Digging through my pockets, found a K-mart receipt. A lot of numbers on it that I don't recognize, including a bar-code.
I'm just curious, do receipts now include features that would allow, for example, law enforcement agencies to verify that the receipt is legit through some mechanism not involving K-mart directly?
(I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case, given cryptographic hash functions and the prevalence of cryptography in general.)
???
The Lizard
n it
I don't know, but what benefit would K-Mart derive4 from such a thing? Why would they participate in such a scheme? What benefit would the police derive from such a scheme? Why would they participate?
Hi. I think I'd suggest starting off with the assumption that this is the store's effort at improving productivity.
I recently returned a dead pedometer to a store that had given me a barcode-bearing receipt (not K-Mart, though; Lowes? Walgreens?). The cashier scanned the barcode, selected the item I was returning, and was able to give me cash back (it was a cash purchase) and print up a revised receipt showing the return.
Assuming that the software backing this system was a reasonably-well written, the store not only gave me prompt service and minimized the time their cashier spent on my return, they also ensured that the return information was added correctly to their system, both to aid in tracking defective merchandise and to prevent my returning a second item when I had only purchased one.
There are probably other advantages as well, but basically I see it as a replacement for a hand-written, manager-intervention-required return procedure.
But maybe I'm not being paranoid enough.
Frank
-- Hanlon's Razor(amended): ÿNever attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance, indifference, or stupidity.ÿ
-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)
There is no reason I can imagine why K-Mart would want to install software to do this. The barcode on a modern receipt is simply a transaction ID that looks up the original transaction details in the POS database. Invalid ID =3D doesn't look up successfully.
I assume you want to print a fake receipt with a timestamp showing you were in K-Mart paying for snuggly bunny toys while you were in fact at this time cutting off your wife's head with a hacksaw and epoxying it into a hollow tree trunk?
You are very perceptive.
You caught me. I can't outwit you, you supersleuth.
You have enough information to turn me in for the reward. You have my correct e-mail address, and that is certainly enough for law enforcement to find me. It might take as long as an hour.
How did you know about the epoxy and the treestump?
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