ranthony at wrsystems.com
ranthony at wrsystems.com
Mon May 17 09:17:39 CDT 2004
As a life NRA member, I fail to see the relevance of this. This topic may be better served elsewhere. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: Heenan, Lambert [mailto:Lambert.Heenan at aig.com] Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 10:09 AM To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' Subject: RE: [AccessD] A Rose by any other name is still a rose;was (normalization question) I'm sure this story will bring great cheer to the NRA and everyone else who believes that your just not a whole person unless you are packing heat - preferably fully automatic and large caliber. "Sad" is best spin I can put on it. Lambert > -----Original Message----- > From: John Clark [SMTP:John.Clark at niagaracounty.com] > Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 9:55 AM > To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com > Subject: Re: [AccessD] A Rose by any other name is still a rose;was > (normalization question) > > My first major Access program that I wrote was for our county's pistol > permit department, to track pistol permits. I was shocked to discover > that they tracked these things by name only. I thought I found a major > problem, when they gave me their original tables and I discovered > hundreds of missing SSNs. They told me that SSN was not required data. > > I told them that I had a problem with this, as a programmer and as a > private citizen. I told them about a personal situation of mine > involving confusion with names. My name is John W Clark. The name itself > sounds fake, with all three components being very common. My friends > used to say that it was a fake name. I first heard of another local guy > with the same name, including initial, about 14 years ago. I was in a > bar with a bunch of coworkers, and I was introduced to a guy who was a > friend of a friend. I don't drink much these days, but thank god that > when I did, I was a friendly drunk, because after speaking to my new > friend, I discovered that he thought I was someone else--someone who > used to beat him up quite a bit in high school, shared the same name as > me, and apparently also shares some of my physical characteristics. This > new friend had gone into the service upon graduation and got, according > to him, quite a bit larger than school days, and he was looking at a > little payback. He told me, that he thought I was someone else, and that > he and his brother-in-law, who looked like he had been recently paroled > from a penitentiary, were going to kick the hell out of me, when I left > the bar. Luckily though, he did speak to me, and discovered that I was > not his prey, and all ended well. > > But, a few years later, something potentially much more worse happened. > I was still living at home with my folks--mostly just sleeping > there--but I was about 20 miles away at work, when some visitors arrived > at their house. Two detectives from the sheriffs department, showed up > at the house with a warrant for my arrest. Actually, they did want John > W Clark, but they were coming to get the wrong one. Again, this turned > out OK, but it was taken care of, while I was at work--had I been there, > they would have sorted it out, at the county jail--probably after > processing! > > After coming to work for the county, I discovered that I would be doing > quite a bit of work for the District Attorney's office. I told them all > my stories so that they wouldn't think it was me, if the name came > across their desks. As it turns out, they are pretty familiar with this > guy, and they raz me about it quite often. > > The pistol permit office send a "Mental Hygiene" check to Albany, and > it is simply a form letter with a name on it. How the hell do they know > exactly which John W Clark they are sending info on? If there are two in > this county, how many are in the state? There are several more people > with the name John Clark in my area without the initial. > > I was also surprised to find out that each county does its own thing. I > believe there are 62 counties in NY, and they can all have their own > numbering, methods, etc.. All this organization must be why were paying > such high taxes here! > > >>> artful at rogers.com 5/17/2004 1:17:26 AM >>> > As I pointed out in a previous msg on this thread, I know 5 John > Reids, > and all of them are in the software biz. Go figure. Them Irish, they > do > like to propagate! Check Chicago for example :) (Does anyone else LOVE > Miller's Crossing? My fave movie of all time.) > > I googled my own name and then ran 411.com (a phone number database) > and > found a painter of the same name died early in the last century and no > less than 20 identical names in Canada alone. > > In short, names alone don't cut it. Add something unique and you have > a > chance. Phone numbers are candidates, but it could happen that 2 > Arthur > Fullers reside at the same address (unlikely I admit, but possible). > Even SSNs have been demonstrated to be non-unique (counterfeit IDs, > bad > coding, identity theft, etc.). > > > -- > _______________________________________________ > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com -- _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com