The Pinky Nail Drive or the PND for short

The thumb drive or USB memory stick had for many years been the modern sneaker net go to device. When friends traded files years ago it was by floppy drive, then CD drive, then DVD drive, and then transfer from one person to another by human hand using the ubiquitous thumb drive or USB memory stick.

Of course now days the sneaker net p2p in person file transfer method is most often the Micro SD card, which I refer to as the PND, the Pinky Nail Drive. I prefer to call the latest method of file storage and hand to hand file transfer tech the Pinky Nail Drive.

For so many years the rule in this technology sector was the Thumb Drive. I thought it only fitting that the digit at the other side of the human hand be used for the expression of our new way of file transfer naming it the Pinky Nail Drive or PND for short.

More often every day this is the preferred method for mobile data storage and in p2p file transfer. Many of us will find that if we hold one of these little things up to your pinky nail these are pretty close to the same size.

128GB units selling for less than 3 figures and the size of your Pinky Nail. The PND has named itself if you do some web searches so I am just expressing the current nature of events. If you do a search on your favorite search engine you will find the comparison between the Micro SD and the Pinky Nails is quite common parlance.

a reply to: machineintelligence

I'd rather refer to it by it's actual name: micro SD. That way people actually know what I'm referring to...If "pinky nail drive" were a widespread, common term, it'd be different, but if I were to walk up to 10 strangers and ask them what a "pinky nail drive" was, I'll bet I'd get 10 blank stares.

a reply to: machineintelligence

Years ago, we designed something you could conceal on your person and just shove into any USB socket that presented itself. It, too, was about the size of a pinky and didn't have a connector per se, just slid into the socket and left only a very small part of itself outside. If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't even notice it.

Grant you, it was a one-off thing for a specific purpose, but it's a start. Of sorts.

a reply to: admirethedistance

Thanks for the reply. In my view I am just participating in an editing secession of the Zeitgeist. Everyone at the present time included of course.

a reply to: Bedlam

Your post reminds me of these USB drives, that are no thicker than a few sheets of paper, and can just be folded up and stuck in any USB port:

I haven't used ones exactly like the one in that photo, but I have used similar. I've also seen some incredibly small ones that fit entirely within the port, except for a little tiny tab for removal, which, like you said, would hardly be noticed in a device, unless you were looking for them. The storage capacity was limited to something like 8mb, but their purpose wasn't for mass-storage...

a reply to: admirethedistance

This is a photo of the development tool, this one's big so you can probe the nets to figure out why it's not working, and to be able to reload the little processor widget on the fly until you get the code right.

a reply to: Bedlam

Ooh, I like that. You said it was a one-off for a specific purpose...Out of curiosity, can you elaborate a bit on what sort of purpose that would have been? Was it meant to store data and be retrieved, or to simply run code on the target machine? If you can't (or won't) go into any more detail, I understand, given the nature of such things.

originally posted by: admirethedistance
a reply to: Bedlam

Ooh, I like that. You said it was a one-off for a specific purpose...Out of curiosity, can you elaborate a bit on what sort of purpose that would have been? Was it meant to store data and be retrieved, or to simply run code on the target machine? If you can't (or won't) go into any more detail, I understand, given the nature of such things.

Let's say it was a "security evaluation tool", designed to test someone else's system integrity. And if it didn't have any, it would also download things. Or upload them, I can't recall which.

The 1394 version was especially good at reading parts of memory involved with passwords. I'd have to say, you really don't want a 1394 port operational on anything you would like to remain secure. Sadly, they're going out of style. Alas.

originally posted by: Bedlam
I'd have to say, you really don't want a 1394 port operational on anything you would like to remain secure.

Very true. Although by the same token, you really don't want functional USB ports on anything you'd like to keep secure either. USB is a little more secure than it used to be, but not much. Even a $40 consumer USB rubber ducky, with the right code, can be surprisingly capable in terms of "security evaluation" on specialized, hardened (and proprietary) systems.

originally posted by: admirethedistance
Even a $40 consumer USB rubber ducky, with the right code, can be surprisingly capable in terms of "security evaluation" on specialized, hardened (and proprietary) systems.

Oh yes, yes it can.

If you're actually going out of your way to test security, you can get right into the damndest things.

a reply to: machineintelligence

So what is the next device or at least one still down the road? Perhaps a dot type such as has been around for a long time in the espionage world where tons of data is printed on a dot-sized sentence period?

Perhaps a wearable tech, a ring or bracelet ....or an APPLE WATCH with a proximity engager (password protected)?

a reply to: machineintelligence

It is a good idea, but it would have to have been implemented at their inception to have caught on. Like admirethedistance said, at this point it would only serve to confuse the average user and has a significantly small chance of reaching ubiquity like the term "thumb drive" did. Good idea but a few years too late I'm afraid.

a reply to: Bedlam

Air drop of porn-filled drives & lube