From I SCOOT to IBOT, #3 of ??

by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2008/11/02 03:01 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2008/11/02/9028897.aspx

Prior blogs in the series here and here.

I had to set a security code for the IBOT.

Peter, the guy who was programming the code into the IBOT as soon as I had decided what it would be, was shaking his head as he watched me going through the exercise of choosing the code.

He asked me if I was sure I wanted to make it as complicated as that, reminding me I'd have to enter the code again (requiring me to remember it).

"Are you kidding?" I asked him. "That's just the first part!"

"Okay, you're the boss."

The code had to be good, though.

Because the IBOT, unlike the scooter, has no key.

I leasrned very early on not to leave the scooter in the hallway at work with the key in it.

Nobody would steal it, but joyrides were certainly not beyond them....

So with no key, I needed the activation code to be complicated enough that no one would be able to just get it.

It was actually a scene out of Ocean's Thirteen that I was reminded of:

Rusty: Okay, where's Eugene's trapdoor?
Livingston: Under the Dragon, first machine on the left.
Rusty: Got it. What's the secret?
Livingston: Coin, 3 counts. Coin, 6 counts. 3 Coins, 5 counts. 2 Coins half count.
Rusty: Could you make it anymore complicated?
Livingston: That's just the first sequence....

That's the sc ene. The complicated set of instructions to enable the "make the slot machines pay out" feature they conspired to get into the casino.

Okay, perhaps slightly less at stake here. But it's the same principle....

This blog broight to you by ⎇ (U+2387, aka ALTERNATIVE KEY SYMBOL)

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referenced by

2013/09/19 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #10 of ??: The good, the bad, and the ugly (IN THAT ORDER)

2008/12/20 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #10 of ??: The good, the bad, and the ugly (IN THAT ORDER)

2008/12/12 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #9 of ??: You're not stoned if you see me in Seattle at a 50 degree or a 130 degree angle

2008/12/03 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #8 of ?? (On redefining the ideal kissing height)

2008/12/02 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #7 of ?? (Unintended movement of the joystick will result in unintended movement of the product)

2008/11/27 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #6 of ?? (The cost of standing still?)

2008/11/24 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #5 of ?? (sometimes it is phase 3 that is ????)

2008/11/10 From I SCOOT to IBOT, #4 of ?? (with some pictures!)

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