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Exchange Email Addresses With A Handshake

Eye of the Frog writes "Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and its subsidiary NTT DoCoMo Inc. have developed a device that attaches to your PDA which uses the body's conductivity to transmit data at an amazing 10 megabits per second."

144 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. I can just see the first court case... by Bimkins · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Honest, your honor. I wasn't grabbing her. I was just giving her my telephone number!"

    --



    If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast.
    1. Re:I can just see the first court case... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The penetration which followed was simply an attempt to get a better upload.

    2. Re:I can just see the first court case... by Telastyn · · Score: 2

      The judge: "No son, you commited unauthorized access of her PDA" (to get her number) you are sentenced to LIFE (*muhahah*)

    3. Re:I can just see the first court case... by modecx · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hrm, interpersonal LAN parties... Gives "First Person Shooter" a whole 'nother meaning!
      Wonder just how far tweakers will go to get lower pings though?

      Yeah, definitely time for bed.

      --
      Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
  2. Amazing! by ActiveSX · · Score: 4, Funny

    And if we could get a long chain of people, maybe we could use them instead of ethernet cable!

    1. Re:Amazing! by blowhole · · Score: 5, Funny

      Imagine a Beowulf cluster of us!

      --
      "Ask me about Loom"
    2. Re:Amazing! by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 2

      You know how some people have to talk with their hands.
      Which begs the questions:
      What would be acceptable packet loss rate?
      What about being a router? Can males do more?

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  3. We're better than mud! by jimson · · Score: 5, Funny

    At least in transfer rates........

  4. Wow by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 5, Funny

    which uses the body's conductivity to transmit data at an amazing 10 megabits per second

    Oh, god. Imagine the new possibilities for porn.

    1. Re:Wow by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 4, Funny
      pr0n?

      This brings new meaning to peer-to-peer networking in general!

    2. Re:Wow by majestynine · · Score: 5, Funny
      Sorry, I couldn't resist posting a link to this nodeshell on Everything2. Get ready to laugh your ass off:

      Penises have higher bandwidth than cable modems

    3. Re:Wow by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'd have to disagree with the result. The bandwidth of the penis is given as 78 Mb/s. However, most of our genome is exactly the same for all human beings. So all that really has to be transmitted are the base pairs that differ. This is probably on the order of less than 1%. This means that a cable modem could probably transmit the same bandwidth as a penis using good compression software.

    4. Re:Wow by Quixadhal · · Score: 2

      And you thought even THAT activity would be safe from DRM??? Muahahaha, fool!

    5. Re:Wow by Thenomain · · Score: 3, Informative

      Does that mean most of my data transfer would be logged as "localhost"?

      --
      This now concludes our broadcast day.
    6. Re:Wow by Sirch · · Score: 2

      I suppose it would bring a whole new meaning to "the local loop"!

  5. Couldn't resist... by bjschrock · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, if a bunch of people join hands, do they become a Beowolf cluster?

  6. Napster This! by spellcheckur · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...and you'll now be able to download ripped DVDs during fornication!

    Oh, wait... hmmm... I wonder which I'll need first... a DVD player, or a girlfriend.

    1. Re:Napster This! by TellarHK · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nope, I don't think that's going to happen. Why? When's the last time you copied a DVD rip over a 10Mbit connection in the three or four minutes the average male lasts? And I think I'm being generous here. Not evem MPEG-4 will make up for the trigger-happiness of most guys.

    2. Re:Napster This! by mbourgon · · Score: 2

      Don't forget foreplay either... *hmm... need 45 more seconds to get the bonus tracks*

      --
      "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  7. How about people with pace makers? by LowAmmoWarning · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How about the people with pace makers? Are they going to have a warning label on the product or even try testing the product with them? Also, how about any other medical conditions that might present themselves due to this technology?

    --
    We could all benefit from my education.
    1. Re:How about people with pace makers? by mclearn · · Score: 4, Informative

      The article states that the device uses the body's natural conductivity. Hence, there should be no issues regarding those with pace-makers.

    2. Re:How about people with pace makers? by LinuxInDallas · · Score: 5, Informative

      Pacemakers and other implantables typically communicate with external devices using low power RF signals. It's quite possible that this networking could interfere with operation of the device. There are rumors of airport security x-ray machines causing havoc in some types of devices. It's the responsibility of the medical device manufacturer to make sure an implant meets certain criteria for EMI/RFI but those requirements are not all that strenuous to meet.

    3. Re:How about people with pace makers? by AvitarX · · Score: 3, Informative

      I would assume this is a high frequency electricity (10 mbits/second is a lot of info). High frequency electricity will travel over the surface without penatrating, so it should not be an issue.

      National geographic had a guy standing on a charged plat, shooting electricity that went through (over) him into the rod, it was cool.

      People with pacemakers don't die from static shocks, I find it hard to believe that people would use a technology that was more disruptive then that.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    4. Re:How about people with pace makers? by CoolVibe · · Score: 2
      People with pacemakers don't die from static shocks, I find it hard to believe that people would use a technology that was more disruptive then that.

      As long as people with pacemakers stay away from my bulk eraser :)

      (seriously, my bulk eraser even has a warning sticker that warns about it)

    5. Re:How about people with pace makers? by MourningBlade · · Score: 2, Funny

      Modern peacemakers use all-natural, organic material which has not been shown to be affected by any electromagnetic fields in the area. In 100% of use cases the peacemaker was able to adapt to the environment and perform its function.

    6. Re:How about people with pace makers? by NanoGator · · Score: 2

      "Lightning bolts also use the body's natural conductivity. Are they compatible with pacemakers as well?"

      Taking it to illogical extremes can be used for humor, but cannot be used effectively as a debate format.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    7. Re:How about people with pace makers? by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 2, Funny
      Geez! Doesn't anybody here have a sense of humor? You guys are a tough crowd.

      Just to clear up any confusion, that was intended to be a joke. It was also pointing out in a humorous way the lack of coherence in the argument that since the device uses the body's natural conductivity it must be compatible with pacemakers. The fact that it does use the body's natural conductivity in no way indicates that it is safe for people with pacemakers. But the post was mostly intended to be a joke. Which apparently nobody got. At least I didn't waste my +2 bonus on it.

