Episode 14: RFID Chips in Passports, Sony Rootkit Installation, Mac OS X Update & Civilization 4 Review.

Great show this week Just be sure to get your facts right first Brad

I have a 9600 XT and it was affected by the pak issue, so it's not just the newest boards. >_<

Great show!

One idea I have about the RFID passports is that the chips should contain nothing more than a hashed serial number. To find out about the person who has that number, it would be passed over a secure connection to a secure server from an authorised computer. The server could contain all the dadta needed, and should there be a weakness found in the security system, the server, connection and client computers can be upgraded easier than replacing all the RFID passports that would have a static encryption

You talked about StarForce copy protection in this episode. I'm holding off on buying X3: Reunion (the sequel to X2) because it comes bundled, without ANY warning or notice on the game box, with Starforce copy protection.

People are saying that their DVD drives are making "alarming noises" when they launch their game. I really don't like the sound of that. Though I'm most unsettled by the lack of the warning on the box about Starforce.

I have NO desire to install Starforce, and I think that is a reasonable opinion. It might not matter to the type of enduser who reformats her computer at the drop of a hat, usually not very technically savvy, but I take great care with my computers.