On the consoles, the game I remember most fondly is NHL'94 on the SNES. My friends and I spend many hours playing that game, the cheesy goals, the fact that five people could play at once, NHL'94 had so much replay value. Super Bomberman also got a lot of play time, and I probably saved myself many quarters playing Street Fighter II on the SNES instead of in the arcades.
For the PC, the two that stick out as most memorable are Half Life and StarCraft. Myself and my gaming friends still load those games up occasionally to play.
I wonder if there will ever be games like those again. Those games broke the molds they were made in...
Heh, when it all comes down to it, Frag is a board game that emulates a deathmatch FPS. It relishes in the gore and mayhem that is the epitome of first person shooters. I own Frag and it's expansions, and I like it for what it is, a cheesy, fast-paced board game where you can kill your friends over and over, and no harm done at the end of the day.
No need to upgrade to the latest ATI or nVidia required either.
Heh, actually, it's "whatever format the client sends" and "whatever format your printer(s) can handle" that matters in the printing business.:P You need to have a little bit of everything in order to make it work.
Heh, as an addendum, getting the Chairman, and say, the top 20 most important people in China spammed to heck would help shut down those spam operations in China...
Easy really. Either smack all the idjits buying CRAP from spammers (this could work well for the ones clicking on the viruses in their emails too), or make sure every congressman and woman, every senator, every governor, every legislative member, basically everyone at every level of government gets as much spam as Bill Gates. Of course, getting leaders and parliament members of other countries signed up to spam email lists will hasten the demise of spammers, since the US wouldn't be forced to invade to remove the spammers...;P
Heh, may I point out that there are laws pertaining to the use of fire? That arson is a crime? There's a bylaw in my city that makes backyard bonfires illegal, we're not allowed to burn trash, heck there's even a smoking ban in public places. But we're free to have campfires, fireplaces, and to light candles and such. So the bad uses of fire are illegal, while the good uses of fire are allowed.
But there aren't any laws protecting your privacy relating to RFID tags. Nothing detirmining when RFID tags should be deactivated. Nothing saying what the gov't and corporations can do with the data that could be collected by RFID. The bad uses of RFID aren't illegal.
If you've read these posts, you'll have seen that I have said RFID is neat, there are many good uses, but lets get in the laws and regulations *first* before we allow RFID tags to become ubuiquitous.
Avonwood Developments, about RFID. Quoted from that page: Tags can store real data, alphanumeric as well as decimal numbers, both of which can be modified and updated.
Just from googling RFID, passive cards carry about 2kb of information, since it's just alpha-numeric at the moment, it's a decent chunk of information. Active RFID can carry more information, with a battery life of 5 *years* transmitting at 1.5 second intervals.
Wal-Mart tracking customers. Quoted from the article: Proctor & Gamble teamed with the retail giant in the test over a four month-period which allowed researchers to view the Wal-Mart shelves from company headquarters some 750 miles away in Cincinnati, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
You're right, why worry about 750 miles, when in the near future they could track it ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD.
P2P technology isn't invading my privacy.:P RFID is.
RIAA is arguing that P2P is causing them to lose revenue. Even though they consistantly use out of date numbers, improperly applied statistics, and outright lies. I have downloaded from P2P networks, yet I still go out and by CDs, DVDs and video games. I'm fairly sure that this is the case with many people.
Yet, companies like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and so forth have happily bought and sold our personal information, and will continue to do so. RFID will allow them to collect such information easier than ever before. And, there aren't any laws or regulations that detirmine things like when RFID tags should be deactivated, and what companies can do with the information RFID can collect.
So yes, the chance of abuse is too great, since the companies have proven they'll abuse us if it makes them a bit more money. It's a valid arguement.
It's not that people are certain the negative uses will outweight the positives, it's the potential that they will. There's nothing in the law books preventing the abuse of RFID, and while some current laws protect use from a few gross abuses of RFID, the precedents have to be set first. Our personal information is traded and sold every day, usually without our permission or knowledge, and we don't benefit from it, the companies and corporations do. Why should we accept yet another way our information can be taken and stored without having a say in it?
I believe RFID will be abused. How can I be fairly certain? Easy, human history shows a pattern of such abuses. Why will it be abused? Because it can, and there's not much we could do about it.
