Anthony's weBLOG
Monday, 17 May 2004
Smart card to monitor your children
The Australian International School in Singapore has implemented a smart card technology to monitor students more closely. Including SMS/emailing parents when students are absent and controlling what children can buy at the canteen. I thought this joke was quite relevant.
logged by Anthony at 1:12:20 PM LinkNew technology has been developed which allows parents to use the Internet to monitor their children at school, right down to what they have for lunch.
The Australian International School in Singapore is claiming a world first in introducing a smart card for students, which alerts canteen staff to allergies or foods that students are not allowed to buy.
It can also be used to pay for food and monitor school attendance.
Parents would be sent an SMS or e-mail if their child were absent.
But an Australian schools group has rejected the need for parents to control what their children buy at the canteen.
Sharryn Brownlee from the Australian Council of State School Organisations says the idea misses the point.
"Understanding about healthy diet and lifestyle and exercise, as well as the foods that are sold in canteens, is now being picked up around the states and territories," she said.
"And I think it's a much better way to go, rather than a 'Big Brother' approach.
"When these cards are lost, misused, traded - we have some serious concerns about putting another layer of complication into what's a very simple business of a healthy canteen lunch at school."
Ordering Pizza in 2010
(How we will order pizza in 2010)
Operator: "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. May I have your..."
Customer: "Hi, I'd like to order."
Operator: "May I have your NIDN first, sir?"
Customer: "My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it's 6102049998-45-54610."
Operator: "Thank you, Mr. Sheehan. I see you live at 1742 Meadowland Drive, and the phone number's 494-2366. Your office number over at Lincoln Insurance is 745-2302 and your cell number's 266-2566. Which number are you calling from, sir?"
Customer: "Huh? I'm at home. Where d'ya get all this information?"
Operator: "We're wired into the system, sir."
Customer: (Sighs) "Oh, well, I'd like to order a couple of your All-Meat Special pizzas."
Operator: "I don't think that's a good idea, sir."
Customer: "Whaddya mean?"
Operator: "Sir, your medical records indicate that you've got very high blood pressure and extremely high cholesterol. Your National Health Care provider won't allow such an unhealthy choice."
Customer: "Damn. What do you recommend, then?"
Operator: "You might try our low-fat Soybean Yogurt Pizza. I'm sure you'll like it"
Customer: "What makes you think I'd like something like that?"
Operator: "Well, you checked out 'Gourmet Soybean Recipes' from your local library last week, sir. That's why I made the suggestion."
Customer: "All right, all right. Give me two family-sized ones, then. What's the damage?"
Operator: "That should be plenty for you, your wife and your four kids, sir. The 'damage,' as you put it, heh, heh, comes $49.99."
Customer: "Let me give you my credit card number."
Operator: "I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid you'll have to pay in cash. Your credit card balance is over its limit."
Customer: "I'll run over to the ATM and get some cash before your driver gets here."
Operator: "That won't work either, sir. Your checking account's overdrawn."
Customer: "Never mind. Just send the pizzas. I'll have the cash ready.. How long will it take?"
Operator: "We're running a little behind, sir. It'll be about 45 minutes, sir. If you're in a hurry you might want to pick 'em up while you're out getting the cash, but carrying pizzas on a motorcycle can be a little awkward."
Customer: "How the hell do you know I'm riding a bike?"
Operator: "It says here you're in arrears on your car payments, so your car got repossessed. But your Harley's paid up, so I just assumed that you'd be using it."
Customer: "@#%/$@&?#!"
Operator: "I'd advise watching your language, sir. You've already got a July 2006 conviction for swearing at a cop."
Customer: (Speechless)
Operator: "Will there be anything else, sir?"
Customer: "No, nothing. Oh, yeah, don't forget the two free litres of Coke your ad says I get with the pizzas."
Operator: "I'm sorry sir, but our ad's exclusionary clause prevents us from offering free soft drinks to diabetics."
logged by Anthony at 12:32:37 PM LinkLamborghini becomes cops' anti-getaway car
Major sites implementing CSS
The Sydney Morning Herald implemented full CSS on Thursday, April 29. and I must say I really like the new design. Using Print style sheets now means no loading pages for printer friendly styles and they have two layouts one for 800x600 and one for larger screens. Once again CSS allows readers to more easily access content. They even use the same style switch that I do from ALA.
Peter Ottery will address a meeting of the Web standard Group on June to discuss it. I'd love to go but I will be in Sydney the day before and will miss it.
I do have one concern though. The site nowhere near validates. I accept some items are there for older browsers, but I don't think having all tags in upper case was necessary. And making your tags up like <HEADLINE> is inexcusable.
logged by Anthony at 10:50:41 AM Link
