Smart ID plan for Suvarnabhumi

Thai citizens represent no more than 5% of all international travellers passing through the airport. They would still need passports once they left the country and critics will say it could cause confusion. Some travellers may assume they will not need a passport at all.

The proposal is on the luggage tag, but far from finalised. The airport has installed automatic passport checkpoints for Thai citizens, a system that is now working efficiently. There was a long learning curve and a reluctance to use the unmanned gates, but the immigration bureau hired personnel to assist passengers.

The TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader is a flexible solution, offering a variety of security options including biometric, PIN and optional PKI challenge-response authentication for increasing or decreasing the assurance level of site security, depending on the user’s requirements. It is the only solution of its kind that is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) compatible, using a design that is made to authenticate Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials and mitigate electronic cloning.

“The coupling of AccessNsite with the innovative technology behind Bridgepoint’s TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader will provide a high assurance, biometrically authenticated security system,” said Rick Foster, director of marketing and sales for Quintron’s Security Systems Division.

AccessNsite is a Java-based application that is built on a modular, object-oriented design, providing unlimited system scalability, flexibility and reliability. The software supports real-time credential evaluation at initial enrollment and full-time authentication via TrustPoint 3-factor biometric readers and compatible control panels that are installed at one location or many sites worldwide. This leverages Quintron’s enroll local-access global advanced data sharing capabilities between globally distributed systems and sites.

According to Tom Corder, president and CEO of Bridgepoint Systems, the collaboration with Quintron will facilitate efficient enrollment by taking advantage of AccessNsite’s open architecture to offer an intuitive, user-friendly application. “In designing our product with the latest PKI standards in mind,” said Corder, “we created an authentication mechanism that is not only impenetrable, but easy to administer and manage. We are pleased to unveil this latest innovation in smart card reader technology, offering the highest level of security and access control.”

Foster also pointed out that “the 3-factor Bridgepoint reader makes it possible for security personnel across town, across the country or across the globe to deny access -- one badge, one face, one fingerprint at a time.” By coupling the AccessNsite system with Bridgepoint’s cryptographic PKI challenge-response technology, he added, the TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader offers efficient data entry as well as image and signature capture from any location in real-time.

When a user enters his or her PIN, the solution performs a “one-to-one” match between the biometric template stored on a PIV credential and the “live-scan” of a user’s finger. When the sensor is ready for a scan, it lights up with a bright red glow and the LCD display then guides the user through the authentication process. The reader can also be configured to work automatically or manually with the PKI challenge-response in the ON or OFF mode. This feature allows the customer to use the reader with PACS in security levels I and II, and later implement higher security including levels III and IV.

Bridgepoint, a pioneer in the physical access field, was the first U.S. company to develop smart card readers for use by the Department of Defense in a physical access system. It was also the first to integrate the Department of Defense’s CAC with biometrics in a real world deployment and the first to install an interoperable personal identification reader in a government, multi-tenant facility. Some of the nation’s largest government contractors and systems integrators use the company’s technology.

I think it’s getting there. I would not say it’s ready yet. And that’s really for two reasons: Atlanta and the South in general is a particularly car-centric culture. Now, one of the interesting things about bike sharing is that it’s been proven in other places that just putting the program out there is an effective tool of education and cultural change. If you sort of throw it at people, they’ll say, “Oh, there are just bicycles everywhere, I have to respect them as a driver.”

The bigger issue is making sure the proper infrastructure is there, and there is some work to be done, but there’s also been a lot of positive development. Josh Mello over at the City of Atlanta has been awesome since he joined that organization. The city just approved $2.5 million for bike infrastructure funding, new lanes. The BeltLine is a custom keychain. So it’s happening.

I’ll be the first to tell you there are pros and cons to each solution, and what we’re doing is not perfect yet. It was a little surprising to see the focus on convenience. I think some of that came from the fact that they looked at smart-bike systems almost a year before the final results came out, and the technology was at a much earlier stage.

[With ViaCycle] you can still put a kiosk in high-traffic areas. We’ve gone out and designed that. At the risk of oversimplifying, it’s basically an iPad on a stand with a credit card reader. You can put it anywhere, that way if you have a station Downtown or in a place with a lot of tourists, they have access to all that same functionality.

