Slashdot Mirror
Cashless Society
roomisigloomis writes "France has released "en masse" a new card to replace money. No private information is stored on the card and anybody can use it. Just like cash: you lose it and someone else uses it. Do you think we could be nearing the end of life of paper money?"
In Soviet Russia Money Cards You
down some strippers G-String? How I ask you?
Other possible exploits include taking money off without making a purchase, and using Linux on the card rather than money.
Free Java games for your phone: Tontie, Sokoban
We tend to get a bit misunderstood worldwide - or did, when the polymer notes first came out. It'd be something like:
:)
me: "Hey we have plastic money now"
US Friend: "big deal - we've had credit cards for ages"
me: "No I mean they're bringing in plastic banknotes"
US Friend: "you sure about that? plastic money is cards - ATMs and VISA and stuff"
me: "no I mean banknotes made of plastic, printed on a plastic base, like $5 and $10 notes, all plastic"
US Friend: "oooh I get you - wow cool"
UK Friend: "what, australia didn't have credit cards until now?"
me: "Aaaargh".
I got a bit out of the habit of mentioning "plastic" whenever referring to it after a few situations like that
Pretty neat, don't you think?
Credit cards were a major step forward, but no one really considers them, "the Mark of the Beast" - this technology though is easily transferrable from a card in the hand to more secure "retina scan money" or "thumbprint money" - think about how these technologies are already being marketted. Think about how MOST 40 and unders would think, "Wow I will never get robbed and don't have to carry around a wallet anymore!"
Leave it to the French to lead the way in a move towards the end by A) Not leading to fight AntIchrists (Saddam) B) Leading the way for the "AntiChrist's monetary system" to become a reality.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
OK, so here's the rundown on it.
Postings belong to one of these categories:
a. Parochial bum
Std posting: " Here in Upper Slobbovia (or Ruritania, or whatever) we used this for well-nigh seven centuries, but not everybody(or everybody) uses it".
b. Yank yokel
Std posting: "How can it work if it doesn't do a central DB query every time? What if the DB is down? [after the slammer crashing of the Bank Of America ATM network]" (Because of the very primitive US banking system, yank yokels believe that the rest of the planet is as backward as they are).
c. Turbonerd
Std posting: "Goodness, in order to work properly and be anonymous one has obviously to do a QCM triple encoding for every non-null challenge in any transaction. You see?"
d. Impatient twit
Std posting (by the 300th time that somebody wonders how can you know how much money you have left on the card): " We have this device, see, where you put the bloody card and it will tell you how much bloody cash you have still left".
e. Know-it-all clown
Std posting: this one...
As a result, I don't know anything I didn't know before. I only know now that we live in a far more parochial and chauvinist world than I previously thought...
And yes, I live in Belgium and I have used the useless stupid thing which increases banks' profits zillions of time...
Thufir Hawat
Part-time Mentat
Well, I don't trust banks. As soon as I get my check I convert it to cold hard cash and use it to buy durable goods that I can easily trade for other goods in an emergency. Frankly, with the upcoming global war I would recommend converting at least 75% of your income into ammunition and canned goods. Remember, if possible, try to stay away from large cities where the radiation will be the strongest. It is very unlikely the suitcase nuke bombers will target farms and rural areas and instead will concentrate on large metropolitan areas. You may need to eventually contend with crop dusters filled with biological and chemical agents, but if you invest in decent small arms you should be able to take them out well before they can cause significant damage to the surrounding area. Oh well, gotta back to digging my bomb shelter before they deliver the air filtration system next week.