I believe it would be possible to build them into the handles. From what I've seen, a few of the RFID tags are the size of a grain of rice, so I don't believe it would be hard to integrate them into the surgery hardware.
They aren't possible yet. If RFID were to be implemented on a large scale, each RFID would collect different types of data, and readers would be able to read the RFID and then access the proper databases. If they were to implant these into people, the RFID could contain your personal information (name, address, age, etc), plus your driver's license, health info, etc. A cop finding your mangled car after an accident could read your RFID to find out who you are, the paramedic could find out if you're allergic to certain things, and your family could be notified quickly, and privately, that you'd been injured and had been take to the General Hospital.
That's the bright, sunny side to RFID.
It's the other kinds of data that could be collected, stored and sold without your knowledge or permission that make people wanna get out the tin foil hats.
Just because those "tin foil hat" scenarios aren't possible now, doesn't mean they aren't being worked on. Paranoia intended...:P
And I stand by my comment about RFID scanners everywhere. Going in and out of work, maybe getting on the bus, walking into malls and shops, the airport, the subway, etc. How many places would have a legit reason to keep track of who enters and leaves? 1000+ scans a day isn't that hard of a target to reach, if RFID becomes the next id card/drivers license/bank card it's creators are painting it to be.
Well, that's a bit of a relief. But there's nothing to say that companies will turn off RFID tags as they leave the store, and there should be laws in place to do ensure the tags are turned off, *before* the tags become ubiquitous.
Well, here's an article for VeriChip, which is implantable, and stores a persons health information, and is wirelessly writable.
Here's another about an implantable GPS system, currently the size of a pacemaker, but the inventors believe it can be shrunk down to as much as 1/10th the size.
And, one last one about Wal-Mart, tracking customers using RFID "from company headquarters some 750 miles away".
So yes, RFID can do those things, and IS doing some of those things now.
Heh, in addition to the use of barcoding surgical instruments, what they leave out is, the original article assumes that the RFID in the instrument has been scanned into the database to begin with. I mean, surgical instruments being left inside people wouldn't happen if someone just counted the damn things beforehand, and then counted again afterwards to make sure they're all there. No scanning necessary.
Or insurance companies. According to our data, you drink heavily on the weekends, drive 10 kph over the speed limit constantly, and smoke occasionally. So, unfortunately sir, your health, fire and car insurance rates are going to have to be adjusted.
Technology embraced in it's infancy? Other than the printing press?
Anything having to do with construction (building churches, etc), communication (radio, tv, the internet) and transportation (bussing those seniors in for Sunday Mass).
A tag inside the body could potentially measure and track biometric data like blood pressure, body temperature, etc. An active RFID could send back such vital information (along with GPS location), allowing a Fire Department, Police Department and Ambulance dispatch to keep track of the health of their people. You could know if a cop was under pressure, or where a firefighter was trapped in a burning building, and act in a timely fashion.
It doesn't have to be the chemist that does it. You've likely seen or read sci-fi that has scenes of advertisments targetting specific people as they walk by. RFID could be bringing this one step closer to reality.
I do acknowledge that RFID has many neat uses, which I have no problems with.
It's just the potential, massive abuse that RFID represents that worries me. Especially at a time when things like a National Identity Card are being considered, and when rights and freedoms are being eroded in the name of protection from terrorism.
Yes, most RFID tags are passive. But how long before they install RFID readers everywhere? And the passive ones are worse than the active ones, since they have a "virtually unlimited lifespan".
Think about it though. We're pissed off enough as it as when it comes to advertising. Imagine this scenario: You go to the drug store to pick up a bottle of dandruff shampoo, a pack of condoms and some Coca-Cola. The RFID tags on those products transmit to the cash register, which you pay with via Interact. When you get home, you find in you email inbox spam for Head and Shoulders, Trojan, and Pepsi.
Even worse, imagine having one of these things installed into you?
Can we really trust the government, corporations and companies to keep the information gathered by RFID tags private?
Slashdot Mirror
Captain Chaos...
:P
Aren't you supposed to be dead?
