03.25.08

Saving Money and Energy with Compact Flourescent lights? Maybe not.

Posted in Geek Culture, rant at 9:01 pm by Nate Smith

I have switched out many of the lights in our house with compact fluorescent lights.  On many of them I have taken to writing the date of the installation on the base of the bulb.  A lot of the bulb packages will say the bulbs have a guaranteed lifespan of five or seven years.  Several of the bulbs I have installed so far have not lasted this long.   Two or three years it seems.

I suspect there is a probably a big difference between manufacturers and that most CFLs are not yet getting the payback they promise.  I have used both inexpensive bulbs and expensive ones.

Caveat Emptor!

Your Privacy at Disney: Why does Disney want your fingerprint?

Posted in rant at 8:57 pm by Nate Smith

On a recent visit to Disney World I was dismayed to have to give Disney my fingerprint to enter the gates to the park.  As you enter the park you slide your park pass ticket through a credit-card or metro-type of scanner.  Afterwards you have to place your finger in a reader on top and wait for a green light.  I thought briefly of not doing it.  “What did Disney want with my fingerprint!?” I thought.  I didn’t want to disappoint my family so I went through with it.

Later I had the opportunity to ask about the fingerprints at guest services.  My question was “Does Disney have a privacy policy with regard to the fingerprints they take and under what circumstances and to what parties they might be released?”  The first representative I asked did not have an answer.  Fortunately the manager on duty did.  He indicated that the “fingerprint readers” do not actually read fingerprints.  They take biometric measurements of the finger.  Apparently the readers they used to have measured the first four fingers on the hand but were not very reliable.

Why do they need to do this at all?  They want to authenticate you as you come into the park and use special features like fastpass.  When your ticket is used they want to make sure you are present when it is being used.  This would be to prevent somebody else from taking your ticket somewhere to get you a fastpass while you hold a place in line.  There seems to be an age cut-off for this too, somewhere around ten or twelve years old.

I would be curious if anyone finds out anything different about the finger-readers at Disney.