Slashdot Mirror


User: Vlatro

Vlatro's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
8
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 8

  1. Forget WarDriving on The End of the Bar Code · · Score: 1, Insightful

    How fun could it be to stand outside of a wallmart with a modified scanner, and get a list on your handheld of every item in a shopper's cart on their way out. Hell, third parties could scan for a week at one location, and put togeather a very valuable marketing databases detailing the value of an item in a given demographic. Or it could just give you a "heads up" that the girl you were trying to pick up on in the produce section just bought a large supply of anti-fungal cream. Helpful info.

  2. Re:1 out of 2 on Graphics Programs Uncover Secret PINs · · Score: 0

    Absoloutly right. Watch out online, the mail is secondary to online purchases. Most Banks in my area require you to change the temporary PIN they mail you on your first ATM usage. You have to do it at the machine (which has a camera on you), and requires that you also physically have the card. The Temp PIN is useless for purchases, only to change your PIN. Other banks don't even send you your pin# in the mail, they send a card, then follow it days later with a telephone numeric code, or website login to setup your PIN. And No bank to my knowledge sends the pin at the same time as the card and does not include the actual card number with the PIN at all, making it useless, unless if you have both. Then anyone can buy a mailbox where the incomming dropbox has a lock. As i see it, you can spend an hour of your time lobbying in forums that wont be read by anyone in a position to change this problem, or you can buy a $6.00 lock for your mailbox. This incident is only one of many reasons you should secure your mail. Of course who wants to scan an envelope. I could just get you insurance information from your car while you sleep, and use that with a statement stolen from your mail to log in and get your credit card number online, right from your insurance company. I had to do that to retrieve my own number when my card was stolen. Just a policy number, and my customer code on the statement, and address, and a phone number. Thats all it took. I won't mention who I was going through for insurance, But I'm sure you've seen their commercials on TV. Don't get me wrong, the technology is there for highly secure online transactions. The trouble will always be how much effort is put into implementing it. But then talking is a much easier way to get info from people. Hell, I could just pick a name out of the phone book, call it up from a blocked number (Not my own), say I'm with the gas company and we're changing our billing policy, and installing new digital meters in homes. We are piolting this new system in your neighboorhood, and are offering a refund in credit for your last bill if you'd like to participate. You just link your card to the meter, it can be paid automatically, and without having to do semi-annual meter reads the new system will reduce your cost, and eliminate the need for you to worry about your bills. So what's your card number? Do that 20 times in an hour, and go on a cruise. Or call from a pay phone, pretending to be with the phone company. That way the caller-ID will display their name and make it even more convincing. Call the phone company first and get the name of someone in billing. Use their name when calling your mark, just incase they want to call back. That'll confuse any attempt trace the fraud back to you. There are millions of scams out there. Better off just paying cash for everything.

  3. What? on Requiem for the Once-Imagined Future · · Score: 0

    What are you talking about? Seems a little off topic. What people need is to see results in THEIR lifetime. that's the beauty of the space program. We are always just one mission away from finding a revoloutionary new truth about physics, chemistry, or the nature of existance. The first man in space, the moon landing, there is a huge list of advances we have actually seen over the past generation Thats is what will inspire dollars to be spent and credible researchers to persue it. If you want this "Transhuman" theory to fly, stop wasting my time with pointless day dreaming, and show me something tangible, that will forever change my life. Not the lives of my children, or great grandchildren, My Life. The kind of evidence I'd need t jump on that bandwagon would have to be a some type of useful mechanical, electrical, or genetic alteration designed for "optional" use, rather than just life or death medical, or purley cosmetic situations. Then see it accepted on the mass market, at a resonable price. When people begin upgrade the functionallity of their bodies like they would upgrade a computer or car, then I'll be sold.

  4. Re:Time? on Wireless Networking Speeds of 540 Mbps w/ 802.11n · · Score: 0

    Expect to see a push around november from retailers and hardware manufacturers. These will still be the Pre-N but hopefully a little closer to what the actual standard will be, and in cool new packaging. Prices will most likely be between $79.00 - $149.00 US. The actual N specification will I'm sure will take longer. There is still a huge market for present wireless technology, and manufacturers will want to deplete as much of the existing stock as possible before pushing something new. Give it a year to 18 months before you see anything worth buying. The real advantage of 802.11n is (pending finalization) the lower power requirements of the receivers. That means it can be integrated into handheld devices (PalmPilot, Cell Phones, etc.) in much the way the original 802.11b standard was, and could used for large file transfer (from shorter than normal distances). Have you ever tried using bluetooth to send MP3s to your phone. It takes forever. Of course this who knows what the final specification might give us. But before running off to shell out $100+ on this, consider a few things. Unless you are transferring multiple gigabyte files, existing wireless networks will usually work just the same. A faster wireless router will do little more than speed up large file transfers. Bandwidth is not the bottelneck in 802.11 wireless. Latency is the real killer. On-Line gaming, real time video streaming, and other realtime applications suffer heavily under wireless connections. So if your a gamer, running a personal webserver, serving a networked database, or using audio / video conferencing software... Wireless in any form is not for you, stick with GbEthernet. It's faster, cheaper, and running the cable throughout your home (professionally through the wall with outlets, not run across the floor) will bring up the value of your house. Any idiot can do it, so why not. I run all of my computers and my X-box off a good physical network, and only use wireless for my notebook.

