Thu
Mar 18 2010
09:47 am

A company in Texas installs GPS devices on cars they sell in order to more easily repossess when necessary. A disgruntled ex-employee used the Internet and access to the GPS devices to harass customers of the Texas company. He was able to "remotely disable ignitions and set off car horns of more than 100 vehicles sold at his old workplace".

Ain't technology grand?

Topics:
Midori Barstow's picture

Ain't technology grand? Could

Ain't technology grand?

Could be an in-the-meantime app for runaway Toyotas?

Tess's picture

makes you wonder

I've wondered this from the get go. If folks who know how can blow up people talking on cell phones from a satellite, why could it not be that somebody is doing something remotely to cause the run away Toyotas?

Andy Axel's picture

Uh, they would use the cell

Uh, they would use the cell phone to target your location, not to use the cell phone as a weapon.

Midori Barstow's picture

somebody is doing something

somebody is doing something remotely to cause the run away Toyotas?

Actually, I'm wondering if this could be a way to remotely
shut-off the engines of runaway Toyotas. If you recall
in the recent case, the driver didn't seem to know or
was afraid to shift to neutral or turn off the engine
until a patrolman came to the rescue.

Tess's picture

ya

Not sure if you are laughing at me or naa, but if the cars have a computer controller, can the computer not be hacked?

I personally drive an old fashioned car with roll down windows and no computer.

JaHu's picture

This is the very reason chips

This is the very reason chips should not be installed in pets, farm animals or even people. I'm sure they have the capability of creating a chip that could be turned on by remote to stop the heart. As in this situation, just think of the capabilities of abuse of power.

bizgrrl's picture

This is the very reason chips

This is the very reason chips should not be installed in pets, farm animals or even people.

Geez, we were going to have a chip implanted in our new pup. Now we'll have to re-think the idea.

R. Neal's picture

Now we'll have to re-think

Now we'll have to re-think the idea.

No we won't. It's a passive device, and can't be activated to do anything except emit its ID when scanned.

JaHu's picture

Hey... I'm not trying to

Hey... I'm not trying to start a family squabble here... Now kiss and make up!

SnM's picture

The Exploding Pet Threat(TM),

The Exploding Pet Threat(TM), new from Al Qaeda!

"If they fear their pets exploding, we have already won."

But what if it's the pets themselves who are the terrorists? What if our pets revolt by becoming suicide implant bombers? "Well, hello there, li'l pup! Aren't you a nice doggy? Would you like a tre-" BOOM! Although I can see how the cats and the dogs would be diverted from us to use this technology to exterminate one another. Puts a whole new spin on those penguins in Tim Burton's second Batman movie, too, whenever it gets remade.

Sorry, long day. my brain is wandering behind the little animals.

JaHu's picture

Geez, we were going to have a

Geez, we were going to have a chip implanted in our new pup. Now we'll have to re-think the idea.

Funny!!!

I'm pretty certain that you'd be safe. I doubt if they are using this technology yet, and I'm unsure if they ever will. I'm just afraid we possibly could be laying out a pathway for serious abuse as in this case. It should be something everyone should consider. I love technology, but at the same time, it scares the hell out of me.

Andy Axel's picture

They're not using that

They're not using that technology ever.

A passive RFID implant generates maybe 10 millivolts at full charge, not enough to kill you (especially if it's implanted in fatty tissue and not in your cardiac muscle). And that requires that the induction coil is subjected to enough RF energy to get it to discharge.

JaHu's picture

They're not using that

They're not using that technology ever.

Andy, I would 'never' say 'ever'!

It's thinking as this that makes it possible.

Twenty years ago would you have believed that people's locations could be tracked while driving their cars or tracked while carrying their cell phones?

Andy Axel's picture

It's thinking as this that

It's thinking as this that makes it possible.

Let me know when you figure out how a grown adult can be killed by a low duration induced current of 10 millivolts in the fat of their ass cheeks.

Twenty years ago would you have believed that people's locations could be tracked while driving their cars or tracked while carrying their cell phones?

Twenty years ago, I might have thought that mobile communication would be limited to limousines. But that people could have their movements tracked with minimal effort? Sure, I'd have believed that.

redmondkr's picture

Miss Lulu came with an

Miss Lulu came with an implanted chip and she regularly emits large quantities of methane but I blamed it on her boiled eggs. Somebody out there is obviously out to get me.

JaHu's picture

Miss Lulu came with an

Miss Lulu came with an implanted chip and she regularly emits large quantities of methane

Are you sure she wasn't implanted with a cow chip?

redmondkr's picture

Two of the drawbacks to large

Two of the drawbacks to large breed dogs are slobbering and flatulence.

But you don't have to worry about breaking bones when you steal a squeezie hug.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

TN Progressive

TN Politics

Knox TN Today

Local TV News

News Sentinel

    State News

    Wire Reports

    Lost Medicaid Funding

    To date, the failure to expand Medicaid/TennCare has cost the State of Tennessee ? in lost federal funding. (Source)

    Search and Archives