I work for the U, but we get the DL data for use on federally funded research projects. 1. We use the database to do control selection for case-control studies among other things. We use to use it for tracing lost participants in long-term studies but that kind of data is now readily available very cheaply through commercial services and tends to be much more current. Lately I've been spending time looking at the characteristics of the individuals who restricted third party access to their drivers license and motor vehicle data to see how they compare to people selected as cases couple of our studies. 2. I keep encrypted backup copies of all of my current databases on my thumb drive. On the average we get flooded out due to plumbing problems in the building a couple of times a year. The year before last we were evacuated twice because of suspected gas leaks - turned out to be a poorly vented lab experiment in the building that was throwing off mercaptan as a by-product. And last week I was shut out of the office for a couple of days because of a radiator leak that was venting steam into my office. I sleep easier knowing I have the backups with me. Bob Bruininks wants to make us the 3rd best research university on the planet - I'd settle for an office that doesn't leak (water or gas oderant) and maybe has heat on cold days :-) 3. It was just a point of reference to the rate of technological change. It use to considered large and now its a fraction of the data on a typical music CD. I can remember using the DL database 10 years ago on a VAX and we were only able to keep 1/6th of it loaded at one time. --rick John T. Hoffoss wrote: >Am I the only one wondering: > >1) Why you have these? >2) Why they're on your thumb-drive? >3) Why you're advertising the fact that you have them? > >I'll assume you work for the state, but still, what's the need to >carry these around? > >-John > >On 5/11/05, Richard Hoffbeck <rwh at visi.com> wrote: > > >>And now I have a database with 2 copies of the MN drivers license >>database and 1 copy of the WI DL database - the compressed encrypted >>backup image only takes up half of the 1GB memory key on my key chain. >> >>--rick >> >>Jerry Weihrauch wrote: >> >> >> >>>Mike Miller wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>>I remember sitting in a classroom in 1987 and hearing that it >>>>wouldn't be long before we'd be talking about "gigabytes." I thought >>>>it was true, but it was still amazing to dream about it. Now we're >>>>talking about terabytes. >>>> >>>>Back in those days an older professor told me about his work in the >>>>1960s on an old computer that needed an HDD. They were storing >>>>everything on cards. Reboots took a long time but were frequently >>>>needed. So they managed to convince the university (UW-Madison) to >>>>buy them an HDD. It was 1966 and the HDD cost $65,000. It held 2 MB >>>>and I think it was as big as a washing machine. It probably seemed >>>>like a lot of storage space at the time. >>>> >>>>I bought my first HDD in 1986. It cost me $450 and it held 30 MB >>>>because it was a true 20 MB drive with an RLL controller that added >>>>50% to the volume. Back then 30 MB went a long, long way. You >>>>*could* still do your work on two 360 KB 5.25" floppies (e.g., >>>>WordPerfect 4.2 on one floppy and your data on the other), but it was >>>>beginning to get uncomfortable. This was before I had a "high >>>>density" floppy drive that held about 1.2 MB on a single 5.25" floppy >>>>- that was luxurious! >>>> >>>>Mike >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>The first HDD I remember was at the Minnesota Department of >>>Transportation about 1965, not sure of the storage size but the "drum" >>>was six feet long and about two feet in diameter. The drive was in a >>>cabinet with large windows so every one could watch it spin. It was >>>going to hold all the drivers license, vehicle license and state crime >>>records on the HDD, maybe one meg? Would say back in 1965 the state >>>population was around two million, so one third of the population may >>>have had drivers license and half owned a vehicle and criminal records >>>one tenth? >>> >>>Jerry >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>_______________________________________________ >>>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >>>tclug-list at mn-linux.org >>>http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >>> >>> >>_______________________________________________ >>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >>tclug-list at mn-linux.org >>http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >> >> >> > > > >