Here Be Treasures » technology

The RFID Chip In Your Passport Is A Security Risk Foisted On You By Your Government

Martin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:41:03 +0000

RFID tags are tiny chips that can be embedded in a range of items and are activated by an electro-magnetic field which prompts the tag to divulge its information. Quite successfully used to manage retailers’ stock levels, the governments of the western world thought it would be a great idea to use these devices in passports.

The Economist features a report by one of its correspondents who has investigated how the claimed benefits of RFID chips in passports stack up against the reality.

Slightly open passports could leave holders vulnerable to physical attack. Each country encrypts data in a characteristic way that terrorists could use to identify the nationality of the person carrying the chipped passport. To demonstrate the point, a firm called Flexilis used a partially opened American e-passport tucked in the pocket of a dummy to trigger an explosion as it passed a dustbin containing a small charge.

These days, it seems that whenever a government decides to implement a large and new technologically based system, they fail miserably. What’s worse is that the shortcomings of RFID tags in passports were publicised years before their incorporation.

The Sony Walkman Is 30

Martin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:59:23 +0000

13-year-old Scott Campbell reviews a 30-year-old Sony Walkman. Find out how it compares to the iPod?

The Cloud Is Made Of Iron

Martin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:26:22 +0000

The New York Times runs an article by Tom Vanderbilt, who digs into the not-so-ethereal data centers that power the web. The figures are mind-boggling.

The Father of the Cell Phone

Martin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:08:12 +0000

The Economist has an biography on the man who is responsible for that most ubiquitous of communications devices, the mobile/cell phone. Did you know that the first cell call was made in 1973?

Internet, Old Skool Style

Martin — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:40:32 +0000

We all reminisce about cars, buildings, equipment from years gone by, but when you find a very early piece of technology that is now so ubiquitous that they are simply not seen anymore, it can be very interesting. Phreakmonkey has an old modem, from circa 1964, that he managed to get working and uses to connect to Wikipedia.

The Sound of Technology

Martin — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:32:24 +0000

One of the benefits of the advancement of technology is that devices are made which are generally smaller, more efficient and quieter, and this is generally welcomed as a good thing. However in the car industry this is proving to be a problem. The Economist investigates a recent trend by electric cars manufacturers who are adding sound generating capabilities to the vehicles in order to make them more audible for other road users to hear.
Wouldn’t it just make sense to teach people to use their eyes more? After all, deaf people drive and cycle and use roads and they get by.

Large Screen Action, and I Mean Large

Martin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:35:39 +0000

Greenpix are pioneering a zero energy media wall project that had it’s first application in Beijing during the Olympic games. Basically it’s a giant video wall. You can watch demonstrations here, and you can also see how your own movies would look on the greenpix wall. Now, if we could just figure out a way to hook it up to the playstation…

Paranoia—Hide Your Data

Martin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:53:31 +0000

The truly paranoid amongst us not only back up our data, we secret it in hidden places around our house. Here’s an example of a hidden USB data stick.

Annoyed By TVs at Restaurants?

Martin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:00:17 +0000

Then you can build one of these gizmos: TV-B-Gone. The site has instructions on how to put it all together, and a link to buy a kit, if you want to take a short cut. One inventive customer actually constructed a hoodie in which her tv-b-gone was embedded. It won’t win any fashion awards, but until restaurants realise that people are there to eat and not to watch TV, what alternative is there?

The Future’s Here… The Future’s Here

Martin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:49:40 +0000

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist luddite, but THE FUTURE’S HERE BEFORE IT SHOULD BE. Honda’s delightful little ASIMO (pronounced as A-Shimo), has been taught to dance to Beck and fall down stairs. However, they recently hooked it up to a Brain Machine Interface and had it act out physically the thought actions of the controller! Like a lot of people, I’m worried about films which predict the future. The one film we don’t want to be realised is Terminator, but they already launched SKYNET.

Ye gads, run for the hills…

Kill Mosquitoes In Style

Martin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:50:48 +0000

Remember those killer laser devices that every boy wanted when growing up? Well it’s been developed, and put to the best use ever… killing mosquitoes.

Sayonara, babies…

Antikythera Device Demonstrated

Martin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:44:25 +0000

Michael Wright, a former museum curator, has reconstructed the device known as the Antikythera mechanism. Found by divers in the 1900s, it was dated to the first century AD. In this video of the reconstructed Antikythera you can see how the Greeks would have used the device to mechanically calculate the phase of the moon and eclipses for any date.

More info at the website Decoding the Heavens.

The Spread of Nuclear Weaponry

Martin — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:54:18 +0000

Oppenheimer once stated that nuclear weapons were not too hard to make, and predicted that whatever nation wanted ‘the bomb’ would be able to figure out how to make one. But it seems that the technology of nuclear weapons has eluded most nations, and that their acquisition of nuclear know-how was underhanded.
The New York Times reviews “The Nuclear Express”, an exposé of the network through which nuclear secrets were passed from nation to nation, including unsavory alliances, spys and politics.