But I agree with you. Mobile is where the world is going, and while the need for a physical presence in advertising is still very strong, there’s no reason you need things controlled by heavy, standalone, stationary equipment.

Absolutely. When we started the project I’d say half the people we talked to would shake their head at us and go, “Bike sharing, what’s that?” Now almost three years later, people know what it is and they know the value it can have, and for us it would mean so much. We want to make Alanta a better place. It’s what gave us our start, and it would be really awesome to see that come full circle in moving toward a more connected city.

Something that’s been really interesting to watch has been the rise of collaborative consumption startups. Broadly you can apply that label to Airbnb (a website for travelers seeking non-hotel accommodations), which is probably the largest and best known. Companies like Uber doing shared ride services. The founders are based out of Atlanta of a California company called InstantCab doing the same thing—sort of disrupting the taxi industry. There’s a company called Scoot doing electric scooter sharing.

Live Local Live Small

The Marketplace Fairness Act cleared a major hurdle last week when it passed the Senate 69-27. Introduced by Senator Mike Enzi, in NC both of our senators, Richard Burr and Kay Hagen, voted in favor of the iPhone headset. I don’t know which I was more surprised by: the measure passing the Senate or that both senators approved a bill that would positively impact their constituency, thereby demonstrating bi-partisan support for a measure that the White House is behind.

The Marketplace Fairness Act is the latest attempt to get online retailers to pay sales tax. The discussion has been around since 1992—at that time the Internet was just staring to come into common use. Of course, it was not the widespread and successful seat of commerce that it is today. An attempt to pass a similar bill was made in 2011.

It may come as a surprise to many consumers to discover they actually are responsible to pay the sales tax on purchases they make over the Internet or from mail-order companies, that is if the company doesn’t collect and remit it themselves.

Who actually does that? There must be someone out there, because there are people who make voluntary contributions to pay down the national debt! But let us agree that the voluntary sales tax payers are few and far between.

The sales-tax argument has been framed as targeting online retailers and causing havoc in the commerce system. Honestly, that is misleading. What it’s really about is the long-term defunding of local and state infrastructure. Forty-five states currently have sales tax; however, Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana and Alaska do not.

In North Carolina those monies are remitted to the area they are collected: county, city, and part is retained by the state. This is why our library and other county agencies were lobbying so hard a few years ago for the quarter of a cent sales-tax increase. Yet ,the librarians’ and public school teachers’ love of Amazon continues to baffle me. With their jobs dependent upon local tax dollars, it’s perplexing to see them show love for a company that actively attempts to undermine the very thing necessary to pay them. OK, it’s beyond confusing.

It’s also another blind spot for the middle-class about the realities of poverty. Online shopping is an exclusive experience. In order to partake in this opportunity to avoid sales tax, one must have a credit or debit card of some sort. They also must have access to the Internet. It would probably shock many members of the middle-class to know how difficult both can be to attain. For a brief insight into the marketing demographics of the lower-income strata of America, I recommend spending an afternoon watching non-cable, non-satellite broadcast television. The commercials shock. The sheer number aimed at pre-loaded plastic payment methods that can be charged at corner-type stores is surprising. It also an interesting indication of what the struggles to get a credit card can look like to many people.

Opponents of the measure claim it would be prohibitive to collect and remit sales tax to the various states, each acquiring a different amount. The measure is not aimed at small eBay sellers that operate out of their rec rooms. Companies and sellers not making $1 million dollars a year in out-of-state online sales are exempt from the legislation. There are already large online retailers collecting and remitting sales tax; Target comes to custom keychain.

This legislation actually offers a business opportunity to market this software to the newly compliant companies. In addition the bill calls for states to make free software available to companies in order to comply with the proposed sales-tax provisions.

There is a fascinating project (OK, fascinating to geeky people like me), called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. It was put together by the National Governors Association. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance reported in January that D.C. and 44 states had signed on to the project, including North Carolina. We do currently have a rubric that requires online retailers with a physical presence in North Carolina to collect sales tax.

