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Line Slaying: The Final Frontier
Technology almost always works in unpredictable ways. Sometimes the fanciest and most revolutionary stuff leaves the oddest legacies affecting people in small but meaningful ways. People know about online sex, crackers and e-trading, but few credit the Net with one of its potentially greatest benefits: the Net is a natural born Lineslayer.
And the biggest remaining lines on Earth form around government.
One of the last great frontiers awaiting transformation by the Net, government is surely the most reactionary and least innovative sector of the economy or public life. Bovine as it is, it is one of the most lucrative computing markets in the world. Online business analysts have been drooling for years over government e-business, the vast majority of it still up for grabs. Forrester Research estimates that local governments alone collect $450 billion annually in fines alone, mostly in person or by mail.
Convenience isn't the only benefit to citizens: think of the bureaucratic, paper and postal savings that would come from issuing permits and certificates and collecting fines on the Net. E-government can also begin to set up the infrastructure to give governments and voters the confidence and experience to begin online voting, polling and town meetings. As companies like Ford, Delta and Intel begin giving employees free computers and Net access as a fringe benefit of employment, universal access to the Net -- thus to digital democracy -- is no longer a fantasy.
In fact, it's astonishing that so few state or national politicians have yet figured out what a great political issue it is that governments aren't serving citizens by wiring up as rapidly as possible.
Neo-Luddites are forever lamenting the lack of human contact the Internet has wrought (remember-when-you-got-to-say-hi-to-the-bank-teller?). Anybody lost in tech support or telephone hell can sympathize. But some forms of human contact can be blessedly dispensed with -- like lines.
Online banking is killing off the lines at tellers windows. Electronic toll devices are shortening lines at highway toll booths. E-ticketing makes it possible to stroll into movie megaplexes, stick your credit card in an ATM-like machine and whisk past all the suckers waiting at the box office. E-ticketing at airports can save hours at check-in lines, dragging along heavy baggage. Some lucky college students can skip once-dreaded queues by registering online. Shoppers who don't love circling crowded malls for hours now have the option of online shopping. People who value human contact in these contexts can still have it, and are welcome to it. But few people in the 21st Century will be lamenting the death of waiting in lines.
But the Net hasn't yet busted the lines in the worst, most bureaucratic places. Businesses are usually under pressure to be responsive to their consumers; they embrace transactional software because it lowers their costs and provides convenient service while eliminating lines. Government, which ought to be especially responsive to its constituents, isn't.
Some Net start-ups who want to drag government into the 21st Century are already in operation -- like New York-based http://www.govWorks.com and Atlanta's http://www.ezgov.com. But by and large, government has been slow to digitize, suspicious of security issues, lagging in leadership or innovation, lacking enough staffers with strong computing sensibilities.
But this state of affairs can't last. One day soon, politicians will figure out that they can score with voters by recognizing that digital technologies can sometimes improve life, especially by eliminating those nightmarish motor vehicle and permit lines. This could impress the public even more than bullying librarians to install blocking programs to keep Johnny off the Playboy Web site.
According to the Wall Street Journal, some cities -- like Stamford, Conn. and Springfield, Mass. -- have begun allowing electronic payments of taxes, permits, and utility bills.
But most local and state governments don't do much business online, or allow their residents to, a particularly relevant reality in cities where grueling lines are facts of life for busy taxpayers.
For once, an enormous windfall for software and computer makers may actually prove likewise a boon to citizens, assuming sluggish and self-interested bureaucrats can be prodded along. Doing civic business on the Net may also shock government into entering the 21st century. Lineslaying probably wasn't a benefit the founders of the Net had in mind, but it might turn out to be one of its most appreciated and unforeseen contributions.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
50 Internal server error
The server is too busy, please try back again later.
Or how about this famous one:
Connection timed out.
Oh, the lines are still there..
that Jon had a bad day at the New Jersey DMV yesterday.
This is another view of the world.
The city in which I live (Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories) has a website where you can pay all your (city) bills online.
Here's the part where you can pay your bills.
In fact I think we just got a 5 million dollar grant in order to improve and expand this program.
You don't get that much on sites such as Yahoo.com. Mostly, I believe that he was referring to everyday lines that we come across. You used to have to wait in line to send a package/buy books at school/so forth. You don't anymore. You still have to wait in line at many government facilities, many of these lines could be reduced similarly... Of course a server will go down under unusual load, just as a line at a gas station will be longer during an energy crisis.
Eh...
Recently I had to get a new (german) passport, since my old one expired. Remembering my last experience with german bureaucrycy (:-) I really dreaded my visit to the office, fearing to spend the larger part of the morning on some benches or waiting in a line. The fact that I had to draw a number and that this number was several tens larger than what was currently on display added to my fears.
Imagine my surprise when the office ringed the bells and advanced the numbers in steps approximately 20 seconds apart. Waiting no longer than ten minutes (on comfy leather chairs, not in a line) my number showed up and I entered the actual office. The processing of my application for a new passport took only a few seconds, and I was even able to pay with my card. Next to my desk, one of the public servants had problems with her computer.
