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Privacy Toys

Ten Best, Worst, and Craziest Uses of RFID 126

Posted by CowboyNeal from the track-this dept.
An anonymous reader writes "This top 10 rounds up what it calls 'the best, worst and craziest' uses of RFID out there — including chipped kids at Legoland, smart pub tables that let you order drinks, smartcards for sports fans, and chipped airline passengers. The craziest use of the tech surely has to be RFID chips for Marks & Spencer suits — you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them."
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Ten Best, Worst, and Craziest Uses of RFID More

Ten Best, Worst, and Craziest Uses of RFID

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  • "tagging beta" (Score:5, Funny)

    by dwandy ( 907337 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:24AM (#17079998) Homepage Journal
    I get the first tag on this article, but what's "beta" got to do with RFID?

  • Unheard of! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by svunt ( 916464 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:26AM (#17080002) Homepage Journal
    I used to be a bartender, and one of the best things about the job is that the customers have to do the legwork. A bar where you can order while staying at your seat is a...um...restaurant? Table-service bar? This neat use of RFID is a lot like the bells Larry David insisted on in his restaurant in Curb Your Enthusiasm. What an amazing future we live in.

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by ContractualObligatio ( 850987 )
      I'm guessing you're a Brit of some description? Speaking as a Scot (and therefore fond of the occassional drink) one of the best things about visiting other countries is a more sophisticated approach to serving i.e. table service. The US is really good at this. Particularly useful when there's only two of you and the bar is packed with no space at the bar itself, because you avoid long gaps in the conversation while one of you goes to get the round in.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by stevey ( 64018 )
        The US is really good at this. Particularly useful when there's only two of you and the bar is packed with no space at the bar itself, because you avoid long gaps in the conversation while one of you goes to get the round in.

        That is certainly true, but I find that I'd be more inclined to have table-service in a large group since there is a lot more effort required to remember the orders in a round, and to physically carry them back to the table.

        Although, as a Scot, standing at the bar is one of the few ti

        • Fair point. One thing I've found funny in the US is that what they sometimes call a dive bar or somesuch, I would call a really good pub. Although I wonder if there's also cultural thing to it in Scotland. I'm down in London these days, pubs are no different in layout, but still find that up north it is generally easier to start random chat. Maybe because back in Glasgow they can understand what I'm saying :) Actually to be fair I found Manchester and Newcastle to be good, maybe its a northern thing. Guar

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by shawb ( 16347 )
      My question with this is... what does this have to do with RFID? The bar is set up with touchscreen menus at the table to order from. These may or may not be wireless and thereby use radio frequency for communications, but it is not an RFID bar.

  • Wow... (Score:2)

    by sjbe ( 173966 )
    Using RFID to track where things are. Those folks are CRAZY! CRAZY I tell you...

  • chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rucs_hack ( 784150 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:34AM (#17080044)
    As a parent I have to say that having my child chipped at an amusement park is just fine.

    I get scared every time I take my child to a fair or any other public gathering. I constantly watch him to ensure he's no more then ten feet away from me. I know that there are people who prowl such places on the lookout for unnattended children. paranoid? Perhaps, but I'd far rather be paranoid then the father of a dead child. No amount of paranoia is too much in such situations, so far as I'm concerned.

    If a chip meant his location could be tracked constantly I'd feel a lot happier. It's not likely that I'd lose sight of him, but I can say with absolute certainty that if I did *any* means of locating him would be acceptable.

    • Re:chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Insightful)

      by travail_jgd ( 80602 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:42AM (#17080086)
      There are two things to keep in mind:

      1. If the security system can detect the chip, so can the bad guys.

      2. RFID tags can be duplicated

      I don't have a problem with the way you're parenting -- it's your job to keep an eye on your child! The problem I have is with the parents who assume the magical tracker will work just like in the movies, and ignore their kids. (But when something bad happens, it's never their fault.)

      • Re:chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Insightful)

        by rucs_hack ( 784150 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:58AM (#17080158)
        your point is a valid one. However, paedophiles don't need rfid to locate a lone child, just reasonable observation skills.

        Where they to find a way to utilise rfid, they likely couldn't stop me simultaniously using the same system to find him. I hope not anyhow.

