Home > Technobuddy > Archives > 2006 > October > 27
Friday, October 27, 2006
Making tech do double-duty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I may forget to make my weekly phone call to my mom. But I never forget to call my own voice mail when I park at the airport.
Over my long life, I’ve misplaced enough cars to start a used car lot. I am directionally challenged. So as soon as I park the car in a giant airport lot, I phone my voice mail and leave a reminder about where it’s parked. Unlike a note on some scrap of paper, the information is ready and waiting when I need to find my car.
These voice mail notes also work great for remembering meeting times or directions to an unfamiliar location.
That’s just one of the unexpected uses I’ve found for ordinary technologies. I make technology work for me in unintended ways. Some of these backdoor techniques may work for you.
Is the power back on?
At least twice a year, the power goes out for a day or so at my home. Sometimes ice storms are the culprit; other times winds are to blame. Once it was because a squirrel met an ugly death in a nearby transformer. I won’t tell the story of the time my wife forgot to pay the bill for two months running — I promised I would never mention it in print.
It’s nice to know whether the power is on or off at my house. There are times when, if I knew the power was still out, I’d stop to buy flashlight batteries or even to plan an evening in a motel. But what do you do when the house is empty and you’re at work?
I use an old-fashioned answering machine to find out. One call tells me what I need to know. Since the answering machine only works when there’s AC, I know that the power is back if it answers. If there’s no answer, I know it’s going to be a dark evening at home.
Now where does this go?
Memory often gets me in trouble, whether I’m working on a computer or trying to put parts back on a lawn mower.
Does this gizmo go on before that widget? Or should that little washer fit here? No matter what I do, when I rely on memory I get things wrong.
That’s why I use my digital camera to document each step as I disassemble a gizmo or even a gas barbecue grill. When it’s time to put the danged thing back together, I have a photo record of how things fit together.
Help from my Web page
When I’m traveling, I often need data that’s stored on my computer. Sometimes it’s a phone number that isn’t stored on my cellphone. At other times, I may need to see notes for a story I’m writing, or even a reminder about the date for a birthday or other occasion.
I keep a text file on my personal Web page with information like this. Since it’s stored on the Web, I can access the text from any spot on the globe that has Internet access.
I don’t password-protect the file — although I could. Instead, I give it a strange file name that would be almost impossible to guess. I mean, how often would you type in a Web address that ends with, say, x22myomss.html?
Most Internet accounts include some amount of Web space. So even if you aren’t interested in a conventional personal Web page, you may find this remote access system helpful.
I also use the Web space to store family pictures — that way, when I want to brag endlessly, I can show off my family without carrying a wallet thick as a brick.
Fixing DSL, electrical
I have some fairly fancy electronic testing equipment — everything from an oscilloscope to one of the few old-fashioned tube testers in Atlanta.
But one of my favorite pieces of test equipment is an old battery-powered transistor radio. It is a perfect tool for finding electrical dimmer switches that are going bad or other electrical faults.
Problems like that create interference that can knock out DSL service. Everything from the dimmer that cranks down the lights for dinner to an electrical dog fence that’s arcing enough to knock out DSL.
Even if the misbehaving electrical circuit or device doesn’t bother your DSL service, it can be a fire hazard. So locating the problem is a big deal.
To find problems like that, I simply tune the radio to a clear spot on the dial and use it like a geiger counter, walking around until the static reaches the highest volume. That sort of radio direction-finding is the quickest way to find electrical arcs.
The best uses for technology are often the unexpected and unintended ones. If you’ve found some unusual ways to put technology to work in your home, share them with me here.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns
Services »
