November 1, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Personal Checksum
November 2, 2007 at 7:54 am
It's been suggested that one can give a bogus middle initial as a way of tracking whether or not someone keeps your information private or sells it. So one might give their name as Steve S Jones to SQL Server Central (with S being a simple reminder it was given to SQL Server Central). Then if you are contact by someone else as Steve S Jones, you have strong reason to suspect that your information was shared/sold.
November 2, 2007 at 8:10 am
Ok, I've got a minor in math and I don't understand what the significance of the graphic is. A, B and C have no real reference to each other.
If I change the subtotal to 42.32, add 10% (dropping the cents) 4.20 you get 46.52. 4 + 6 = 2? No.
What am I missing here?
November 2, 2007 at 8:14 am
Will,
The idea is that you decide on the tip dollar amount. So you decide that with bad service, you're leaving $4 on $47. So you write the $51 (47 + 4). Then you add those up(51 being 5 + 1) to get 6. You write in 6 for the end cents amount and then do the math to figure out the proper cents amount for the tip.
The middle name thing is interesting, though I'm not sure how well that would work. Data quality seems to be suspect and I've gotten quite a few middle initials come through with my name over the years.
November 2, 2007 at 8:24 am
Wow, that's way way too much energy to put in to calculate a tip for bad service. I would just do something like not leave a tip and write in BAD SERVICE in the tip line.
I will tip 20%+ if I have no complaints about the service. If I have to wait more than a couple of minutes for the server to recognize that my drink is empty, then that 20% drops pretty quickly.
November 2, 2007 at 8:27 am
It is a little confusing. I tried it the other day and confused myself.
Keep in mind that I've seen some people change good tips (rarely) when it seems to work out. Adding a few dollars might happen on top of your 20%.
Not really my style either, but I thought it was an intersting use of data checksums. I think if you tried it 5 times, it would come pretty naturally.
November 2, 2007 at 8:36 am
A co worker was called by a restaurant because he had accidently put $50 in the tip spot. They suspected this was an error.
When I get really good service, I tip CASH even if I charge the meal. I let them decide how to handle it.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
November 2, 2007 at 8:50 am
What we need are checksums on personal identification numbers, such as SSNs and driver's licenses (which may already have them). I understand the Canadian equivalent of SSN is already checksummed. That might have helped against the identity theft problems that are plaguing us.
At least our credit card numbers are checksummed, for what little good that does us. I'd like to see ecommerce PIN all credit card transactions in addition to the CVN, I think that would really cut down on online fraud and eliminate most of the bottom feeder/script kiddie fraudsters.
As far as the middle initial thing is concerned, an easier method is to do variations on your address. If you live in apartment 123, when you subscribe to Byte, make your apartment number 123B. Or add suites if you're a plain old street address. That will tell you exactly who is selling your info.
Another thing that I do is if some form requires my phone number, I give them 575-555-5555. Seems to work every time.
-----
[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
November 2, 2007 at 8:53 am
The purpose of the article wasn't to decide on tip amounts, but to give you a checksum for the credit card statement. On all restaurant charges on the bill the sum of the first two digits should equal the last digit. This would be a good way to test for theft.
It helps when you actually read the article fully before posting a question about it. ha ha. My bad.
November 2, 2007 at 8:57 am
The webpage mentioned in the article contained a link to "Surf hundreds of visa numbers". Kinda ironic, huh? Weren't we trying to detect fraud here?
November 2, 2007 at 9:10 am
This all seems rather pointless, as you still need to look at your statement, calculate the checksum and if the number is wrong, go back to the manager to question it. What do you gain?
You get exactly the same level of protection by checking your receipt against your statement. The checksum thing would only be of use if it were also used by the restaurant management or the bank card provider.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
November 2, 2007 at 9:28 am
I think it's a touch easier, especially if you're 40 days later and you've lost a receipt. If you check them online within a day or so, then it makes more sense.
If not, this gives you a quick way to glance at your bill and look for bad charges.
November 2, 2007 at 9:44 am
Steve Jones - Editor (11/2/2007)
Will,...
The middle name thing is interesting, though I'm not sure how well that would work. Data quality seems to be suspect and I've gotten quite a few middle initials come through with my name over the years.
I've actually "accidentally" been conducting this very experiment. I recently bought a house, and over the course of setting up utilities, insurance, etc., my last name has been misspelled a couple of different ways (one of the companies still can't seem to get it fixed... I'm looking at you, Directv!).
So it's now pretty interesting to see what types of junk mail come to each of the different misspellings.
I've also heard of people getting their pet's names into marketing dbs and eventually getting credit card offers for them.
TroyK
November 2, 2007 at 10:40 am
The checksum on the restaurant charge is interesting. I've been the victim of fraud where they just run the bill twice (oops! It didn't go through the first time...) (of course, that was years ago, before people got smarter about fraud.)
On a related note, when my husband was in Europe, he had a lunch for 11.00 Euros. However, in Austria, they use a comma, instead of a period for the decimal point, so when we got our credit card bill, it had been entered as 1,100 Euros! and since it was a foreign bank, it took a while to reconcile the problem. My husband actually contacted the restaurant directly, and got the owner to help reconcile it.
As for using a different middle inital to track who is using your name, I have been doing this for years. I actually change the spelling of my first name to include a whole word for the mneumonic. Speaking from experience, making a change to your address is actually LESS effective, because there are a number of address standardization programs used by mailers that could un-do your changes.
November 2, 2007 at 11:01 am
I have altered my first name or initial over time to see what slime sold my name to some junk mail list. Problem is, I need to keep better track of when I do that so I know where it came from.
Filling out online forms in order to download a white paper or something are another pet peeve. I now just fill in the absolute minimum to get the information and then I use the wrong information as well. This helps to cut some spam or at least make me think it does.
Turns out the download may not have been all that great anyway so no problem. If I want to be contacted by the provider later, then I just refill out the form.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 34 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply