Here in Florida, the new Sunpass device (works like the E-Z Pass used in other states), is nothing more than an RFID chip under a sticker. I could get all paranoid about that too if it would make you feel better.
I can post a credible source for the information…
Then, by all means, please do. I would love to see it. I would also like to submit your link to snopes.com to see what their researchers find out about the article’s validity.
Create one of those disposable email addresses (unless you want to post your actual) and I will send you the entire magazine. I asked Motor magazine if they had any trouble we me sending the digital magazine to others and they replied “not at this time”. I always work within the guidelines on these things.
Why was it concluded (and rather rudely) that I thought people were tracking me?
Can’t you guys read? it was Rutgers that did the study.
I propose sending it to MythBusters, also.
They would come up with a very humorous episode.
I would lay down $100 to $500 that they would conclude that its Plausible, but not Feasible.
BC.
Why do we believe that you thought people were tracking you?
Its right in your original post:
**
So many unintendend (or perhaps intended) affects of technology.
Perhaps a report to your Congressman is in order.
**
That sounds pretty paranoid to me.
Again, we don’t believe you are paranoid.
The people who are responsible for the article are purposely evoking this type of though, and people who don’t know how these systems are limited, or actually work, might become paranoid.
That’s what we are trying to ultimately respond to.
BC.
“The purpose to telling a person their tire was low was to get them to stop so you could do them harm.”
Well, OK. Let’s think that scenario through. I’m a robber, or a rapist, or what have you, and I decide to target you. So I wait until you’re at work, then I bring my van full of equipment next to your car in order to grab the UIN of one of your TPMS sensors.
I note that we’re already in a flight of fancy here, because there aren’t going to be a whole lot of people beyond perhaps CIA spies who have access to not only the equipment, but the technicians to run it, that would be necessary to pull this off. They do not make a laptop expansion card that reads TPMS radio signals.
But anyway, so I get your sensor data, and then I trail you as you drive off. Then I send you a TPMS low signal. Well, let’s see. Am I going to make it just read “tire low?” (19lbs, say) in which case if you’re smart you’re going to drive to a gas station and put air in the tire (and if you’re not smart you’re going to drive home and hope the problem goes away like people do with their check engine lights), or am I going to send a “no pressure” signal so that you think you had a blowout - - in which case if you’re smart you’re going to notice that the car is still handling the same, and you have no indication of a flat tire, and so you’re going to drive home, or drive to a tire shop and have them look at the sensor, or if you’re not smart you’re going to drive home on what you think is a flat tire.
We’ve seen time and again on this board how people will have their car all but screaming at them to freakin’ pull over before the car gets destroyed, but they won’t because they’re looking for a safe exit, or they just want to make it home, 100 miles away.
In short, the likelihood that such an attack would be successful in making the target stop is fairly remote. Easier, cheaper, and more successful just to bump into them at a stop sign and have your way with them when they get out to exchange insurance information.
Regarding the low-powered questions, yes, we can if we want. All radio devices are registered with the FCC and if you want, you can find out what frequency they transmit on, and how powerful they are.
More specifically, common direct TPMS uses the UHF spectrum and transmits at a power of 250 millionth of a watt. That’s a LOT less than those little radio transmitters you use to hear your iPod on your car stereo, and you know how hard it is to get those clearly.
That was a “tounge in cheek” comment about my post dealing with loss of troubleshoot ability and member “what who” said to write your Congressman.
Thanks for the compliment, but the way that I see it is as follows:
You purposely withheld information, perhaps in an attempt to play “gotcha”.
You used wording that implied a genuine fear of this technology.
If you had posted the full information, including a link to the article, you would have likely gotten a very different type of response. I can only speak for myself, but I would definitely have responded differently if full information had been provided and if the implied paranoia was more obviously an attempt at jest.
Essentially, you reap what you sow–to use a somewhat biblical reference–and you sowed this thread with…let’s just say…less than full disclosure.
That resulted in a harvest of comments that you did not like, but those comments were instigated by what was posted, as well as what was not posted!
All of that being said, I think that you have been a very valuable contributor and I hope that you continue to be a very valuable contributor.
My “smartest of the bunch” was a no hidden meaning apprasial. I do not have the same level of technical training like MB does in chemistry or you do with writing but I have put 35+ years in at the garage. What I present is a pratical viewpoint on repairing cars,dealing with both customer and boss, perhaps this pisses people off that this guy that does not write so well seems to have “done it all and seen it all” but believe me I have made a tremendous amount of mistakes that have cost me dearly. I remember evey mistake but kinda forget the days things went good. Many people I have worked with have expressed jealously towards this uneducated (me) person who can just blow them away by his ability to see through the BS they are presenting, Trouble is, even when it is the boss that is BSing he got told.