Even more impressive was what I observed on the desk next to mine, where a public servant had problems with her computer. Not only was she able to summon a technician who helped her to fix the problem almost immediately, but obviously there were procedures to handle this case, as the other desks where taking over her duties during her downtime.
All this had no longer a feel of bureaucracy to it. In fact service was faster and felt more professional than many privately owned companies I have seen from the inside, except perhaps McDonalds. It was frighteningly efficient.
© Copyright 2000 Kristian Köhntopp
Who's the white writin' geek that's a superstar to all the freaks?
KATZ!
Darn right!
Who is the man that would write a book for his brother man?
KATZ!
Can you dig it?
Who's the cat that won't stop yakkin' when there's evil people hackin'?
KATZ!
Right On!
They say this cat Katz is a bad writer...
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm only talkin' 'bout Katz.
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!
He's a complicated man but no one understands him like his fan club.
JOHN KATZ!
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
Any kind of buffering is a queue. The webserver could maintain a queue of incoming connections and serve them in order. This is done becuase of limitations in bandwidth, just like you queue at the bank becuase of the limited number of tellers around! THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!
But the issue of fairplay comes in. It is somehow fair or just to serve queues in a First-In-First-Out operation. Go to a bank queue and try jumping it. You will get hostile stares. But use a technological means to jump queues on the internet, and nobody is the wiser. Software can be set up to prefer to serve women over men for example. Since you don't read the source, nobody would know if this was fair or not. Why did your online application fail because "the quota was exceeded"? Is it becuase you have a slow 56k modem while the other guy is behind a T1?
So putting such transactions online make lower the transparency of government. This is a problem that deserves to be looked at.
If someone puts it online, someone else will try to crack it. Since the information they're dealing with is private and must be Web-accessible, the possibility of cracking is that much more attractive.
On the optimistic side, could the government finally realize that strong crypto is necessary? I'm not entrusting my SSN to a 40-bit connection!
-- LoonXTall
~~~LXT~~~
Life is like a computer program: anything that can't happen, will.
The net is killing off lines everywhere? I think Mr. Katz is short for article ideas this month.
Let me tell you, this Internet thing has not made the morning commute on I-494, I-94, or I-35W any friggin easier. There simply is no e-commerce Beowolf cluster solution to solve Minnesota's season of road construction. Nope, no revolution here, so hang up and drive.
I've heard many countries are already doing away with conventional weapons, and are carrying out border disputes via massive games of Unreal Tournament and Quake III.
It really has eliminated much of the waiting and inconvenience we get with today's warfare, though it's not completey fair because the countries with broadband connections are winning almost every conflict.
Also, I've heard that Iraq is getting a reputation for just hiding out in one shadowy corner and blasting people as they go by.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
Yeah, Jon, that is a great sounding idea. The only issue is, how do we propose to remedy the digital divide that will separate the predominantly suburban, middle and upper class families with home computers from the poor inner city ones that don't generally have them?
It seems to me that the people who most need access to gov't services won't be any better served by this remedy. I mean, yes, it would be nice to renew your license online, but food stamps, welfare checks, etc.? Do we want to make it any more complicated or difficult or challenging for people to get to these services?
Let's face it: the digital revolution embraces those with the wealth and education to utilize it. Making these services electronic threatens to further cut off those at an economic and educational disadvantage.
Now, this shouldn't mean that we don't eventually do it. But let's make sure that people have universal access and training before we start making life more difficult for those who have enough problems already.
I think Chuck D. sums it up best : "There are gonna be a lot of people picking electronic cotton and digging digital ditches."
Just took a course in Law And Society. Interesting class, actually. Taught by, of all things, an IP Lawyer. (Yes, I actually screwed up and exposed my opinion of his profession. I've never been so profusely embarassed ;-)
;-)
One of the books we studied was The Process Is The Punishment. One of its central tenets is, when you get down to it, the bureaucracy isn't accidental or undesired. It's part of the process of criminal law, meant to break down and assault those caught in its maw.
The lines that Katz complains about aren't just there accidentally. They enforce discipline, respect, and fear. Fear of a wasted day, fear of an inexplicable fine, fear of a missing sheet of paper.
If you never had to wait in line, maybe you'd never realize there was a government out there who could do much, much worse to you if you didn't pay your taxes.
Think of DMV as the PR branch for the IRS.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
www.dot.[yourstate].us
[YourState] Department of Transportation
Please fill out this form completely and accurately. At a four-way stop, with three people arriving at the same time, who has the right of way? Have you ever had an accident? Stand across the room, and read the fifth line of letters. Did you get them right? Do you want to be an organ donor? Click here, and your driver's license will be mailed to you.
www.hud.[yourstate].us
[YourState] Department of Housing and Urban Development
To qualify for housing subsidies, you must demonstrate that your income and/or education is lower than established poverty guidelines. Click one:
( ) I am using hotmail to save money on email services.
