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Dear silicon.com... DNA database, lie detector tech, sat-nav blunders...
Reader Comments of the Week

By silicon.com

Published: Friday 07 September 2007

What's got silicon.com readers reaching for their keyboards this week? Reader Comments of the Week showcases how our users are responding to the latest tech news and views on the site...

The customer service hydra
"Spoilt" online shoppers want more from high street

There is no reason why we cannot give the sorts of service described. Changing an order via a different channel, returning mail order goods to store etc. etc. is a matter of "organisational will" rather than a specific technical issue. The main "reason" that these services are not offered is that from an organisational perspective the Web, Stores and Mail Order are still, however unsubtley, heavily siloed and their leaders jealously guard their independence as opposed to serving the customers needs.

Integration of multi channel businesses is a very achievable goal, which, for those who have changed the culture to allow it, has reaped considerable rewards in greater understanding of the customer's interaction, channel preference and behaviour across channels.
-- David Arrowsmith, strategy manager for customer intelligence at SAS UK, Marlow

Editor's choice

silicon.com editor Tony Hallett flags up his picks on the site this week...

♦ Huawei's $1bn R&D pot 'matches Western rivals' - our business editor is out in China, looking for this giant's next move
♦ Video Cheat Sheet: Mash-ups - apologies in advance for the cheesy opening voiceover
♦ Far from quiet on the virtual front - analysts Quocirca nail a compelling topic

Sat-nav and stupidity
Sat-nav blunders spawn warning signs

How does a sat-nav know the dimensions of the particular vehicle being driven? It is all down to the user using common-sense and interpreting what they see in front of them properly, be it a road or the screen…

The base data is very limited, of necessity (and OS licence costs of course) and there should be a health warning. The real value of a sat-nav is in a town, and even then it could create problems with one-way systems.

As with any data, it has to be intelligently interpreted by the user. That is the real problem!
-- Nick Cole, Scotland

For most drivers sat-nav is a total waste of money - for the simple reason that most people drive the same well known set of routes all the time. For the few times you go somewhere different - print the instructions from Google for free. Sadly, it has become a motoring fashion accessory - a sort of iPhone for drivers?
-- Anonymous, South

I think designers have a lot to answer for. My TomTom invites me during calculation to select a "Fastest", "Shortest", "Cycle", "Walking" or "Non Motorway" route. It only needs one option to say "Avoid routes unsuitable for HGVs", and provided the map data is correct all will be fine.
Silverfox, UK

True or false?
Lie detector beats benefit fraud

The same amount of benefit fraud would probably have been picked up by investigating claims at random --- and could have saved more because they wouldn't have parted with a substantial payment for unproven technology.

If they had run a properly conducted control test simultaneously I wouldn't be so annoyed --- if it works, it works. But to claim that the facts described in this story support the efficacy of the technology in general, or the financial prudence of this scheme in particular, is wholly irrational.
-- John H Woods, UK

All these systems ID card, benefit lie detectors, airport iris scanners, contactless payment systems, rfid, speed cameras and so on are slowly taking peope out of the loop because of the mistaken belief that technology is infallible in its application of the rules

technolology is sometimes many things, intractable, inexorable, intolerant and inflexible but never infallible

when has a machine ever shown mercy ? when has a machine ever been moved by a compelling argument ? ... "sorry I was speeding my pregnant wife has to go to hospital NOW please don't book me" works with a police officer but doesn't work on speed cameras, how do you explain to a lie detector that you are stressed because of an eviction notice that arrived because you lost your job and couldn't pay the rent, and now your benefit gets stopped because it thinks you are lying and an investigation gets started, meanwhile you wind up on the street

these systems are buffers designed to save those that make the rules from being troubled by the pleas of those that have to adhere to the rules, they are not there to save money
-- Karen Challinor, UK

Both the polygraph and graphology are investigative tools that depend on the expertise and experience of the "operator" of the technique. A poor polygrapher or a poor graphologist won't get good results; whereas the competent and experienced polygrapher and graphologist will usually provide clues that may not be obtainable any other way or attainable quicker and less expensively than some other investigative tools.
-- Anonymous, Beaverton, US

DNA in the UK
Judge calls for "universal" national DNA database

After every police officer in the UK has volunteered to have their DNA on the database, we'll talk about the rest of us.
-- Haydn Rees, Eindhoven

That would really work wonders for the British tourism industry. Which is one of the few industries we've still got these days.
-- David Fletcher, UK

A further step towards hounding the average citizen. Aside from the billions of pounds of overrun this project would generate, we would suddenly find a lot more enforcement of petty 'disorder' by post ... you hand a pound coin to a begger, and a 100 pound fine posted to you for encouraging begging. Someone steals a bit of paper from your bin for indentity theft, tosses it, and a 100 pound fine is mailed for littering. Right.
-- Michael Fischer, Canterbury

I don't think anybody would disagree with Lord Justice Ledley's opinion that a national DNA database would help solve crime. Of course it would, if you considered everyone to be a potential criminal until they are eliminated from the crime.

But what is the real sociological cost of making everybody a "potential criminal"?

How long will it be before "ordinary" law abiding folk, who are passionate about genuinely making the UK a safe place to live and raise a family, begin to resent being bullied and insulted by a government that is becoming far too powerful and which autonomously creates more and more petty laws that do nothing but degrade the traditions and social values of Britons.
-- Mr. Smith, Midlands

Is not the biggest deterrent to committing crime the fear of being caught?

With some high profile crimes taking many thousands of police hours searching for suspects, would this not also speed up investigations.

The issue here seems to be the freedom to be unknown Vs reducing the likelihood of crime occurring from untraceable people.
-- Stuart Fawcett, London

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity - but are not corrected for grammar, spelling, punctuation or style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below, or emailing editorial@silicon.com.