On the consoles, the game I remember most fondly is NHL'94 on the SNES. My friends and I spend many hours playing that game, the cheesy goals, the fact that five people could play at once, NHL'94 had so much replay value. Super Bomberman also got a lot of play time, and I probably saved myself many quarters playing Street Fighter II on the SNES instead of in the arcades. For the PC, the two that stick out as most memorable are Half Life and StarCraft. Myself and my gaming friends still load those games up occasionally to play. I wonder if there will ever be games like those again. Those games broke the molds they were made in...
Heh, when it all comes down to it, Frag is a board game that emulates a deathmatch FPS. It relishes in the gore and mayhem that is the epitome of first person shooters. I own Frag and it's expansions, and I like it for what it is, a cheesy, fast-paced board game where you can kill your friends over and over, and no harm done at the end of the day. No need to upgrade to the latest ATI or nVidia required either.
Heh, actually, it's "whatever format the client sends" and "whatever format your printer(s) can handle" that matters in the printing business. :P You need to have a little bit of everything in order to make it work.
Heh, as an addendum, getting the Chairman, and say, the top 20 most important people in China spammed to heck would help shut down those spam operations in China...
Easy really. Either smack all the idjits buying CRAP from spammers (this could work well for the ones clicking on the viruses in their emails too), or make sure every congressman and woman, every senator, every governor, every legislative member, basically everyone at every level of government gets as much spam as Bill Gates. Of course, getting leaders and parliament members of other countries signed up to spam email lists will hasten the demise of spammers, since the US wouldn't be forced to invade to remove the spammers... ;P
Heh, may I point out that there are laws pertaining to the use of fire? That arson is a crime? There's a bylaw in my city that makes backyard bonfires illegal, we're not allowed to burn trash, heck there's even a smoking ban in public places. But we're free to have campfires, fireplaces, and to light candles and such. So the bad uses of fire are illegal, while the good uses of fire are allowed.
But there aren't any laws protecting your privacy relating to RFID tags. Nothing detirmining when RFID tags should be deactivated. Nothing saying what the gov't and corporations can do with the data that could be collected by RFID. The bad uses of RFID aren't illegal.
If you've read these posts, you'll have seen that I have said RFID is neat, there are many good uses, but lets get in the laws and regulations *first* before we allow RFID tags to become ubuiquitous.
Avonwood Developments, about RFID. Quoted from that page: Tags can store real data, alphanumeric as well as decimal numbers, both of which can be modified and updated.
Just from googling RFID, passive cards carry about 2kb of information, since it's just alpha-numeric at the moment, it's a decent chunk of information. Active RFID can carry more information, with a battery life of 5 *years* transmitting at 1.5 second intervals.
GPS implantable tracking device.
Wal-Mart tracking customers. Quoted from the article: Proctor & Gamble teamed with the retail giant in the test over a four month-period which allowed researchers to view the Wal-Mart shelves from company headquarters some 750 miles away in Cincinnati, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
You're right, why worry about 750 miles, when in the near future they could track it ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD.
P2P technology isn't invading my privacy. :P RFID is.
RIAA is arguing that P2P is causing them to lose revenue. Even though they consistantly use out of date numbers, improperly applied statistics, and outright lies. I have downloaded from P2P networks, yet I still go out and by CDs, DVDs and video games. I'm fairly sure that this is the case with many people.
Yet, companies like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and so forth have happily bought and sold our personal information, and will continue to do so. RFID will allow them to collect such information easier than ever before. And, there aren't any laws or regulations that detirmine things like when RFID tags should be deactivated, and what companies can do with the information RFID can collect.
So yes, the chance of abuse is too great, since the companies have proven they'll abuse us if it makes them a bit more money. It's a valid arguement.
It's not that people are certain the negative uses will outweight the positives, it's the potential that they will. There's nothing in the law books preventing the abuse of RFID, and while some current laws protect use from a few gross abuses of RFID, the precedents have to be set first. Our personal information is traded and sold every day, usually without our permission or knowledge, and we don't benefit from it, the companies and corporations do. Why should we accept yet another way our information can be taken and stored without having a say in it?
I believe RFID will be abused. How can I be fairly certain? Easy, human history shows a pattern of such abuses. Why will it be abused? Because it can, and there's not much we could do about it.
