Slashdot Mirror
Vancouver Bars Network Together to Track Patrons
Tortured Potato writes "The Vancouver Sun reports
that bar owners in the area will soon start
tracking patrons by photo and driver's license. 'John Teti, chairman of the coalition,
said the vote is merely a formality. "We have
full backing from our members," Teti said
Monday....Once the system is in place, patrons
will be asked to stand in front of a camera to
have their picture taken and will then swipe
their drivers' licence, or possibly show some
other form of identification, that will
automatically give the establishment the patron's
name and age and show if he or she has caused
trouble at any other bar on the network.' I'm
glad to see that Big Brother is alive and well on
the left coast." This is the next step past merely swiping licenses.
Just remember that magnetic stripes sometimes get demagnetized. Sometimes a big magnet gets passed over the stripe many times in a row. Later, when they swipe your card, you probably don't even know why it doesn't work. They are free to type it all in if they really need that information.
This seems like a good idea for bar owners, but I get the feeling that drunk canadians aren't going to like this much...
As of 10/06/03, I hate COBOL developers.
...Bars to start selling "most active" lists to liquor companies (complete with name and address) -- "to bring you offers you might be interested in".
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
That works for me.
1. Move to Vancouver
2. Open a bar
3. Don't treat your patrons as criminals
4. Profit
"When it rains, it pours." --Morton's Salt
Right, since it is the pubs, how about we call this phenomenon Big Bartender?
Dogma - "let's just say we'd like to avoid any empirical entanglements."
OMFG, what if the Elsinore Brewery gets ahold the database?
"When it rains, it pours." --Morton's Salt
I guess the US alcohol culture is different to that in Britain...
No doubt that it is, but the topic at hand involves Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
...where everybody knows your name (and age, address, habits, history and picture.)
Brings new meaning to the Cheers themesong "you wanna go where everybody knows your name..."
I can picture it now. Norm opens door, swipes ID. Photobot robot declares "Norm!" in computerized chorus of voices then snaps photo of Norm. Normbot then rolls over to the bar and asks for a glass of motor oil but is denied for a drunken battlebot fights with Cliffbot. Woodybot has had a hard disk failure and begins mumbling about his days back on the moisture farm with C3PO...
Hmm, my thoughs seem to have degenerated. what was I talking about?
Maybe the Brits think of Canadians as virtually US, but there are big differences. The Canadians are much more docile and willing to give up their rights to the g'ment. They never even won their independence.
The next thing to remember is to put next things next.
That why I go to the Liquor store. It's only 6 blocks away, it's cheaper than going to a bar, and if my wife throws me out of the place, I can go sleep at the neighboors.
(/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
Good god? Is it really that bad in Canada. Was Michael Moore lying to us? The only time I've ever had to do that in the States was to get on an airplane... or into a courthouse come to think of it.
;)
Never a bar. Of course the bar I usually go to is surrounded by corn fields but...
I guess the US alcohol culture is different to that in Britain
I infer from this comment that you are currently engaging in "research" on the topic at hand (intoxication), because:
Acording to the article, this is taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to my atlas, Vancouver is in Canada.
Of course, I was able to figure this out before I checked my atlas, because the story is hosted on "canada.com".
More aptly, "Big Bouncer"
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
No doubt that it is, but the topic at hand involves Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Canada. The 51st State - where your doller goes further(tm).
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
The funny thing about Vancouver is that as progressive as it is in many ways, the liquor laws are anachronistically draconian.
...
a lot of sleazy bars and clubs that tend to be populated with bimbos and knuckle-dragging frat boys
And people that stare when you say anachronistically draconian...
How often do I have to check? Can I just do it once, on my birthday, or do I have to check again everytime I go into a bar?
More to the point, how do I know I'm not lying? Should I ask to see photo ID?