Excerpt from an email that I received today:
"Last week, we learned that a Cornell-owned computer that was stolen earlier this month contained your name and Social Security Number. Please accept our most sincere apologies for this unfortunate event."
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Suboptimal Urinal Design
I began working on Monday (IT stuff like helpdesking, just like last summer). Today, I went to the restroom to take a leak in the late afternoon, and I discovered that whoever designed the urinals in the restroom could have designed it better. Usually when go to the restroom to take a leak, there are small puddles of water on the ground around the urinal. I used to think these were due to people peeing on the floor (though I'm not completely ruling out that possibility), but I saw today that the urinal itself pees all over the floor.
Here's what happened: I went to the restroom to take a leak. A dude before me just finished and hit the flush button above the urinal (perfectly normal and intuitive). He then walked away and proceeded to wash his hands (also perfectly normal and intuitive), while I kind of stood there and watched the urinal flush so I can pee in it afterwards. Now, these urinals are just like those in Cornell's first floor Upson Hall: automatic-flushing but still have the manual flush button. When you hit the flush button, it flushes, but then it flushes again after you walk away from the urinal. At work, the unintended second flush apparently causes a water overload in the urinal bowl, so water starts pouring over the edge, resulting in small puddles of water on the ground around the urinal. This is equally uninviting to wade in compared to the hypothetical case where people pee on the floor.
Now, I understand that a manual override is necessary (and probably a good idea) to automated systems. In fact, there was some discussion about this and flak sent in Airbus' direction after the recent mysterious Air France flight disappearance (apparently Airbus didn't have a manual override in the automated flight system? Or so I read). However, in my opinion, optimal design would automatically shut off the automated system when the manual override is engaged. In the case of the urinal, this would mean one flush per pee session, whether you flush the urinal yourself or let the motion sensor do it.
One last thing: having Dyson Airblades to dry hands in the restrooms would be awesome. Just my opinion.
Here's what happened: I went to the restroom to take a leak. A dude before me just finished and hit the flush button above the urinal (perfectly normal and intuitive). He then walked away and proceeded to wash his hands (also perfectly normal and intuitive), while I kind of stood there and watched the urinal flush so I can pee in it afterwards. Now, these urinals are just like those in Cornell's first floor Upson Hall: automatic-flushing but still have the manual flush button. When you hit the flush button, it flushes, but then it flushes again after you walk away from the urinal. At work, the unintended second flush apparently causes a water overload in the urinal bowl, so water starts pouring over the edge, resulting in small puddles of water on the ground around the urinal. This is equally uninviting to wade in compared to the hypothetical case where people pee on the floor.
Now, I understand that a manual override is necessary (and probably a good idea) to automated systems. In fact, there was some discussion about this and flak sent in Airbus' direction after the recent mysterious Air France flight disappearance (apparently Airbus didn't have a manual override in the automated flight system? Or so I read). However, in my opinion, optimal design would automatically shut off the automated system when the manual override is engaged. In the case of the urinal, this would mean one flush per pee session, whether you flush the urinal yourself or let the motion sensor do it.
One last thing: having Dyson Airblades to dry hands in the restrooms would be awesome. Just my opinion.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Three Unrelated Thoughts/Stories
** Yesterday I was driving to a graduation party, and I ran over a chipmunk. I came to this conclusion as follows:
** When I go home from school and sleep in my bed at home, I find that my feet dangle over the edge of the bed. The beds at the dorms at school are extra-long twin size, so my feet don't dangle over the edge on those. However, before going to college, I never felt that my feet dangle over the edge of my bed at home.
** Last night, I was kind of lying around in bed for 2 hours not able to fall asleep (partly because of my dangling feet I think). As a result, I started to reflect on my life story, partly because seeing friends from high school kind of reminds me of past years of my life. Now, I like to think that I have a pretty good memory (especially for things like numbers), so I remember quite a lot about my life story. Now, I am not familiar with many other peoples' life stories, but after a while of reflecting, I came to the conclusion that my life story is pretty fucked up. And to that, I laugh. What else can I do?
- I saw the chipmunk wander into the road as I was approaching it.
- I heard and felt a thump-thump as I drove by the chipmunk at 60 miles per hour (it was a country road in the middle of nowhere).
- I looked back via the rear view mirror and the chipmunk was not moving.
** When I go home from school and sleep in my bed at home, I find that my feet dangle over the edge of the bed. The beds at the dorms at school are extra-long twin size, so my feet don't dangle over the edge on those. However, before going to college, I never felt that my feet dangle over the edge of my bed at home.
** Last night, I was kind of lying around in bed for 2 hours not able to fall asleep (partly because of my dangling feet I think). As a result, I started to reflect on my life story, partly because seeing friends from high school kind of reminds me of past years of my life. Now, I like to think that I have a pretty good memory (especially for things like numbers), so I remember quite a lot about my life story. Now, I am not familiar with many other peoples' life stories, but after a while of reflecting, I came to the conclusion that my life story is pretty fucked up. And to that, I laugh. What else can I do?
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