[cap-talk] getting authorization from the user and the great insight

[Jed Donnelley]

On 10/4/2007 8:57 PM, ihab.awad at gmail.com wrote:
> On 10/4/07, Jed Donnelley <jed at nersc.gov> wrote:
>> Exactly.  Let me mention a few more.  All the typing of
>> text in this message that I'm typing.  ...
> 
>    I have a secret habit. It's really embarrassing and I've never
>    written it down before. It's like this, see. When I floss my teeth,
>    I start with the left side and move towards the right.
> 
> Does not my act of typing this secret information into my email
> program "authorize" the email program to possess this information?

Not by my definition.  As I said, I believe such a general
interpretation of the word "authorize" makes that term
essentially meaningless.

City hall is a place where many authorizations happen
(e.g. building permits, zoning changes, etc., etc.).
I do not consider my uttering a word like "hello?"
in City hall to qualify as an "authorization", but
by your generalized definition above I believe it
would be (assuming somebody was there to hear
my utterance).  You could say, for example, I was
"authorizing" them to know I was there and looking
for somebody.  That goes way beyond my interpretation
of the word "authorize":

1.  To grant authority or power to.
2.  To give permission for; sanction:
    the city agency that authorizes
    construction projects.

Typing your text into the email program I would
not say "authorized" the program to "possess"
this secret.  I reserve the term "authorize" for
higher level granting of permissions.

In the context of running computer programs
I use that term to denote the granting of
a permission to access an object.  I very much
doubt your sentence ever appeared as an
object that was access controlled.

--Jed  http://www.webstart.com/jed/