Mementos as Document Retrieval Keys 167
Dekaner writes "The BBC is running a story that BT has demonstrated a scanner that can be used to retrieve digital documents by associating them with a physical object. When the digital files are stored on the server, they are associated with a scanned image of the object, for example a seashell. Later, when the user wants to retrieve the files, the memento is again placed on the scanner. The resulting image is used as the retrieval key."
woooh (Score:1)
The bane of the photocopier... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:1)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:1)
SO they can associate things? Is this not different to a unique key? Because they are associated with a physical object... typing in my password is a physical process converting a physical object/action into binary the computer understands. In what way is scanning an image which converts it to a binary stream different, other than more likely to have error?
Sounds like fancy sci-fi wrapping
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2, Insightful)
Just trying to spark some thought into interesting alternate usses of the technology.
How long before somebody hacks it to use a camera as the input source? You could do all sorts of interesting things with a camera able to recognise objects. You could, say, periodically rotate a camera around your room to capture the various objects in it, and make a profile for insurance records if you house is ever broken into.
Now that scanners are available rather cheaply, you could easily ha
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:1)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2)
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:2)
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
Asspass Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:1)
Anything physical that wasn't designed for LONG term stability is going to cause stupid frustrating problems. Hell even a mag strip card is near worthless for more than a few months.
I do know of an old, moldy, lower than low but still electronic tech locking system that the access device will last for decades can be im
Re:The bane of the photocopier... (Score:1)
Ah, modern tech! (Score:5, Funny)
"Mike, do you have the financial data for 2002?"
"Somewhere. Help me look for the squeaky red clown nose."
For my documents, I will use a printed sheet... (Score:5, Funny)
This technology has promise.
Re:For my documents, I will use a printed sheet... (Score:2)
Mmm... (Score:3, Funny)
This is the last thing we need! (Score:2)
car key? (Score:2)
I am thinking (Score:4, Funny)
Patents... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Patents... (Score:5, Funny)
Hmmm, not sure if I'd call that art.
Johnny Mnemonic (Score:1)
Re:Patents... (Score:1)
Good one
Isn't that a good reason NOT to do this! (Score:2)
Keys (Score:5, Funny)
This is more stupid than anything else I've heard this week.
This is just too easy (Score:3, Funny)
well (Score:5, Funny)
Re:well (Score:1)
He doesn't know how to use the three shells... [imdb.com]
Sooooo.... (Score:1)
Since they're already using shellfish... eh?
My question is why? (Score:5, Insightful)
This situation seems much the same. Most of the files I save on a computer are NOT associated with some object I have lying around the house. For example, everytime I write a letter to Mom, I'm suppose to scan her picture? Why not just save it in a folder called, "Letters to Mom." Its easier, quicker, and I don't have to find Mom's picture. Similarly at work, most of my files are associated with some email telling me to do work on some project. Do I scan the email? Seems kind of pointless.
In my view, like metadata, this suggestion adds steps that the vast majority of users won't do.
Re:My question is why? (Score:2)
C
Re:My question is why? (Score:1)
Seeing that people already keep mementos of key events at home, a scanner like this sitting in a living room can enhance those memories by allowing your "media hub" PC to immediately recall pictures, sounds, or videos of that event.
----
I haven't thought of a witty sig yet.
This where I come in... (Score:2)
I'd like to use that system to organize and search my pr0n collection!
Doh.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Doh.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Doh.. (Score:1, Offtopic)
per your sig, the dump story is hilrious.
also your 3d artwork is impressive, nice website.
have a nice day
chris
Huh? (Score:2)
I know what I would use... (Score:1)
Scan a breast, and associate it with porn.
The trick is finding the woman when I want to make the retrival. Not to mention the encryption.
Re:I know what I would use... (Score:2)
You are very observant. Maybe, a little too observant...
meat space stegonography, next step crypto? (Score:1, Interesting)
However, Wouldnt it be cool if the object could deterministically return the same key, to be used as a cryptographic key?
Then, you could use objects as the keys to encrypt and hide your information.