      --
      main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
    8. Re:How about people with pace makers? by red5 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is an urban myth. Pacemakers are generally unaffected by cellphones, microwaves, etc.

      Another common misconception about pacemakers this the notion that if they go out of commission the person would have an immediate heart attack. Not true. A pacemaker on kicks in when the subjects heartrate falls out the healthy range. It spends most of it's time watching the heart and waiting.

      I know this because my cousin has one.

      --
      I know I'm going to hell, I'm just trying to get good seats.
    9. Re:How about people with pace makers? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      Heh Actually, my post was meant as a joke too. :)

    10. Re:How about people with pace makers? by NanoGator · · Score: 2

      Doh, I forgot to log out. My friend was using my computer earlier.

      I was trying to be funny. I guess I sounded too serious. I was poking fun at the way people seriously use illogical extremes to make a point. I thought your post was obvious enough in trying to make a joke that I could get away with it.

      Oh well, I'll use a smiley next time. :) :) :)

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  8. Exchange Email? by Trogre · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it just me, or do seeing the words Exchange and Email in the same sentence make you shiver?

    I was expecting another word like 'virus' or 'vulnerability' in that sentence.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  9. Two for the price of one... by jjh37997 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now you can transfer computer viruses as easy as the old fashioned biological kind.

    I can see the T-Shirts now, "Don't touch me! I'm infected with Code Red!"

  10. Here's what I don't get... by BTWR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you're close enough to TOUCH the person... why not just give a business card or TALK to the person???

    1. Re:Here's what I don't get... by LowAmmoWarning · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How about you use it for electonic business cards. People tend to lose real business cards and an electronic business card would cut down on cost. What if by bumping into somebody you gave them your business card? Or how about even using it as a personal identification system in which when you go to your company it verifies its informatoin w/ the information that you are carying w/ you. I'm sure a security card such as this transmitted by just touch could become useful in numerous applications...

      --
      We could all benefit from my education.
    2. Re:Here's what I don't get... by foobar104 · · Score: 2

      The guy in the old Micro Machines commercials

      You mean the guy from the old Federal Express commercials? You youngsters, I swear....

    3. Re:Here's what I don't get... by BTWR · · Score: 2, Interesting
      SO then why not just use the PDA's infrared beam?

      Ok... so you go up to a complete stranger at a convention. Instead of a quick paper card or a beam from a pda, you have to hold the strangers hand, then with the other hand, press SEND, then wait maybe 10 VERY AWKWARD seconds while holding this man/woman's hand. Only if she were sexy would this be anything but really weird...

    4. Re:Here's what I don't get... by Binome · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They'll probably do that anyway. In Japan, giving a business card to another person is almost ceremonial, so I doubt that it'll give way to electronic data transfer. Besides, knowing how marketing exaggerates things, you probably have to grab hold of the other person's hand, open your networking program, wait for a connection to be verified, do the hokey-pokey, then have the file sent. Interesting, but perhaps a ways away from practical use.

      --
      In Soviet Russia, Beowulf cluster imagines you!
    5. Re:Here's what I don't get... by dirvish · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey man. We gotta save the forests man. Down with dead trees (paper) man.

    6. Re:Here's what I don't get... by krogoth · · Score: 2

      A business card that can hold 1.25MiB of binary data? (actually, since it would take a few seconds to transfer it would have to hold at least 6MiB to be equivalent). I guess that's possible with special CD-Rs but they have to be prepared ahead of time, and if you wanted to do something like a multiplayer game the latency would be too much. Or do you talk really really fast?

      --

      They that quote Benjamin Franklin on liberty and safety deserve neither.
    7. Re:Here's what I don't get... by Latent+IT · · Score: 2

      Lessee... 10 seconds at 10 Mbit...

      I'll round like a crazy man, so that's one meg in a minute... one meg/6 is about 170k. Either you have a really, really, really long phone number and address, or you're sending her three or four decent porn jpegs. Either way, you've got trouble. ;p

    8. Re:Here's what I don't get... by Latent+IT · · Score: 2

      Yes, you're right. That was the worst math I've ever done. ;p

    9. Re:Here's what I don't get... by BTWR · · Score: 2, Informative
      OK, here's the math...

      If you've never used a Palm before... or at least a Palm V (which is what I have...)

      1. You have to hold down the phonebook button for 3 seconds to send the bussiness card [Total: 3 seconds]

      2. A note pops up "Looking for receiver" for a 2 seconds, [5 seconds]

      3. The note gets beamed, taking a second[6 seconds]

      4. Palm has it's "accept message" sign, taking the other user 1-5 seconds to answer [7-12 seconds]

      I'm sure you'll find a problem with this, but it's my math. I know the 10 Mbit will change #3 (which is why I made it a second, not 1-2 or 3 seconds as it is with mine), but it won't change the fact that the Palm's internal setup is still lax.

    10. Re:Here's what I don't get... by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 2

      If you're close enough to TOUCH the person... why not just give a business card or TALK to the person???

      Why not do both? Besides, now you can focus on talking about stuff you want to...because you can take the details for granted.

      From the article:

      The technology could allow data communications through door knobs, switches, desks and chairs, the paper said.

      It could pave the way to one day being able to pass through railway ticket gates or entering secure buildings with a simple touch.

      This is really really really great stuff. 10Mbs is more than fast enough to handle thousands of different applications. Hell, you wouldn't even need to remember what you did that day...it's all recorded on your PDA. Where you were, who you spoke with, the names of the people you met, thier jobs, thier contact info...just sitting on a bench at the bus terminal could give you detailed information about routing schedules, etc.

      Stephenson would be proud of this kind of stuff, and rightly so...he was right about most of the cool stuff still coming from Japan. Something like this is way too progressive to be taken seriously in the US, and probably even in europe...the Japanese people have such a great attitude towards technology, I wish I could say that same about the average american.

