JeffCarter

Latest

  • Leon, Mexico to use biometric scanners in 'all aspects of life'

    by 
    Joseph L. Flatley
    Joseph L. Flatley
    08.19.2010

    First it was CCTV surveillance, and now a Mexican security firm called Portoss is teaming up with biometrics manufacturer Global Rainmakers, Inc., to make the city of Leon in Guanajuato the most potentially oppressive in the world. The secure city initiative will provide "unparalleled iris identity fusion" by wrapping the city in miles of fiber optic cable, creating a central database that will contain of all convicted criminals (as well as any good citizens who wish to "opt in"), and a network of iris scanners. As you can imagine, the man in charge of selling this stuff -- Global Rainmakers CDO Jeff Carter -- is something of a "true believer." Fast Company attributes the following quote to him: "Every person, place, and thing on this planet will be connected [to the iris system] within the next 10 years." Great! There's also this one: "If you've been convicted of a crime, in essence, this will act as a digital scarlet letter. If you're a known shoplifter, for example, you won't be able to go into a store without being flagged. For others, boarding a plane will be impossible." And how about embittered bloggers? Will we be prevented from accessing the Internet to point out how unbelievably frightening this is? PR after the break.

  • Movable Power, like Paris, is a conceptual feast

    by 
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    03.12.2009

    We're suckers for power-strip designs. As gadget nerds, we're constantly faced with overloaded circuits and blocked ports. For the latter, there's this design by Jeff Carter that neatly overcomes the limitations presented by the ubiquitous (and ridiculous) side-by-side strip design. Regarding our excessive power issues, that's easy: more interns to shovel the coal and kittens.