This Tuesday John Harvey was the guest speaker at the monthly FUDG meeting in downtown Chicago. We went to dinner afterwards, along with another FUDG member. It was a very enjoyable evening.

John demonstrated his law enforcement application, WASP, to the group. It was an impressive app, particularly in its use of automation (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, MapPoint) and integration of wireless technology. As John observed in his authentic southern drawl, "Cops don't like to type." Neither do my users, and probably neither do yours. There are many features within the app that give the patrol officer a complete arrest record of a suspect, links to known acquaintances, checks with the DMV and other government agencies, maps of the area, and mug shots. (The specific use is for the apprehension of fugitives with outstanding warrants). What I particularly admired was the breadth of technologies employed. John is a FoxPro stalwart -- the guts of WASP are all FoxPro -- but he doesn't think it's a fox, fox, fox, fox world any more. Very nice app.

After the meeting we went out to dinner. We had agreed to that beforehand and in addition I owed him one due to the inexplicable failure of the Chiefs to defeat the Colts last weekend. We had discussed going out for steak, none better than in Chicago, and that's what we did. The Chicago Chop House. I was less than overwhelmed by the overall dining experience but the steaks -- prime rib, in John's case -- were first rate. As was the conversation.

I am still laughing at some of the things the third guy said. I have known him for years through FUDG and living in the same Chicago neighborhood but had never seen this side of him. Someone must have spiked his iced tea because he was off to the races with conspiracy theories. JFK was just a warmup -- who DOESN'T know the truth about that one? -- and then on to 9/11 and other more recent catastrophes. Nothing random about it, it was all planned by nefarious forces. He kept tossing out increasingly wacky factoids, punctuating each with "DID YOU KNOW THAT?!" <lol>

In person John is an engaging person, nothing like the bomb thrower we sometimes see here. I suspect he would say the same of me. We both laughed, shook hands, and off we went. Well worth getting home too late.