Faceless rule-makers

Yesterday’s post about Facebook’s abysmal security algorithm prompts thoughts about the power of faceless rule-makers and how they deploy that power.  Lest we forget, computer applications are designed by humans, who are as prone as the next person to commit errors.

Whether it’s a computer, an in-car system or a game on a tablet, it cannot have been tested in every conceivable scenario. I recall some years back seeing the standard message on computers, along these lines – ‘You have committed an illegal action.’ Which definitely alarmed law-abiding new users, who worried about what they’d done… This is typical of some programmers – too lazy to program and test for all eventualities, they let the conditional options drop through a number of possible messages and then throw in a catch-all – ‘illegal alert!’ – to capture any other unforeseen route a user might go down.

It’s the English language being misused: illegal in my dictionary says it’s something that’s contrary to or for bidden by law. The last time I looked, computer programmers didn’t make law – they make rules. The same goes for android and robots used with regard to tablets and apps. Android is an automaton resembling a human being; robot was invented by Karel Capek in his story ‘R.U.R – Rossum’s Universal Robots’ and derives from the Polish, Ukrainian robota, forced labour, and Russian, robota, work. Early twentieth century definition now accepts that it can be a machine that carries out a variety of tasks automatically or with a minimum of external impulse (such as factory robots); that’s still a big leap from software applications.

Are the individuals who label these applications so devoid of imagination that they must steal an existing term for their jargon? Ask any sci-fi writer and he or she would probably come up with something appropriate. I realise that it’s academic my discussing this, when you consider that for the Windows operating system you have to click on ‘Start’ to log off (which was removed, sensibly, but the clamour from old users has demanded its return, a yearning for the familiar).

I digress. Consider two new ideas being bandied about of late – driverless cars and driverless lorry convoys!

We’re slowly blindly going down that path that was trodden decades before the Terminator movies were thought of, be assured.

If users become dependent on all these applications, then when they go wrong, as they do and will continue to do so, the resultant responses will be anger without management, frustration, and a tendency to rebel – whether as a hacker, a troll or in a more personal manner. It’s the stuff of science fiction. Harlan Ellison’s ‘ “Repent, Harlequin!” said the Ticktockman’ was about nonconformity being a felony, as well as being a moral tale. Sci-fi authors extrapolate current trends to see where it might lead. Jim England’s story ‘The Globe’ (published in Auguries #6, 1987 is about, among other things, litter louts being zapped by a surveillance stun-gun. And the late Bob Jenkins published a short story ‘No Fire Without Smoke’ (published in Adlib, 1985, reprinted Portsmouth Post, 2007) that casts cigarette smokers as public enemies, liable to be incarcerated or even shot…

'The Globe', 1987

 

The point – faceless rule-makers, if allowed, can take us down a road of unintended and even unperceived consequences.

Back to normal tomorrow…

 

Express delivery

Some time in 1958, during a rainy day at school, when we were kept indoors reading during the lunch break, I discovered a comic, Express Weekly. That weekend, I went to our local newsagent, Mr Beckman and ordered it. He hadn’t heard of it but promised it would be delivered on the next  Tuesday with our daily paper. When the day came, I rushed downstairs at the sound of the letterbox flapping and my excitement dissipated when I found instead a copy of the newspaper, The Daily Express. Happily, it was eventually sorted out and I received my weekly dose of Express Weekly on Tuesdays and The Eagle comic on Wednesdays.

The 'two greatest western strips' mentioned were Lone Ranger and Gun Law

My favourite character in Express Weekly was Wulf the Briton, drawn by R.S. Embleton. Ronald Sydney was born in 1930 and sadly died of a heart attack in 1988; his brother Gerald was born in 1941 and also became a superb artist, and his work can be seen in the books of the military publisher Osprey, for example.

Ron Embleton’s artwork is much sought-after.

 

Like many schoolboys, I was fascinated by the period of our history when the Romans occupied Britain. The Wulf stories seemed very accurate in their depiction of those times. Wulf’s adventures concluded in September 1960.

The Iron Age in Britain lasted for about 800 years – from 750BC until 43AD, when the Romans returned to occupy the country. During the pre-Roman period coinage was introduced and wheel-thrown pottered mastered. People became more aware of hygiene and personal appearance and were living in larger and more settled communities. The Romans, in their plain coloured togas, were surprised at the Britons’ brightly coloured trousers and cloaks, often in striped and checked patterns. Over the years of occupation, friendships and inter-marriage resulted and the Romans absorbed Britain as much as the Britons absorbed the culture of their conquerors.

If you want to see what an iron age farm looked like, you can visit Butser Ancient Farm in Gosport, Hampshire, UK. Their website is http://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/

The late Bob Jenkins ran an interesting article about the Iron Age farm in the July 2003 issue of The Portsmouth Post.

Cover photo of Post's staff member Stacey by Mike Walker -

as Bob said, 'We took liberties with the choice of costume...!'