Off The Hook - 16 January 2008
The Off The Hook site takes a while to post synopsis of the episodes and once they are posted, the overviews aren’t very detailed. I’m going to start taking some notes as I listen to the show and putting them here, for the good of all internet denizens who may find this via Google.
Emmanuel noted that the theme was missing, so he was playing it from a recording of the show that he downloaded last week. Mitch Altman, who was returning from the Chaos Communication Congress and is the creator of the TV-B-Gone, was on again; he and Emmanuel discussed Gizmodo’s use of the device at CES.
Emmanuel noted a new program in California that will allow utilities to control home thermostats via radio signals as a method for reducing peak energy usage so as to mitigate rolling blackouts. Not Kevin wonders how long it will take until someone finds a way to control the temperature of their neighbor’s house.
A kid in Lodz, Poland created a remote control to control the trams in the town. Not Kevin and Mitch discuss whether the remote that the kid created was really like a TV remote employing infrared as was reported. Emmanuel compares it to a chrome box and Bernie points out that infrared isn’t a very robust method, susceptible to weather conditions that could hamper its operation.
Wisconsin contracted out a mailing to EDS who printed social security numbers on the outside of envelopes. Bernie notes that the government officials always preach their concern for citizen’s privacy and guesses correctly that all those affected will receive a free year of credit monitoring, only to be automatically enrolled in such a service for a significant charge at the end of said year.
The TSA took down a horribly insecure website intended to allow people to remove themselves from the no-fly list. The contract for the site was awarded to Desyne Web Services by a TSA employee who previously worked for the firm.
Boeing’s new 787 aircraft, which will have internet access available, is going to be thoroughly check to ensure that the internet link is in no way connected to the plane’s avionics. Bernie mentions Boeing’s ill-fated Connexion service.
Bernie talks about a new hacker space, The Hacktory, which he is helping to put together as an extension of the Philadelphia Make group. Mitch talks about visiting Bootlab in Berlin, TMP LABS in Paris and c-base as well as DC401 in Providence and NoiseBridge. Emmanuel brings up past hacker spaces L0pht and New Hack City that eventually failed and questions whether these new ones will last.