( ) I'm at a library kiosk, since I can't afford my own computer.
(*) Kiosk, what's a kiosk?
www.usps.gov
United States Post Office
Weigh your package on a scale, such as your bathroom scale. Press here to print airmail postage. Press here to digitize your package. Press here to certify that your package is not illegal contraband, including explosives, weaponry, narcotics, nuclear secrets or crptography source code. Press here to FTP: your package to Honduras.
www.hhs.gov
Department of Health and Human Services
The Center for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services are cooperating to reduce influenza in the community. Click here for a flu shot.
(end of giggle) I'm not a Luddite, and I hope that technology can be used to overcome as many issues as possible. However, our government is BY the PEOPLE, FOR the PEOPLE, and most of the people who end up in government lines are not savvy or interested in using computers.
We're elitist if we forget about "the lower half" of humanity, or even if we think of the computer have-nots as "the lower half."
[
One of things that keeps government from being a total pain in the butt is that it's currently a lot of work to come and physically touch you.
That is, in order for someone in the gov't. to interact with you, they have to get physical somewhere along the line. Because of this, you have some slack. Slack is basically the ability to exist in a world of your own choosing, to some extent. You can go about your business relatively untouched.
This isn't a license to pirate warez, or to cause other people grief, but being able to treat interaction with your government as a minor concern. Because of this, the government and the citizen have a relationship, but the average citizen can choose to be at arm's length or locked in a bear hug.
When we eliminate the distance by choosing to interface with the government in electronic form, we give up that buffer. In other words, there is no longer any obstacle to directly debiting your bank account for whatever amount the government (state, city, federal) decides you owe them.
I can hardly wait. And it gets better - currently, many states revoke the drivers licenses of certain individuals for somewhat serious offences - failure to pay child support, DUI, etc.
This is essentially a way to selectively invoke police harassment, which isn't nesc. evil - but what about a future where your license is suspended because you didn't pay some tax or someone keyed in a SSN that matched yours when her finger slipped?
Maintaining inefficiencies is not always a bad idea - especially when you're not interested in becoming a well oiled cog. Separation between state and government agencies will soon start to evaporate, and it will become very easy to mess with people simply because some department head decides that power is a cool toy.
I'm not sure what keysize is legal now with the new export laws. But I THINK Netscape's up to 128 bit SSL now. Yeah, that's still not too great. But consider...
One crooked government employee (oh, but would anyone immoral EVER work for the government??? Who's heard of such a thing?) can most likely harvest more SSNs than a script kiddie with a packet sniffer and a brute force keygen can crack.
Likewise, one person with a photographic memory walking through a mall one day can most likely harvest more credit card numbers than a script kiddie with a packet sniffer and a brute force keygen can crack.
Or forget photographic memories. How about one immoral waiter with a pen and paper? You *DO* follow them to the credit card machine and watch to make sure they don't write down your number whenever you pay with your visa... don't you? I didn't think so. And even if YOU do, do you think the AVERAGE person does?
Or one disturbed postal worker who wants to get his hands on checking account numbers and routing codes... Most people *DO* still pay their bills via check through the USPS.
Now, don't get me wrong, strong crypto is undeniably a GOOD THING(tm). But it's not a panacea.
And while 40bit or 128bit browser crypto may be trivial for the NSA or most corperations, or even for schools with their beowulf networks...
It's NOT trivial for joe 5kr19t k1dd13 who wants 2 g3t some w1k3d kardz and phuck 5h1t up. He's far more likely to get kardz by calling up his friend who's a waiter at Steak N Shake than by kracking them.
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
Imagine all the people...
Yes. The pixies from the magic fairyland should pay for installing those machines and paying the insurance, maintenence, and infrastructure costs. They can use the resources from the money trees to pay for them.
One city in California (I think it was SD) had an ordinance imposed on them: They could not charge ATM fees to military personnel from the nearby base. Guess what? Lots of the machines were pulled out. Turns out that a lot of those machines were put there to make money off the fees. Tell them they can't charge, and they have no reason to keep it there. It's called economics... all price controls create shortages.
If you want an ATM on every corner, you have to let somebody make a buck off putting one there. If you want no-fee ATM banking, then walk your lazy butt to a machine from your bank. (If you pass a "no fees - ever" law, they will just charge your bank for the transaction, and the bank will make up for it by offering you a lower interest rate. There's no such thing as a free lunch... or a free cash machine.)
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Labelling others may be an overused rhetorical tool, but sometimes it's valid. You don't always automatically lose the argument just because you call somebody a Luddite, Communist, Isolationist, Zealot, or even Katz's favorite, "Corporatist". Sometimes the label fits.
For that matter, it's about time that we dump that law outright... For example, it's okay to call some of Pat Buchannan supporters "Nazis". They are Nazis. Some of them come right out and call themselves Nazis.
Also, when P.J. O'Rourke coined the term "Safty Nazis", in reference to people who seek to protect us from ourselves, he had a good point.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.