        The possibility exists that the very person who is after my child is the same person who is operating the system in the first place. I know of no way beyond complete paranoia to guard against this.

        Shit, I get scared that my boy wants to walk home from school on his own, I may not be the best person to comment on rfid...

        • Re:chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Funny)

          by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:45AM (#17080404) Homepage
          paedophiles don't need rfid to locate a lone child, just reasonable observation skills.
          You are, of course, ignoring the boost this technology will give to blind pedophiles.

        • Well consider this (Score:5, Interesting)

          by The Creator ( 4611 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:51AM (#17080462) Homepage Journal
          As long as he does't have a chip on him you watch him irl when at LEGO-land. But now that he has the chip you can safely go to the parent longe and watch where he is on the KidLocator(tm) - and there he is, safely in plain site of everyone, where noone can hurt him, perhaps standing in line for a ride. You feel absolutely safe! Then 30min later you start to wonder why he is still in line, he should be on the ride by now. So you start to get a little worried, soon you decide to go check on him. So you go to the line and look for him, but all you find is his rfid-bracelet behind the trashcan...
          • you hit it right on the button there. This is why my thinking tends towards paranioa and away from trust in a system that is most likely being sold to make a profit rather then to keep kids safe. Or perhaps to be fair, being sold to keep kids safe, but with profit in mind.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Melfina ( 872932 )
            This could all be avoided if we just hot glue the chip to the child itself.

            Maybe staples?

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by mlush ( 620447 )

            As long as he does't have a chip on him you watch him irl when at LEGO-land. But now that he has the chip you can safely go to the parent longe and watch where he is on the KidLocator(tm) - and there he is, safely in plain site of everyone, where noone can hurt him, perhaps standing in line for a ride. You feel absolutely safe! Then 30min later you start to wonder why he is still in line, he should be on the ride by now. So you start to get a little worried, soon you decide to go check on him. So you go to the line and look for him, but all you find is his rfid-bracelet behind the trashcan...

            I assume your suggesting that the kid has ditched the bracelet. From the kids POV this is probably not a good idea. The choice the child is being given is either a) stay within 15 feet of a parent for the whole day or b) wander around with their mates doing exactly what they want to do when they want to do it. A child who pulls this sort of stunt clearly wants to spend more time with their parents and I suspect for a child who would pull that sort of stunt thats a fate worse than death.

            Think of the Ki

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by zallus ( 714582 )
              No, the suggestion is that someone else takes it off of them.

            • I assume your suggesting that the kid has ditched the bracelet.

              If you found your kid's RFID bracelet behind a trash can, would you assume the kid ditched it? The suggestion is rather that someone else removed it, with ulterior motives. You can't honestly tell me that a mass-produced (read: cheap) bracelet can stand up to a good pocketknife. You misunderstand grandparent, and for that matter the intent of the bracelets. If you think that a flimsy bracelet using an insecure technology is sufficient prote

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by cpotoso ( 606303 )
                in chuk-o-cheese (? or some silly namelike this) they paint a code with fluorescent ink (it is only visible under UV light) in the kid and parent forearm. They only allow kids to go out with a parent with matching code. OK, not 100% foolproof (no encryption used, hence code could be duplicated), but the idea is sane (once a simple hash with a password is used). Simpler, cheaper, and the only way to get it off the child is too scary to mention in this PG forum...

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by mlush ( 620447 )

                I assume your suggesting that the kid has ditched the bracelet.

                If you found your kid's RFID bracelet behind a trash can, would you assume the kid ditched it? The suggestion is rather that someone else removed it, with ulterior motives. You can't honestly tell me that a mass-produced (read: cheap) bracelet can stand up to a good pocketknife.

                OK so my child is standing in a queue surronded by lots of people and a pedo whips out his good pocketknife cuts off the bracelet and drags him away to a horrible death? I think it more likely that the kid unclips the bracelet (the park will want to remove reuse them so there not going to use some sort of irrversable lock) and wanders off to play hooky...

                • The kid could have been somewhere else when the bracelet was removed from him, the bracelet could then have been carried to a place where it could fool the parent that the kid was safe and delay any action of said parent.

