Hacker Disables Cars via the Web – Our Remote Controlled Life
Technology March 17th, 2010
This is what remote controlled toy cars looked like when I was a kid. Yes, the control box was connected to the car with a 3-4feet cable… not exactly the level of freedom you get with today’s wireless models.
But it was fun, nevertheless. I wonder if 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez had a toy car when he was a kid. He seems to have found one now.. let me correct that: he seems to have found over 100 remote controlled cars to play with.
The laid-off employee of Texas Auto Center sought revenge and he found it in the Webtech Plus system, which allows dealers to remotely switch off ignition, sound the honk …etc. in the cars of non-paying customers. Our hacker immobilized over 100 cars and triggered their honks in the middle of the night… probably almost as much fun as a crazy SXSW party 
On second thought, it probably wasn’t fun for the drivers whose cars would not start going to work, or whose only remedy against a shrieking honk at midnight was to remove the car battery. But at least they were aware of the presence of the remote device… unlike students and families of Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania (has Lower Merion just become the most famous school district in the US?). The Spy Cam District’s victims had no idea their homes could be monitored using the school issued laptops. (And the school district blew their chances of becoming a hit Reality TV show…)
Talk about remote sensors: I had no idea of the extended capabilities of the smart meter PG&E, the local utility has installed recently. These smart meters were all about remote reporting of consumption, and somehow the utility company forgot to tell us they came equipped with a wireless switch to shut off electricity supply.
Shall I go on? I’m not sure I even want to know how many aspects of our lives can be digitally controlled… all in the name of progress, but dangerous when falling in the wrong hands. 
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: big brother, CloudAve, hackers, hacking, privacy, remote control, remote sensors, sensors, smart meters, spy cam, SXSW, utility
Laser Friday
Technology February 12th, 2010
News on lasers of all sizes hitting targets of all sizes… let’s start small – hey, small is beautiful, after all. Besides, this is one laser you could own at a reasonable size one day.
Small Gun, Lots of Small Targets
Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold currently runs aptly named Intellectual Ventures. At TED (not to be confused with Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) he presented a laser system that can shoot down mosquitoes at a rate of 50-100 mosquitoes per second (!). Here’s a demo video – obviously in slow motion:
The best part: he assembled this system from commercially available parts, in fact some components were acquired on eBay. The guiding software is said to be refined enough to not only find the target, but determine their size, speed, sound characteristics, in fact separating females (the gender that bytes humans) from males, and only hit the real enemies. So your birds, pets and neighbors are safe. That is, until a hacker decides to experiment
If this sounds like mini Star Wars, here’s the real thing:
The Big Bang. Big Gun, Big Target
The US Airforce’s he Airborne Laser Testbed system had a successful test off the California coast this week, when an airborne laser successfully destroyed a missile minutes after it’s launch, while it was still in boost phase:
Not sure if the youtube version of the video will be allowed to stay on, but here’s a link to another version. While the experiment was technically successful, the future of the program is in doubt: there is only one system on one single airplane.
Well, let’s see, I promised all sizes: we’ve had the Big One, and a small laser against lots of tiny targets. Let’s see what happens when lots of small lasers target on tiny target.
192 Lasers Hitting One Little Target
A research team at Livermore National Laboratory successfully fired a focuses array of 192 laser beams at a helium-filled target no larger than a BB shot and instantly heated it to 6 million degrees Fahrenheit. The gas vanished in a tiny explosion. Wow… I wonder how they measured 6 million degrees? But it’s nothing, the objective is to reach 200 million degrees.
Heartwarming news… especially that I live a mere 10 miles from that Lab. But not all is lost, I got some assurances from Charlie
@ZoliErdos we’ll try to remember you after the The Ignition
Thanks. Forever
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: CloudAve, Intellectual Ventures, Laser, microsoft, Nathan Myhrvold
Time for Device Independent Data Plans
Technology January 27th, 2010
Now that everybody talks about the iPad, let’s talk about something just as important as the new device:
It’s a screenshot from Engadget’s coverage. Yes, reasonable data plan prices. Except… how many of them do you need? An iPhone data plan, too? A data plan for your USB stick for the times you do need a “regular” notebook to work on?
Remember this?
