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  15. Mobile Phone Payment Theft

    in Dumpster

    Posted

    The real reason to have a metal wallet, is to prevent wiping your cards out if you sit on a magnet. Everyone knows that.

    Well, if someone puts a magnet on a chair where I'm gonna sit, then they better hope I'm not ingesting a diet high in iron or they might erase my colon along with those magnetic strips. :p

  16. Mobile Phone Payment Theft

    in Dumpster

    Posted · Edited by JRMMiii

    My point still being that many of these proof of concept hacks still require a very specific chain of events or circumstances for the hacks to work (unsecured unencrypted communication of RFID for instance -- I think that was mentioned already). In theory it's possible to intercept the lock/unlock and remote start codes for late model vehicles too, but that's not stopping people from buying remote or keyless entry systems on their new cars.

    So, it's still not enough to make me feel the need to buy a stainless steel wallet because 1) RFID isn't prevalent enough yet to make the business case for the hack to be worth the effort, 2) I know I personally have no passive or active RFID items in my wallet, and 3) When RFID is finally mainstream, many of these issues with security will have been addressed to the level where they're as good or better than the current fraud prevention processes. The major difference I see is that a lot of the onus will now be put on the user to maintain the responsibility of appropriately setting up and using all the security measures available to them.

  18. Mobile Phone Payment Theft

    in Dumpster

    Posted · Edited by JRMMiii

    And you wonder why I have a stainless steel metal wallet...
    I have no NFC cards so I'm safe.

    I thought you were in the computer field Recon? Of all people, you should know this is fearmongering for the un-tech savvy among us. You don't need a stainless steel wallet to avoid this -- like Scruit said, you either disable NFC from your phone when you're not actively using it, or don't use any unsecured RFID devices (which the vast majority of consumers don't have). The articles are very vague -- they aren't after your wallet and the stuff in it... they're after your phone (which you may or may not have linked credit cards and stuff from your wallet to it). They really do a poor job making that explicitly clear.

    Right from one of the articles:

    Criminals can access a mobile wallet by stealing the handset or tricking its owner into downloading a piece of malicious software.
    1) Password protect and encrypt your phone

    2) Don't download malicious code or visit malicious websites

    3) Don't let your kids play around with your phone that has credit card information buried in it

    Problem solved.

    It's not asking anyone to take anymore personal responsibility for their data or security than we ask for those using a computer or "Don't lose your wallet"

    Here's an article from July showing that someone else did an even more 'scary' proof of concept code specifically targeting NFC phones:

    http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/26/nfc-hack-android-beam-charlie-miller/

  22. So, the economy is turning around...(unemployment below 8%)

    in Dumpster

    Posted

    Even though it's related to unemployment (for obvious reasons) -- outsourcing is a different discussion altogether.

    Assuming quality factors are equal, outsourcing is very sensitive to shipping costs, volumes, and labor rates. When doing LCC sourcing, the US will sometimes be favorable given the logistics (like Magz said) if you're running a JIT manufacturing situation. Some companies don't mind holding inventory or forcing the supplier to do consignment using a local warehouse, so when it takes 8 weeks on a slow boat from China, not a problem.

    Deciding to outsource is basically a gamble that volumes will increases, shipping will decrease, labor will remain relatively flat. And unless the cost of energy starts decreasing -- that's a poor gamble. So, as the higher fuel prices continue, the contracts with suppliers will be reevaluated as fuel futures begin to run out and it'll eventually bring more jobs back to the US.

  23. So, the economy is turning around...(unemployment below 8%)

    in Dumpster

    Posted · Edited by JRMMiii

    Well, when you're working on Lotus Notes 1-2-3... it is. Or insert your own examples here if the Lotus Notes is a bad example (Netscape, Prodigy, MS Zune, BASIC programming, etc)

    Some of those people have skills that transfer to the same industry, some don't and will have to learn new skills or use those skills to develop something completely transformational in this economy. Either way, there's only sooo many people that Apple needs to crank out iPods and if you're a competitor working on a similar product and iPod crushes you, it's not like Apple is going to need all the programmers that worked on the Zune to come over and help with more iPods.

    Point being, as I said, stories of people you've personally observed being laid off may be net neutral in regards to unemployment when other jobs are created in other sectors. But, those laid off in one industry many NEVER see their skills be utilized again as society and technologies progress.

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