Phew, just a dream.

[ZURKE]

I had a dream lastnight, that ms had developed a technology to use finger printing in licensing their software.

Not only could I not reproduce for my use but know-one but me could use what I purchased.

I had to log onto windows for my wife:confused:

[Mark Miller]

Be afraid, be very afraid
What you dreamed is coming. Except I think it will happen with scanning your eyes. Maybe fingerprints first. Finally there will be chips in your head like a bar-code.
Mark:eek:

[ZURKE]

I am only afraid that I would not be able to use a PC like everyone else.:)

I would not give up my finger print or Iris just to use a PC.

In situations where I have given them up either it was beyond my control:o or employment was involved.

I cant imagine some software company having access to that kind of identity. Thats the real scary part.:eek:

[Steve]

Dispite Reids thread ;) all you have to do is switch over to Linux. Problem solved. :)

[ZURKE]

Steve,

If I could play the games I like to play with Windows on Linux, I would switch in a second. No second thoughts, no regrets.

[Budfred]

As Linux continues to evolve and M$ pushes more of us away, the games will probably be available... except the ones that M$ eats up....

Actually as Linux becomes more popular we may even see cool games made for it that won't work on Windoze....:D

[ZURKE]

Budfred,

My fingers are crossed:)

[gracious]

Hmm, hard to imagine life without a Microsoft something or another seeping into our lives. Well the fact that some banks require fingerprint id tells you that it probably isn't too far away. I went to cash a check from somebody that owed me some mula, I went to their bank to cash it and they made me give them my fingerprint or they wouldn't cash the check! I was furious! But what could I do!:(

Who knows, we might all have to start doing things that was done in the movie Gattica! Now that is scary!:p

[ZURKE]

Gracious,

Wow, isn't there some sort of privacy law against that kind of stuff?

It is not a benefit they are giving you by cashing a check issued by a bank member.

That is so absurd. Just for myself speaking, the person that wrote that check would be giving me cash.

That blows my mind.:eek:

[HeadachesAbound]

A view from the opposite side of the coin (on the fingerprinting bank)

Let's say you have a book (or box) of checks stolen while enroute to you. You are not aware of this fact and therefore are unable to notify the bank prior to one of these stolen checks being presented on your account.

The person who stole your checks is so brazen that they not only forge your signature but they even take it to your bank to get it cashed.

Now they may be brazen, but they aren't quite stupid.

They have taken steps to disquise themselves, a very good set of falsies, a even better fake mustache, a little hair dye, even a nice bodysuit isn't out of the question.

Now you have what appears to an elderly gentlemen who is a little on the hefty side with bad vision and very little hair who is getting cash out of your account without your consent. In reality the thirty-something guy who drives a shiny red sportscar has just gotten away with your hard earned money and you have nothing to go on but a tape of a balding old man.

In reality this might not happen, but if it did, the fingerprint would provide a little more to go on and might even show that the old man has a history of bank fraud and is in real need of an attitude adjustment.
----------------
As for the topic at hand, if I had the investor funding and the time / energy to devote to it, I would write an OS capable of running both windoze and linux apps just to spite $CO and M$.

[Mark Miller]

Good idea Headaches,
I would be the first to buy it and if you want [for a small sum] I'll even help you market it.
We might even become dollaraires
Mark:D :D :D :D

[mjc]

No!!!!

It is not any friggin' BANKS job to collect fingerprints!!!!

I don't give a rat's patuty what their excuse is.

The fact that they want to do that would definitely get me to close any acoount there, tell all my friends and family not to do business there, etc.

[Mark Miller]

Mjc,
Without trying to raise your blood pressure, how do you feel about picture id's ? [ala drivers licences] most institutions ask for this if you try and cash a large check even with your bank card and account number

[Steve]

Yesterday it was picture ID. Today it is fingerprints. Tomorrow it will be retina scans and someday it will be dna identification.

[mjc]

There is a little principle that this country was built upon.....

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...