      Then again, with AOL and MS being "so easy to use no wonder they're #1"...something like this might just catch on...what's easier than a handshake?

      --
      The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
    11. Re:Here's what I don't get... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 2, Funny

      just wait 'till you fail your degree - you'll get plenty of adding practice in McDonalds.

      Free uniform, too.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    12. Re:Here's what I don't get... by horza · · Score: 2

      If you're close enough to TOUCH the person... why not just give a business card or TALK to the person???

      If you went around the room reciting your 2048bit public key to everybody, you would find a large space rapidly growing around you.

      Phillip.

    13. Re:Here's what I don't get... by Pfhor · · Score: 2

      The other aspect of this is the privacy concerns.

      If people thought the image recognition software for video cameras was a bad idea, imagine being able to get the business card of every person whenever they entered a building or a business.

      I would hope that there would be some way to limit which information is being transmitted.

      The idea of doing a pgp key swap in a handsake and a public key / private key check upong entry to a building are very cool thou.

    14. Re:Here's what I don't get... by krogoth · · Score: 2

      When did the IMDB become the official reference for units?

      For the uninformed, it's the new unit for 2^20 bytes.

      --

      They that quote Benjamin Franklin on liberty and safety deserve neither.
  11. New cabling standards... by Cadre · · Score: 4, Funny
    download ripped DVDs during fornication

    Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, CatSex...

    --
    All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
    1. Re:New cabling standards... by Edgewize · · Score: 4, Funny

      Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, CatSex...

      Jees, that's starting to look like my incomming Gnutella queries.

  12. Interesting, but... by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This looks like an interesting technology, but what about the security implications? Suppose in ten years, everybody carries around a tiny device--the futuristic counterpart to today's cellphones--which acts as a phone, voice recorder/MP3 player, PDA, digital still/video camera, electronic wallet, and even contains the digital keys to your house, car, and whatever. All you have to do is touch the doorknob to your house and it'll read the keys from your device and unlock automatically.

    Now ask yourself this: What's to stop crackers from using a root-kit that operates through handshakes to steal information from your electronic device and then use that information to break into your stuff? Is this another one of those technologies that will become totally critical in our everyday lives, and that will also become a huge security problem?

    1. Re:Interesting, but... by encrypted · · Score: 2, Funny

      The sex was great but she rooted my handheld.

    2. Re:Interesting, but... by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ``What's to stop crackers...''
      Don't use the technology. Same thing with all those password managers today. If you are concerned about their security, just say no.

      ---
      It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not
      desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off.
      -- Woody Allen

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    3. Re:Interesting, but... by geekoid · · Score: 2

      Oh my god, you're right! never in the history of mankind has anyone kept everything about them self in one easy to get place!
      except perhaps, the purse.

      besides, if you are going to use touch technology, why wouldn't you use fingerprints?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  13. So if the DNA is 760 MB by PissingInTheWind · · Score: 5, Funny

    at 10Mb/s our body could transmit it's own DNA in 1 hour and 41 minutes.

    9 months is a long time compared to that...

    --

    A message from the system administrator: 'I've upped my priority. Now up yours.'
    1. Re:So if the DNA is 760 MB by afidel · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well the actual transmition can be acomplished in as few as 5 seconds, emm errr or so I'm told.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    2. Re:So if the DNA is 760 MB by dodobh · · Score: 2

      Transmit time is only a few seconds/minutes :) (including patching the code).
      The problem is that the source takes 9 months to compile :)

      --
      I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
    3. Re:So if the DNA is 760 MB by bokmann · · Score: 2

      I dunno about you, but I *wish* it took me almost two hours to transmit my DNA!

      The 9 months isn't the transmission... it's the time it takes to interpret it. I believe the average male 'transmits' in something like 7 minutes.

      -db

    4. Re:So if the DNA is 760 MB by bilbobuggins · · Score: 2
      After 9 months of dating he meant

      this is /. after all

  14. A thought... by Derg · · Score: 2, Insightful
    To quote the Article:
    It could also get a computer to start up with the proper settings as soon as the user sat down, the paper said.

    I think this would be a benefit for both computer security and for true multi-user desktop environments, as well as network access.. Instead of a password, you need the hardware device to access a specific account. then again, it is just one more device to lose/break/power/carry.

    Just a thought..

    --
    I'm a little tea pot.
    1. Re:A thought... by BlackHawk · · Score: 2

      • Instead of a password, you need the hardware device to access a specific account. then again, it is just one more device to lose/break/power/carry

      Unless you embed the device, say, under a layer of muscle. Or in a distributed network, perhaps powered by chemical interaction with the bloodstream. That way the device can't be lost, or stolen.. or... or removed. Say did anyone else just feel a chill?

      --

      Believe nothing, not even if I say it, if it violates your sense of reason -- Buddha

  15. We should use this for the last mile. by Hershmire · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It gives a whole new meaning to "hands around the world". Now where to find volunteers...

    --
    if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll); //Stupid roommates.
    1. Re:We should use this for the last mile. by captredballs · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, when Worldcom bites the dust we might need to organize "Hands Around the World" just to read /.

      Genetic engineering is going to become a much higher priority for geeks as soon as they need to overclock THAT bus :-)

      --

      I suppose I'm not too threatening, presently, but wait till I start Nautilus
  16. Shades of "The Belonging Kind" by Perianwyr+Stormcrow · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Dark club, a whisper in your ear.

    "I know what you like".

    A fleeting touch verifies it- she sure does.

    So, she settles down next to you, and rests her hand on your leg. It can't be the data-transmission that's making you shiver, you've done this before.

    A few breathless minutes later, she smiles, and kisses you lightly on the forehead.

    "Keep the faith."

    You know you will. After all, a quick glance at your PDA shows that you've benefitted twice tonight.

    --

    What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey

    1. Re:Shades of "The Belonging Kind" by foobar104 · · Score: 2

      "The Gernsback Continuum" is his best short story; that is, it's my favorite of his short stories. It's also included in Burning Chrome, I think. Worth a read.

