It may be possible to enter Morse code using the single button switch. I knew someone who used one of these for a while, but not for password entry.
Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
111–120 of 172 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#112How about some way of voice recognition? Maybe through a raspberry pi with a mic connected to it. There are surely some pre-made algorithms / scripts for this sort of thing. So once the voice recognition is passed and validated the password would be entered via the raspberry pi.
Just my two cents!
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#113Forgive the off the cuff suggestion here, it's the quickest and simplest thing I can think of though not an optimum way to use your laptop and you're probably hoping for a more elegant solution. What if you install virtual box w/ some free OS (like ubuntu). Store all your personal information within the virtual machine which is configured with a secure login. Then you can leave the laptop unsecured so you can use you…
You know, I hadn't actually considered that! That certainly could solve quite a lot of the security problems, but as you say it adds a layer of complexity to an already complex method of using my computer. Excellent idea though :-)
I use this exact method to get around VPN restrictions. Works great running a VM Windows 8 within another instance of Windows 8. On an SSD the VM seems to be as fast as the actual machine.
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know, I hadn't actually considered that! That certainly could solve quite a lot of the security problems, but as you say it adds a layer of complexity to an already complex method of using my computer. Excellent idea though :-)
I use this exact method to get around VPN restrictions. Works great running a VM Windows 8 within another instance of Windows 8. On an SSD the VM seems to be as fast as the actual machine.
How does that get you around VPN restrictions? Do you then forward your traffic through some proxy?
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#115have you thought about using your single switch with an onscreen keyboard? I am not sure if OSX will let you automatically show an onscreen keyboard for the login screen (not sure why they wouldn't), but this would be as secure as you typing in the password via a real keyboard, and you wouldn't have to deal with all the other things that can go wrong.
Also, have you tried to use a Quadjoy mouse http://www.quadjoy.com/ this gives you full mouse use, and gets you out of jams when Dragon decides to stop working and your PCA isn't immediately available.
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
My only issue with Bluetooth pairing is that iPhones are incredibly shiny, and carers work for minimum wage and the thought of not only my iPhone going walkies but it locking my laptop in the process… My head might actually explode :-)
If it does indeed work with arbitrary BT devices like I think it does (please verify this for yourself before you buy!) then you can get a cheap headset for $15 or so and key it to that instead of your phone. If your Mac (and the software) supports BTLE, you could even use a specialized token like a Stick-N-Find. This app does claim to support any BT device, just in case the other one doesn't: https://itunes.apple.co…
"If it does indeed work with arbitrary BT devices like I think it does … "
Perhaps a Pebble Watch?
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#117Questions on the threat model: -Is the computer turned off or on? -Do you want to a) protect your computer from being stolen? b) protect your weird fetish from being discovered? c) protect your online banking credentials?
I hope you don't mind if I rephrase that last bit, I felt it was overly specific: "-Do you want to a) protect your computer from being stolen? b) improve the privacy of your files? c) protect your online credentials?"
For porn he could stream it incognito. For protecting banking credentials, he could use a separate password manager that auto shuts down after a minute or so.
Solving the special case is sometimes easier.
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#118When I messed with army radios - these being the made-by-the-lowest-bidder-and-not-secret analogue variety - they were throat-operated. You spoke silently, and the microphone - pressed to your throat - sent speech over the radio. It took practice to talk perfectly clearly, but it could be mastered. Google "throat microphone".
If I had one of them, I would totally be able to pretend I'm in the SAS on some secret mission!:D Obviously a mission that didn't involve any stairs, and nothing above 6 miles an hour (top speed of my chair!) With lots of ramps and extrawide doors :-) Seriously though, I'm connected to this computer with a ton of cables and if that could be made to play nice with Dragon, and it wasn't too tight across where the break…
If you're already "wired up to the computer", would another USB connection make any difference?
An Arduino can act as a keyboard ( http://hackaday.com/2012/06/29/turning-an-arduino-into-a-usb... )
You could then hook that into some controls you've already got on the chair - the obvious choice being to have "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start" trigger the Arduino to type out your password.
(Where are you from? I know if someone asked for help with this on my local (Sydney, Australia) hackerspace mailing list, there's probaby be three or four people building prototypes by the weekend…)
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#119I would love to help build something if you can't find a solution. Maybe you could lock or unlock your laptop via facial recognition [1], or you could add an accelerometer that automatically locks the laptop if someone picks it up. Or just physically lock the laptop to your chair.
Or you could plug an Arduino into the USB port and use it as a keyboard device to send a stream of keypresses when you touch a button (just like a yubikey, except you could put the button anywhere.) The first button press could type in a password to unlock the computer, and the second button press could press a keyboard shortcut to lock it again. Or you could program it to recognize a simple morse code sequence. Let me know if you're interested in that idea, and I would be happy to program one and mail it to you.
Re: Ask HN: I'm quadriplegic – can you help me with my security?
#120There's a program out there that can use a webcam to detect where you're looking on a screen. It performs a "click" if you hover over a button for a few seconds. Mix that with an on screen keyboard and that might work. I don't know if those options work with OSX though.
Camera Mouse 2013 does that on windows for free. Not a great option since it doesn't always follow whatever it is tracking that well. You would need to go with an expensive option like http://www.tobii.com/ if you wanted good eye tracking, but that is expensive and I don't think Mac compatible. Plus, not always as accurate or easy to use as you would think.