Supporters of the measure claim it would be a big step toward a level playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers, which are at a disadvantage because they collect sales tax; therefore, consumers already pay more money up front. This seems strange to me since shipping is usually more than the sales tax. Going beyond a level playing field, what it would do is make business.

According to the complaint filed on Tuesday, Kira Trevino complained about her marriage to friends and family in the weeks prior to her death and explained that she was contemplating divorce. In fact, on Jan. 31, she, her husband and the roommate, who occupied the basement of the home, gave notice that they intended to move by April 1.

Investigators say Kira Trevino was looking at an apartment for herself, was staying with friends houses and did not include her husband in social and family events. Her friends told police she was trying to get away from her husband, but said Jeffery Trevino "didn't get it" and kept trying to find ways to stay together.

Jeffery Trevino met his wife at the Mall of America on Thursday Feb. 21 after she got off work, and the two had dinner and went bowling at the mall. Surveillance video shows the two left the mall together, with Jeffery Trevino wearing an Arkansas Razorbacks sweatshirt. That was the last time Kira Trevino was seen alive.

Friends of Jeffery Trevino told investigators he often complained about his relationship with his wife and had no plans to move aver April 1 because he hoped the two would reconcile; however, one friend told investigators Jeffery Trevino grew increasingly suspicious and began checking up on her before she was killed, describing him as stressed and consumed with what she was doing.

That friend told police Jeffery Trevino would drive by the gym his wife used to see if her car was there and poured over Kira Trevino's credit card statements. In doing so, he learned she had gone to a bar instead of where she told her husband she would be, according to the friend.

According to police, Jeffery Trevino said his wife left the morning of Feb. 22 between 8:30 and 9 a.m. to go to the gym in New Brighton, go tanning in Roseville and make a deposit at the bank before interviewing potential employees at work. When asked where he was during that time, Jeffery Trevino explained he was home all day until he left to pick up his daughter in the afternoon.

The amended charges also show that Jeffery Trevino called his wife's mother, Marcie Steger, on the same day, beginning the conversation by asking her, "Are you sitting down?"

Steger also called police, and uniformed officers who responded to her call arrived at the home while police investigators were there speaking with Jeffery Trevino. Those officers observed he was upset more police had arrived.

As officers were leaving, Trevino asked what he was supposed to do with his wife's belongings. Investigators found the question odd since Kira Trevino had been missing just over 48 hours and the couple was not expected to vacate until April 1. Prosecutors believe the question suggests Jeffery Trevino did not expect his wife to return.

Gift ideas for Mother's Day

Come spring, shoppers often ask, "What gift should I get Mom for Mother's Day?" How do people transform the sentiments they have for their mother into gifts that represent love and devotion? Buying a Mother's Day gift is no easy task, especially for those who wait until the last minute to do their shopping.

Beginning early can ease the pressure of Mother's Day shopping. Research gift options at least a month prior so that you can read reviews on luggage tag and services to guarantee quality. You also want to make sure the gift will arrive on time if you will be ordering your gift online. Here are other ways to shop in a smart manner.

Do some sleuthing. Play detective and take inventory of what Mom likes to do the most. If you ask your mother what she wants, she will likely brush off the question and tell you nothing. It is up to you to do the investigative work. Pay attention to conversations and see if there is anything she mentions wanting to try or something around the house that may need updating. Practical gifts are less likely to end up unopened in the basement or attic.

Check expiration dates. Gift certificates and cards for particular stores or services are popular come Mother's Day. But it is essential to check expiration dates on the certificates or find gifts, as there is a good chance Mom will put off pampering herself and you would not want the gift to expire before she has a chance to use it. In compliance with the law, chain restaurant gift cards don't expire for at least five years from purchase. Those might be your safest bet.

Verify a business. Although Mom may love a cute boutique that just opened, verify the business before buying a gift card from it. An unpredictable economy has made it even harder for new businesses to succeed, and you don't Mom to be stuck with a worthless gift card should the new business not thrive. If she really likes a particular new business, take her on a shopping spree at the store instead.