    2. Re:Shades of "The Belonging Kind" by bovril · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That was a great story, but it should've been called something like "Alcoholic Mutants Find Love". ;)

      Since we're going down the sci-fi path... This article reminded me more of the IR palm implants in Greg Egan's "Quarantine". Great book for the neural mods and other tech gadgets.

      But exchanging email addresses with a handshake sounds more like someone's trying to create an evil, networking, Tony Robbins fueled, cyborg-spammer from hell. Like Skynet, but with free university degrees and penis enlarging creams...

      --

      ---
      Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
  17. 10mbps For The Healthy by spudwiser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, but in order to reach full 10mbps you have to have a diet rich in copper.

    --
    .cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
    1. Re:10mbps For The Healthy by stuffman64 · · Score: 2

      How about gold or silver?

      Silver, the best conductor, would be great at improving throughput. It is also one of the modern-day snake oils in the form of "colloidal silver" which was popular during that Y2K thing as it was believed to prevent you from getting sick. Stan Jones, the libertarian senate candidate from Montana, made his own concoction and drank it. It ends up, if you consume enough, your skin will turn a pale blueish-grey and you will look like you are dead. That's what you get for beleiving Y2K hype...

      Also, at Wegman's today, I saw some "7 Layer Opera Cake," topped with 23-carat gold leaf. The lady in charge of all the delicious treats asured me that the gold is in fact edible, and adds a distinct taste to the cake. Intrigued, I bought the $4USD delicacy (which was a whole 100 cubic cm in volume). It was really good, but I'm sure the gold was entirly unnecessary (I could detect no difference in the taste in the bites with the gold leaf). I should have tested the resistance of my skin with my multimeter both before and a while after eating the cake. What would really be funny is if it did in fact make a difference. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

      You might want to try the cake (very yummy, even for 4 bucks), but keep away from the colloidal silver stuff.

      --
      --- At my sig, unleash hell.
  18. In other news.... by Bobulusman · · Score: 4, Funny

    The DMCA has announced that skin is now illegal.

    --
    Cogito ergo sum in Slashdot.
  19. stuff by Raven42rac · · Score: 3, Funny

    damnit, thats no ethernet cable, why, its people, NTT is people I tell you, people!

    --
    I hate sigs.
  20. Some things to resolve, but amazing potential by starseeker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Problems: Stores might rig their doornobs to download your personal information as you go in the store. Privacy issue. Or someone could touch you, and have all your information stored. Think potential stalkers/criminals/etc. Scary. Of course you could always turn it off, I suppose, but if you forget it's a problem. I assume I'm not the only absent minded human around.

    However, there are some interesting possibilities:

    A credit card reader could read your body's electrical signal, as it is also scanning the card. Added consumer security. Even cooler would be if each person had a unique electrical signal their body generates, but I don't know anything about that. Either way, interesting.

    You could make long distance calls from anywhere, and have the phone read your calling card number automatically when you pick up the phone.

    Possibility of electronic "keys" for car/house stored in PDA. Not so good if PDA is lost or crashes, but if you can call the company and say "My PDA is gone - please scramble my house key codes until we can resolve the issue" it might work. Locking the house would be great - simply disable the electronic circuit from the inside and there is no lock to pick. As for someone who tries to crack it while you're out, simply have the system stop taking input for five seconds if it gets a bad signal. With billions of possibilities at five seconds a try, it wouldn't work real well trying to crack it. If you're paranoid, have it take thirty seconds. No more fumbling with keys or those little remote control keychains, either - just touch and open.

    Many issues to resolve, but some very cool possibilities as well.

    --
    "I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
    1. Re:Some things to resolve, but amazing potential by Galahad2 · · Score: 2

      Why has no one considered that there would have to be some consent of the person transmitting the data? It's not like the PDA is going to be constantly broadcasting. Even if this technology is made widely available, I sincerely doubt that there will ever be privacy issues with people stealing your email address right from the palm of your hand.

    2. Re:Some things to resolve, but amazing potential by GospelHead821 · · Score: 2

      Redundancy is an excellent failsafe. The PDA "key" would be the quick, convenient way to unlock the door. In the case of the PDA being lost or damaged, so that it cannot get you into the house, you get the real key out from under the flowerbox and unlock the door (the slow, inconvenient way). Just because technology has evolved and real, metal keys are no longer strictly necessary does not mean that keeping them around for failures of technology is a bad thing. Just like it's not a bad idea to keep a bit of spare cash around the house, in case you lose your ATM card.

      --
      Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
      Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
  21. Now Just Wait a Second by serutan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anybody else think this sounds just a teensy bit flaky? The article says the connection works through clothing ... "Apparel and handbags have their own conductivity, allowing an electrical connection to a PDA that can remain in one's pocket..." Huh?? 10 mbps using the cloth of my pocket as a conductor??

    I have a suspicion that news.au.com is getting one slipped to them. The closest Google result I could get with "NTT NoCoMo skin" is this article about a cell phone that conducts sound through bone and cartilage, enabling you to listen to the call by sticking your finger in your ear.

    Uhhh, okie dokie.

    1. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by blakestah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Does anybody else think this sounds just a teensy bit flaky?

      Absolutely.

      Although, I am telling you right now, if we greased our palms with conducting paste, and gripped REALLY hard, we could get down to 100 kOhms in conductance. Then we deal with noise. Now, most of the connecting tissue is stricly low-pass (which is a bitch for high bandwidth issues), and noise is in the millivolts range. To add insult to injury, most of the signal loss will occur in the skin itself, so this application is a really tough one. I think in the lab you could probably rig it to transmit the amount of info in a business card, maybe.

      OTOH, detecting a handshake and using that to trigger an IR linkup seems fairly easy.

    2. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by achurch · · Score: 3, Informative

      I have a suspicion that news.au.com is getting one slipped to them. The closest Google result I could get with "NTT NoCoMo skin" is this article about a cell phone that conducts sound through bone and cartilage, enabling you to listen to the call by sticking your finger in your ear.

      Maybe you could try actually reading the article? It clearly states the source of the news, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and in fact the article is right at the top of the "companies" section (link, or Fish translation).