  5. It "could" works on Google Investors Find New Project · · Score: 0

    What a company like this needs isn't Google's investors, they need google's wide scale exposure. In fact, I suprised that Google hasn't aquired this company for them selves already. There is a huge potential market if it's done right. Though, I think Cafè Press has done it better. Imagine political campaigns where artists could submit their work in support of a canidate, and have a percentage of the proceeds go to that campaign. Or a school fundraiser where the community could get thier team's logo on any product they want with the profit going to the team. Your local zoo sells save the pandas shirts online, with proceeds going to research. Support your local police with a bumper sticker. Print on demand with a built-in marketplace could be potentially huge for such purposes, but it lacks exposure. What needs to happen for this to work? How about a custom printed catalog with all of (or a selection of) the seller's designs and their set price. Mabey a paragraph or two about the seller, and a mail-order option for low tech users. Then I can upload my images, and pay $10.00 for 25 Catalogs (2-4 color pages), and have them shipped to me for distrabution, or Direct mailed on a larger scale by the company based on a mailing list customized to my target demographic. Every Item I upload is given a unique catalog number, and ordering can be done on a frequent, but small scale basis. Profit goes to my account automatically, minus the company's markup. This would be great for small business, non-profits, or anyone. I don't expect however that I can simply upload artwork and people will just haphazardly come across it on their site and order it. The website is great, but better marketing tools are needed.

  6. Re:Neither... on Atom 1.0 vs RSS 2.0 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Microsoft and RSS. Are they stupid? I dont want RSS integrated with the operating system in any way. In fact, I wish RSS readers were harder to install. Now we'll have to put up with streaming ads docked into longhorn's side bar. But wait until Microsoft "extends" the capability. Why not have it send back "annymous usage data" on every link clicked. Then instead of going to a news site to read my news, the news I read is targeted to me through a third party, along with ways to better my credit, get my degree online and grow my penis 3" in 20 days... Naturally! Destroy a simple idea that works well, and turn it into a vital system process that'll take up 70Mb of physical memory to use. Why can't we have a technology that just works. Stop "improving" everything, so the average schmuk who doesn't know or care what RSS is will think he needs it, and shell out a few bucks for an upgrade on his OS. Open up the flood gates for a massive wave of usless feeds. I cant wait to see these... "Amazing things dogs do Daily", "Daily Coffee Recipies", "News about people with fishtank webcams", "The William Shatner Diaries" It's like giving a monkey a gun.

  7. Re:Already prepared to take over? on Governing the Internet Report Released · · Score: -1, Troll

    The internet is a big prize, and everybody wants a piece. I have no objection to humoring those countries who have a sound economy, a high tech industrial base, ect. They will act in the nets best intrest beacuse that will be the most profitable for them. But the UN are a bunch of f*cking socialists. I don't want to see technology held back as policies are made in favor of better serving the needs the third world. There are possible benefits to this, but I am undecided on wether they out weigh the risks. My advice... Let them make any policies they want, but let congress and the American consumer decide if they want to participate. They cannot exclude us from the internet for not obeying the rules. They cannot shut us down. Right now, and for some time to come, we control the physical infastructure. ¼ of the worlds major online News, entertainment, shops, auction sites, universities... (to name only a few) are hosted on american servers. The server farms in Sacramento, Washington, and Boston hold the hundereds of petabytes of data that makes up most of the internet. And our technology will always move faster than their policies. We'll keep moving right ahead while France, Germany, and most of Asia fight in a passive pissing contest, or sit in commitiees for months trying to figure out what to do. But then, this isn't about the betterment of the internet anyway. Its a symbol of American strength, and that pisses off those who lack the financial power, or intellegence to compete with us. The saddest part is the number of stupid liberals in america who actually take the UN seriously. Forget about this. Put your time to good use, attack the french, hang hillary clinton by her own entrails, or run people off the road who are still hopelessly sporting their John Kerry bumper sticker. That will make the world a better place, not that f*cking joke the UN has become.

  8. Re:get over it... on U.N. To Govern Internet? · · Score: 1

    The creation of the UN was the worst mistake in political history. Why should any power be given to a political body that represents so many conflicting ideas, they are incapable of making any decisions? They are a multi-billion dollar organization so lost in bureaucracy, that their only product are a few hundred yearly fact of findings reports that find no facts. It is with this view in mind that I say, give them the internet. Things like censorship and government control are much harder to implement and enforce on a global scale. They take authority no government should have, and tie their own hands with petty squabbling. Meanwhile, the almighty dollar will continue to shape standards, with the market and the technology evolving faster than they can keep up with.