Walmart Stores Get CCTV-Enabled, Breathalyzin' Wine Vending Machines

Select Pennsylvania Walmarts have found a way to work around the law prohibiting alcohol sales in grocery stores. It turns out the shortsighted legislature forgot to make it illegal to sell wine from a vending machine: "as long as the user is asked to take a breathalyzer test, swipe their state issued ID or Driver License, and then show their mug to a state official sitting somewhere in Harrisburg, who is keeping an eye on the proceedings via CCTV." I'm surprised nobody thought of this sooner.

Comments

Little known fact:

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

That liquor control board's antiquated database can be accessed only using an old IE6 client. So that little terminal shown on the right is actually Linux machine running IE6 under WINE :-)

Re:In Japan they do something like this already.

[oldspewey]

One key difference: In Japan, users walk up to the machine - at Wal Mart, users wheel up on their mobility scooter.

Gaaah, Please Don't Confuse Us!!

[RobotRunAmok]

This is Slashdot:

Walmart = Bad.

Japan = Good.

Don't make us have to think...