    3. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by Monkelectric · · Score: 2
      Im not either, but I play one on TV. Conductance (denoted by G) is measured in S (Siemens) and G=R^(-1) (R = resistance in OHMS) ... so you are right it's technically an abuse of the language, but an understandable one as G and R are reciprocals.

      Maybe someone who knows more about it could tell us why there needs to be a unit for conductance at all (must simplify something else?)

      (this lecture brought to you by the asinine computer science requirements at UC Riverside)

      --

      Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    4. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by Ian+Peon · · Score: 2

      This sounds quite close to tech a friend of mine was working on (before getting laid off) a few years back.

      If I remember correctly, it actually worked by modulating a signal over the electrical field near your skin, and although the sensor didn't have to touch skin, it worked better if it did.

    5. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by vr · · Score: 2

      greasing my palms with conducting paste sounds like fun :)

    6. Re:Now Just Wait a Second by Bishop923 · · Score: 2

      GF: You want me to smear Artic Silver WHERE?!

  22. Re:*grits-teeth-in-rage* by foobar104 · · Score: 5, Funny

    2002-10-07 01:14:50 Download Porn Videos While You Kiss (articles,news) (rejected)

    Perhaps now you're starting to understand the importance of a good title.

  23. Re:In Related News... by foobar104 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...backbone providers have announced plans to pay people minimum wage to hold hands with each other as a backup backbone.

    Sigh. The way the job markets looks right about now, I would take that job.

  24. From Japan? by zwoelfk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Doesn't anyone else find it odd that this was developed in Japan of all places? Living there, I don't know when the last time I shook hands with someone was. At least this could be handy for exchanging information with women... because I don't when when the last time I had (physical) contact with a man.

  25. Re:Intercourse tops this a little.. by foobar104 · · Score: 2

    Don't forget that your sperm only hold half of your genes. You're overestimating the number of bytes transmitted a bit there.

    It's kind of like the old saying that I'm too lazy to look up right now. "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes tooling down the expressway."

  26. But a paradox... by moosesocks · · Score: 2

    If I were to record a digital sample of my voice at 10MBps, wouldn't I be transferring data at 10MBps by using my body?

    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  27. Typhoid Melissa? by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2

    New way to transfer a virus?

    Not only a bio-bug, but also e-bugs.

  28. Oh great, more spam, just lovely. by Skapare · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh great, more spam, just lovely. And they'll say I opted-in, too ... with my handshake.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  29. Re:Virus by foobar104 · · Score: 2

    Gives new meaning to that old story about virii(or is it viruses?) being spread when people shake hands...

    It's "viruses." And, in case you've been living your new life in the off-world colonies or something ("A chance to begin again!"), viruses are spread by shaking hands!

  30. Actually... by darkov · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't it mean that you actually have to touch somebody? I think it defeats the whole purpose.

  31. Spam? by udecker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now the spammers will just run around slapping people.

    1. Re:Spam? by Maran · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Now the spammers will just run around slapping people."

      Yes, but then there'd be a wonderful reason for responding.

      No slap I slap am slap not slap interested slap but slap thanks slap anyway slap.

      Maran

  32. 10Mb/s for email exchange? by Ziviyr · · Score: 2

    Must be sending one of those big raytraced spinning animgifs for that to be used.

    Unless handshaking involves flicking a fly off someone.

    --

    Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
  33. Hands Across America by extra88 · · Score: 2

    Hands Across America was an early trial for this technology. It was determined that fiber optics would be more cost effective for long haul data transmission.

  34. RIAA requires everybody to wear full body condoms by NZheretic · · Score: 2
    And Hollywood demand lawmakers pass manditory "no touching" laws.

    Be sure to check out Lawrence Lessig's freeculture speech.

  35. Re:hehe, nippon by Cryptnotic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I guess I understand too much Japanese to find that funny.

    You're probably one of those people who thinks that "Cheese Nips" are the most hillariously named snack ever.

    --
    My other first post is car post.
  36. mine is a pile of nasty rags by Perianwyr+Stormcrow · · Score: 2

    It's been read and re-read and loaned out (often to people going to other countries) that it's in sad, sad shape. Now, see, I need to get that in palm doc format.

    --

    What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey

  37. Hey, as long as I can refuse incoming data... by Perianwyr+Stormcrow · · Score: 2

    If the data is fake I can just vulcan neck pinch the mofo and throw him in a dumpster.

    Although, would you mind so much getting body contact from a lovely female spam-vixen?

    --

    What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey

  38. Next on the market .... by shri · · Score: 2

    Body condo^H^H^H^H^H gloves to prevent unauthorised virii being transmited by human contact.

  39. This was *going* to be a WIRELESS link... by Tokerat · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...but some of the test subjects' "antenna" wasn't quite long enough for decent reception.

    --
    CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
    1. Re:This was *going* to be a WIRELESS link... by Vegan+Pagan · · Score: 2

      Only because it was cut short when they were born. Try it outside USA where the antennas are left naturally long.

  40. might work... by ryochiji · · Score: 2, Informative

    In a crowded train in Tokyo, you'd have a network with up to 50 nodes. That could be some serious computing power there (assuming that processing power of phones and PDAs increase significantly).

  41. Re:virii!! by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 2

    New pickup line: Oh baby, let me be your firewall tonight!

    --
    You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  42. Originally developed in 1996 at MIT & IBM by XNormal · · Score: 2

    Personal Area Networks.

    I've seen comments about pacemakers and safety of this technology. Quoted from the page above:
    The current used is one-billionth of an amp (one nanoamp), which is lower than the natural currents already in the body. In fact, the electrical field created by running a comb through hair is more than 1,000 times greater than that being used by PAN technology.

    --
    Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
  43. Re:Intercourse tops this a little.. by CoolVibe · · Score: 2
    No, haploid cells (like a male's sperm) have 1 complete copy of your genes. Diploid cells (any other cells in your body) have 2 copies for mitosis.

