Perception matters. Tog (I think) mentions how he would save a screen capture of the last screen at shut down and would display that screen at boot up to simulate perception of quicker start up. The animated icon of hour glass serves the same purpose. It is benign use of quirks of human psychology.
The consequences of the measures described in the article are not so harmless. I think the consequences are essentially the same as those in the classic Stanford prison experiment [1]. The outcome of the "visible security" creates and conditions dependent, top-down culture in the society. The culture is comfortable to the elite, unpleasant to the conforming populace. I have seen it back in the USSR - it is not an exhilarating society to live in (it is not a particularly safe environment either). Oleh PS Another curious example of perception bias is inclusion of green and blue colors into the the nationwide anxiety scale. The colors have never been used [2]. Isn't it essentially the "War is Peace" message? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_Security_Advisory_System On Dec 29, 2007 5:19 PM, Michael Tuminello <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi - > > I thought this was an interesting (and infuriating) article that > deserved to be seen more widely, and it also bizarrely reminded me of > several software decisions that I have seen in the past - changes > that appear to address a concern, implemented because it is easier > (and ironically more believable) to fake a solution than it is to > explain the technical reality to people who aren't computer engineers. > > http://jetlagged.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/the-airport-security- > follies/index.html > > If anyone has seen and dealt with a similar situation without > building a fake solution I'd be interested to hear about it. > > MT > > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is the Design of Time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
