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Homeless to be Implanted with Subdermal RFID Tags

An anonymous reader writes "Politech has the scoop on the Bush administration's plans to forcibly implant RFID tags into homeless people in participating U.S. cities. Here's an excerpt from the UPI article: "The miniscule RFID tags are no larger than a matchstick and will be implanted subdermally, meaning under the skin. Data from RFID tracking stations mounted on telephone poles will be transmitted to police and social service workers, who will use custom Windows NT software to track movements of the homeless in real time... A second phase of the project, scheduled to be completed in early 2005, will wirelessly transmit live information on the locations of homeless people to handheld computers running the Windows CE operating system.""

23 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. Cool.. by Adam9 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So now we can use geocaching to find homeless people? Awesome!

    1. Re:Cool.. by markov_chain · · Score: 5, Funny

      Great... imagine the logs:

      "Found cache easily. Coordinates a bit off, though. Took empty whiskey bottle, left Play-Doh."

      "Took me a while to find this one, the GPS was all over the place. Cache is in bad shape and smells of liquor. TNLN, thanks for bringing us to this beautiful neighborhood!"

      "Found the cache after some bushwhacking. Our kids enjoyed the chat with the cache owner. Took nothing, left some Ramen noodle soup."

      --
      Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    2. Re:Cool.. by pete6677 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or have the implant in the form of a small forehead mounted camera and broadcast the images on a new "reality" TV show. Kind of like an unscripted Bumfights.

    3. Re:Cool.. by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 4, Funny

      Would we call that "War Bumming"?

  2. What the #$%#? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the most retarded April Fool's day yet. If you can't come up with your own stuff, at least link to people that do. Lucky for Slashdot that Paypal doesn't let you donate a kick in the ass.

    1. Re:What the #$%#? by spen · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is sure to get a reaction with the slashdot crowd though, I mean what are they thinking, this is horrible - Windows!? They should be using Linux!!!

  3. walmart is selling homeless people? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That is how I read it.

    1. Re:walmart is selling homeless people? by Sparky77 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yea, and really cheap too, undercutting all the other local homeless people stores and forcing them out of business. That's not right.

      --
      One bad monkey spoils the whole barrel.
  4. Something's been bugging me for a long long time.. by canwaf · · Score: 5, Funny

    How does CTRL-ALT-DEL work on windows CE?

  5. argh by kertong · · Score: 5, Funny

    with all these april fool's postings, I don't know what to believe anymore!

    (huddles in corner wearing tinfoil hat whilst sucking on thumb)

  6. Sure. by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 4, Funny

    who will use custom Windows NT software

    That's a joke all in itself.

  7. Windows NT....Real time by dumbnose · · Score: 5, Funny

    You had me up 'til then.

  8. Re:Because by iggymanz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Today Bush unveiled the new plan to feed America's poor. "The homeless will be ground up into nutritious meat patties and fed to the hungry" he said.

  9. Re:Confound this evil plot! by idiot900 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Confound this evil plot! (Score:4, Informative)

    You can defeat this plot by putting the homeless person in a microwave.


    I love meta-humor. The moderation of the parent Informative is funnier than the parent's joke itself, and way funnier than the story.

  10. Re:OK, enough is enough. by STrinity · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please tell me this is a joke!

    No, it's absolutely true. Polling shows it'll play well in the midwest.

    In the words of Red Foreman, "Don't be such a dumbass."

    --
    Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
  11. We should put them in criminals too by schmaltz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anybody who has ever been arrested, tried, convicted, of any misdemeanor or above should be tracked using this technology. It's just a good idea - we can keep an eye on criminals.

    Better, you could program the automatic doors of your home or office to not let in tagged criminals.

    By storing the information in XML format, you can interactively query a RFIDed criminal to find out what their background is (violent vs. non-violent, type of theft, drug use, current income level, gender, SSN, credit history, etc.) and let your security system decide on the fly whether you want that particular entity on your premises.

    In fact, governments, building owners, and residents could publish their specification for the type of people they will allow into their space -this will solve all sorts of social ills in the future. The Upper Eastside of New York City, for example, could specify:

    <Entities_Allowed>
    <Income minimum="50000"/>
    <Convictions allowed="white_collar"/>
    <Race allowed="caucasian,asian"/>
    <Memberships disallowed="ACLU,NYCLU"/>
    <Jokes onyou="april foools" ;>
    </Entities_Allowed>

    --
    Big Daddy, Johnny, Burp, Aunt Zelda, Scott, Slurp, Big Momma ... where's Siggy?
  12. Re:One step closer to a Gattacan Society.... by Ingolfke · · Score: 5, Funny

    Humm... as far as I know there is no guarantee in The Constitution stating that the government CAN'T implant RFID tags (and shock devices, cause that's really where we're going w/ this) into you, your dog , and the homeless guy living down the street. What are you trying to hide? Aren't you a patriot? Don't resits, assamiliate... it's much safer ;)

    And Howard Dean said "GwaUEAUEAAUE".

  13. Simple. Microsoft borrowed technology... by MachDelta · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...from Etch-a-Sketch for WinCE. So a reboot is as simple as shaking it!

  14. Re:One step closer to a Gattacan Society.... by Free_Meson · · Score: 4, Funny
    assamiliate


    You misspelled "assmutilate"
  15. Re:One step closer to a Gattacan Society.... by RY · · Score: 4, Funny

    RFID chips in dental work

    How else do you think the "identify" people by their dental records.

  16. No larger than a MATCHSTICK ...?! by handy_vandal · · Score: 4, Funny

    The miniscule RFID tags are no larger than a matchstick and will be implanted subdermally, meaning under the skin

    Dude, I don't know about your matchsticks ... but the kind I use are known as "Farmer's Matches", and they're huge!

    -kgj

    --
    -kgj
  17. re: Soylent Green by MADCOWbeserk · · Score: 4, Funny

    How does it taste? It varies from person to person.

  18. Homeless Buying Microwave Ovens? by core+plexus · · Score: 5, Funny
    That reminds me of a story.

    A few years ago, I went into a Sears to buy a new microwave oven. They had a display model that was really cheap, so I decided to buy it. The sale associate says "Whats your name" and I say "Why do you need my name? I'm paying cash for this" and he replies "Because the computer tells me to".

    I ask "Does the computer tell you other things?" He doesn't get it. So I say "Jackie Brown" (just watched the movie the night before). He says "Huh? But..." but types it in anyway. Then he asks for my address. I reply "I don't have an address, I'm homeless." Mind you, I'm wearing nice clothes, driving a new car, etc. He asks "If you're homeless, then why do you need a microwave?" I respond "Because I don't have one." Increasingly frustrated, he says "I have to put something in." So I pick up a card and read the stores address to him. By this time a couple of other bored sales associates have come round. He doesn't like my answer, but types it in anyway. Then I pull a fat wad out of my pocket and peel off a hundred. And walk out with my oven.

    -cp-