The Open Source Ministry Blog

We have started using PublicData.com for some basic background checking and research on cars in the parking lot.

It is a pretty simple service and very affordable. It doesn’t take the place of the regular background checks we have been doing for a long time, but it works as a good first line check. We are using the “Business Use 1500 Plan” under the corporate account area.
PublicData.com also offers the ability to look up automotive registrations via license plate information or Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This is helpful for tracking down where some of these cars that appear in our parking lot came from.

I am interested in starting up a license plate registry of staff vehicles and vehicles that are regularly left in the parking lot to make them more quickly identifiable.

It has several databases to search from (a list in the demo), but it doesn’t cover everything in every state.

By the way, if you are interested in using PublicData.com go ahead and register through this link. It will give us 100 more lookups and I believe you will also get an extra credit of 100 lookups as well.
If you have any questions about the service then post in the comments and I will try to answer them.

I don’t keep the “Security” catagory very straight laced sometimes, but I do have an interest in where security cameras make it into the news in interesting ways.

Man steals a maltese puppy by hiding it in his pants.

I am surprised the puppy didn’t fall out the bottom of his shorts. Unless he placed it in his underware. AAAGH! Maybe he had two pairs of underwear on to allow a space for the dog.

It only took 5 months to get our Zebra p330i back in and working (sort of).

They held it for a month this time. When I called in to check about its status I went through a different phone route and ended up at a different desk (it sure beat talking to the guy who kept messing up my phone messages in the past). When I asked how the printer was doing she indignantly responded “Well, we just received it yesterday.” . . . Pause . . . “Oh, wait, that was last month. Could you hold on?” . . . Pause . . . “Has tech support gotten in contact with you?” (My answer, “No, that is why I am calling.”) “Could you hold a minute?” . . . Pause . . . “This says there is nothing wrong with it, but we think you may need to use a different printer ribbon.”

They shipped it back overnight with a free roll of ribbon (and no defective replacement parts like last time). The new ribbon doesn’t offset its printing like we had been dealing with before, but it does a much lower quality image (with occasional coffee like stains). We still have several rolls of the other ribbon. I am waiting to see what their malarkey level is before I see about returning the ribbon to them or Identicard. At ~$100 each they aren’t cheap.

Tips on contacting Zebra:

• Just plan on dealing with them all day when you call.
• Give them a cell phone number so you can move away from your desk while waiting for them to return your call. They will gladly call you back immediately when you make it back to your office.
• Give them the amount of time they said it would take to deal with the other two support calls (it seemed as though it was always 2) and add 1 hour then call them back. The guy who took your message probably lost it (received that excuse 3 times I believe).
• When you mail in the printer be sure to call them to ask for an update withing a week of sending it. This will get them to have someone look at it. It took me a month since I was out of the office for a week doing training and the other weeks were full of making up for that one. I ran out of time to sit with them on the phone.
• They won’t call you. They may even forget you are still on the phone.
• Do not use their online support (unless they have changed it and improved it). The tech support contact form goes to Customer Service and they don’t send it on to tech support. Tech support does not reply to the email they receive at the address they say you can reach them at (they gave it to me over the phone).
• Remember their time zone in contrast to your own. They take their lunch break seriously and get really annoyed when you let the phone ring for 15-20 minutes waiting for an answer.
• Leave the protective packaging on your printer (unless it needs to be in public) and DEFINITELY save the box. Someone from zebra said it costs a couple hundred dollars for a new one. ?!?!?
• Oh, and remember to record each person’s name when you talk to them, the number you called to reach them, and the details about your equipment (model, serial number).

We can print cards, but I still eye the card printer with a bit of hostility. Perhaps I should seek counseling.

Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie got a positive note in the press about security in their building.

• Limited access to children’s area built into the plan.
• Cameras keeping an eye on the classrooms
• Guardians checked before even reaching the area

Our building was not designed to this level, but we are able to keep kids back behind doors until pick-up. However, it is something to consider with our new building.