No one is posting an address so I can send them the magazine (digitaly).It is a very good read and it will help keep you current.
I don’t see the TPMS story as BS. I see it as an example or better a warning that things can go a different way than what was intended. Surely actually working the scenario from beginning to end is pretty remote, for now, but with some years to work out the "bugs’ in such an endeavour perhaps.
I don’t know what motivated Rutgers to initiate such a project that lead to their conclusion that both the “tell where you have been” and the “get you to pull over” results of the abuse of this technology should actually be something we should watch, but they did.
EVEN IF a person wanting to do harm were to manage to override a TPMS sensor signal and trigger the ‘Low Tire’ light, what makes you think the driver’s first reaction will be to pull over and stop? I know many who have driven for years with the CEL on and no worries. There are many posts about continuing to drive with the oil light on, CEL flashing, ABS light on and/or flashing, etc.
I’m not bashing you, just correcting the assumptions about real world human reaction. It would be much more effective and simpler if the evil-doer were to just bump into you from behind on a lonely road at a light or stop sign.
As far as tracking you, your cell phone is easier to track than one of these TPMS sensors. Most of today’s phones even send out their GPS location that can be easily tapped into. Same with OnStar. And, there are newer GPS trackers that can be planted on cars that the owner will never see, sending their signal to any reciever chosen, even through the internet worldwide.
the aliens are in my brain!
I’ll take a copy:
bladecutter @ netzero . net
I hate mail bots, so just cram everything together for the full email address.
BC.
Create one of those disposable email addresses (unless you want to post your actual) and I will send you the entire magazine.
Nevermind. If the information isn’t public enough for you to post here for all to see, it isn’t worth the hassle.
If they don’t mind you sharing the digital magazine with others, just upload a copy here. Enough of this cloak and dagger crap.
The streets of DC are crawling with these camera cars.
Traffic/parking enforcement is the one thing DC government does with great efficiency.
I’m not too worried. But then again, I have OnStar active in 2 of my cars. If there is a severe accident, OnStar will be notified and they will contact the car to see if there is a problem. If no one responds, an emergency crew is dispatched immediately. Yes, it could be used for nefarious reasons, but it also has excellent reasons to exist.
this one is for Mr. Meehan:
Then: Sealed-Beam Headlight
Cost: 4.79
Now: Composite HID Lamp
Cost: $300 and up
Oddly enough, sealed-beam headlights were mandated in the 1940s to ensure that the reflectors didn’t corrode and reduce lighting efficiency. Modern composite headlamps are generally much brighter and far less likely to be broken by a stone and usually integrate the turn signals. But they’re very expensive to replace and can collect condensation and eventually haze over, requiring periodic polishing.
taken from http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/why-modern-cars-are-so-expensive?src=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pm%2Fautomotive%2Fnew_cars+(Automotive%3A+New+Cars%2C+Trucks+%26+Motorcycles) as to why modern cars are so expensive.
I missed the Glenn Beck red alert warning. Sorry, RED ALERT WARNING!
What are you even talking about? My tire pressure is read using infared to monitor what? How often I inflate my tires, by how many pounds? What is your point?
Anything’s possible given enough time a resources, but like hacking into a random person’s computer at home… there’s no real payoff to hunt down and hack joe blow in suburbia. Unless you’re a valuable target, you can sleep easy.
I knew that posting this story, even though it comes from a credible source (and dealt with automobiles) would cause people to look at the poster and not the actual story. Just to be sure I added the “write your Congressman” with a heavy dose of “tounge in cheek” and it was like wild dogs feeding on a piece of meat. It was very interesting to watch the techniques used by each “wild dog” to get to the meat (me). LMAOL.
No where in your post, after you wrote “write your congressman” did you indicate that it was intended as a bit of humor. Had you inserted a 
or something similar, we would have known you were joking.
But, since you did not do that, how are we supposed to know to not take it as face value?
I think you did mean for us to take it at face value.
And after we did, and we have thoroughly poked massive holes in this theory, you are now trying to back track, are now saying that you posted it as tongue in cheek, and to test us in some way or another.
Well, you lose in your attempt to backtrack, and save face.
We’re on to you, and won’t let you off easy.
I am actually joking by the way.
See how easy that was?
BC.