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  • Neil: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil

  • and with me in the studio is Harry. Hello, Harry.

  • Harry: Hello.

  • Neil: Now, Harry, do you have many passwords?

  • Harry: Passwords - you mean the set of words and

  • numbers which I keep secret and allow me to access information? Yes, I do actually.

  • I've got a few for my computer and the different websites I use, and then there are my cards

  • credit card, debit card. And there's one for my ID here at the BBC and then there is...

  • Neil: OK. I get the idea. There are too many

  • aren't there?

  • Harry: Oh, yes! Sometimes I struggle to remember them all.

  • And we are advised to learn them by heart, in other words, to have them memorized

  • and not written down.

  • Neil: It's for security reasons. If you write them

  • down and lose the paper you wrote them on, then they won't be secret anymore, will they?

  • Now, how would you like to have access to things with no need for passwords or cards?

  • Harry: Yeah, that would be brilliant!

  • Neil: In this programme, I'm going to tell you about

  • a futuristic commercial building in Stockholm, Sweden, where you don't have to remember any passwords,

  • you don't have to carry ID cards and in some cases, you don't even need to

  • carry money to pay for your coffee.

  • Harry: How does it all work then - by magic?

  • Neil: No, by inserting a microchip under the skin

  • of your hand! A microchip is a very small device with an electronic circuit which can

  • do particular things. In this case, the microchip we're talking about can identify you.

  • Harry: Wow! I'm not sure I'd want a microchip inserted under my skin.

  • Neil: No, me neither. It's interesting though, isn't it?

  • Before I tell you about this experiment, let's go for our quiz question. And, of course,

  • it's all about passwords. Security firm SplashData publishes an annual report about the weakest

  • passwords people use. Well, which was the most common password used in 2014. Was it:

  • a) abc123 b) the numbers 123456

  • c) the words 'trustno' followed by the number 1

  • Harry I'm going to go for C, 'trustno' followed by the 1

  • because actually it's the only one I hadn't heard of, even though it's very obvious.

  • Neil: Well, all will be revealed at the end of the programme.

  • Now we are talking about the increasing need for ID in a society which works more

  • and more with computers - and you'll learn some related vocabulary.

  • Harry: Tell us more about this building in Sweden,

  • Neil. You have this microchip put under your skin - and what does it allow you to do inside the building?

  • Neil: Let's listen to the BBC technology reporter

  • Rory Cellan-Jones. He went there for a visit. He uses an expression to say that the technology

  • is not working perfectly yet because it is brand new. What is that expression?

  • Rory Cellan-Jones: The new offices will soon host a shifting

  • population of 700 entrepreneurs and employees and they'll all be offered the chance to 'get

  • chipped' if they wish. As well as opening doors that will allow them to use the photocopiers

  • and eventually to log on to computers or pay for food in the cafe. The technology is still

  • having teething problems – I found it quite a struggle to activate the photocopier! And

  • amongst the people working here I found some enthusiasm but also caution.

  • Harry: The expression is 'having teething problems'.

  • When a new project or device doesn't work perfectly we say it 'has teething problems'.

  • Neil: Yes, the microchip allowed Rory to make the

  • photocopier work just by swiping his hand over a console. But it didn't work straight away.

  • Harry: And he tells us that some of the workers are

  • reacting with caution to the idea of having a microchip put under their skin. 'Caution'

  • means being careful to avoid something dangerous or risky.

  • Neil: It might be risky but we might all be using

  • it one day - who knows? The group running this scheme thinks this might be a good thing.

  • Hannes Sjobland from a Swedish bio-hacking group seems to believe that linking biology

  • and electronic devices can make our daily lives better - but he is concerned about people's

  • freedom. And what if a government or a big corporation wants to use this technology in

  • the future? What does Hannes Sjobland want to be able to do if it happens? A tip, the word is a verb...

  • Hannes Sjoband: We are early adopters of this technology,

  • we experiment with it, we learn it, how it works, because I think that there might be

  • a day when the taxman or the big corporates ... they will come and say 'hey, try this

  • chip, try this implant', and then we will be able to question their proposals.

  • Harry: He wants to question their proposals; it means

  • to express doubts about their proposals and intentions. You know what, Neil? I'd rather have my passwords!

  • Neil: Well, talking about passwords, let's go back

  • to my quiz question. I asked you what the weakest passwords people use is, according

  • to the 2014 report by the online security firm SplashData. The options were: abc123,

  • the numbers 123456 and the words 'trustno' followed by the number 1.

  • Harry: And I said the third one, 'trustno1'.

  • Neil: And you were ... wrong I'm afraid Harry.

  • The correct answer is B. The password '123456' has been named as the worst password of 2014.

  • The other two were also in the list. Before we go, can you remind us of the words we heard today, Harry.

  • Harry: The words were: password, by heart, microchip,

  • having teething problems, caution, to question

  • Neil: Thank you. Well, that's it for this programme.

  • Go to www.bbclearningenglish.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. Until next time. Goodbye!

  • Harry: Bye!

Neil: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil

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