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Australia's Geekiest Man
An anonymous reader writes "Why have a key to open your front door when you can have an RFID tag implanted in your arm that will do the trick? Computerworld has a story up about the outgoing Linux Australia group president's hacked home, in which just about anything from watering the lawn, to opening his blinds, or checking the mail can be controlled through a software environment. Jonathan Oxer is an electronics and coding whiz who apparently has an RIFD tag implanted in his arm that opens his front door, and his front gate is hooked up with gigabit Ethernet — able to tell him when someone enters the property or send him a virtual email or sms to say he has real mail. Apparently the iPod Touch has just inspired him to begin linking all his little hardware hacks together into the one single, software controlled handheld touch device. I wonder if Steve Jobs ever thought the Touch would end up being used this way?"
We figured out a long time ago that it's easier to elect seven judges than to elect 132 legislators.
I was always curious why futurists and cyborg fanboys get RFID chips implanted underneath their skin. What's wrong with just wearing one on a ring or perhaps a chain around your neck? Maybe both for multiple redundancy. Does it really happen THAT often you go to the pub for a few pints and comeback so drunk you've lost all your possessions? Does that slim probability warrant tagging yourself like cattle?
More disturbing is that it's not *your* proximity. It's *your arm's* proximity. This technology could bring about a whole new and horribly gruesome form of breaking and entering. :|
how is babby formed?
No, real hippies would never condescend to use .doc or .ppt. Real geeks would use whatever tool is suited best for a given task, which may or may not Microsoft products.
Speaking as an Australian, I'm quite glad this isn't really an option here.
If handguns are to work at all to deter assault or robbery, a reasonably high percentage of the general population has to be packing. Unfortunately when there are that many guns floating around it's likely the assailant / robber has one too and all you've done is increased the chances of somebody getting killed rather than just mugged or robbed.
In the end I'm not sure I buy the idea that handguns deter crime significantly anyway. Even if they did, given the rate at which they're used to inflict grievous harm by angry spouses, stupid children playing with them, and homeowners spooked by noises shooting themselves in the foot at night, I don't think having handguns distributed into society actually works to reduce overall human suffering.