WIRED is RFID Spelled Sideways (sort of)....

WIRED magazine is one of my favorites (and I hear the big guy likes it too). They somehow manage to work a little humor in with all their hi tech gadget idolatry.

As an earlier investor in RFID (bad investment that was) I loved their off the wall take on “Ten Top Uses for RFID Tags.”

1. Saguaro cacti. There is a landscaping black market, and on it, these succulent cacti sell for more than $1,000 each. Arizona’s Saguaro National Park plans to use RFIDs to track hot (read: stolen) cacti.

2. Indian elephants. New Delhi forest department requires pet jumbos
be chipped to prevent trafficking. No parades until implanted.

3. Surgical sponges. One out of every thousand or so intra-abdominal surgery patients “retains” a sponge. Oops! With Smart Sponges, docs can find stowaways by passing a wand over the body. Beep Beep, there it is!

4. Mexicans. Security firm Xega uses GPS chips to track kidnapped people ─ a pretty big market in a nation where 6,500 were abducted last year.

5. Pirelli tires. A chip inside the new Pirelli Cyber Tyre transmits info on road conditions and friction coefficients to the car’s computer. Rolling rolling rolling……

6. Clubbers. At Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club, VIPs are injected with
RFIDs linked to debit accounts, making wallets passé. Handy when all
you’re wearing is a thong. “Charge it to my forearm please”.

7. Tokyo. The largest city in Japan aims to blanket itself with microchips ── from bus stops to restaurants. Tourists may soon get maps, schedules, tips, and other info just by waving their cell phones. Do you know how many cell phones are in Tokyo?

8. Police badges. The Blackinton SmartShield badge hides an ID chip, preventing knockoffs. Good idea or great idea: Remember TERMINATOR 3? “I’ll be baaaaaaack”

9. Inmates. Forced to release prisoners due to overcrowding, Britain wants to chip them on their way out. Cops would know if, say, a felon enters a school, bank, hash den, etc.

10. Kitty doors. Kitty flaps are great ─ until you find a possum hanging from your towel rack. The (RFID Enabled) Pet Porte waves through only pre-approved critters.

Thanks WIRED