Implanted RFID Tag To Replace Cash?

Kulic writes "Wired is running a story about using subdermal RFID microchips to pay for goods. Applied Digital Solutions are marketing the VeriChip as the world's only implantable ID technology. CEO Scott Silverman says they could someday replace credit cards, but a final product is a few years away. They are also receiving condemnation from some fundamentalist Christians who believe that this is the fabled 'mark of the beast' of biblical lore." waytoomuchcoffee adds a link to a similar story at CNet.

I only hope...

[jkrise]

Microsoft doesn't get to make these 'implants'. The Service Packs, bug fixes and anti-virus updates would kill me!

-

You Could Make It Fun..

[AnswerIs42]

Have them implant the chip in your middle finger.

You can flip people off and then say, "No, I wasn't giving you the bird, I was buying a Coke."

1st Generation Device

[LiquidCoooled]

These devices used to be so big even goatse had trouble implanting one!

Religion

[Psiren]

Why is it that religion really brings out the nutcases. I hope that I can get one, just so I can wind the poor confused bastards up. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon? ;)

Re:NOT RIGHT

[Channard]

Quiet down, Unit 432101.

Credit Limit

[PowerBert]

I hope I don't go over my credit limit again, I don't want the bayliffs coming around and cutting ou t my credit tag.

And anther thing, how will will I show off my gold chip? Bye bye prestige ;-( Maybe I can get a gold/platinum mark on my forehead????

hmmm... it must be good...

[rokzy]

if the Christian fundamentalists hate it...

Been there...

[phillymjs]

...done that. [imdb.com]

Lenina Huxley: That is correct, money is out-moded. All transactions are through code.
John Spartan: Alright, so he can't buy food or a place to stay for the night. And, it would be a waste of time to mug somebody. Unless he rips off somebody's hand, and let's hope he doesn't figure that one out.

~Philly

Re:Mark of the Beast ?

[leerpm]

I'm not sure everyone in the thread is going to get this joke. I believe the author is refering to the former German currency, called the mark. Though it has since been replaced by the Euro.

Some Good Advice

[HedRat]

The talk about having a surgical RFID implant reminds me of some quasi-related advice I'd like to pass along. Don't EVER take your wife along when you see the doctor for a physical.

Doctor: I'm going to need some blood, a urine and stool sample and I'll need some sperm.

Me: Ummmm, okay.

Wife: Why don't you just give him your underwear?

Implanted RFID chip?...

[N Monkey]

... That'd bring a whole new meaning to "paying an arm and a leg" for something.

Can you imagine being robbed?!!!!

I'm sorry it has to be said

[Anonymous Coward]

I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed, or numbered... my life is my own.

Hmmm...

[salzbrot]

That sounds interesting.

It will probably make shoplifting impossible, combined with RFIDs on the products that could be stolen. The shoplifter sneaks out the store and hears a friendly spoken "Thank you for shopping with K-Mart!" message. D'oh!

I will go now and try to get one of the readers for those implanted RFIDs. Then I will place it on a busy street and bill every person only $9.99 that passes by to close to the reader ;-)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

New Meaning

[JackJudge]

I guess it gives new meaning to the phrase, "It cost me an arm and a leg".

Yeah yeah yeah...

[Alsee]

I could rant about how stupid these things are, about all the security holes in the system, about all of the abuses, about the violation of rights, and on and on and on. Instead I'd just like to say that if it does somehow get rammed down our throats then I want chip number 666! Thankyou.

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Re:Nope.

[OccSub]

Yeah, I see another poster kind of beat me to it, but the fundies are way off. If Christ is coming again, then why do they want to stop prophecy from being fulfilled? I guess they just aren't ready. "Lord, I am so close to getting that 40 ft yacht, and I want to make sure my kids have a sprawling family estate to inherit... that's it! In your holy wisdom, please hold off until I'm done being a greedy fundie bastard." P.S. I have a few of these little bastards (chips) right here right now :) They're not so scary, actually. They're about the size of a big grain of rice.

Too early

[confused one]

They're trying this too early. It'll be at least another 75 years before the masses are conditioned to allow tagging.

At least that's what it says on the schedule I've got.

Re:I have a bad feeling about this

[drooling-dog]

If all that would be required to debit these things is proximity to a receiver - pretty much necessary if they're to be used in the manner described - where is the security? Could someone just carry a receiver through a crowd, charging $1 from everyone who passes within a meter or so? I'll have to get me one of those!

