New Examples of RF-ID "Heneni" Calls

In an earlier post, I wrote about the growth of RF-ID, and how it mirrored our first-level hunger to announce our birth and call out our location.

The electrical mirroring of first chakra signaling into the Infosphere will become nearly universal with the explosion of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) devices. As this technology gets cheaper and smaller, it is likely that our physical environment will be flooded with millions of these “calling out” radio transmissions. Tiny, silently signaling tags – often as small as a grain of sand – are already riding in bulk shipping containers, wholesale pharmaceutical cartons, warehouse inventories, and soon in airline baggage tags and in consumer packaging to prevent fraud, track deliveries and provide accurate, near real-time inventory control. Some schools are experimenting with student RFID necklaces for security and tracking attendance (with mixed initial responses), and RFID bracelets are available for rent at an increasing number of large amusement parks. Our currency too may someday have embedded signaling to track money laundering and foil counterfeiting. RFID is helping nursing homes automatically track elderly residents who also have a “help alert” button on their badge.

This month's Wired [March, 09; page 029] lists some new applications:

• tagging endangered cacti and elephants
• tracking surgical sponges -- and making sure none are left behind
• tracking released parolees -- and alerting authorities when they go into forbidden locations
• embedding the wealthy -- to track them in case of kidnapping (in Mexico)

The list keeps growing!