Yes, phones looked like that. And there was a time when phone companies (Ma Bell) charged extra when you had more then one outlet in your home….
Remember the early days of cable TV? You had to ( well, were supposed to) pay extra for each additional cable outlet.
How about the early days of the Internet, before wireless became pervasive? Yes, ISPs expected us to pay extra for each outlet.
These anachronistic charges are all gone – we pay for the service, no matter what device we use to access it.
So why would wireless access be any different? We will soon have an increasing number of devices, but the underlying service is the same. In fact chances are when I use my iPad (which I don’t have), I will not be using my Netbook / Notebook, or browse the Net on iPhone, Google Nexus One … as a consumer I may own a variety of devices, but chances are I will only use them one at a time.
It’s time wireless providers wake up to the 21st century and charge for consumption on a per account (person) basis, not per device.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: 3G, Apple, CloudAve, Internet service provider, iPhone, ISP, wireless plans
Time for Device Independent Data Plans
Technology January 27th, 2010
The Apple iPad event is still on, and the Internet is crumbling… Twitter barely crawls, CoveritLive isn’t exactly live, the major sites providing blog coverage are barely accessible… this is iKill – the day Apple Killed The Net.
But I want to talk about something more important:
It’s a screenshot from Engadget’s coverage. Yes, reasonable data plan prices. Except… how many of them do you need? An iPhone data plan, too? A data plan for your USB stick for the times you do need a “regular” notebook to work on?
Remember this?
Yes, phones looked like that. And there was a time when phone companies (Ma Bell) charged extra when you had more then one outlet in your home….
Remember the early days of cable TV? You had to ( well, were supposed to) pay extra for each additional cable outlet.
How about the early days of the Internet, before wireless became pervasive? Yes, ISPs expected us to pay extra for each outlet.
These anachronistic charges are all gone – we pay for the service, no matter what device we use to access it.
So why would wireless access be any different? We will soon have an increasing number of devices, but the underlying service is the same. In fact chances are when I use my iPad (which I don’t have), I will not be using my Netbook / Notebook, or browse the Net on iPhone, Google Nexus One … as a consumer I may own a variety of devices, but chances are I will only use them one at a time.
It’s time wireless providers wake up to the 21st century and charge for consumption on a per account (person) basis, not per device.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: Apple, CloudAve, data plans, device independence, Google, IPad, iPhone, mobility, Nexus One, Smartphone
Brand vs. Quality. Which Would You Pay For?
Technology December 7th, 2009
Time to re-evaluate just what we consider “good brands” vs. junk.
I could not resist the summer back-to-school discounts and upgraded two laptops – one of them is already making funny noises. Tired already? It’s an HP. Perhaps just a co-incidence - but my desktop monster, just two years old has long been pretending it was a turbine – at least in terms of the unhealthy hard disk whining it makes. Oh, it’s an HP, too. Noticed it while under warranty, but did not have any desire to deal with HP Support again. So be it.
Of course I had not seen this report before those purchases. Yes, shocking as it is, every fourth HP laptop fails within three years.
That’s awful. My personal experience prior to the recent purchases has been a lot better. I can’t possibly recall how many computers I’ve had since the mid-80’s, but not one of them died on me. They slowly became obsolete – like the trusted old Sony after 7 years or so.
But there’s another name worth paying attention to: Asus. They had been manufacturing component for PC makers, but were not exactly a household name until they emerged out of nowhere riding the netbook-wave. And wow – look at the stats: the formerly no-name “cheap Chinese” (actually Taiwanese) laptops have become #1 in reliability. So just who has a better brand now? Or: would you rather pay for brand or quality?
Oh, before I forget.. as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s one of the three Windows 7 Upgrade packages waiting to be installed.
Amazon mailed the retail version in proper packaging on October 22nd, Win& Launch Day.
Sony took their time, they were 3 weeks late, but it still came in a decent plastic box.
HP? Over a month late, 2 DVD’s stuck in one paper sleeve. Reminds me of the tech-savvy admin assistant from the mid-80s who happily reported she overcame the technical difficulties, and finally managed to stick the 5.25” floppy disk in the drive. Too bad it already had one inside.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: amazon, asus, brands, CloudAve, hp hardware, windows 7 sony laptop malfunctions computer failures
Comcast Data Usage Meter: What’s to Celebrate About Being a Year Late?