                  But why the kid had disappered is actually beside de point. The point was that the parent now felt safe enough to leave the kid alone somwhere when he othervise whouldn't.
                  • Anyone determined enough to plan and execute that sort of stunt comes under the heading of newsworth psyco and or estranged parent. the only defence is to lock ones child in a prison cell which by coincidence is what the psyco will probably do.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by AK Marc ( 707885 )
                The suggestion is rather that someone else removed it, with ulterior motives.

                Right. The suggestion was that someone would walk up to an unknown kid in line at a busy amusement park, grab the kid, rip off a bracelet, and drag them off with no one noticing. Given the likelyhood of that or the kid removing it, I'd guess it's 99% the kid purposefully removing it, and 1% it accidentally falling off. The number of children kidnapped, molested and killed is somewhere around 50 per year. I couldn't figure out
      • 1. If the security system can detect the chip, so can the bad guys.
        What, so people will be able to walk around with a RFID reader and determine which of the people around them are kids?

    • Re:chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @09:51AM (#17080122) Journal
      How a 10m proximity device would track his location constantly is a mystery to me.

      If he's being kidnapped, the napper would be aware that there is a very small window of opportunity to remove the child from the park before he's noticed missing, this window is made wider by your "it's ok he's been tagged, he'll turn up" mentality.

      And that window doesn't need to be very wide at all

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s16726 04.htm [abc.net.au]
      • it has been done already using bluetooth as the rfid technology.

        the kid wears a bluetooth tag, as a pendant or bracelet or somesuch, base stations all around the park means the kid is always within range of one of them.

        when your issued with the tag your also issued with a security code.

        theres a web/wap page you can browse to from your phone, input the code you were given and it tells you where your kid is.

        so yes, if close enough someone could directly track the signal from the kids tag, but then they would

    • Re:chipped kids? Ok (Score:5, Funny)

      by Quiet_Desperation ( 858215 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:26AM (#17080296)

      As a parent I have to say that having my child chipped at an amusement park is just fine.

      As a non-parent who does not like kids and avoids them when I can, I'm just fine with your kid being chipped, too. The only addition I'd make is the ability to deliver a small electrical shock when they are being annoying, or "precious" as their parents descirbe it.

      Cold hearted? Yes.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I see more use in a device that gives the *parents* an electric shock, based on the number of decibels the child produces.

        • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

          by AdamKG ( 1004604 )
          I see more use in a device that gives the *parents* an electric shock, based on the number of decibels the child produces.
          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(lameness)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA(lameness)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

          So, did that hurt?
      • You can get those sorts of things yourself at a pet store or Cabela's.

    • If a chip meant his location could be tracked constantly I'd feel a lot happier.
      That's a very nice bracelet, little girl. Want to trade it for a Barbie doll? Yeah, just give it to me so I can store it my magic tinfoil bag.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by sfm ( 195458 )
      Would you feel the same if ANYONE knew where your child was
      at all times? RFID is generally not selective and will respond
      when polled.... by the park RFID readers, by those in the stores,
      or by someone with a portable RFID reader.

      Plausible scenario ?? I'm just pointing out that RFID is certainly
      a two edged sword.
      • 'anyone' would by definition include me, and I'd be watching any location beacon constantly if I couldn't see my boy (not that this is likely to happen).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gnalle ( 125916 )
      Without knowing you or you son, it sounds like you ought to let go. I don't think that RFID is good for kids. They need freedom to learn to take care om themselves.

      Alternatively you can give him one of those new mobile phone with GPS, then you can always keep track of him. This way you can also ask him to do some shopping, if you notice him hanging out at the mall close to eating time.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jayegirl ( 26328 )
      And thus you illustrate the entire problem that vexes libertarians throughout the western world, albeit in miniture: a scary enough threat will make people *want* to give up crazy degrees of liberty. Use your brain for thinking, not just your heart.
      • nice idea, difficult in the execution.

        If you think about it, playgrounds nowadays usually have fences and gates around them. They didn't when I was a kid. Now it's routine basic security, you're kid has to go through a gate or someone has to act suspicious and grab them over the fence/drag them through a gate.