    Just a little nitpick. I suppose you never paid attention during biology :)

  44. Snow Crash by richie2000 · · Score: 3, Funny
    This is sooo Snow Crash. Now, not only can you rub against someone and catch a cold, you can get viruses in your beltwares as well. Your cellphone will set up conference calls to bad payporn when you try to call your mom, your watch will continually blink 06:66 and set off the alarm at odd hours and your PDA will make an appointment for a Golden Shower in your own office by a smelly Bill Gates-lookalike in drag really, really early on Monday morning. Crap, there goes the whole week.

    Just another reason to keep wearing my rubber gloves. *snap*

    --
    Money for nothing, pix for free
  45. Some Clarifications by kepart · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've been doing my PhD work on systems like this (Intrabody Communication). It does work! However, there are a number of issues, some of which aren't clear from the article.

    First, 10 Mbps is possible, but that's getting near the theoretical limit. The datarate is limited by the bandwidth, and the bandwidth is limited by the fact that around 50MHz, the signal wavelength is about four times the size of a person, which means the person turns into an antenna, and the whole system becomes essentially a short range radio.

    Second, because these systems operate in the near field, the signal travels through a current loop, and not as plane waves in free space. This means that there has to be some kind of grounding path for current to flow back to the transmitter after going through the person. This is why it works so well to put transceivers in shoes -- the ground path can flow through earth ground (or any conductive material in the floor). For devices held in hands, the very small (femtofarad) capacitance of free space is enough, but the signal does suffer more from noise. Devices in purses, etc. also have this problem, and may have difficulty establishing the ground connection depending on the material the purse is made from and the other objects inside it.

    One issue that to my knowledge has not been addressed very well is guaranteeing that the signal is received during--and only during--physical contact. There is a large dependence of signal strength on geometry. The devices I've constructed can communicate when they're brought near (~10 cm) of each other, touching or not. There are a few solutions, such as looking at jumps in signal strength, but they tend to be confused when a person without a transceiver happens to touch the object, and a person with a transceiver is nearby. I'm currently working on this problem for my PhD dissertation, so if you have any good ideas or know of related work, I'd love to hear from you.

    If you'd like to read more, the first (and most detailed) publication I know about on this idea was Thomas Zimmerman's Masters Thesis at the MIT AI Lab. You find it here: http://www.media.mit.edu/physics/publications/thes es/95.09.zimmerman.pdf

    ------
    Kurt Partridge
    Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
    University of Washington
    Seattle, WA 98195

    1. Re:Some Clarifications by serutan · · Score: 2

      Wow! That's really amazing. My initial reaction, knowing only a little about this area, was that it sounded completely whimsical. Amidst all the noise here it's nice to get detailed information from somebody who actually knows what they're talking about.

    2. Re:Some Clarifications by John+Hasler · · Score: 2

      The fact that the system relies on body capacitance to complete the circuit also means that it will be possible to intercept the signal.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  46. Virii Writers Guild Meeting by jukal · · Score: 2

    Hello, Bob, long time no see. *shake hands*. Welcome, Klez. Jeff too! Slapper, remember to behave yourself. As it seems everyone is here, could you please give the opening speech, Alex.

  47. In related news, the MPAA... by tlambert · · Score: 2

    In related news, the MPAA lobbies for legislation to illegalize Viagra...

    Let's see their thinking...

    A DVD has about as many bits per second as you can transfer. Basically, that means that for a 1:40 DVD, you would need to keep up the contact for an hour and 40 minutes to be able to transfer the 6GB involved.

    Therefore, anyone who attempts to obtain the ability to do that must be a video pirate...

    -- Terry

  48. don't let it get into terrorist hands?!?! by G.+W.+Bush+Junior · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OMG!
    This is going to be the next terror weapon against the US! Terrorists will be able to transfer secret terrorist plans real easy!

    They can go around spreading secret terrorist virusses by simply touching victims, this can lead to terrible epidemics.

    Why haven't we done anything to stop japan from developing these weapons... we could have nuked them before it was to late!

    --
    "I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." -George H.W. Bush
  49. ACK! I've been hacked! by Ainu · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does this mean latex is now a firewall?

  50. old applications of new technology by kyletinsley · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously, I think this new technology could be used in some interesting ways. I'm waiting for someone to work it into the electric chairs used on death row, for a particularly fitting punishment for certain individuals...

    "Jerry Bruckheimer, for your crimes against humanity, this court orders you to be put to death via electric chair. 100 million copies of Armageddon will be digitally sent through your body each second until you are sufficiently fried. And may God have mercy on your crap-movie making ass..."

  51. Sounds familiar, but with more applications... by Ian+Peon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A friend of mine had told me (a few years ago) about how his company was working on ways to use body conductivity and the electical fields surrounding our bodies to pass data. This article sounds very familiar.

    Passing data from one person to another was one of the uses, but the other I found much more interesting.

    Imagine a personal device "cloud" where your PDA, watch, and cell phone all pass data back and forth. Your watch acts as a small display for your cell and/or your PDA and receives time updates via the cell. Your PDA uses the cell for data calls. Your cell uses your PDA to look up names and numbers. All (theoretically ;) seamlessly.

    Take it a step further, and create small modules that plug into this personal network. Maybe a keychain of functions all accessable through your watch or PDA. Maybe carry a Quake quarter in your pocket.

    Nokia make a lot of press with putting a camera in a cell phone. I haven't looked at the spec, but I'd imagine that like many multi-function devices, it doesn't do either well. Imagine your (dedicated to task) camera taking pics, and storing them on another device (is that smart card in your wallet or are you just happy to see me?), previewing the pics on your phone and sending them from there. You could easily give them to someone else with a handshake.

    Quite a lot of possibility. I had often thought that the business card exchange application was the least exciting...

    1. Re:Sounds familiar, but with more applications... by serutan · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but those annoyingly long handshakes salespeople give you will go on forever when they get the capability to upload multimedia presentations to your PDA. :-)

  52. great... by heby · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...with a pda in my pocket that keeps the electrical potential of my skin oscillating at a carrier frequecy of 10mhz, i guess i can stop worrying about having my cellphone in the back pocket of my jeans, the high voltage lines over my house and the high power radar at the airport in sight ;-)

  53. Re:RIAA requires everybody to wear full body condo by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 2

    I wonder if it means that the MPAA/RIAA would be buying senators to add DRM (digital restrictions mechanisms) to our bodies now...

