Stories

About

Using technology can be funny. Missing technology can be even funnier (assuming you include black humour). All the stories presented below took place in so called real life.
Feel free to laugh.

Technology does not solve everything

The event took place at a small conference in Katowice. I was late after a coffee break. All my friends had already entered the conference room, the corridor was completely empty, and I had to find the exact door myself. "Not a problem at all," I thought. "I've left backpack under a chair in the conference room and in the backpack I have Piepsy. I am safe." Piepsy is irreplaceable on such occasions. You have a small transmitter in your pocket. When you press the button, Piepsy produces sounds. You go to the sound and you are in the exact place in which you left Piepsy. I was late less than a minute. All participants knew each other. The sound of Piepsy wouldn't bother anyone.

I pressed the button... Piepsy produced "beep, beep" somewhere behind me. Not too far. I turned back. "Straight on." I said to Lisa, my charming German shepherd. After a few steps... I left the building.

"Lisa, it is not time for a walk yet." I said. "Go back." In the building I pressed the button again... There was "beep, beep" somewhere behind me. As before I turned back. "Lisa, straight on". After a few steps... I entered a stairwell.

I pressed the button again. "Beep, beep"... Then I realized. I had my backpack on my shoulders.

Select this link to learn more about acoustic locators.

Left in the bottle

Long time ago I used to live alone. I also used to buy cheap, red, dry, Italian wine in a two-liter bottle. This was evening. The next day I was to visit my parents in another town. It is not good to leave a small amount of wine left in the bottle. It won't be tasty when you are back. I picked up the bottle to check how much was left. The bottle felt almost empty. I poured the wine into a glass. To my surprise the glass was full. And... there was still some wine in the bottom of the bottle.

It is not good to leave a small amount of wine in the bottle, so having drunk the wine I filled the glass once more. The glass was full again and... I could feel the bottle was not completely empty.

As you already know it is not good to leave wine. Once again I repeated drinking and pouring. The glass was filled to the brim and the obstinate bottle still contained some wine. I could feel and hear it.

Leaving a small amount of wine in the bottle is not recommended, because, exposed to air, it oxidizes and in most cases oxygen is the enemy of wine. I couldn't allow it. When my glass was empty I started to fill it again. It was half full when the wine ended. I can still remember my disappointment.

Select this link to learn more about this particular technological challenge.