I'm sorry, it has to stop somewhere and if not soon then needing to have your "papers" to go across town is not too far off...and "Checkpoint Charlie" will seem like a trip to an amusemnt park...hey, wait a minute, last time I went to one I thought I was going through "Charlie".

[Budfred]

I am split on this one... I value my privacy, but I also don't want to ever have to deal with identity theft and having to clean up after someone trying to use my data to enrich themselves. The fingerprinting and other similar options would go a long way toward assuring that.

If I write a check and you cash it with your fingerprint it invades your privacy. However, if it turns out I didn't really write it, but you did with the intent to rip me off, the fingerprint would give authorities a way to track you down. Just having to do the print would probably stop all but the dumbest thieves anyway...

So do we go for secure or private or secure or private or..........:confused:

[HeadachesAbound]

Mark,

If your willing to work for peanuts until we turn a profit then your hired. I'll have to find some spare time between my job, my yard, my house, my wife, my 3 kids, my wonderful in-laws, my mother, my grandmother, my church, my web-sites, my research, and everything else of mine to learn assembly, apply that knowledge to hacking windoze programs, apply that knowledge to hacking linux programs, and then combine it into a system that not only runs, but runs better than the other OS's available. Might even need to add support for Mac programs.

OK, so now we have a really ambitious design that will allow us to build an all-in-one solution capable of running programs designed for extremely different Operating Systems and also be able to provide a simple and user friendly interface.

Time for a nap while I ponder the impossible.

---Edit---

We can call it PCGI (PCGuide Inspired).

[Whyzman]

Is that what they call "Thinking outside the box?" :rolleyes:

The best one yet that I ran into for cashing a check was when they asked if I had an account at the bank. When I replied, "no"....I was told that it would cost me $10.00 to cash the check! It was drawn on their bank....:mad:

If, however, I would open an account the $10.00 would be waived.

I wound up paying the $10.00 and talked with the bank manager regarding their exploitive fee. I told him that I would be having a conversation with my client and notifiying that I would be adding the $10.00 check cashing fee to my bill.

I told him if I did have an account with them that I'd immediately close it. :mad:

It seems as though the whole thing was illegal! :mad:

Did I forget to say that I was mad? They wanted my fingerprint and ten bucks! :mad:

[Mark Miller]

Headaches,
Pcgi is a great name. This will probably be moved at sometimes into the nothing thread.
Have a great day.:D :D

[ZURKE]

I see it like this,

If you don't look like your picture on an ID no cashy.

There are certain forms of acceptable ID. Drivers license, passport.

The institution should have qualified employees that can check these.

A two bit, not your check, cashing criminal is not 007.

Hell, half the time I use my credit card they don't ask me for ID and I have it written on the back "ASK FOR ID" instead of a Signature:eek:

I don't care what reasons they use for their incompetence, institutions should not be asking for finger prints or retina scans, for cashing a silly check.

[david eaton]

Well, perhaps I can add my twopennorth as this had not arrived in the UK yet. My first thoughts on this were unprintable(!)

While a photo on driving licences makes some sense, it does not require a third party to verify the picture. Its either you or it ain't!

However, a fingerprint cannot be identified without access to a database of EVERYBODY's prints. Who has that? BIG BROTHER! No way am I cooperating in that! :mad:

I commend MJC for his moderate language in his post. Nice Pic too!


David

[gracious]

Hey I was pretty ticked when they were asking for it...and I kept asking "WHY WHY WHY...." and they'd look at me like I was nuts. The check was for over $1000 so I was really in a conundrum about it. It took me a long time to get this loan back and they put me between a rock and a hard spot. I asked them who was going to be receiving this print and they said it was only for their records and I remembering saying to the teller "Yeah right and my uncle is from Mars" LOL...anyway...here in Alabama, to get your driver's license, they require your SSN#, your insurance is based not only on your driving record but on your credit history as well and I think that stinks big time. I have a friend who had to file BK because of a bad business venture with another guy...and he has never, NEVER had a ticket in his life or had ever been in an accident but because of his BK he is paying through the nose for his insurance.

