Blog - foXnoMad

Renting a Car in the UK Requires a Fingerprint

by Anil Polat | Dec 5, 2006 | Car, Security, Tech, Travel | 0

This practice is becoming more common in the most surveilled nation on the planet. If you are traveling to England you should be aware that this practice is already in place in several cities and will be nationwide despite the grumbling of some customers.

If you want to hire a car at Stansted Airport, you now need to give a fingerprint.

The scheme being tested by Essex police and car hire firms, is not voluntary. Every car rental customer must take part.

Once a customer registers, and has their finger scanned, they can use a fingerpad for payment, with the money directly debited from their bank account.

In the United States, the firm has also launched a version for online shopping, with a touchpad attached to a home computer – with the aim of reducing identity fraud.

All of this data is going to be housed in a database, computer, or certainly laptop. Each of these pose all types of security risks, and I wonder if this information will be quietly shared with other government agencies. These things happen all the time in both the United States (Patriot Act, terror travel scores, etc.) and we only find out about it after someone leaks it to the media.

Next time I go to London, I’m taking the train to Liverpool. Good thing I’ll have all of those cameras watching me to make sure me and the Brits are safe 😉

England The Most Surveilled Nation on the Planet

by Anil Polat | Dec 5, 2006 | Travel | 0

Its 60 million residents are monitored by 4 million closed-circuit television cameras.

BJJ – Short For Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

by Anil Polat | Dec 4, 2006 | Culture | 6

Protecting the Myspaces

by Anil Polat | Dec 4, 2006 | Security | 0

Myspace accounts get hacked all the time and it’s usually me posting a bulletin or sending a friend a message when that happens. Aside from being annoying, a hacked Myspace account can get you into other trouble. Here is a list of simple things you can do to prevent it from happening and to make your life easier if it does.

For all of you non-Myspacers, the second item is applicable anywhere.

Do not use the same password for you Myspace and email account.

Myspace accounts use email addresses as logins, so what most people (about 60-70%) do is use the same password for both. It used to be that hackers were kids without friends in high school -? but now more and more hacking is done for profit. Unless your jealous boyfriend is stealing you passwords, any decent hacker is going to try to get into you email account.

Email accounts can hold lots of sensitive information for further hacking.

Use four different categories to separate the importance of your passwords.

For example I have one password for my bullshit accounts like Myspace, free ringtones, etc. That password is simple and easy to remember, and I won’t care if someone gets a hold of it. The most they can do is mess up something stupid like my top 8 friends.
The second set of passwords should be for any “one-time” use passwords. Those passwords for stupid things you want to download but have to sign up for etc. This password should be very easy to remember and not used for anything else.
The next set of passwords should for you email accounts. This password should be at least 6 characters long with upper and lowercase letters and a number or two. If you’re a bit more paranoid, add some symbols in there too. This password should just be for your email account.
The last password you have to remember is the one for anything that deals with online banking. Banking, car insurance, Paypal, etc. Pretty much anything you can make a payment with. 8 characters long at least.

Once you sign onto Myspace, you will NEVER have to reenter your password. If you click on a bulletin, or comment from a friend, etc. and you are faced with a login screen IT IS FAKE. Don’t enter your email/password, you are just giving to a hacker. Close you browser window and go back into Myspace and then let your friend know something is up.

A hassle yes, but not as much as getting you account jacked.

The only way you should ever sign into Myspace is through the home page, myspace.com. Any other page could mean trouble.

Hope this helps you guys and gals out there. A PSA announcement from your friendly neighborhood hacker 😉

The Way Not to Get Beat Up

by Anil Polat | Dec 3, 2006 | Travel | 1

As I was leaving the MCI Center the other night on my way to my car past this restaurant…

I see a smaller guy getting thrown like a little rag doll to the ground by some other bar patron. The little guy (on the ground), after being thrown like a little bitch began whining –

Why! Why did you do that?? Why???

The other guy said standing over him in a real cool way,

’cause I can.

And then just walked away.
Brought to you by, “How Not to React After You Are Thrown to the Ground Like a Little Bitch“. Next time buddy, get up and punch the dude, or at least kick him in the nuts and run away (like a little bitch – though better than crying like one).

Hibachi!

by Anil Polat | Dec 2, 2006 | Culture | 3

I was there last night, and I didn’t hear it. I’ll be there on Monday watching the game (with closer seats) so I’ll have to confirm this.

Leave it to Gilbert Arenas to come up with yet another way to stand out from the crowd: Before launching a shot these days, he’ll make a reference to a small cooking stove usually heated by charcoal.

That’s right: Arenas yells, “Hibachi!” then lets the ball fly. After letting his teammates get going Friday night, Arenas started shouting and shooting, and he wound up with 33 points and 10 assists to lead the Washington Wizards past the Charlotte Bobcats 121-109.

“He says it every time he shoots. Everybody hears it – whenever Gilbert talks, everybody hears,” said Caron Butler, who added 24 points for Washington. “He really was screaming it this morning in the shootaround, so ‘hibachi’ it is. He’s on fire, so ‘hibachi.”’

Btw, 121-109, that’s how WE DO.