{previous} Visual ID System

There were a lot of times back in the day when I used to use my girlfriend's debit card (with permission obviously) to purchase things at the store. It was easy - I knew her PIN number and the employees never bothered to double check my ID, assuming only the owner would know the correct PIN. Also, even when I used it as a credit card and had to sign sometimes on those point-of-sale (POS) machines at places like Wal-Mart, I could totally fake her signature and nobody would care or notice that my name is Kris and the card was issued to Jill.

Now, I didn't abuse these things because like I said, I had permission from her, and she had permission from me to use my card in times when it was necessary. Regardless, there is very little control currently over debit card and credit card transactions and the system is extremely easy to subvert for bad purposes like identity theft.

Go to McDonalds and pay with a debit card. Input the 4-digit code onto the machine and say YES to the charges. Put the card in your pocket and eat your fries. Did the employee ever check your ID or look at the card you were using? My name is Kris and my girlfriend's name was Jill - a quick glance would have brought up enough suspicion to warrant more inspection if the system worked properly.

My solution to this low-security problem is to add a few more checkpoints into the system, which I call Visual ID. These additional security measures would provide the employees a quick, easy way to check on proper identification issues when credit cards/debit cards are used and would help avoid identity theft.

The first part of the Visual ID system is a signature check. When you use your credit card at the store, you need to sign in the 'box' to agree to the charges. Every time you use your card, you sign the box, so why not give the employee a picture of those last few signatures along with your official signature on file and the current signature entered into the POS machine to compare. If an imposter was using the card, the signatures would appear drastically different, or at least different enough to inspect further.

The second part of the Visual ID system is a camera built into the POS machine. I would suggest putting a small camera into every POS machine possible that would snap a quick picture of you when you bought items (don't worry privacy advocates, they already take your pic anyway at most banks, stores, and gas stations, you just aren't aware). Then, when you used your card at Wal-Mart, the cashier would have the last 5 pics of you show up on the monitor, including a picture you have on file with the bank that issued the card. If you didn't look like the person who's card it belonged to, you would be questioned and investigated to make sure you aren't stealing the card.

I believe using a few more points of identification when using your debit and credit cards would go a long way to stopping identity theft. Currently, even with laws and measures in place, checking a person's ID is lackadasical at best, nonexistent on most occasions. Using a system like the Visual ID system would make it quick and easy for the employee to perform a few more checks to make sure the card belonged to the person using it.

Click the picture to make it bigger.

{previous} Search and Rescue Locater

OK, imagine this: There is a hiker/camper/snowboarder lost in the woods/mountains/blizzard. After they are missing a few days, a search and rescue team is dispatched to scour the area. Unfortunately they are searching in some very hard to reach areas and can't get to every spot fast, and time is obviously very important in these situations. Here is an idea I came up with that I hope would help locate people in these desolate, remote areas very quickly called the Search & Rescue Locator.



Here's how it works.
1. A helicopter, plane, or even unmanned drone could fly over areas that the person was last believed to have been - the main spots that the search party is looking at.

2. The aircraft would then drop tens/hundreds/thousands of small baseball/ping-pong ball sized sensors over these areas very rapidly. These sensors would be battery powered and contain l.e.d.'s that would flash and light up upon impact with the ground. Inside, these sensors would also contain a transmitter, using a short range technology like rf/cell/rfid/gps. Again, the aircraft would drop and disperse these 'sensors' over areas at a fast rate where they think the lost person might be as soon as the search began. Rescuers would also leave these sensors in areas while they search on the ground in spots where they think the lost person might pass through, like near streams or bridges.

3. When the lost person finds one of these sensors (hopefully by seeing the flashing l.e.d. light, or even perhaps it might have a loud audible beep from a small built-in speaker) they would switch the sensor into 'FOUND' mode by pushing the big green button and it would begin to transmit a relay signal to nearby receivers indicating that a sensor has been located by somebody. The receivers would be able to easily pinpoint the location of the 'found' sensor and rescuers could be immediately dispatched to the area for rescue.