    All kidding aside though, I'd love for something like this to be available to get rid of my damn too-big keychain. Just being able to have something like a watch which would unlock a locked door, pay for a cola from a vending machine, or automatically pay at the pump when I take the nozzle out of the pump to fill up the car.

    N.

    --
    "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
  54. Personal Area Networks by g4dget · · Score: 2

    Look for "personal area networks" on Google. Zimmerman and Gershenfeld worked on this.

  55. Needs an effects box attached... by clickety6 · · Score: 2

    .. so that it works like a hand buzzer when you shake hands, just so you know you're trasnmitting/receiving! :-)

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  56. Obligatory Sir Arthur C. Clarke ref by Quila · · Score: 3, Interesting

    3001 -- exchanging personal information by touch of the palm.

    Has he thought of everything?

  57. Re:hehe, nippon by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Informative

    whats is the origin of the word 'nip' in racial text to asians [and "wog" and "nigger"]?

    "Nip" is short for "Nippon", the Japanese name for their country, or short for "Nipponese", the Japanese name for the people of Japan.

    "Nigger" derives from words various European languages use for the adjective "black"; various etymologists speculate in originated in the French, the Spanish, or the Portugese words for "black".

    "Wog", a disparaging British slang term for non-European "native" peoples, or in some constructs ("the wogs start at Calais") anyone not British, probably derives from Golliwog, a rag doll with African features in a children's storybook, though some probably apocryphal folk etymologies claim it's an abbreviation -- sarcasticly-applied -- of "Worthy Oriental Gentleman". Apparently the term is also applied, derisively, by mmebers of the Church of Scientology to non-Scientologists (?).

    In any case, all these terms are considered disparaging and offensive, especially when used by persons of whom they are not descriptive. (Although "nigger" finds a use, within the black American population when applied to others of the same ethnicity, similar in meaning to "(that black) person".)

  58. Where does it connect to the body?? by morie · · Score: 2
    I know the nipple would be the most intuitive interface, but not all people like those clamps!

    and what's new anyway: The technology could allow data communications through [...], switches, [...]

    Like datacommunication could do without switches now anyway...

    --
    Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
  59. Biological bandwidth. by Perdo · · Score: 3, Informative

    In a healthy male:

    30-60 million sperm per cc of semen.

    2-5 cc's of semen.

    Up to 228 gigabytes of data in about 5 seconds.

    or about 365 gigabits per second.

    Men like computers because they are impotent compared to us.

    The monthly estrus cycle equates to about 2.5 kb/s

    Even a phone modem is faster than a woman.

    --

    If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.

    1. Re:Biological bandwidth. by geekoid · · Score: 2

      Up to 228 gigabytes of data in about 5 seconds.

      or about 365 gigabits per second.

      how is 228G per 5 seconds make 365G per sec?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Biological bandwidth. by Dirtside · · Score: 2

      He said 228 gigaBYTES in 5 seconds. 228 gigaBYTES = 1824 gigaBITS. 1824 / 5 = 364.8 gigaBITS/sec (~365).

      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
    3. Re:Biological bandwidth. by Perdo · · Score: 2

      1 byte = 8 bits.

      (228 * 8) / 5 = 365.

      When we work internal to a machine, we usually use "bytes".

      When we work external, we usually use bits.

      firewire is 400 megabits per second or 50 MB/s, slower than SCSI's 160 MB/s, the technology it replaced.

      All bets are off when reading benchmarketing.

      --

      If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.

  60. First there was date rape... by floydigus · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...and soon there will be data rape

    --

    All things in moderation; including moderation

  61. Found New Hardware by i+chose+quality · · Score: 3, Funny


    Suzy [Build 07/19/75]
    Status: horny

    Installing...

    --
    the computer is online
    i am not at it
    what a waste of ressources
  62. IBM has this before '97 by DreddUK · · Score: 2, Informative
    IBM Research was trying this out before '97. Check out the link to their research site on PAN (Personal Area Networks).

    http://www.research.ibm.com/topics/popups/smart/mo bile/html/pan.html

    --
    "If A equals success, then the formua is A=X+Y+Z. X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut" - A Einstein.
  63. Re:RIAA requires everybody to wear full body condo by Beliskner · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I wonder if it means that the MPAA/RIAA would be buying senators to add DRM (digital restrictions mechanisms) to our bodies now
    Oh for God's sake the IT industry dwarfs the media industry. Hollywood buys Senators, and then in their movies they call Senators assholes and then Arnold Schwarzennegger kills them.

    Senators like the IT industry more than the media industry, and the IT industry can buy double the number of Senators that the movie industry has, but IT people in general (apart from usless MBA types) are shy and think they can just email the Democrats back into power.

    Never before in history has such an important part of the economy been run by geeks that are too afraid to lobby the Senate and too afraid to protest and have virtually no union (I think). The DMCA was supposed to help the IT industry, but the geeks were so shy to say anything that the legislature had to guess at what the IT industry wanted. As a result we have the DMCA we have today

    Bill Gates or Linus can pick up his phone right now and call Bush, then Bush will say, "Hello Mr Gates/Torvalds nice to hear from you, I will see you at your convenience, sir. Is there anything you would like from the US Government? We are your humble servants.". But the geeks that run the IT industry can't even understand the power they have. Funny.

    --
    A caveman dreams of being us, the incalculable power and riches. We dream of being Q, then what?
  64. No No No.. read the article... by N+Monkey · · Score: 2

    In related news, the MPAA lobbies for legislation to illegalize Viagra...
    No! You don't need an antenna for the technology to work ;-)

  65. The next step by abe+ferlman · · Score: 3, Funny

    The next step is obviously the world's first sexually transmitted computer virus.

