Linda Proulx,

11-Nov-99 20:37:53, Linda Proulx wrote to Andy Roberts
 LP> -=> Andy Roberts wrote to Linda Proulx <=-
          Subject: Re: Get Going

 LP> I remember overhearing a word processing student wondering why in
 LP> the H she had to learn about directories, subdirectories & basic
 LP> DOS.  All she wants to know is how to use the wordprocessing
 LP> program.  Sigh.

I exposed my wife to computers a couple of decades ago with an Epson QX-10
and ValDocs which had a GUI (better than WinXX has now) and allowed long file
names, which she got addicted to.  And she uses MAC and WinXX as a secretary
for the school where she has been working almost that long.  To this day she
doesn't have the slightest idea what a subdirectory, file extension, or
command line is.  I have setup all the apps she uses (even in her office) to
default to looking for and saving files in her personal subdirectories.  And
in some cases default to opening the last file she used automatically or at
least make that the default selection, so that she doesn't get confused by
all the other files that may appear.  She gets along pretty well with Quicken
and her MAC word processor on a daily basis.  And she no longer calls for
help with the monthly reports although yearly reports are another matter.  If
a new procedure requires more than 3 steps or 50 words to describe, then I
type it out and send it to her via Fax, so she can read it while we talk on
the phone.  If the new procedure requires more than 6 steps, then I might as
well go into her office and do it for her, or she asks the school's computer
coordinator to do it for her.  She doesn't like PCs.  She rarely if ever uses
the F1-key online help.  And she despises software upgrades that change the
appearance or location of features she did know how to find and use.

Here at home if I make the mistake of leaving a window open with 1 of my
apps, then she will slam it closed without saving nor exiting politely. 
Which considering how I string several prgms together to toss/read/pack msgs,
does once in a while annoy me.  But we rarely ever get into any argument
about computers.  We are not at all alike, we complement each other, in that
I do the things she doesn't and she does many things I don't like to do.  She
is great in the kitchen and takes care of her herb garden and the grand
children love her.  And of course I love her in spite of or maybe even
because of her lack of technical awareness.

Obviously I have written a lot of prgms to automate things and make them very
simple for her to interact with.  That includes an computerized X-10 home
automation and security system with about 100 devices, including an automatic
entrance gate, all of which she controls with an RF remote control with 8
buttons.  Actually she doesn't need the RF remote control for many features,
since the computer system would watch her and do things like turn the lights
on before she needed them and turn them off again after she left and even
open the gate before she got to it, wait for her to drive through, then close
it again, without her ever pressing any button.  This X-10 system has a
fairly high level of AI due to extensive If-Then-Else programming.  It has
it's own monitor which is dark most of the time, yet automatically pops up
many different displays of layouts of our property and buildings with
different colors etc, depending on exactly what the system detected or is
doing.  That's fine for seeing even across the living room.  But I also tied
the system into a PA so it would let me know what was happening while I am in
another room or outside.  Just for the fun of it I programmed it to talk by
turning on the stereo and playing WAV files that I pre-recorded.  Actually it
has a pretty good vocabulary since it can combine words from many different
files and string them together into a sentence.  I had it doing things like
turning on the lights and raising the dimmer and telling her what time it was
(repeatedly in 2-5 minute intervals if she didn't get up) as an alarm clock
in the morning.  It would even tell her good-bye as she left for work while I
continued to sleep.  And of course it automatically re-arms the alarm system
after the gate is closed and she should be long gone.  Now if the motion
detectors thinks there is an intruder, the lights and some other stuff start
to do some rather strange things, that are intended to scare off the intruder
before they get a chance to get near enough to do any damage.  And it has
many different stages of alarm and reaction depending on if the intruder is
on the perimeter or continues to get nearer or tries to enter the house or
other buildings or actually gets inside the house.  This alarm system covers
an area of almost 1/2 a mile, so I get about 2 to 5 minutes warning in most
cases.  Rather fancy door bell most of the time.  Our cats like it.  But 1
day my wife forgot something and decided to come back to get it after she
left for work, and she forgot to dis-arm the alarm system.  So the computer
had some rather "choice words" for her and kept flashing the lights on and
off so that she could hardly see to get back into the house.  Plus since the
alarm system knew it was not just our cats, it triggered a 125dB siren, which
is at or above the human threshold of pain and located right at the front
door, where my wife was fiddling with her keys in the dark.  Well at least it
didn't turn on the sprinklers, so my wife was not all wet when she finally
did get in.  But she was steaming!  And wouldn't you know it, the computer
didn't even say it was sorry. 

     Thanks and Good Luck,        Andy Roberts
                                  andy@shentel.net
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