4. The sensor's signal would be picked up by receivers built into the aircraft and search party member's equipment. As they fly over areas and drop the sensors, the aircraft will also continually cruise back by the very same areas looking for returning signals. I envision a small fleet of unmanned drones that can carry out missions like this 24/7 in most weather conditions and constantly relay their findings back to home base. Rescuers will also have units in their vehicles and carry handheld units that will continually scan for nearby 'found' sensors as they search.

I believe this idea has a lot of potential because these sensors could cover an area much larger than a team of humans in a much shorter time period. Also, these sensors would potentially drop into areas that perhaps humans couldn't access for various reasons but places that the lost person fell to or is trapped in. I also see a potential for dropping a floating version of these into oceans and lakes near plane/boat crashes and to search for people lost overboard into the water.

As a safety measure, these sensors could also be used by ski resorts, boat excursions, and adventure groups to pass out to customers. A sensor worn on your clothing might save you if you get lost or have an emergency away from any help. The sensor could simply be switched to 'emergency' mode when you get into trouble and then safety officials would be immediately alerted by a network of receivers and given your exact location so they could come help you. These could also be given to students at school or college (in a thinner, sleeker form) to instantly alert the campus security of emergencies with pinpoint accuracy.

One concern obviously would be price. Because these sensors would be mass produced for use by Search and Rescue teams and perhaps consumers worldwide, they must consist of only a few relatively cheap parts to keep the price down and keep manufacturing costs low for quick and cheap production. I see the parts needed as follows:

1. The hard outer shell
2. A small battery, 1 or more
3. flashing l.e.d., 1 or more
4. rfid/cell/rf /gps short range transmitter with antenna
5. 'Found' switch to activate beacon
6. speaker with loud tone

I of course would also be concerned about the environmental impact these sensors would pose. I could see risks as far as animals eating/ingesting the sensors and perhaps leaking residual chemicals from the battery or electronics inside the sensor if broken open. Also, there is the chance that the sensor could accidentally be turned onto the 'Found' position by a curious animal, but the switch would have to be engineered in a way that was 'tricky' to flip it so as not to be so easily accidentally switched, but include very obvious instructions on how to use it when found by a human. Sensors that are in areas where they can be easily recovered will of course be reused on future missions.

kneurons. another bright idea.

{previous} Instant Heat For Your Car

Earlier on my blog TKKO, I lamented the lack of a proper way to instantly heat your car in the winter when you start it. I just figured by the year 2007, engineers around the world in cold climates would have an easy way to get this done.

As it stands now, cars produce heat from blowing off the hot air from the coolant as it cycles through the engine. As the engine heats up, the coolant absorbs more heat, and the air gets hotter. Finally, after your engine has reached normal operating temperature, usually 3-10 minutes on a really cold day, the air can be turned up to its hottest temperature.

Obviously, the flaw with the current system is that you must wait for your engine to heat up before you can heat up. There is no point in turning your vents and air on until there is engine heat because all the air will be cold and counterproductive (producing a sort of 'windchill' effect on you making it colder). Even on new cars, this process is excruciatingly slow in colder climates.

My solution is to engineer a set of electric coils, similar to the ones in your toaster, that turn on with your car and instantly heat the cold air blowing out of the vents. Looking at my illustration below (they'll get better, I promise), you can see in theory how this would work. The coils would heat up when your car starts, and the cold air blowing out of the vents would pass through the coils and get heated. This could be computer regulated and fit into the climate control systems available on most vehicles.

The coils, in practice, should probably be buried further down in the HVAC system so as not to be visible to the driver and passengers. This would also be done to avoid any accidental or mischievous contact with the coils by passing items through the vents.

kneurons. another bright idea.

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KONC3PT is the home to the research&development division at kneurons.com.

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