Skip the chocolate overload. Flowers and chocolates are traditional Mother's Day gifts. However, calorie-conscious women may not want to be faced with the temptation of a warehouse-sized box of chocolate treats. If Mom truly loves chocolate, treat her to a gourmet piece or two, but don't make that your main gift.

Avoid "final sale" items. It can be tempting to peruse the deep-discount rack at Mom's favorite store when retailers cut prices on items in anticipation of a new season. However, these sales may come with restrictions on returns or exchanges. Unless you know Mom will like what you pick out, avoid the "final sale" racks in favor of items that can be returned or exchanged.

Ask for a price match. In an effort to keep a loyal customer base, many stores will price match against competitors' ads. Therefore, if you feel more comfortable at a certain store, print out the advertised price and bring it to your favorite store. There's a good chance they will give you the item for the same price. This works particularly well for tech gifts that typically go on sale in the days leading up to a holiday or special event.

Joseph Park was the last gasp for the TNA locker room. After the Aces & Eights chased James Storm and the Bad Influence pair of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian from the ring - where they had again failed to sway AJ Styles to their side - Park tried to make a stand against the club and ended up being stretchered out for his valor.

Bully Ray made it clear that he still wanted to talk to Hulk Hogan. The Immortal one looked concerned about a face-to-face, but an offered bargain from Matt Morgan and the pleading of his daughter Brooke weren't enough to sway him.

In the Knockouts division, champion Velvet Sky retained her title in a match against Mickie James, but may have injured her knee in the process. Newcomer Taryn Terrell continued to rise up the rankings with a victory over former champ Tara.

Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez were able to successfully defend their tag team championship due to Daniels and Kazarian's second failed intervention of the evening. A pitch to Bobby Roode to reunite Fourtune went unanswered but overheard by Roode's Dirty Heels partner Austin Aries, and an attempt to assist the It Factor in the Heels match to unseat the Tex-Mexicans backfired.

Finally, Hogan's solo stand against Bully Ray looked to be his last one. He was able to fight off the TNA champ, but the champion's brothers outnumbered him. The lights went out and came back, the familiar calling card of The Icon, Sting. There were tense moments between the two legends. They cleared the ring of Aces & Eights, but left no clue if their alliance was to be an ongoing concern or a one-shot deal.

 Take it from a Western PA native, everybody loves a hometown boy, but we're talking about an Olympic freakin' hero. The Indiana crowd will roar when Kurt's music hits, and holding him off until the second show was one of the few smart decisions TNA made last week. The Pittsburgher will keep the crowd amped up into the later hours of the taping. And while it's probably not something that his doctors approve of, he's still good for an above average match every time he goes out there. He may keeps working with the inexperienced members of the heel faction, but I'm kind of hoping for Anderson. The two have great custom keychain, and the asshole seems re-charged since getting his kutte.

Chris Sabin. I've never been a huge fan of the guy without his Motor City Machine Guns partner, but it's pretty damn impressive that he's back. The X-Division has been coasting on the triple threat gimmick without any real stories behind the matches. It'll be nice to see the fresh match-ups that the returning Sabin makes possible, and a good old-fashioned "I'm coming for my belt" story between he and Kenny King would seem refreshing amidst all the alliances and factions surrounding the other two men's title scenes.

IFFCO Chowk stalking victim empowered by new Anti

Though it led to a jurisdiction argument between the Gurgaon and Delhi Police, hers is one of the first cases to be registered under the new law, for which she's glad.

Four men following a group of girls and passing lewd comments in the vein of 'isko leke chalte hain' is a regular occurrence in a iPhone headset life in this part of the country, and one that may have prompted just a gentle slap on the wrist from the authorities (if the authorities chose to take any action at all, that is) in the pre-anti-stalking law days. The brand new section in the Indian Penal Code - section 354D - finally accounts for stalking women as a real crime that could land a person in jail for three years. Meena (name changed), who was recently harassed by a group of men on the Metro when she and her friends were returning home from Gurgaon, where they work as dancers in a theatre company, filed a complaint under this section. Calling the law 'empowering' but its execution still shabby, Meena describes the whole ordeal that began at the IFFCO Chowk Metro station at 9.30pm, from where they boarded the Metro going towards Central Secretariat.

