Droning On

Drones are supposed to be the wave of the future. No need to risk pilots, just send a drone. They're even being touted for ground use, at least in facilities security.

Don't expect this to actually happen. In fact, I think there will soon be international treaties - probably through the UN - severely limiting their use.

There have already been several tragedies where drones attacked innocent civilians. Now, you get these with piloted aircraft, too. However, they seem to be more common with drones.

I suspect there will eventually be a legal requirement to have eyes on the scene.

Why Can't They Get it Right?

Just had an aggravating few minutes with Chase Visa.

This started with a message on my answering machine. That is, the last part of a message. This was a robocall and it started talking while the machine was still going through its spiel. There was enough left that I was able to figure out they were trying to verify some charges. I got on my online account, and there were two charges listed as pending. However, there was no way to tell them via the Web page that the charges were valid. So I had to call. (I used the number on my card. I wouldn't have trusted a number given on the call, even if they had left one. Instead, the call just... ended, while they were waiting for me to push a key. Since I wasn't there, it was a long wait.)

I got transferred several times, each time having to give my card # and name, and once each my birth date and Mother's maiden name. Somewhere along the way they got the impression that these were balance transfers, instead of purchases. However, I was able to verify the amounts and get the "balance transfers" (don't try to correct someone mumbling into a phone; that just makes them mumble louder) approved.

Argh...