Roderick Stewart wrote:

It can only be a matter of time though. Merseyrail has some kind of
electronic sensing system at Central Station that will accept my old fogey
pass if it's just waved in the general vicinity of the ticket slot on one
of the exit barriers. Evidently the start of some master plan. I had no
idea my pass had any electronics in it, as it just looks like a piece of
printed plastic.

It's a RIFID (pronounced like the three legged plant) chip. They are in
everything these days. If you search youtube you can find some interesting
videos about them, including one of a person who put a 900mHz reader in his
car with an antenna covering a side window. He was able to read the information
on credit cards, driver's licenses, passports etc of people passing him in
other cars and on the street as he drove by.

The Mythbusters were going to do a show about them, and were told by the
credit card companies not to do it. Discovery Network agreed so they are
never going to do one.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(