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Keyless Entries Fail In Las Vegas On Friday
Hoompini-Ting writes "Some accuse area 51, but in any case many folks were stranded when keyless locks failed or their car computers malfunctioned. No technical explanation but I'm sure slashdotters have theories. Similar to the failure in Seattle 3 years ago. See the Las Vegas Review-Journal for more details."
They are building keyless entry systems without physical keys as a backup measure?
Didn't we learn our lesson about manual over-rides long ago?
lysergically yours
So in one case there was a physical key as a backup system and when the guy resorted to using it (as though a key were some sort of desperate emergency measure) his car freaked out.
I'm no luddite, but this kind of stuff makes me laugh.
lysergically yours
My car doesn't have keyless entry so the idea of using the key to open the door setting off an alarm seems ridiculous to me.
I mean, if the lock could detect tampering like from a pick or a jiggler and THAT set off the alarm, it would seem reasonable to me. But if the person has a key that will open the door easily, doesn't the same key work in the ignition?
lysergically yours
Maybe he was just trying to be funny.
One person losing a pile of cash on a trip to Vegas == bad luck.
Millions of people losing piles of cash in Vegas each year == expected statistical outcome.
yes...the culture of fear in America is reaching the level of absurdity, however it is the next event that will launch the US into an all out neo-fascist (aka neo-conservative or "neo-con" aka neo-communist aka ultra-liberal trotsky-ite/Dr. Leo Strauss disciples) state.
Slashdot give me a new appreciation for the narrow mindedness of people. Say anything the challenges peoples beliefs and you're "flamebait". Take any kind of tangent from the prescribed topic and you're "offtopic". All it takes is a few narrow minded idiots. It's really quite a sad testement to community based moderation.
AccountKiller
How do they know it's not the result of terrorist action? Perhaps there are some acutely stupid terrorists, and this is the first strike against keyless entry...in a very small area of the world...which nobody really noticed. Maybe they're just stupid terrorists
Or maybe they are smart terrorists performing a "proof of concept" test as part of something bigger. They've tested this part of their plan, and have some results. Either it's time to move on to the next phase or re-work this first part.
Of course, they can't prove that it wasn't terrorism activity. It's not possible to prove a negative - you can't prove the non-existance of God, the Easter Bunny, or terrorist activty in this incident.
Of course, I, for one, am tired of all the color-code alerts and "the event was not terror related"... which gets me onto another rant. "Terror" may be the result of an act of "terrorism" done by a "terrorist". All too often, the stupid people in the media shorten it to just "terror".
And while I'm at it, those f*ckers who end sentences with preposit... ooooh cheesy poofs! Gotta go!
It happened in the UK a while ago, but it wasn't an intentional jammer, it was a high power communication dish (IIRC) built on top of a multi-storey car park. Someone didn't bother checking the frequencies before giving it the go ahead.
agreed, i would really like to have a way of finding out negative or positive moderation overturns and filtering. seems one persons flamebait (which parent post is listed as currently) often isnt and is moderated accordingly later on.
members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
Get real...
[sarcasm] We are talking about people that are unable to go in their cars, it's obviously a terrorist act... [/sarcasm]"
I'm no wireless expert, but if it's effecting keyless entry couldn't it effect other wireless systems? Wireless security systems, special security doors that use wireless badges for access, perhaps even police radios and cellphones? So I believe the idea of it being terrorist related is quite valid and they had every reason to question if it was terrorist related.
From article:
"According to the Federal Communications Commission, the low-power radio frequency transmitters inside keyless entry devices are similar to those found in other everyday items such as garage door openers, remote-controlled toys, cordless telephones, building alarm systems and the rapidly spreading wireless fidelity computer networks, which are commonly referred to as "wi-fi.""
Next time RTFA before you post.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
to say all car alarms are completely worthless is overly broad. I think proximity sensors that detect motion outside the car is worthless, but inside would be useful. Also, despite the fact that you believe that no one pays attention to alarms anymore, if you're breaking into a car and the alarm goes off you'd probably shit your pants. Just try opening the door to a car and the alarm goes off and see if your heart rate doesn't elevate a little with excitement, or if you don't feel a twinge of embarassment. Why be embarassed if no one is looking?
Good aftermarket alarms have keyless pagers with LCDs that page you if the alarm goes off and shows you exactly what part of the car was affected, so you can see that someone has opened your door, etc. I'd say that feature is quite useful.
My car was broken into and lots of items were stolen, and even to this day I'm still kicking myself for not installing a car alarm sooner.
"The best alarms don't make a sound. They give the thief a minute or so to drive off and then cut off the fuel. The idea being that they will be in traffic by then where they are much too high profile to attempt to bypass the alarm."
Ah, so I want a alarm that causes accidents? What, you don't believe a car sitting in the middle of the highway would result in a accident, or do you believe that cars are still driveable without fuel? I've run out of fuel before (long time ago of course...) and you better be somewhere where you can pull over immediately. That's just with warning signs that the fuel tank's getting empty (no fuel when turning = no acceleration after a sharp turn), to completely go cold turkey on fuel is quite dangerous.
Do you actually know what the best alarms do? They have a LCD pager that pages you and shows you what part of the car was broken into and has a fuel cut-off when the alarm goes so the car can not be started and driven off. That's what I look for in a alarm.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Two more plausible answers are:*
1) a hacker trying out his new jamming device
2) a not understood phenomenon. Remember, we are only a couple millenia old (as civilizations) and only have limited radio experience (ok, it's 100+ years old, but not even a super-uber-nerd had a remote control at that time).
(*: in order of plausibility)
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey