Cloning passport card RFIDs in bulk for under $250

Ethical hacker Chris Paget demonstrates a low-cost mobile device that surreptitiously reads and clones RFID tags embedded in United States passport cards and enhanced drivers' licenses.

Flashmob of ATM crooks scores $9 million in 49 cities

A global flashmob of ATM thieves netted $9 million in fraud against ATMs in 49 cities around the world:

Here's how it all came down, according to information Fox obtained from the FBI and law enforcement sources:

The computer system for a company called RBS WorldPay was hacked. One service of the company is the ability for employers to pay employees with the money going directly to a card, called payroll cards, a lot like a debit card that can be used in any ATM. The hacker was able to infiltrate the supposedly secure system and steal the information necessary to duplicate or clone people's ATM cards.

More visualization tools for John.

Even though it's not YOUR birthday.

http://www.maani.us/xml_charts/

Renaming Motion Comics

Read the rest at Blog@Newsarama.

Happy Birthday Brandi

Final Crisis: What's it all about?

Big Mike over at Second Printing!! says what he thinks it's about:

I was talking to Ben about it, and he viewed it to some degree as a meta-admonition of the fans. 'We're the monitors,' he said. 'Sucking the life out of comics.' Maybe. But I want it to be more. I need it to be more.

I want it to be about the triumph of imagination over despair, and the immortality of true heroism. About how those who devote their lives to something greater than themselves might all have 'To Be Continued' etched into their gravestones.

Me? I want to think that Big Mike's right, but I saw Final Crisis as more of a mess of ideas trying to glom onto a weak plot I've seen before.

Also, I'd have liked the series to tie back into Countdown by having Piper save the day. That's just me, though.