    --
    microsoftword.mp3 - it doesn't care that they're not words...
  66. Combine this with a National ID system by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 2

    In the movie Minority Report, your eye is scanned for your identity everywhere you go. In the movie Gattaca, your dna is sampled frequently.

    Really, all you would have to do is have a surgical implant like a pacemaker and then touch the metal plate of a scanning device everywhere you go. No eye scanning. No fuzzy facial or fingerprint scans. No puncturing the skin. Just touch a metal plate as you walk past. You are positively identified everywhere you go. Completely unobtrusive.

    An innovation like this would be welcomed by all right-thinking people because it would save us from the hasstle of always hearing "Your papers please!". No more forgetting your papers, or having to drop your baggage to find them. Let Microsoft integrate it with Passport, and it would be good for the economy. The birth tax would be universal. The EULA could be printed on microfice on the metal casing of the implant. (An infant couldn't understand it anyway.) Finally, the implant could administer shocks to punish wrong thinking.

    (Need I say something for the humor impaired?)

    --

    Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
  67. Re:... and while you're at it by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    You're right, watching some schmuk try to imitate it is pretty funny, which is why I'm glad I tried it at home and not out somewhere with people... Apparently the INTENSE BURNING that I experienced after slapping my hand onto my desk while covered in crazy glue is the normal sensation associated with the act. And the many many bits of skin I left behind are also standard reaction to that particular procedure. So, in the future, please refrain from mentioning interesting properties of your hands as I will almost certainly be compelled to test to see if I share those properties.

    Kintanon
    Oh, BTW, I'm immune to poison ivy and poison oak. I can rub the stuff all over me and not so much as twitch.

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  68. Comparable by NitsujTPU · · Score: 2

    The companies have confirmed in an experiment that data can be transmitted at 10 megabits per second, comparable to the speed of a broadband Internet connection, it said.

    And in what area are you getting 10 megabits to begin with? I want to move there. That's roughly 5x the cap where I live.

  69. Lots of reasons... by Codex+The+Sloth · · Score: 2

    1) Exchange a public encryption key (no CA required)
    2) Resume in the palm of your hand.
    3) Face - to - face file swapping.

    --
    I am not a number! I am a man! And don't you ... oh wait, I'm #93427. Ha ha! In your face #93428!
  70. health hazards? by phorm · · Score: 2

    I wonder if there are any health hazards (radiation/cancer?) would be a consideration. A lot of people are already freaked out that having cellphones clipped to their frontal belt area may leave them unable to produce children later in life...

    While this is suppose to use the body's "natural" conductivity, I imagine that it might mess with the body's natural electromagnetics or other semi-electrical processes. Aren't nerve impulses electrical in nature? It would certainly suck if your leg started twitching every time your PDA alarm went off (although it would be a neat trojan to plant on somebody).

    My PDA made me do it! - phorm

  71. Re:Intercourse tops this a little.. by foobar104 · · Score: 2

    Okay, I guess you're right. The normal state is to have two of each of your chromosomes, while haploid cells only have one of each. So while a sperm only has half of your genetic material, it's got a full set.

    And I did pay attention in biology; it's just that it was so long ago. ;-)

  72. Public key, my man by Otto · · Score: 2

    Same as with signatures and so forth. I give out a timestamp or something encrypted with my private key. My public key can decrypt it. Therefore I'm me and you can open the door.

    I never transmitted my key, I transmitted something that keeps changing (like the time) that was just encrypted with my key, and the decrypted version made sense. What the decrypted text actually turned out to be really wasn't the point.

    Could be better ways.. Have the doorknob send me plain text which I then munge a bit and encrypt with my private key to send back. A challenge response mechanism using public key encryption, basically. Lots of other ways. Only thing that will really hurt me is theft of the implant.

    We have to assume the implant is secure, though. If it has flaws then they could be exploitable, although it'd have to be damn fast to exploit if it's only got 1-2 seconds in which to do it.

    --
    - Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
  73. Oh come on. That's mean. by The+Pi-Guy · · Score: 2

    Slashdotting one overseas link might be OK, but come on, slashdotting the link to .au AND to .jp?? And of a major telecom provider?? *Server lights on fire* "Hey, where'd my call go??!!"

  74. Re:Virus by geekoid · · Score: 2

    "viruses are spread by shaking hands!"

    now you've done it! this person will now lock themselves in a room, and wear tissue boxes on there feet!

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  75. Re: read the article by serutan · · Score: 2

    I did read the article. Maybe you should try actually reading my post. The sentence I quoted about handbags and pockets came directly from it. I also read the fish translation of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, which is patchy at best, then went to the nttdocomo website, found nothing, and finally tried google to get some sort of confirmation. The difficulty of finding material on this thing makes me more suspicious that it is vapor. I could be wrong, but forgive me for having an opinion.

  76. Re:Use for spam by Kaz+Riprock · · Score: 2
    Implanting your info...maybe...but think of the reverse! Every person you bump into could be transmitting their e-mail and all you have to do is harvest them to e-mail spam them later when you get home!

    "Excuse me...sorry...coming through..."(hehehe, 25 new addresses to send out to...).

    --
    Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
  77. Re:hehe, nippon by Punto · · Score: 2

    and (as far as I know) the word 'black' in french is 'noir'.

    --

    --
    Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!

  78. Re:hehe, nippon by orthogonal · · Score: 2

    and (as far as I know) the word 'black' in french is 'noir'.

    I can't speak for the Portugese (been a while since I heard that as a possible origin), but dictionary.com gives the etymology of "nigger" as "[Alteration of dialectal neger, black person, from French nègre, from Spanish negro. See Negro.]"

    "Noir" is French for black, but I don't that it is (or is not) the only French word for black, and I suspect, as in English, there are numerous synomyms. (In English, off the top of my head: dark, coal, jet, inky; using dictionary.com's thesaurus: jet, ink, ebony, coal pitch, soot, charcoal, sloe, smut, raven, crow, black, sable, swarthy, somber, dark, inky, ebon, atramentous, jetty, coal-black, jet-black, fuliginous, pitchy, sooty, swart, dusky, dingy, murky, Ethiopic, low-toned, low in tone, of the deepest dye.)