephony whist driving.

By means of highly advanced technology they were able to scan the airways for telepathic activity and trace it back to its origin with the help of a sophisticated GPS mechanism. If the originator of this activity should happen to be in a moving vehicle, then the telepathic part of his/her/its (whatever) would be blocked by another mechanism.

This blockage causes extreme migraines if the offender tries to any further telepathic communication, until such time as the vehicle ceases movement. An extreme measure but from what I understand the Oomptychars are a fairly extreme race of beings.

What if during the Melbourne Cup ...?

Yesterday afternoon, for the want of something better to do I tuned in on my on board computer to watch a live feed of The Melbourne Cup. I believe a horse named Shocking won the race but for some reason the audience who were watching this event cheered the jockey, not the horse that had run its heart out. I am at a loss of the skills involved in sitting on a horse faster than any other rider, but there you have it. Far be it for me to criticize another planet’s passion.

Whilst watching this event I noticed how overly enthusiastic the crowd seemed to get as the horses galloped down toward the finishing line (though I would probably me also get a bit excited if I had wagered money on the out come). It was then that a certain idea struck me. What would happen if during those last hundred or so meters all the horses stopped and refused to budge to cross the finishing line?

Would some horse racing official go so far as threaten to shoot the nefarious nags if they did not comply? Imagine the wrath of punters who had waged literally millions of dollars. An almost uncontrollable riot would more than likely erupt.

Should the matter reach some sort of resolve, what then? Assuming a rerunning of the Melbourne Cup occurred, from what point could it start? Lining all the horses up in the exact positions they were when the first race stopped? Starting again from the beginning? Either way could they be sure there not being a repeat performance?

Whatever the outcome, it sure would be an interesting spectacle. According to the research I have done so far this has never happened before. Though I maybe wrong.
If your horse racing history tells of such a case then please let me know. I would be more than anxious to read all about it.