        Should I think 'well, playgrounds never had fences before, so I'll forgoe that level of security'?

        To be quite frank, paranioa is part of good parenting, realising that there are dangerous people from w
  • oh who are you little one? lets see...(reads the rfid reader) oh you are my ex girl friends 2nd child? ha h how..!!
  • There's often a confusion between passive and active tags, which have different types of uses and different capabilities, read about it on wikipedia [wikipedia.org]. Additionally, Slashgeo (yup, plug) has a section on RFID tags [slashgeo.org].

    From TA: "RFID has also made an appearance in the army to try and reduce casualties from 'friendly fire' incidents." ... let's not forget the actual range limitation of most RFID tags.

    Yes, RFID is one of the geospatial technology which will have a significant impact on our lives. The "100% organic matter RFID chip developed in Korea, costing only 0.5 cents [slashgeo.org]" kind of headlines will only be seen more often in the near future.

  • Users protest (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Steve B. of Redmond, WA, roundly condemned the inclusion of accelerometer-enabled RFID tags in chairs.
    "I mean", he reported, "they're meant to stop abuse on the furniture, but they can be used to track the whereabouts of individuals who set them suddenly into motion. I don't know who is responsible for this initiative, but if I knew, I'd fucking kill them".

  • wrong (Score:5, Insightful)

    by joe 155 ( 937621 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:08AM (#17080188) Journal
    "The craziest use of the tech surely has to be RFID chips for Marks & Spencer suits -- you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them"

    This is just wrong, all they are doing is tracking things which they own in exactly the same way people currently do, you know those big-ass white things which are on your clothes and leave a hole in everything - it's essentially the same thing. It is just more efficient. No one would ever wear a suit with these in, and their article even accepts in when they state (the one they linked to from the article...) "[tags] are contained within throwaway paper labels called Intelligent Labels attached to, but not embedded in, a selection of men's suits". This sort of thing makes people who don't like the technology because it can track you look like tools who over-react. Don't keep doing this /.
    • I have no idea whether M&S suits are any good or not, but figured the intended joke was that no one would wear one of them even without the RFID tags.
      • I have two, nothing wrong with them if you are a 20 to 30 year old on a middling income and you dont see clients often. In essence, its a great office suit at a good price.
        • I bought one for a wedding that I couldn't avoid. Looks better than my +5 year old Hugo Boss suits, and it probably won't go shiny as quickly. I'll never buy a designer suit again. Next time I need a decent suit, for £600 quid, I'll go to tailor and get exactly what I want, made from a fabric which will wear well.

          Or maybe a plain black £100 M&S suit will do again.
    • "Was God a Marks & Spencer sales assistant?"


      But seriously, maybe they meant that Marks & Spencer makes (make?) ugly suits. That's really what I thought when I read the summary the first time.

      Upon further reflection (like the 20 seconds it took me to write that), I think you're right.

  • What about chipping sex offenders so that schools and playgrounds can have detection equipment? It would also prevent sex offenders from getting jobs as bloody teachers. Most sex offenders commit the crime again. If they are on the street they should have limited rights and being chipped as a condition of release is very reasonable.

    • Re:A good use (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dapsychous ( 1009353 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:55AM (#17080504) Homepage

      Before we could implement a system like this, the laws would need to be revised. Right now, if an 18 year old has sex with his 17 year old girlfriend, and her parents don't approve, he goes to jail and has to be branded a sex offender for the rest of his life. If a guy pulls over on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to use the bathroom in the woods because he can't make it to town and a cop sees, it's indecent exposure, and he's branded a sex offender for the rest of his life.

      Granted, children need to be protected, but this country has gone WWWWWAAAAAYYYY overboard with paranoia. I'm not saying that these things don't happen, but when you talk about taking people's rights away and branding them with a moniker like 'Sex Offender', you'd better be DAMN sure.

