Automation, success or failure?

Adrian Cooke — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:59:20 +0000

According to Wikipedia, automation is good:

Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated), roboticization or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.^[1] In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well. Processes and systems can also be automated.

I’m not willing to write it off, but I’m not as satisfied as the authors of this article. I tested the hypothesis that some things don’t work correctly because they are badly designed. The following data are based on anecdotal experience collected retrospectively over time.

Automation Performance of Selected Things
Contrivance	Value of Automation	% Works as Intended	Score
Soap dispenser	low	0%	fail
Paper towel dispenser	moderate	3%	fail
Warm air hand dryer	moderate	97%	pass
Urinal	moderate	90%	pass
Door	high	99%	pass
Teller	high	99%	pass
Customer service representative	low	1%	fail
Garage door	high	85%	pass
Automobile transmission	moderate	92%	pass
Coffee machine	low	62%	fail

As you can see from the numbers, automation is slightly better than no automation, but it’s not as clear cut as you would think. When automatic devices fail the consequences can be worse than being forced to use a manual alternative. This is especially true for bathrooms and customer service. When it comes to doors we are clearly better off.

That’s the thing about Wikipedia. You have to think about everything you read on it.

WordPress Automatic Update

Adrian Cooke — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:57:07 +0000

After years of following the extended upgrade instructions for WordPress I was a little skeptical about using the “automatic update” feature in 2.7. But it’s a nice implementation that requires fewer steps and worked smoothly for me.

Before you start, you should back up your database, and verify that the backup works. I also redirect traffic to a “down for maintenance” message while I’m upgrading. (It’s probably best to disable plugins too.) Then, run Automatic Update:

This beats waiting around for SFTP

The main difference is the speed of the actual update. It ran in a minute or so. The rest of the time was spent synchronising remote files to the local machine, rather than the other way around. The whole process probably takes about the same amount of time as updating via SVN, but this option will be a lot easier for users who are more comfortable with a GUI than the command line.

This is probably the best new feature in WordPress.

Zero to One-Eighty » automation

Automation, success or failure?

WordPress Automatic Update