I believe it would be possible to build them into the handles. From what I've seen, a few of the RFID tags are the size of a grain of rice, so I don't believe it would be hard to integrate them into the surgery hardware.
Is 750 miles extremely short range to you?
They aren't possible yet. If RFID were to be implemented on a large scale, each RFID would collect different types of data, and readers would be able to read the RFID and then access the proper databases. If they were to implant these into people, the RFID could contain your personal information (name, address, age, etc), plus your driver's license, health info, etc. A cop finding your mangled car after an accident could read your RFID to find out who you are, the paramedic could find out if you're allergic to certain things, and your family could be notified quickly, and privately, that you'd been injured and had been take to the General Hospital.
:P
That's the bright, sunny side to RFID.
It's the other kinds of data that could be collected, stored and sold without your knowledge or permission that make people wanna get out the tin foil hats.
Just because those "tin foil hat" scenarios aren't possible now, doesn't mean they aren't being worked on. Paranoia intended...
And I stand by my comment about RFID scanners everywhere. Going in and out of work, maybe getting on the bus, walking into malls and shops, the airport, the subway, etc. How many places would have a legit reason to keep track of who enters and leaves? 1000+ scans a day isn't that hard of a target to reach, if RFID becomes the next id card/drivers license/bank card it's creators are painting it to be.
Well, that's a bit of a relief. But there's nothing to say that companies will turn off RFID tags as they leave the store, and there should be laws in place to do ensure the tags are turned off, *before* the tags become ubiquitous.
Well, here's an article for VeriChip, which is implantable, and stores a persons health information, and is wirelessly writable.
Here's another about an implantable GPS system, currently the size of a pacemaker, but the inventors believe it can be shrunk down to as much as 1/10th the size.
And, one last one about Wal-Mart, tracking customers using RFID "from company headquarters some 750 miles away".
So yes, RFID can do those things, and IS doing some of those things now.
Heh, in addition to the use of barcoding surgical instruments, what they leave out is, the original article assumes that the RFID in the instrument has been scanned into the database to begin with. I mean, surgical instruments being left inside people wouldn't happen if someone just counted the damn things beforehand, and then counted again afterwards to make sure they're all there. No scanning necessary.
I think he means he's giving away a Gmail invite for a free iPod. If not... I have Gmail invites to give away. ;)
Or insurance companies. According to our data, you drink heavily on the weekends, drive 10 kph over the speed limit constantly, and smoke occasionally. So, unfortunately sir, your health, fire and car insurance rates are going to have to be adjusted.
;)
Guess which way?
Technology embraced in it's infancy? Other than the printing press?
Anything having to do with construction (building churches, etc), communication (radio, tv, the internet) and transportation (bussing those seniors in for Sunday Mass).
A tag inside the body could potentially measure and track biometric data like blood pressure, body temperature, etc. An active RFID could send back such vital information (along with GPS location), allowing a Fire Department, Police Department and Ambulance dispatch to keep track of the health of their people. You could know if a cop was under pressure, or where a firefighter was trapped in a burning building, and act in a timely fashion.
It doesn't have to be the chemist that does it. You've likely seen or read sci-fi that has scenes of advertisments targetting specific people as they walk by. RFID could be bringing this one step closer to reality.
I do acknowledge that RFID has many neat uses, which I have no problems with.
It's just the potential, massive abuse that RFID represents that worries me. Especially at a time when things like a National Identity Card are being considered, and when rights and freedoms are being eroded in the name of protection from terrorism.
Yes, most RFID tags are passive. But how long before they install RFID readers everywhere? And the passive ones are worse than the active ones, since they have a "virtually unlimited lifespan".
Think about it though. We're pissed off enough as it as when it comes to advertising. Imagine this scenario: You go to the drug store to pick up a bottle of dandruff shampoo, a pack of condoms and some Coca-Cola. The RFID tags on those products transmit to the cash register, which you pay with via Interact. When you get home, you find in you email inbox spam for Head and Shoulders, Trojan, and Pepsi.
Even worse, imagine having one of these things installed into you?
Can we really trust the government, corporations and companies to keep the information gathered by RFID tags private?