Technology Reminders

Just a few reminders about technology.

We have gotten really dependent on GPS but the satellites are quite vulnerable. For one thing there has not been a really major solar storm since the advent of the GPS system, like the one in 1859, and it remains to be seen what will happen to the satellites if there was. The satellites could also be shot down. There is a potential low-tech supplement to the GPS system. Wherever humans settle there will be telephone poles. Why couldn't we just put a number on every telephone pole so that anyone could determine their location just by reading the number on the nearest telephone pole?

If a phone can include a flashlight then why couldn't it include a projector? Wouldn't it be good to be able to project the screen of your phone onto a wall, preferably in a darkened room, to show to a group of people?

A language has around ten thousand words that are in common everyday use. Why not assign each word a four digit code from 0000 to 9999, and display the codes on signs? When you were in another country you would only have to enter the codes into an app to get the words translated. This would only be for basic communication and it wouldn't be necessary to convey fine shades of meaning.

Complex wording cannot be effectively translated word for word from one language into another. This is because grammar and syntax is different and parts of speech may not be arranged in the same order. It is necessary to translate by sentences rather than by words, but there are many millions of possible sentences. Why not put computers to work collecting, categorizing and, numbering sentences? That would not only make translation between languages simple but would greatly compress the storage and transmission of data, it would only be necessary to send the numbers rather than the words.

The standard alphabetical order is ABCDE... When typewriters came along a new order was developed so that the typist could most easily reach the letters that were most used. This is the QWERTY... alphabetical order. But now far more people use phones than keyboards. Unlike on a keyboard someone texting on a phone uses only one hand. Why not have a new order with the letters that are most used, which would include the vowels, to the right side, since most people are right handed and hold the phone in their left hand, or text with their thumb while holding the phone in their right hand? The QWERTY order is of no use while texting, it would be better just to have the ABCDE... order.

Remember how detrimental traffic lights are. How much time and fuel is wasted, and how much damage done to the environment, while waiting for traffic lights? How many times have you seen a line of cars at a red light and no cars in the other direction with the green light? There has got to be a better way than this. With all the talk about "smart" technology, traffic lights are about as dumb as it gets. This is an example of what I refer to being "technically forward but system backward". When a new technology emerges a system of organization is set up. Progress is made in improving the technology but what is really holding it back is that we are still using the same primitive system of organization.