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A Number For Everything
jtcampbell writes: "Whilst reading the Times today I found this article about a U.S. government idea to give everyone a unique 'ENUM,' that serves as a universal phone number, email address, and fax number. Quite a cool idea, but will everyone adopt the standard? besides, i thought we left numeric email addresses with compuserve a few years back. And remembering these 11 digit numbers could be fun ..."
Its much bigger than just the US govt, they have a very minor role here. This is an IETF/ITU thing
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What about changing your number? With regular phone numbers and email addresses you can change them if you get too many prank phone calls or too much spam. If everyone had a unique number issued by the government, which would probably be easy for others to find, I think we would run into all kinds of privacy issues.
This way, when you give someone your phone number you are giving them your social security noumber, tax number, medical identity, etc.
The problem with that is that it opens you up to two things: abuse and honest mistakes. Both for obvious reasons would be real problems.
Example. The credit agency in Canada seems to think I owe BMW money for a car. That is long gone (when the lease ended, I sold that car and bought a different make). Still, it's well neigh impossible to get that off the record. Now imagine everyone had that info!
And another example. I recently changed medical insuramce companies at work, and that needed an AIDS test. Negative, I am happy to say. But if it had not been: if all these systems had been tied together (as they will be soon, with one number) that information would quite easily have got back to the bank, or the employer, etc.
I think we need to be very careful indeed with systems that make it easier for people bad or good to track us and what we do.
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BDOS ERR ON A:>
16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
:)
17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18: Here is wisdom, Let him that have understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)
Someone was going to post this eventually.
There goes all my karma
"Reactionaries must be deprived of the right to voice their opinions; only the people have that right." - Mao
Comment removed based on user account deletion
No need for four of them. A good Chinese dictionary (I mean the biiig ones) has 60,000 characters.
60,000^3 = 216 Trillion combinations.
Chinese people typically have 3-character names. A one-character family name and a two-character first name.
So all we really need to do is give everyone on Earth a unique Chinese name! And since the characters might be hard to remember, you can tattoo it on their foreheads so the won't forget it.
I know Southern Baptists especially will just love this idea!
"Reactionaries must be deprived of the right to voice their opinions; only the people have that right." - Mao
and it is called your Social Security Number. Needed for school registration, credit card accounts, drivers license, all kinds of various identifications.
Any US Citizens here _not_ have their SSNs memorized? Raise your hands. I didn't really think so. Guess what, to Government, you are a number!
(There was some lip-service given to "restricting use" and "preventing abuse" decades ago, but it's been forgotten for the utility of SSN identifiers.)
Too late!
AFAIK, it's not illegal in the US not to have a SSN: it's just illegal to attend most schools, serve in the military, or work for taxable wages without one.
Of course it's also possible to acquire _more_ numbers - if you're ever arrested, you'll get a case number (if convicted and sentenced to jail or prison, you'll get an inmate number too); if sued in civil court, you'll get a docket number, etc., etc. But those happen if you break the law or piss someone off...
But you have more numbers, even if you're an upstanding gentle citizen: drivers license, credit cards, bank accounts, phone number, cellphone, et al.
Bottom line, I think a case can be made for a UIN (Universal Identification Number), for two reasons: (1) it will simplify so many mundane things, from communications (live and electronic) through public records and commercial transactions, and (2) it will require revising almost all the record keeping systems extant, boosting the economy as a great successor to the Y2K convulsion, a good way to get 250,000+ programmers re-employed!
That's funny. I had this argument with my Systems Design prof that went something like this:
Prof: So, of these fields for the employee database, which would you use as the primary key: SSN, LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, or STREET_ADDRESS?
Me: None of the above.
Prof: Oh? The main requirements for a primary key is that the field be unique, and that the field not change. The SSN seems to fit that bill doesn't it?
Me: No, not everyone has a SSN.
Prof: This is an *employee* database. Of course they're all going to have SSNs.
Me: But these are not in anywway guarnteed to be unique or not change.
Prof: Oh, you're just talking silly things. Of course they're not going to change or be unique.
Me: Do YOU trust the government that much?
Prof: Stop being ridiculous.
So, you see... I *was* right!!! Heh.
My journal has hot