      • California law [ca.gov] (Penal code 261.5(a) through (c)) specifically exempts sex with minors from the definition of statutory rape when the difference in age between the two parties is three years or less.
        • So, Cali is ok, but other states (TN, GA, etc) don't offer such a safety clause. In TN (where I am located), anyone, not just a parent, can press charges for statutory rape, unless the difference of age is four years or less; even then the parents can still press charges down to one year. So, if a parent doesn't approve of it, an 18 year old will go to jail for dating a 17 year old. The parent doesn't even have to prove they've slept together, just that they are dating. THAT is sucktacular.
    • Nice concept, but you try finding a place that it's safe to implant something in, that a suitable determined person couldn't dig it out of. if you put the RFID tag in too deep, there's a pretty good chance that it won't register. too shallow, and most people that feel 'compelled' to get rid of it will successfully do so. Never underestimate the drive of a deviant.
    • Most sex offenders commit the crime again. If they are on the street they should have limited rights and being chipped as a condition of release is very reasonable.

      If someone forcibly rapes a child, especially repeat offenders, the only condition for their release should be that they agree to sit down in a comfortable wooden chair, put a cap on their head, and have a few thousand volts passed through them. If someone is so dangerous as to never be trusted in society, let's be honest and execute them. Fa

  • M&S RFID (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kylegordon ( 159137 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:20AM (#17080266) Homepage
    The craziest use of the tech surely has to be RFID chips for Marks & Spencer suits you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them."

    From another article [silicon.com] linked from the main article...
    The RFID tags are contained in throwaway paper labels attached to, but not embedded in, a variety of men's and women's clothing items in stores. M&S uses mobile scanners to scan garment tags on the shop floor, and portals at distribution centres and the loading bays of stores allow rails of hanging garments to be pushed through and read at speed. and The retailer is aiming to use RFID tags to help achieve its goal of 100 per cent stock accuracy by ensuring the right goods and sizes are in the right stores to meet demand.

    It sure would be nice of submitters did a little bit of basic research about their comic headline statements before publishing them. It's quite obvious that M&S aren't aiming to get people to wear the tags. They're using them to improve their stock accuracy, and have provided a simple and easy way to get rid of the tag if you don't want it.
    • I'm pretty sure "you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them" was a joke about the suits and completely unrelated to the RFID tags.
      • It's also a pretty silly jab, considering that mens suits are one of M&S's strongest selling product lines - and they are still one of the UK's largest clothes retailers, so that still means something. It's also one of their clothing lines that's been showing significant growth lately.
  • The craziest use of the tech surely has to be RFID chips for Marks & Spencer suits -- you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them.

    Did the submitter bother finishing the paragraph about Marks & Spencer suits?

    It makes clear that "The retailer has avoided questions of privacy protection by attaching the tag to a label on the suit that can be cut off."

    As in, I'm pretty sure they're not using RFID tags to allow evil cigar-smoking executive types to track how many cases of M&S brand vodka or froz

  • footraces? EZ Pass toll gadgets? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JoeBackward ( 1034674 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @10:27AM (#17080304)
    If you enter a footrace you'll get a passive RFID tag to tangle in your shoelaces. This thing lets the race judging system give you a time. After you finish the race you throw the RFID tag in a bucket, and they reuse it on the next race. A great use of technology! Nice writeup here.

    http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/Rac eTimingWithChip.cfm [marathonguide.com]

    Toll transponders are another very convenient use of technology. Sure, there are some privacy issues, but they're convenient.
    • Toll transponders are another very convenient use of technology. Sure, there are some privacy issues, but they're convenient.

      If cash payments ro refill an anonymous smartcard were allowed and license plates weren't photoed unless the car was missing a tag, then the privacy issues would be very small assuming that the people running the toll system were honest.

      -b.

      • The thing with tying a particular tag to a particular car is that, should the reader fail to read the tag (and, in my experience, that's about 5% of the time or so), they can still charge your account by looking up your license plate number. Times when I set off the alarm show up exactly the same as times when my tag was read properly on my bill. Taking pictures of your license plate every time also allows them to nail someone who stole your tag, or least helps you prove it wasn't you going through the to
        • The thing with tying a particular tag to a particular car is that, should the reader fail to read the tag (and, in my experience, that's about 5% of the time or so), they can still charge your account by looking up your license plate number.

