An interesting thought occurred to me- what if the bills don't just *contain* a tag, but *are* the tag. The engraving was redesigned- how difficult would it be to arrange it so that the printing on the bill becomes a viable circuit (antenna, capacitors, whatever else is needed)?
Not that I mean to fan the flames (puns not intended) of conspiracy theory...it is my opinion that "The Government" already has too much information flowing in and not enough ability for analysis. As mentioned elsewhere, every bill has had a unique identifier (serial number) for quite some time. The printed versions can't be read remotely, but could be tracked whenever the bills changed hands. Whether this data could be rationalized into information is another question.
A friend of mine had a similar run-in with an airport metal detector and his stack of traveler's checks- each had a foil seal on the face, and collectively these created enough of a signal to set it off. Maybe a simple precaution would be to ensure the bills are oriented randomly (i.e. some with A.J. facing right, others turned 180 degrees and facing left, still others face down in the stack...)
All true paranoids and patriots unite- pay for everything using old quarters...or better yet- pennies!
Slashdot Mirror
An interesting thought occurred to me- what if the bills don't just *contain* a tag, but *are* the tag. The engraving was redesigned- how difficult would it be to arrange it so that the printing on the bill becomes a viable circuit (antenna, capacitors, whatever else is needed)?
Not that I mean to fan the flames (puns not intended) of conspiracy theory...it is my opinion that "The Government" already has too much information flowing in and not enough ability for analysis. As mentioned elsewhere, every bill has had a unique identifier (serial number) for quite some time. The printed versions can't be read remotely, but could be tracked whenever the bills changed hands. Whether this data could be rationalized into information is another question.
A friend of mine had a similar run-in with an airport metal detector and his stack of traveler's checks- each had a foil seal on the face, and collectively these created enough of a signal to set it off. Maybe a simple precaution would be to ensure the bills are oriented randomly (i.e. some with A.J. facing right, others turned 180 degrees and facing left, still others face down in the stack...)
All true paranoids and patriots unite- pay for everything using old quarters...or better yet- pennies!