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August 30, 2006
RFID is a technology of interest to everyone. It matters not whether you're conservative, liberal, or somewhere in the middle. No one likes the idea of being tracked and monitored by a technology. In fact, CASPIAN has thousands of members that come from all positions on the political spectrum and all walks of life. To join CASPIAN, you simply tell us that you agree with this basic statement: "It is wrong to spy on people through the products and services they buy."
That said, you might still wonder privately where you fit in the political spectrum. Michael Benoit, Candidate for California's 52nd Congressional District, sent me a link to a very telling quiz titled "The World's Smallest Political Quiz." See: http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html
The quiz promises to help you "find out where you fit on the political map." Warning: You might be shocked at the results.
--Liz McIntyre
Posted by liz at August 30, 2006 12:01 AM
Comments
There is an easy fix for all of this...
Put tagged card or other offending appliance inside a microwave with either a small neon bulb (orangeish faux-candle bulbs are neon), or one of those little 6 or 8 watt fluorescent lantern tubes next to it. Set the oven for whatever seconds, and keep a grip on the door. Hit start, and the instant you see a glow, spring the door. In the time it takes to react, the transponder chip and its antenna are finito... There is a delay for the microwave to produce power while its magnetron's filament warms up, usually about 2 or 3 seconds, so the "test" lamp won't glow right away. If it's an important ID which needs neutering, it may be best to practice with the lamp only, to get a feel for timing. About 50 milliseconds is plenty, and normal reaction time will allow for about 100mS. More than 1/4 second, and the card may blister a bit, and this is why precise timing is needed. More is better where this procedure is concerned.
Posted by: A.W. at September 5, 2006 5:57 PM
What about a circuit to do the same? Say an antenna of the correct length to receive the 2.45GHz microwaves in the oven (maybe a 1/4 wave dipole)? The dipole is placed in series with a diode, to act as a rectifier. The output of the rectifier has a 5.1V zener diode across it to limit the voltage to 5V. Feed the 5V into an LS123 (or 55 timer wired appropriately), a chip that is able to produce a programmable delay. This then drives a relay in series with the mains power supply to the oven, such that a pulse output from the timer turns the oven off.
In summary the circuit will detect the power from the oven, then a controlled time later (of the order of fractions of a second) stop the oven. result is a burst of high power microwave energy of a controlled duration.
Here is a wireless (and safer) version of the circuit. Instead of an antenna/rectifier/zener, use a photodiode or light dependent resistor to trigger the timer. Remove the light bulb from inside the oven. Place a neon or fluoro tube in the oven. Point the light detector at the neon/fluoro inside the oven. Turn the oven on in a darkened room. The tube lights up, triggers the timer and turns the oven off after a controlled time. Again the result is a carefully controlled microwave burst, enough to fry a chip, but not the item in which it is embedded.
Posted by: Elec eng at December 9, 2006 3:52 AM