          Simple solution: just collect the toll amount by mail with no fine if the tag misreads once or twice. If the plate proves to be a repeat offender (say, more than 5 unread tags in a 3 mo. period, but don't publicize the exact number) than slap it with a $100 fine, whic

          • But where do you draw the line? People who go through six tollbooths a day on their commute (which are quite a few people) rack up tons of failed reads. You don't want actual violators to be able to accumulate anywhere near as many violations as you would have to allow for under your system. Plus, what do you do when someone with a tag crosses the line? It's not their fault they accumulated so many misreads, it's yours, so you can't very well expect to hit them with a hundred dollar fine.
            • People who go through six tollbooths a day on their commute (which are quite a few people) rack up tons of failed reads.

              Maybe good/bad read ratio.

              It's not their fault they accumulated so many misreads, it's yours, so you can't very well expect to hit them with a hundred dollar fine.

              If you can prove that you had a valid tag at the time, you should just be able to pay the toll by mail. Registration of tags could also be optional for those who don't care about their privacy.

              -b.

        • The Mass. active RFID toll-transponder system (which has the foolishly confusing brand-name "Fast Lane") misreads a lot. They really do have to use the license plate photos to get it right. I moved a transponder to another car once. They give you one grace ticket, then they start charging you $50 tickets. When the grace ticket came (after my FIRST day in the different car) I called them and added its license plate number, so they restored my grace ticket.

          I'd worry about privacy on license plate

  • from TFA (Score:2, Informative)

    by moogs ( 1003361 )
    Children:
    Japanese authorities decided to start chipping schoolchildren in one primary school in Osaka a couple of years ago. The kids' clothes and bags were fitted with RFID tags with readers installed in school gates and other key locations to track the minors' movements.

    Legoland also introduced a similar scheme to stop children going astray by issuing RFID bracelets for the tots.

    Pub tables:
    Thirsty students can escape the busy bar and still get a pint thanks to RFID tables that deliver orders remotely.

    The
    • RFID has also made an appearance in the army to try and reduce casualties from 'friendly fire' incidents.
      Very useful if they've gone back to fighting with swords.
    • Friendly fire??? Normally you shoot at a tank from a safe distance, which will in any case be further away than the current maximum distance to read an RFID tag. So if you don't get a signal back, you'll shoot.... oops! Doesn't sound like a smart idea. Furthermore, what if the enemy copies your tag?
      • The system actually works very well, but unfortunately I can't go into the details much. There are also systems in place that give commanding elements more overview, down to individual soldiers, anywhere from 10 feet away to the White House. Of course, being able to keep tabs on a soldier and knowing where s/he should be in the first place are two totally different things...

  • Tagging books (Score:2, Informative)

    by lamona ( 743288 )
    There's been great controversy in libraries about the privacy implications of tagging books. The San Francisco Public Library board nixed the library's idea to switch from barcodes to RFID, even though the latter makes library circulation more accurate. Berkeley essentially fired its library director for implementing RFID tagging of books. Studies [berkeley.edu] show that there are potential threats to privacy either by setting up a scanner outside of the library to see what people are taking out, or by targeting certain
  • This is old news. Rangers FC were the first team in the world to use such technology and we have been using it since 2000/2001. It's excellent - I never have to deal with paper tickets except at away games. Simply order the tickets online whenever I want and turn up at the ground and have my card scanned for entry
  • Privacy issues aside, I think the OysterCard system in London is great.
  • There is a plan and I don't know if it has been implemented as of yet, to put RFID tags into every new American passport issued. Supposedly for 'security' etc...

    This is truly stupid and dangerous because the people out there who believe that they were put on this planet by some god for the sole purpose of killing Americans (and there are a lot of people out there like that) can set up a small RFID detector in a public place and know exactly who is and who isn't an American as people move thr

    • This is truly stupid and dangerous because the people out there who believe that they were put on this planet by some god for the sole purpose of killing Americans (and there are a lot of people out there like that) can set up a small RFID detector in a public place and know exactly who is and who isn't an American as people move through the place

      Which country is this? Maybe America should just invade them & spread democracy so that
      such stuff won't happen there anymore.
    • Fired? No.
      They should have one of those tags shoved so far up thier wazoo that it's never going to come out then dropped into the same location.
    • people out there ... [with] the sole purpose of killing Americans (and there are a lot of people out there like that)

      Here is something you should know: no, there are not a lot of people like that. There are extremely few people like that. Such people are fantastically uncommon.

