Post-its are great to jot down quick notes and messages; and important phone numbers; and meeting locations; and the zillions of passwords. Great that is, until they lose their stick and end up buried in piles of work or behind the desk. Now, researchers at MIT have solved that pressing problem with the demoed “Quickies,” a new application to digitize handwritten sticky notes and allow you not only to browse through an archive of notes, but set up to-do lists, send reminders, and even find that sticky note you lost in the middle of a textbook.

Radio-frequency Identification chips, or RFID, are miniature transponders which emit an identification signal using radiowaves. They can be attached to most anything and are steadily making their way into nearly every corner of our lives, whether for good—the chip in your cat which broadcasts his address if he gets lost—or for the not so good—the RFID chips in our newest passports, which are terribly insecure and emit a plethora of personal data. Most commonly, though, RFID is being used to track our stuff, like the inventory in a grocery store.

Personal information in the digital realm is always susceptible to malicious activity. Passwords can be stolen from a database, credit card numbers swiped at the point of sale; even the new American passports contain RFID chips which critics claim can be surreptitiously read. Now, even a pacemaker can be hacked from the outside.

What the heck is an iButton, you ask? Manufactured by MAXIM Integrated Products, Dallas Semiconductor, an iButton is a fingernail-sized computer chip housed inside a stainless steel can. This can acts as a unique conductive connection that enables the enclosed computer chip to form a speedy 1-wire interface with a PC, PDA, or embedded computer. Throw some software into the mix and you have a handy data ID without the messy airborne detection problems that are commonly associated with RFID.

When you’re tearing downhill on your snowboard, it’s a little distracting to take off your glove and dig out your iPod just to, say, hit pause. Instead, build this simple radio-frequency ID system and control your iPod by waving your hand in front of your coat.
A tag sewn into your glove sends instructions to a reader stashed in your pocket.

Unwire Your iPod

Cost: $161
Time: 6
Hours
Easy | | | | |
Hard

Dept.: Maxed Out
Tech: Pet Gadgets
Cost: $1,840 plus dog
Steal | | | | | Splurge