In a week when technology giant Microsoft was fined $1.3 billion for abusing its global dominance, it is amusing to see the lengths to which people will go when trying to outwit technology. For some time now, companies have been experimenting with ID implants for pets. The idea is that a microchip with identification details is implanted into a family pet. If the pet gets lost, the owner can be traced. However, as soon as the technology came out, someone pointed out that the chip could be easily accessed by a hacker. They could then arrange for dogs, cats, snakes, mice or even pet tarantulas to be delivered to the wrong owners. Imagine the carnage! A recent story about a lady in Sweden, who found a way to use technology to her advantage, shows that just about anyone can fool the microchips. Police in Koping, Sweden announced that they had arrested a 42 year-old woman for cheating a recycling machine that repaid a deposit on their recycled plastic bottles. The woman was spotted at her local Willys supermarket with a fishing line attached to a plastic bottle. Each time she dropped the bottle into the machine she fished it out again, storing up refunds each time. She is said to have clocked up nearly 100 Swedish kronor – about £8. She obviously knew she couldn’t live on the earnings from outsmarting the machine however, so at the same time had dispatched her 11 year-old son to use good old-fashioned shoplifting to put food on the table.