Customer Service, Technology December 1st, 2009
I admit I’m baffled. If a major service provider imposes consumption caps without providing a way to measure consumption, then promises a metering tool and fails to deliver for a year, than what exactly is the reason to celebrate when finally they start limited testing a year late?
But that’s exactly what’s happening: Comcast keeps promise, launches data usage meter says ZDNet and some others - GigaOM calls it a step in the right direction.
Yeah… a right step. Long overdue. I said over a year ago it was ridiculous to introduce the cap without a way of measuring it, and that the few tools available were largely inaccurate.
It’s not that Comcast had no way of measuring consumption – otherwise how would they shut down the “guilty” accounts? No, it took them over a year to develop a tool to present the data – and even now it’s at limited pilot stage in Portland.
Not that such delays are unusual for Comcast. Does anyone recall the first promise of Tivo-driven Comcast DVR’s? Was it two or three years ago? I’m still waiting.
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(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: broadband cap, broadband meter, CloudAve, comcast, Digital video recorder, Set-Top Boxes, tivo
Qu’est-ce QUE c’est? A Killer e-Book? A Kindle Killer?
Technology October 19th, 2009
A picture is worth thousand words. So the next two images of the Que, Plastic Logic’s ultrathin, bendable e-reader should save 2,000 words… courtesy of MediaMemo:
I’ve said before, dedicated e-readers won’t go away anytime soon, and Plastic Logic’s product is the one to keep an eye for – simply because this is the first one that feels like holding a piece of paper. I want my Que. Now.
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(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Tags: CloudAve, e-book, e-reader, kindle, plastic logic, que
Skype is not Only VOIP: It Reigns in IM But How Long?
Technology October 19th, 2009
Nowadays the only context we hear about Skype is the legal fight (care to bet how long it will take for the previous Net Celebs to become the Hated Greedy Ones who try to sc**w all of us?) – I would much rather read about new features, improvements.
After all, Skype is the single most popular voice and video calling application. But let’s not forget it’s also an IM system – in fact as this Infoworld article points out, it has become the reigning IM system.
And therein lies the rub: it is less and less suitable for text chat.
A Real Floppy Discovery
Technology October 3rd, 2009
A little digging in an old cabinet today, and look what I’ve found. Oh, well, some of you Gen-Y-ers may not recognize it: it’s a 5.25” floppy disk. From the time they were really floppy. 
Disk and sleeve mismatched (3M in IBM), old media reused – the handwritten word “diploma” means this must be the diskette that has my University Thesis on it … probably in an early release WordStar fomat. (For the Y-ers, WordStar is a piece of computing history).
So all this means I have it and I don’t – highly unlikely I will ever be able to access it. It’s all my fault. I did not have my advice piece to follow back than.
Related post:
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )
Tags: backup, CloudAve, data backup, data formats, Floppy disk, IBM, WordStar
I’ve Got Productized by Nokia
Humor, Technology September 14th, 2009
It’s not every day one sees his family name as headline on TechMeme. Well, if that name is Scoble or Arrington, sure, but for the rest of us it’s a red-letter-day…
Well, it just happened to me, courtesy of Nokia, and the shiny new Nokia Erdos luxury phone. Last I checked a few years ago, they could not keep up with demand for the $5K Vertu phones in platinum, gold and diamond casings. The Nokia Erdos will only have brushed aluminum casing, but it’s stuffed with hi-tech, like the OLED display, a rising keyboard, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, etc. Here’s a promo video:
(Why is this, and all other copies on Youtube so blurry?)
Anyway, back to Nokia. I’m a little pi***ed that they did not ask me … but in the end, it’s OK. I don’t get productized every day, after all. Just remember to send me a test unit, Nokia!
Come think of it… I think I Open Source my name. Apple, Dell, Sony, BMW, Mercedes..etc, I’m looking forward to your Erdos models. Just don’t forget to send a courtesy unit.
Related posts:
- Nokia Erdos spotted in promo video
- Nokia Erdos Leaks: Decadence Defined
- Nokia Erdos: a shiny specter, or an OLED-equipped reality?
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Tags: gizmo, mobile phone, nokia, nokia erdos, schwag
Zoli Erdos