  • I nominate the implanted RFID guy (Score:4, Informative)

    by danceswithtrees ( 968154 ) on Saturday December 02, 2006 @12:27PM (#17081316)
    I think that most people would agree that Amal Graafstra should take the prize for the craziest use of RFID. All of the other things on the list are so so. Most people would try it once, may or may not like it/find it useful/find it annoying. Very few would ever consider doing what this guy did- have a RFID surgically implanted into his hand. Here is the link:

    http://www.bmezine.com/news/presenttense/20050330. html [bmezine.com]

    There are before and after pictures as well as a video of the procedure.

  • the writer of tfa does not really identify which they think are the best, worst or craziest... is it too much to ask that the substance of tfa actually elaborate on the headline?

    sum.zero
  • Wondering what good RFID was for transmitting orders to the bar, I decided to break with tradition and read TFA. And lo and behold "Orders are transmitted to the bar using ethernet over powerline". The only use of RFID is on some payment cards.
  • From last week's L&O:SUV --

    Upon learning that a suspect had injected a cheatin' wife with an RFID chip, Det. Stabler quips,

    "The guy just invented the Hojack."
  • Rad-hard tags will help make international shipping safer.

    When the shipping container is filled, it is sealed with a rad-hard tamper-proof RFID global shipping tag seal. It is physically impossible to open the door without breaking the seal and the RFID tag inside.

    Shipping container gets to destination port. If the GST doesn't respond or gives the wrong number, that's evidence of tampering and the container gets the thorough go-over.

    The unopened container can be gamma-scanned, x-rayed, and dowsed for evil
  • http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/ 23/0111213 [slashdot.org]

    Combining RFID, SIDs, and Ruby..

    "Dividuum...has built a very cool RFID application. He stores SID-files (SID is the music format for the C64) on RFID tags. When you put such a tag near to the reader, the music is played on the stereo."

    Badass.
  • I think this rfid implant [prisonplanet.com] so customers can pay the disco in Barcelona is plain crazy stuff.
    That said one of the things I want to ask a plastic surgeon is to make some kind of kangaroo pouch with my belly skin so i can carry my car keys and wallet in nudist beachs.
  • Canada's Cattle Identification System [canadaid.com]. We are able to trace a cow back to the yard it was born at... very cool to find diseased cows.
  • Just some comments on RFID technology. I am trying to be sarcastic and funny but not sure if it will come across. Mostly this is a commentary on how many entities want to RFID the general populace.

    Well I did not see a mention to the chipping of 007 in the latest Bond movie...
    Not sure if that was a good or bad thing to suggest.
    Now it had me thinking. Why not chip all elected officials? Would make it nice to see what they are doing...
    Go to a web site, see your elected official is currently in the Bahamas
  • Every technology has a "pit of dispair" when the euphoria of a period when it has been hyped wears off. This article is very symptomatic of that. Look at the crazy uses ... RFID has been used in planes since WWII in the form of transponders. In fact this was it's first use. It works very well. There are many other great uses of it. Just because Walmart hyped it up in the US doesn't mean it's dead elsewhere.
  • I don't know if it qualifies as worst, but Porto Portugal's Andante RFID rail pass system is an example of a theoretically good system with poor implementation. I'd much rather go to the trouble of pulling a card from my wallet and having the system stamp (a paper trail) a validation so that I am not automatically assumed to be a criminal if (WHEN!) the system failed. When the system started, it was reported that 3% of passengers were incurring fines of 50 Euro or moree. Portugal's rail police and rail a
  • The craziest use of the tech surely has to be RFID chips for Marks & Spencer suits - you couldn't pay most people to wear one of them
    I read this as meaning that you couldn't pay most people to wear an M & S suit. Just shows the dangers of loose writing, as from other comments it appears to mean that you couldn't pay most people to wear an RFID chip.

    The word "them" is fatally ambiguous here.

  • "Google House" Search for anything in your house by the click of a mouse!

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