While I’m on a ThinkGeek kick, check out this RFID Door Lock.

Just tap your RFID card or keyfob to the reader button to activate, authenticate and unlock your door.

This lock is pickproof as it has no keyholes and comes standard with a night deadbolt function which disables all external functions, allowing you to sleep safe and sound. The built-in alarm will deter thieves at the door itself, if the door is forcefully entered. Also includes an imaginary PIN and an external forced lock feature which prevents unauthorized opening through the mail slot or window. Set by default on automatic locking mode, you can change modes to have your door lock manually.

Other features of the RFID Digital Door Lock:

Comes with 8 RFID Smart Keys (4 cards, 2 fobs, 2 tags)

Auto/manual lock modes

External forced lock mode prevents unauthorized opening through mail slot or window

Burglar alarm

Smart Keys can be re-registered if one or more is lost or stolen

Takes 4 AA batteries (included)

External contacts for a 9-volt battery (in case AA batteries are completely drained)

Includes mounting hardware, screws

Dimensions: 5.75” x 2.7” x 1” (Outside component)

Dimensions: 6” x 3.9” x 1.5” (Inside component)

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I found this on The Tech Lounge. It’s all about interference. Read on about this cool gadget:

Do you have a wireless network? Do you have a cordless phone? Do you own a microwave? Most likely your answer to these questions is yes, which means you probably have interference. The issue at hand is not whether you have interference, but whether its effects are felt. Although most wireless boxes are able to push through the lower amounts of interference, some people, such as those living in apartments or otherwise deluged with many wireless signals may have problems. It is with this dilemma in mind that the people at MetaGeek created the Wi-Spy spectrum analyzer.

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Leave it to a chain drug store, where their most technically advanced item for purchase is a new 4 blade razor that vibrates, to be the first to do a large trial of RFID in store.  They are not going to track what you buy but what in store advertising you are exposed to.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has been around for awhile.  Your ability to buy a toll pass so you can just drive through toll booths is because of this and it has even found its way into the pet industry as a way of retreiving lost pets.  But Walgreens’ announcement that they have partnered with Goliath Solutions to use RFID tags as a way to track the location and effectiveness of Point-Of-Purchase displays in the stores is another step.  They will combine the data on the tags with scanner data to determine the effectiveness of the P-O-P in relation to sales.

Several groups have been worried that using RFID tagging with packaged goods was a little too “1984-like” (for those who were not forced to read this book in high school, it is about the government becoming big brother and watching everything you do).  If you have one of the loyalty cards from any store, they can already track your purchase behavior so it probably is not that big of an issue.  This however is an ingenius way of utlizing it to improve the success of marketing.  Spending a fair amount of my time looking into technologies like this, I’m only ticked that they were able to get there first.

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Secure technology is a dangerous thing.  This BBC article about national UK ID cards highlights how technology that is more secure causes people to be less vigilant, weakening the overall security of the system.

In addition to the loss of vigilance described in the article, computer based security is available in prototypes and research papers for a long time before it goes into production, which means it will be circumvented much more quickly than conventional security systems.  These topics deserve more attention, since we will soon see RFID passports, as well as a whole host of services depending on smart cards, PINs, and biometrics that could usher in a new era of identity theft.

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MSDN has a new zine called Coding4Fun with a lot of cool little beginner application ideas.  Taking a cue from craft magazines, Coding4Fun is an interesting and effective way to showcase a lot of the new features in Visual Studio 2005 and .NET 2 while providing inspiration and tutorials for new developers.

This article about creating a new driver for a USB RFID presence indicator is my favorite so far.

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Vending machines have been very successful in other places around the world. As you will see from the video clip (from the Food Network) below, the USA is about to keep up, I hope.

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In the UK they are testing out the idea of placing a microchip on license plates that can be tracked as it passes by enabled devices.

From a technology standpoint, this is a cool way of using active RFID to gather information on vehicles and their locations.  It could be used to handle simple traffic violations like running a red light or a stop sign and even ultimately to monitor speed between two points.  Currently, a similar technology is used in the states to automate toll collection.  The company who has done this in the UK is e-Plate. 

The use of active RFID could be a bonanza to others wanting to communitcate with people based on their location and timing.  Some day your Gap card may be able to act as a tag that lets a salesperson know you are in the store and what your purchases have been over the last 6 months.  Then they can make recommendations based on what is in inventory.  They may be just what the world needs, annoying sales people with even more information.

As you would expect, there are quite a few concerns about privacy.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation has spoken out about this and is very concerned about how this would be used by the government.

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RFID is one of those exciting technologies that hasn’t seen the growth it should have because of silly issues like security and cost.  So far the main applications have been keyless locks, toll collecting, internal pet tags, and self-checkout at finer retail establishments.  Yawn.  Leave it to college students on the quest for a better binge to come up with a truly interesting application of RFID.

The Kegbot is a keg in a bar fridge (known as a kegerator at your local frat house) equipped with an RFID sensor and a network connection.  Kegbot tracks each drinker’s consumption and blood-alcohol content live on the website, and can be set to cut a drinker off when he’s had too much.  The creators hope it will help college groups run safer drinking games.  They also hope it will help groups run drinking competitions against other groups online.  If those seem to be contradictory goals, you haven’t spent enough time with Kegbot.  Realistically, I don’t think this will make drinking any safer since drinkers can use someone else’s RFID button or bring their own alcohol.  However, most college binge drinkers are already so reckless that they won’t be spurred on by the competition inherent in having every ounce they drink logged.  I can even see frat house hazing turning into Olympic level drunk training with “coaches” monitoring each pledge’s binge from the comfort of his bathroom floor.

Read about Kegbot’s trip to DefCon.

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The battery can last 2 years. Have a look.

Smallest Battery-Equipped RFID Tag

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It’s not really all that high tech but shows how technology is making its way into almost everything. The cool part of this is that the ball makes the referee’s watch-like device beep or vibrate.

The microchip ball, which was produced in part by Adidas, was used in a game between Nuremberg and Nuremberg reserves on Wednesday in Germany.

“Not a day goes by without technology making progress,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. “We therefore have a duty to at least examine whether new technology could be used in football.

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