Don't suppose that is very realistic though
Coming Up Next (Score:2, Funny)
Johnny Mneumonic (Score:5, Insightful)
But that's NOT why I associate this with Johnny Mneumonic. I associate it because in the beginning of the movie, they're going to store 80 gigs of information (about as much as I have in /usr/home/) in Just Johnny's head. They use three random images from the television to associate with and encrypt the information. These images are then faxed to the recipient. Obviously the bits aren't being used because they would change in faxing. A more associative method is used, kind of like a human memory. I think that with time, more technologies like this will be used as our computational needs advance; That is, unless these multibillion dollar corporations have their way and our computers become merely vessels for receiving garbage information (valuable intellectual property) like the stupid movies and music being made nowadays, while "real" computers will be labeled as "professional equipment" and will cost five hundred times as much as they should so that only the corporations can afford them to keep us under control.
In the world of the future, it will be corporations, not governments, that will oppress the people. The governments will only serve as a tool to those corporations. Capitalism is fine; I just think that one change needs to be made: The individuals should have a much louder "voice" in government issues than corporations. In fact, the "voice" of any party should be inversely proportional to its size and power. The RIAA should not have enough voice to mail a letter to a senator, let alone do the evils that they are doing.
Re:Johnny Mneumonic (Score:2, Insightful)
In the world of the future, it will be corporations, not governments, that will oppress the people. The governments will only serve as a tool to those corporations.
In the future?
Re:Johnny Mneumonic (Score:1)
I think you should cut down on your daily intake
of cyberpunk novels...geez, talk about doom and gloom
<obligatory silly scifi reference>
Oh...and go get changed man...those spiffy spandex pants are just not on man
(I'll leave it to other people to comment on your...ehm...interesting line of reasoning
Johnny Mneumonic: True in the Movie, not the story (Score:3, Informative)
While this is true of the movie, this is not true of the original William Gibson story of the same name it was based on. There the
Re:Johnny Mneumonic: True in the Movie, not the st (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Johnny Mneumonic: True in the Movie, not the st (Score:3, Insightful)
Genocide does not have political allies.
Does 'anal retentive' have a hyphen? (Score:2)
Dear Leonard (Score:5, Funny)
Use the Memento pattern when
Sincerely,
Letter
old idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:old idea (Score:2)
References?
fear the office party (Score:1)
Mementos? (Score:1, Funny)
Strange Imagery (Score:1)
Strange Imagery (Score:2, Funny)
Mentos as Document Retrieval Keys
which quickly brought to mind an image of people trying to stick them into various ports on thier PCs. This could create and a whole new industry dedicated to cleaning floppy drives.
Demolition Man... (Score:4, Insightful)
"Hahahah...he doesn't know what the 3 seashells are for!"
Let's see now (Score:5, Funny)
My Brain Already Does This (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm thinking of maybe implementing a computer system for this, where I type in some small "key" representation, and get back some further "data" associated with it....
Kind of wish I could clean out and delete a few things from the brain system, tho'...
Just what is a Type 2 security error again? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a nice novelty for encrypting your digital little black book, but it's not going to be useful at all for business databases.
I'd use... (Score:3, Insightful)
Because, really, a box full of small objects is harder to associate with unrelated files than the filename is.
If you can say to yourself, "lessee, did I use the blue pill or the red pill for 2003 Actuals?", you would get a lot further naming the file "2003 Actuals" and looking for that. Wouldn't you?
Bleh, (Score:3, Insightful)
Either way, it seems pretty useless for most people. As long as we can tell what an object is we could simply type it's name in and search that way. It could be useful for large museums and scientists, thought.
Said in gangster accent (Score:1)
Great... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Great... (Score:1)
Humane technology (Score:3, Insightful)
This is one of those inventions that makes technology easier a bit more fun and a lot more personal. It doesn't make sense for every day use - you wouldn't want to use it to store office documents or your taxes - but imagine the sentimental possibilities. Associating a ring that belonged to your mother with pictures of her and a slideshow, or the seashell in question with video and music from your romantic beach vacation.
So before you go off saying how complicated and pointless a system like this would be, remember that it won't just be geeks using it. But of course, it could make a very interesting password system in the right hands...
