Tag: computer

Aluminum Foil and RFIDs

7/2017

RFID, radio frequency identification (or maybe, radio frequency idiot), chips are here and more will come. You think cell phones, wifi, and computers are easy to hack?  This makes that kind of hacking seem like child’s play.

If you’ve seen one of the modern movies, like a James Bond flick, where they put this little capsule under his skin, that is a RFID.  They aren’t all that large.  Or maybe you’ve seen retailers brush your intended purchase across a scanner before you leave a store so that the alarms don’t go off?  Some companies put one in the hand of it’s employees so they can automatically log in/out, charge food at the commissary or track their movements.

The RF part means that the chip puts out a radio signal when stimulated by a scanner.  It broadcasts whatever information is on the chip.

A simple radio scanner can read and reproduce said information.  The scanner can be as small as a cigarette lighter with a remote antenna that is as inconspicuous as a small coil of wire.  A small computer (like a raspberry Pi, the size of a pack of gum) can overwrite the information on the chip to what the hacker wants.

RFID chips are everywhere – companies and labs use them as access keys, Prius owners use them to start their cars, and retail giants like Wal-Mart have deployed them as inventory tracking devices.  Drug manufacturers like Pfizer rely on chips to track pharmaceuticals.  The tags are also about to get a lot more personal: Next-gen US passports and credit cards will contain RFIDs, and the medical industry is exploring the use of implantable chips to manage patients.  According to the RFID market analysis firm IDTechEx, the push for digital inventory tracking and personal ID systems will expand the current annual market for RFIDs from $2.7 billion to as much as $26 billion by 2016.”(1)

That was the news 11 years ago.

From your Grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave, wrapping my credit cards in aluminum foil as I lament my Maui experiences.

Weary.

1. The RFID Hacking Underground, Annlee Newitz, 05.01.06, https://www.wired.com/2006/05/rfid-2/

12/19/2020, Edit; The following links are YouTube videos on how easy it is to defeat RFIDs in your credit cards and key fobs. The Lock Picking Lawyer has a video showing that the shielding sleeves are easily defeated.

  1. How to Bypass RFID Badge Readers (w/ Deviant Ollam and Babak Javadi). The Modern Rogue. January 29, 2020. Retrieved 12/17/2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccm1caB6bao
  2. How Hackers Steal Card Info, Just by Standing Nearby. The modern Rogue. March 27, 2020. Retrieved 12/17/2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt2Gn2CoJ74

We Survived the Weather Despite…

7/2017

On another topic, whew!! We survived.

Wife and I went on a road trip.  I had looked at the weather online before leaving, while on the road I just stuck my nose in the air every day.  By the 3d day, snow and ice hit, as expected.  It wasn’t much, but about 3 inches of snow fell just about the time we hit Salina, with little to no ice.  But it wasn’t until Topeka, on the way back after the worst had passed, that I fully understood the ramifications.

Just east of Topeka (100 miles later), was a KDOT text message board telling me to be careful because there was a Winter Weather Advisory out.  And to think I might have made it all the way back home without knowing that!  We are so lucky to live in a state that cares, seeing that they used Obama/our money to keep us safe.

Let’s be safe out there, don’t text and drive.

Your grumpy Uncle/brother Dave.

Weary

My, How Technology Has Improved

7/2017

When personal computers were just entering the home market, think Radio Shack/Tandy’s TR series home built computers in the early ’80s, I could beat the chess programs on a regular basis.  Now, chess programs can tell me what moves I am going to make before I touch a chess piece and what the ten best moves against me are.

Now, a human solves Rubik’s cube in 4.74 seconds, breaking the previous record. (1)  Yeah, well a robot did it in 0.637 seconds.

OK, see how technology (computers) are making our lives more productive.

Your old and grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.

  1.  http://puzzles.wonderhowto.com/news/rubiks-cube-world-record-gets-shattered-4-74-seconds-0174841/

Weary.

The Silicon Conspiracy

6/2017

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has essentially forced the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) on the healthcare industry, with the section known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act).  Don’t know about you but I just love cute little acronyms.

This was done by Congress.  The same august body of our government that gave us the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which has forced the use of those expensive CFLs, halogen and LED light bulbs and the elimination of incandescent light bulbs.

I have commented on these EMRs before and could probably write a book on the subject, but hang in here, today I’ll try to keep it shorter than that.

Just like in the case of light bulbs, where Congress caused the wanton use and distribution of many toxic substances in an attempt to protect and make the world safer/brighter/lighter/more economical, it has now caused us to have to use computers and electrons to see our health history with the bizarre benefit of saving trees in the process.

But wait just a minute!  Trees can be planted, tended, harvested and planted again and therefore are a renewable resource.  Drive through Arkansas, Oregon, Maine or any timber state and look at all the tree farms.  In fact, paper can be made from a variety of cellulose producing plants, not just trees.  And paper can be made from paper.  It is recyclable!

Silicon, on the other hand, is the 14th element on the periodic table.  While silicon may be the 8th most common of the elements on earth, it is relatively rare in its elemental form and there is a finite amount of silicon in the universe.  It is commonly found in sand and dust. Silicon is used to do more than enhance breasts, butts and lips (although some of us hardly see the point), caulk leaky sinks and keep us from burning our hands on hot pots; it is an essential component in the production of computer chips.

So in fact, Congress has forced the use of an element that is not renewable to avoid the use of a resource that is renewable.

Now do you understand why we have so many military installations in the desert areas of the Western states?

Now do you understand why we are so interested in sending our young men and women to the Middle East (as if it were for oil interests, poppy-cock!)?

In the near future, you will see the news media focusing not on OPEC (Oil Producing & Exporting Countries) but SHEC. You figure the acronym.

Your grumpy Uncle Dave trying to squash conspiracy theories left and right.

Weary