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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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050189
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05018900.010
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1990-09-17
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BUSINESS, Page 59Business NotesCOMPUTER SERVICESGood Morning! Are You O.K.?
Many people hang up when they answer the phone and hear a
computerized voice, figuring it is probably a prerecorded sales
pitch. Not the folks in Osage, Iowa. Their police department pays
for a telephone-dialing computer service that automatically checks
up on older people who live alone. At the same time every day, the
computer calls them and says, "Good Morning! Are you O.K.?" If they
answer "Yes," the computer hangs up and goes on to the next number.
If no one answers, the computer alerts the police.
Developed by Bruce Johnson, a local computer hobbyist, the
program saved the life of Clyde Ritter, 73, when he fell into a
diabetic coma, and rescued another older resident, whose hands had
become stuck in a window.