This has got to be the worst idea for 2003 (Score:1)
Chris
BT? (Score:1)
Uh... (Score:2)
Re:Uh... (Score:2, Funny)
Yet another useless tech product (Score:1)
amazing! (Score:1, Funny)
Maybe someday, a picture of the item could actually just be placed on the screen, without having to scan a real object. And when you want to get your file, you just point your finger at the picture.
This "iconic representation" could even be moved around the computer screen like you'd organize something on your desktop.
I know, you're laughing.. how can my Wang 80-column green screen actually someday show a PHOTOGRAPHIC QUALITY PICTURE?
Well don't laugh. Someday soon, we'll be ab
Why I won't use this (Score:1)
a great idea with a not so great implemtation (Score:2, Insightful)
However, it seems flawed since you have to:
a) determine a method to reference the objects to their locked data if you use multiple objects as associations.
b) determine a method to securely store that object
c) Raise the question of the uniqueness of that object.
So for this to work, you'd have to create a secured storage location and a means to remember each items association.
And the
Watermarking is better. (Score:2)
I think it's a good idea (Score:3, Insightful)
To you it sounds pointless and silly and wastefully kludgy. The same sort of snide remarks were made about graphical displays and color monitors and mice. Such attitudes overlooked that people LIKED working with computers that had those features.
The proposal is not a data retrieval system - it's a memory retrieval system. And it isn't oriented to bringing up that memo you wrote last week - it's to bring back your images of your wedding or vacation of 20 years ago. And just a data point - my wife think's it's a cool idea. So maybe this is one of those things that women will understand and want more than men. (You know - women - those odd creatures that press flowers, save invitations from weddings, make shadow boxes, save children's teeth, etc? A digital memory box may very well be a highly desirable consumer product.)
What hitorical snide remarks? (Score:2)
Snide remarks about mice and gui and color monitors - at Doug Englebart's Mother Of All Demos? which is pretty much when this stuff hit the fan? About the Macintosh? Nope. Know why? Their jaws were too far dropped to make such remarks. People recognized the value. The sensation of of-course-this-is-what-i-wanted-all-along. And it has less to do with "like" than the fact that those things increased effectiveness, intuitiveness and productivity.
I think it's coo
already seen it... (Score:1)
Demolition Man... (Score:1, Redundant)
Association with physical objects may be useful... (Score:1)
It's gonna be pretty useless for security or encryption, but in some fields it would be brilliant.
I thought of this 4 years ago (Score:3, Interesting)
2. Trace the creases in pen.
3. Scan the piece of paper.
4. The image is the key to the document.
Re:I thought of this 4 years ago (Score:2)
This would work for a weight loss program (Score:1)
Finally... (Score:1)
Some people... (Score:1)
"What's the last thing you do remember?"
"My wife..."
"That's sweet."
"...dying."
secure? (Score:1)
Could be used in cataloging systems. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Could be used in cataloging systems. (Score:2)
This is nothing that
No Dear!!! Don't Throw That VASE!!! (Score:2)
You need it to retrieve your doctoral thesis. Remember?
Sounds stupid... (Score:3, Insightful)
The fresh maker? (Score:2, Funny)
I was visualizing someone putting a strawberry Mento on the scanner, and pulling up whatever.
Then I began to think -- well jesus, all the mentos look the same, how freaking secure is that? And, just what the hell do you do if you *eat* that mento? Your data is unretrievable!
Bill Gates supposedly has a phrase... (Score:2)
...that's appropriate for ideas like this. "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!"
Personally, I blame the educational system (Score:2)
It seems to me this is targetted at people who are too dumb to maintain a summary index of what they keep on their machine. Not that such people don't exist - I'm a Brit living outside the country and when I visit I could swear that 80% of the population are now in that catagory, and it's been getting steadily worse over the last 20 years. Maybe I'm missing the point of the exerc
Obligatory Memento Joke (Score:2)
Do not believe his lies.
He is the one. KILL HIM.
Of course, this would be hell for Joe's friends, relatives, and associates. Maybe we better chip in for Joe's plastic surgery now...
Mechanik
From the people that brought us the URL patent (Score:2)
A recherche du scanners perdus (Score:2)
Re:I'd use my ass and nuts (Score:2)
"Ok, you can read my files, here's the image to unlock them"
"Oh dear god! NO!!!!!!!!"