I recently went back to work part-time for a buddy of mine who owns a web hosting business. I'm an "operator," which means "peon." I just have to be here, let clients in and respond to the various alerts and such that we might get. Some evenings it seems like every server in the place is going to blow up, some nights nothing happens.

We use a lot of biometrics, even more than when I worked here before (last summer and fall). I no longer have a key because the front door is opened with my fingerprint. My palm opens the doors for both the Network Operations Center (the cool room with the windows and 8 computer monitors showing all sorts of impressive graphs and security camera images) and the Data Center (the room that has all the servers). Then I have to give my fingerprint again for either the communications room or the electrical room.

The palm scanners have a little digital readout where I enter my code before putting my palm down, forgot that part, and when it scans my palm it says "Approved" and gives me a number on a 100 scale that measures just how closely my palm resembles the original scan when I was entered into the database.

A year ago I regularly got scores of 20-35. Since coming back - I was never removed from the system, so it's the same palm scan of 18 months ago - I get scores of 2-9.

Apparently my palm in October 2007 looks more like my palm of June 2006 than my palm looked in June 2006.

I'm going to go with Terry Pratchett and say that it's because of all the quantum around here.

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