Re:Nope.

[LittleGuy]

I agree with them on this one, not because it's the mark of the beast, but because I don't like the idea of something in my body being money.

Aside from the quarter shoved up the nose on a double-dog dare when we were kids.

Re:NOT RIGHT

[azzy]

More like unit 639622

Re:hmmm... it must be good...

[rokzy]

Y'ever sat down and read this thing? Technically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom.

Re:NOT RIGHT

[BorgDrone]

Treating people as humans is exactly the reason why people shouldn't be given names but unique numbers.

There must be lots of people with the name 'jack' or 'leo' or whatever. there will be only ONE person called HUMAN_ID_0532134159123843892341 , that's a name that makes you totally unique.

Re:NOT RIGHT

[Jaysyn]

Just like everyone else!

Jaysyn

Re:You Could Make It Fun..

[GTRacer]

At Universal Islands o' Adventure, they recently upgraded their free locker rental kiosks with fingerprint scanners so they don't have to print out all those "PIN receipts".

When I went up to one to stash my junk to ride the Hulk, I used my middle finger. The crowd behind me laughed, but the machine got the last laugh as it wouldn't unlock again, no matter how many times I flipped it off.

GTRacer
- Technology with a Human touch

Re:We're all dooooomed

[Anonymous Coward]

I think my wife already has our credit card embedded in her hand.

Re:NOT RIGHT

[cayenne8]

Ok...lets all take the 'Non-Conformist Oath'!!

Repeat after me:

I promise to be different.....

I promise to be unique........

I promise NOT to repeat things other people say...

Good!

With apologies to Steve Martin...

Re:Why not retina scans

[I8TheWorm]

I'm not trying to be a karma whore here, but wouldn't it be a fairly silly idea to try to rob a place where self defense and hand/foot to head combat is taught?

To me that sounds like trying to break into a prison.

Re:NOT RIGHT

[monkeyfinger]

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.

Re:Heh heh heh...

[carlos_benj]

I even recall a well-known senator once saying, in stark contrast to your own post, "I am... A MACHINE."

I thought that was the governor of California....

Re:Not another PIN!

[Saeger]

INCONCEIVABLE!

--

"Stop off for a drink..."

[Jace of Fuse!]

"Hey, you wanna go grab a drink after work?"

"Can't, I'm broke."

"What? You've been working all this overtime, how can you be broke?"

"Oh, no, I mean I'm 'BROKE'. I degaussed my monitor this morning and my RFID overloaded."

"Man, I hate having to get surgery everytime that happens, I wish they'd just invent some kind of card we could carry around."

"Yeah, me too, either that or maybe little pieces of paper we could carry around saying we have so much credit. We could then just barter with the pieces of paper."

"You mean make money out of paper?"

"Yeah. Exactly."

"Weird."

Re:Why not retina scans

[Lord Kano]

I'm not trying to be a karma whore here, but wouldn't it be a fairly silly idea to try to rob a place where self defense and hand/foot to head combat is taught?

When I was a kid, our karate instructor had one of his assistants dress up like a 1970's TV burglar and sneak into the backdoor. We had no idea who it was, but when he told us to "get him" we did.

At the end of the day, I had to apologize to Mr. Castro for kicking him in the nuts, twice. Believe me, I did it as hard as I could.

LK

Re:Mark of the Beast ?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have also heard that by using an ancient hebrew method for finding numbers based on words, "Nero" produces 666.

Does this means I must now purchase Easy CD Creator from Roxio? ;)

Re:Mark of the Beast ?

[Schemat1c]

I found this on the Usenet a few years ago but I just love it and it applies so well to this idiot.
--

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your site, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind then that Leviticus 18:22 clearly stated it to be an abomination to the Lord.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how best to follow them.

A) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbours: they claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

B) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 2:17. In this day and age, what do you think a fair price for her would be?

C) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness. (Lev. 15:19-24) The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

D) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

E) I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

F) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

G) Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of the Lord if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20 or is there some wiggle room here?

H) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I) I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean. May I still play football if I wear gloves?

J) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread. (It looks like some sort of cotton/poly blend.)

He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev. 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev 20:14.)

I know that you have studied these things extensively, so I'm confident that

you can help. Thanks.