If I would have known that the stupid bank (might have been a C.U, can't remember)was going to be asking for my thumb print, I would have gone somewhere and purchased a fake thunbprint thing or something, put glue over my thumb, wrapped big bandages around both my hands and told them I was severely burned, SOMETHING!:D

[HeadachesAbound]

Just to clarify my position...

I do not think that they should ask for a thumb print in most circumstances. But I also would prefer that level of protection to prevent identity theft and bank fraud if it was my check that you were cashing. Of course, I've never had that circumstance presented and I would probably react in the same fashion since it is a privacy issue. I am very particular about what I give out, and I am very aware of what is on my credit. I've spent many years in the financial services industry and I am never amazed at the level of insecurity that exists.

Guess it's I good thing I can make more money being honest.

BTW, anyone here read the Salam Pax blog (http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/2003_06_01_dear_raed_archive.html#200377547)?

Talk about remaining anonymous.

[Budfred]

If you have an account, I think you can avoid the whole thumbprint thing by depositing the check. They are using the thumbprint because if you are a criminal cashing my check and walking out the door with my/their cash, the only way they might remotely find you is through the grainy camera photos they gather. With the thumb print they have at least some chance of stopping the criminal.

[jabarnutcase]

I had to get fingerprinted at the Police Station to get a pistol permit....No problem there! :D

When the local bank asks for my fingerprints, I'll continue to accept only cash, pay only in cash, and keep all my money under my bed...They've been pestering me, but they'll never get me to open an account that way!

Besides, who needs a bank? Now that I have my pistol, I dare someone to try and look under my bed! :p

[Budfred]

I use a credit union and they don't pester me at all.....

[Mark Miller]

Of course you all realize it's the tech we love that's bringing all the invasion of privacy to us. I agree with Steve it's going to happen and fight though we may the day of a universal id card is coming. It will be like carrying papers in the 30's or Communist Europe.
Mark :(

[Steve]

I'm kind of surprised by the reluctance to be identified. Or maybe I should say the method of identification. Identifying folks has gone on forever.

I live in a small town. (pop. under 3000) I've used the same bank for 20yrs. Everyone there knows me. If anyone else came in claiming to be me, everyone would probably bust out laughing.

But if I lived in Boston or NYC there would have to be a way to verify my identity. Photo IDs have been used for years. I think fingerprints will be used for a short time and then retina scans will take over. When I set up an account at the bank the retina scan is done and from that point on I can be positivly IDed. Just like a picture ID or actually knowing the person your talking to. I don't see the difference.

I don't mind if people know I'm me.

[ZURKE]

I think some are correct on the universal card. Someone had mentioned that to me a decade or so ago.

Everything you get goes into an account by direct deposit or is paid into by means of another debit card. Everything you spend comes out of that account by debit card. There will be no currency.

Anything you owe will be taken directly from your account, no holding off till next week:)

There will be no place you can go, nothing you could do and have the type of privacy we see now.

I understand it will be great for tracking criminals who break the law when they choose to use their debit card.

It will be great for tracking everyday people going about their business and understanding movement(but they wouldnt do that).

It will be Awsome for the government to catch tax evaders.

Sooner or later we will all fit nicely into the hand of government.

I love life, but I really cant wait to get off this silly planet.:)

[kayofcircles]

Seems to me this is just another of the "How much of your freedom and privacy are you willing to give up for security?" questions. If everyone can be tracked, spied upon, etc..well, gonna make it harder for the criminals, but what will it be like for the rest of us?

I don't know why..but the phrase "homeland security" has reminded me of Nazi Germany since the government started using it.

From what I understand, there wasn't much crime in the Soviet Union before its collapse, but do we really want that much "security"?

[HeadachesAbound]

¡Bienvenidos a la revolution!

At some point in the not-so-distant future, little green men from somewhere in the galaxy will return to earth. They will be coming to pick up their friends who have chosen to live amongst us and warp our society.

