Slashdot Mirror
Simple PrePay/Checkout System Using MagCards?
An Anonymous Coward asks:
"I help at a small youth club that has various events on different
nights. For awhile now we have had a snack bar of sorts and have been
thinking of developing a pre-paid system. We have access to plenty of
computers and magnetic card readers (wit blank cards) but any ideas
on the software? Also, would there be any way of also using this to
keep track of a CD sign-out system?"
lh_
Sounds like a REAL fun youth club.
Wtf would they want to pre-pay, are you trying to over engineer this?
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
As suggested above the security of mag cards are quite trivial. However if you kept a record of what *should* be on the cards on a database of some kind any attempt to use a modified card could be spottted and dealt with.
This somewhat stupifies the usage of the mag cards as you could just as easily use a barcoded card to track the users and keep all information local.
CD borrowing system could work just like any library system now. Each user has a barcoded card (easily could be a mag card) that has a user id of some sort. Then the server keeps track of the rest. An added bonus to using the barcode is people could "log-in" from home and check account status. With a mag card the users would need an additional user id printed on the card. (Or assigned one in the application process).
Just my two clams from above the border.
Well, I don;t know of any software for it, but I'd love to help design the database end of it.
Have you read my journal today?
I used a system that was tied to my mag card / student ID for many years there. You can buy cokes, pizza, food of any type, etc.. with the swipe of a card. The vending machines are the best because there is no need for change anymore! Everyone at A&M loves Aggie Bucks.
BTW, here is a link for businesses involved. I know this doesn't help directly with the software, but it proves it has been done on a wide scale with great success. You may want to contact those involved in implementing this, or learn from their example. Good luck.
JOhn
Campaign for Liberty
A couple of security suggestions:
1) Avoid sequential numbering.
2) The Mag stripe should have information that's not printed on the card.
3) Printed information on the card should be verified against data from the swipe.
4) Mag card numbers should be independent of any specific user information.
If you do it right the security is better. Readers aren't that expensive (~$50) and they also function as writers. Also cards are getting pretty cheap. $3 for Java card, less that $1 for some file system cards. Obviously this is more expensive than mag-stripe, but also much cooler.
disclaimer: I do smart card work full time so I am biased.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Try the iButton. It's a Java-based little button that can be placed on a keychain (or ring, or watch, or wallet). I imagine they're probably simple enough to program with, and probably difficult to hack. I believe they all come with a unique identifier that can be accessed which cannot be overwritten, unlike with a mag-card which can easily be copied and forged.
Should be relatively trivial to write a program to interface with a database every time it's touched to your terminal, depending on what sort of transaction you wish to take place.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
It doesn't have to use mag cards, I just thought that would be easiest. I'm pretty into the ibuttons now though. If anyone would like to help e-mail me at timoteobc@mac.com (yes, I do use PCs aswell)