On Friday, we decided to stay a little longer and rehearse for our performance. We didn't inform our office that we were staying till late. If we would have, we could have got an office cab that would've dropped us safely back home, but since we had a male friend for company, we decided to take the Metro. After reaching the Metro station at 9.30pm, a group of guys inside the station started passing comments like 'Arre, yeh sahi hai, isko leke chalte hain'. We didn't react. But near the X-ray machine, when my friend was putting her bag inside the machine, one of the guys tried to talk to her.

Her bag had a badge which said 'Lose weight now. Ask me how' and that guy started asking her for tips to lose weight. She just asked him to mind his own business. Angry, he crossed the Metro gates and along with his friends, started waiting for us, all this while I was at the counter, getting my smart card recharged. Sensing some trouble, I informed a CISF personnel at the station and he came with us to talk to the guys.

The CISF cop came with us and asked the men what the issue was. They replied that 'these girls are exaggerating things'. However, the CISF officer didn't listen to them and threatened to take them to the police station. One of the guys, who was supposedly elder to the others, apologized and took them away, saying that they are going to board the Metro. To be on the safe side, the CISF officer asked us to wait and take the next Metro.

After we boarded the Metro, sensing that they weren't around, we relaxed a little. But we were surprised when we saw them coming towards us. We were in the compartment next to the ladies' coach and those guys came and sat in weird positions in front of us. At that point of time, the compartment was almost empty. Again, they started saying things like 'Abhi dikhayenge power' and this really irked me. The guy who had apologized at the station was staring at me from top to bottom. He had a cut on one of his cheeks and his eyes were red, and he looked completely drunk. It was then that we decided to call a CISF helpline number, 011-22185555 (my friend has emergency numbers saved on her phone). We told the helpline about everything and the CISF officer came looking for us at the Arjangarh station. As soon as he asked the guys what was wrong, they started fighting and a huge crowd gathered. Those guys questioned us 'Why are you not in the ladies compartment?' and I told them 'We can't take our male friend to the ladies compartment and hence we were travelling in the general compartment'. It was then that we were taken to the Metro control room.

There was a lot of fighting happening and one of the Metro employees asked us to dial 100 and I did. The PCR van came and took our names, our permanent addresses, and other details. After a while, they told us that they couldn't do anything as this case should be reported to the local police (the police station that covers the Arjangarh area). After they left, the local police was called and they again repeated the entire process of taking down all the details. Thereafter, a fight ensued between the Metro employees and the local police over the question of 'Whose jurisdiction was this?' The local police asked them to call the Gurgaon police because this incident had happened at the IFFCO Chowk Metro station in Gurgaon. I scolded the cops, saying, 'It was because of this fight over jurisdiction that the December 16 rape victim couldn't get help on time' and it's only then that they agreed to do something against the four guys (we didn't complain about the fifth person in the group because he didn't do anything).

While all this was happening between 10.30 and 11pm, I called up my boss and informed her about the situation. She then told her husband about it, who called up senior IPS officers. While the police was talking to us, we could see them getting calls from their seniors. Finally, the guys were held and we were told that they would be taken to the police station.

DataWind, the company behind the $40 tablet, this week finished shipping 100,000 devices to the Indian Institute of Technology. It’s been quite a journey. But DataWind’s founders are already working on the next iteration, called Aakash 3, and it has one significant upgrade: a place to stick a SIM card, so it can connect to cellular networks.

DataWind’s pitch for the new Aakash 3 goes like this: “An internal cellular modem at no additional cost, which allows the device to be used both as a mobile smart phone and also for ubiquitous internet connectivity with a basic SIM, will help herald India’s internet ear cap.”

That may well be true. Access and price are two of the main factors driving the growth of mobile broadband. Cheap devices and data plans are increasingly the only way to gain market share in India—and, indeed, in much of the world. A recent report about the use of Opera Mini, a web browser for mobile phones, found that 9 of the top 10 handsets using the software, mostly from Samsung, cost less than 10,000 rupees ($185). That’s still a high upper limit, but domestic firms such as Micromax and Karbonn dominate the sub-$100 market and are rapidly gaining overall market share.