Our technology will be confiscated and our thoughts probed and erased for the good of us all. We will be plunged into the murky depths of nothingness and catapulted through the universe to make way for progress.

But before that happens, our government will seek to make our lives easier by doing things that make no sense and cause great concern amongst those of us who simply want to be left alone.

The revolution is coming soon and it means that your retina will be the key to all you have and your sight is more important than you could ever imagine. It's time to free your mind and open your cerebellum to the future that is.

Carpe diem.

I'll save you a spot on the first ship off this rock Zurke.

[Eutychus]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. My life is an open book!

Except for pages 15, 37-42, 124, and 211. I tore those out and hid them beneath the insulation in the attic. Certain sections in the appendix, index, and other key words and phrases throught have been inked out.

But other than that, anyone is free to browse.

[Steve]

211 PAGES!! :eek: What a man.

I'd be lucky to fill 50 pages. ;)

[goober]

Except for pages 15, 37-42, 124, and 211. I tore those out and hid them beneath the insulation in the attic. Certain sections in the appendix, index, and other key words and phrases throught have been inked out.

Are you the one who publishes all the government records?! ;)

[gracious]

GATTICA! GATTICA! GATTICA!


Well on one hand it is great that they are freeing people who have been in jail by testing their DNA....but then I am just a peon in this great big world and why do they need all this info about little ole me?

They have those strips in our money that can be tracked by satellite, they say for catching criminals, money laundering...hmmmmmm...

I found out today that one of my friends tried to renew her P.O. Box at the post office and they wouldn't do it unless she gave them her physical address which she didn't want to do,they said it was because of terrorists and credit card fraud and she laughed because a couple of years ago,this guy stole her cards and the secret service got involved and she helped them nab this guy, and they had him sign a confession stating that he had charged up the cards....well the feds let him go, and she is still being harassed by the credit card companies so, so much for cracking down on credit card fraud.

So, it use to be that if you were honest...you had nothing to worry about but does that matter anymore? I got sent a doctors bill from a visit from last friggin June hadn't had anything from them about this last July or August or ...and they send me this stupid bill threatening me with going to collection if I didn't pay..well what can you do, it was only for $35 but it is the point of did I really owe it? I will never know. I did type on the back of the check that if it was cashed that that was an acknowledgment that I had no further obligation for that account. We will see...:p

[Budfred]

You do know that the original quote is "Attica, Attica, Attica"?????

[pave_spectre]

If you want Law Enforcement Overkill try the policy that ASIO (Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation) tried to get passed in our senate.
If they even remotely suspected that a journalist or other person "might possibly" have information or know some one who would have such information regarding possible security threats, and refused to divulge that information then that person could be imprisoned for some odd amount of time. The onus of proof would also be placed on the defendant requiring that they prove that they did not have or no such information as ASIO believed that they knew. Guilty until proven innocent anyone.
Never mind identification technology, try proving something isnt true without any evidence.

[gracious]

You do know that the original quote is "Attica, Attica, Attica"?????
Well yes that is another great movie but I was thinking of the movie which I think the proper spelling is actually "Gattaca":



The movie Gattaca (http://movieweb.com/movie/gattaca/)

[skhips]

In England they are trialing a scheme where you have to give a finger print on your your credit card slip in some department stores.

I heard a rumour that with all the IP addresses with IP v6 that they are looking at issuing everyone an IP address at birth to allow for what ever technologise in the future develop to track, record and whatever else.

Big Brother is out there.

[Budfred]

gracious,

I thought you were possibly making a clever connection between the chant of "Attica" that was used in a number of demonstrations after the riots at Attica Prison that was apparently very poorly handled by the authorities and resulted in many unneeded deaths, including the prison guards being killed by the team sent in to free them AND the movie Gattaca which had a future in which the genetic elite repressed anyone with a genetic flaw.... That is what you meant isn't it???:D :D

[Whyzman]

It's from Battle Star Gattaca...right? :confused: