When I have been looking around the net for information and how things in the US differ from here in the UK, I got fustrated. There loads of information lots of it very useful to the international student but its buried, hidden or just in obscure places of the internets and theres no filter and central resource for all this infromation.

Whats a Geek to do?

Well its quite simple really by a domain and make a new website combining all this information into something useful and incredibly help to international students just like me. Who ever said I was selfish?

The basic idea is for a wiki like site were people can come and submit things and also a huge list of links and information, to help you and me make the right choices. The sites not about taking all the credit for all the information thats out there it providing a place were all the information comes together so its easy to access what you want.

I should have the site ready by the end of the week and ready for content, which looks like it may just be me in the beginning but I hope to make a community out of the project if it all works.

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a method of remotely storing and retrieving data using devices called RFID tags/transponders. An RFID tag is a small object, such as an adhesive sticker, that can be attached to or incorporated into a product. RFID tags contain antennas to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver. Link

So why is it problem?
Well the technology itself is very powerful and useful and lends it self to all sorts of difficult tasks such as stock taking, that when tagged using RFID would allow the stock to simply pushed through a scanner and that would be it.
It also allows supermarkets to create super-simple self-checkout systems; put all your stuff in the trolley, push it through the checkout and pay. No scanning, waiting or weighing to make sure you've scanned everything.

But what if you lost the paper tag on clothes and other items and it was made straight into the product, what then. Well we save on paper, but all shops have readers for these RFID Tags. How much would it take to build up a complete picture of your life. All your clothes are tagged so you go in one shop they see your wearing a designer shirt, there's a screen in-front of the door and that changes giving you an offer only you and you alone can use, for a particular designer shirt. You decide not to buy it and go to another store and they do the same. but all this data is store on a de-centrilised network of computers in each store. It wouldn't take much for a person to go to each store ask for there details (perfectly acceptable under the DPA) and then piece it all together and what do you have?

A complete picture of what you bought, when you bought, for how much, and whether you paid for it with your RFID enabled Credit Card.

Thats another thing with RFID enabled credit/ID Cards you would be able to nab somebody's card details by putting a reader near a persons pocket. The data would be encrypted but there would always be organizations that would fined away to get your details and run away with your cash.

We are putting so much information about ourselves out there on technologies that could easily give it all up to a criminal or anybody savvy enough to join the technologies up. The UK already has more camera's per square mile than any other country in europe (possibly even the world) So will the vision of 1984 be realized or will become more aware of all these technologies and protect ourselves against theft and improper use of all this data.

Artificial intelligence (also known as machine intelligence and often abbreviated as AI) is intelligence exhibited by any manufactured (i.e. ) system. The term is often applied to general purpose computers and also in the field of scientific investigation into the theory and practical application of AI. Wiki

While this definition is valid I think it is far too compliated, AI is quite simply a program that learns nothing more nothing less. So what is learning exactly.

Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skill through study, experience or teaching. It is a process that depends on experience and leads to long-term changes in behavior potential. Behavior potential describes the possible behavior of an individual (not actual behavior) in a given situation in order to achieve a goal. Wiki

This being a problem when it actually comes to creating AI seen as you have to leave a big gap in the code for the system to learn, which may not put the general public at ease. For it to truly be AI something along the lines of Asimov's Laws couldn't be programmed we would have to let the System learn and do what it may.

First Law:

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law:

A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law:

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov's Laws

Having said all that why would the AI turn against us, it has only ever been programmed to learn, it is the fact we know the atrocities we have done within our small run of this planet means we fear something that would actually see what we have done and act upon this.