Beware of computers and humans

Unless they consider movies like Night of the Living Dead or Jurassic Park to be documentaries, drivers can laugh when pranksters alter electronic warning signs to read “Zombies Ahead” or “Raptors Ahead.”

The “zombies,” or at least the idea of them, appeared last week in Austin, Texas, according to United Press International. And on Monday, WRTV-TV in Indianapolis reported that motorists were alerted that flying carnivores awaited them in the suburb of Carmel.

City officials are not amused. This was vandalism, they say: Padlocks were broken to open the signs and hack their computers.

No, we don’t condone vandalism, even if we could use a chuckle. But isn’t there a bigger issue here? Sure, I’m going to be alert whether a highway sign warns of construction or brain-munching monsters. But do we really want goofballs to be able to hack into public safety computers this way?

Computers are supposed to make our lives better. Instead, they sometimes create the potential for harm. We need to stay aware of that.

This afternoon I found a purse near the street. Whatever cash it once held is gone, but it’s filled with credit and identification cards and a driver’s license, all in the same name. The owner is or recently was a student from out of state. I’d like to return the purse and its contents to her.

I’ve left a voice message (technology can be our friend) with what appears to be her employer, left my contact information with her hometown insurance agent, and called the bank that issued her debit card.

The bank’s computerized answering system wasn’t going to let me into her account (good computer). The employee who eventually took my call said, “Oh, we’ll cancel that card.” The sound of computer keystrokes commenced. Uh oh.

“Wait! It’s not my card. I just want to return it,” I said.

“This is what we do,” the woman said. “Now, I’ll take your information to put our customer in touch with you.”

Oh.

I’d tried to find a local address or phone number for the owner through an online search. No luck. Later I tried the Lost-and-Found section of Craigslist. Nope. My computer failed us.

It’s been almost five hours and I haven’t heard from her. I know more about this stranger than I wish, but I don’t know if she’s injured or if I’ve scared the heck out of her parents. And I’ve inadvertently gotten a source of cash for her canceled.

But at least I or someone even creepier does not know her address. And she apparently didn’t have her Social Security number in the purse: good thinking on her part. She’s safe from computer theft if not muggers.