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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The Inexorable Laws of Technology
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Eirenist
Shipmate
# 13343
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Posted
We are I think all familiar with:
1. Murphy's Law: What can go wrong, will go wrong.
A period of my professional life spent trying to help combat fraud and misuse in the telecommunications world led me to conclude:
2. There is no advance in technology that is incapable of being wrongfully used.
Yesterday evening, waiting at a meeting while a recalcitrant data projector was being persuaded to operate, I formulated the following:
3. Every new technology makes us its prisoner,
and
4. The information you need is always inaccessible.
(Though the last may apply to life today generally.)
Are shipmates aware of any additional laws in this field?
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'I think I think, therefore I think I am'
Posts: 486 | From: Darkest Metroland | Registered: Jan 2008
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I would adjust the last one to something like:
4. The information you need is always available, just inaccessible.
I would add
5. No matter how good the technology, there is always human involvement. That is always the strongest component, and the weak link.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eirenist:
We are I think all familiar with:
1. Murphy's Law: What can go wrong, will go wrong.
Are shipmates aware of any additional laws in this field?
I would add:
1.i Kelly's addition to Murphy's Law: When nothing can go wrong, something will still go wrong.
I think it was Tom Gilb who stated that behind every computer error are at least two human errors, one of which is to declare the problem a 'computer error'.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
The longer you have worked using a program on a project without saving the more likely it is to crash.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
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Posted
Based on far-too-numerous conversations with experts who have just "fixed" my computer and then tried the fix:
What should work never does.
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Spiggott: Everything I've ever told you is a lie, including that.
Moon: Including what?
Spiggott: That everything I've ever told you is a lie.
Moon: That's not true!
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
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Chapelhead
I am
# 21
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I think it was Tom Gilb who stated that behind every computer error are at least two human errors, one of which is to declare the problem a 'computer error'.
Reminds me of an electrician friend of mine who held, correctly, I think, that there is no such thing as an electrical fault, just mechanical faults.
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At times like this I find myself thinking, what would the Amish do?
Posts: 9123 | From: Near where I was before. | Registered: Aug 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Heinlein's law: any technology sufficiently advanced will be indistinguishable from magic. (presently being verified by several "What's an email attachment? OOoooohhhh!!!" people I know)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Ahem.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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M.
Ship's Spare Part
# 3291
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Posted
Labour saving devices don't.
M.
Posts: 2303 | From: Lurking in Surrey | Registered: Sep 2002
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
A device will become obsolete as soon as you purchase it.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
The Diagnostician's Law: An intermittent fault is a fault that has not yet been analysed sufficiently.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
Computers become steadily smaller and cheaper but the cost of connecting cables remains constant.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
If you but connecting cables from the store that sold the computer they will cost at least ten times that of cables bought elsewhere.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
A device will become obsolete as soon as you purchase it.
And, just as soon as you master some software, the new version will have completely changed the interface so you can't find any of the tools you need.
Similarly, if it works, don't worry - Microsoft will "fix" it.
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I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
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Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668
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Posted
The concept of the WOM (Write Only Memory) is important. You created the data, you know you saved it correctly, but you will never see it again. Applies to humans and machines pretty much equally, but I prefer to blame the machine.
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Thay haif said. Quhat say thay, Lat thame say (George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal)
Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011
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John T
Apprentice
# 17166
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Posted
If it sticks, use a large hammer. If it breaks, it needed replacement anyway.
Posts: 6 | From: Rochdale Greater Manchester | Registered: Jun 2012
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Polly Plummer
Shipmate
# 13354
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Posted
Any device will stop working immediately the guarantee runs out.
Posts: 577 | Registered: Jan 2008
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Hebdom
Shipmate
# 14685
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Posted
You will always need a cable or device you've put into the council e-waste collection a week after the event.
Posts: 163 | From: Terra australis | Registered: Mar 2009
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MarsmanTJ
Shipmate
# 8689
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I would add:
1.i Kelly's addition to Murphy's Law: When nothing can go wrong, something will still go wrong.
I think it was Tom Gilb who stated that behind every computer error are at least two human errors, one of which is to declare the problem a 'computer error'.
My boss has a list on our shared to-do list thingy, one of which is the 'PEBCAK error' list. PEBCAK: Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard.
Posts: 238 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon . . . " you will need a file after deleting it, deleting all backups thereof, and emptying the recycle bin.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by MarsmanTJ:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
[qb] 'PEBCAK error' list. PEBCAK: Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard.
I've heard this called a PICNIC error;
Problem
In
Chair
Not
In
Computer
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
A software upgrade that promises to save you 3 hours a week through greater efficiency will take you a minimum of 10 hours a week to learn.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
All joints can be fixed using duct tape and WD40).
i) If a joint is too loose, apply duct tape
ii) If a joint is too tight, apply WD40
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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The Machine Elf
Irregular polytope
# 1622
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Posted
"[You] must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s"
(William Blake, but applies to computer systems too)
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Elves of any kind are strange folk.
Posts: 1298 | From: the edge of the deep green sea | Registered: Oct 2001
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