On Tuesday, April 9, 2002, at 10:54 AM, Trei, Peter wrote: > Putting RF Tags in cash is one of those ideas with Unintended > Consequences. > Muggers would love having a way of determining which victims are > carrying a > wad, as would many salesmen (and JBTs looking to perform a 'civil > confiscation' on 'a sum of currency'.)
Physics-wise, it's a jiveass fantasy. No way are there "micro-strips" readable from a distance in today's currency, and very likely not in the next 20 years. (I don't dispute that a careful lab setup could maybe read a note at a few meters, in a properly-shielded environment, without any shieding between note and detectors, and with enough time and tuning. But a wad of bills, folded, stuffed, and with little time to make the detection...an altogether different kettle of fish.) Further, placing the notes in a simple aluminum foil pouch, or a wallet with equivalent lining, would cut any detectable signals by maybe 30-50 dB. --Tim May "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." --Robert A. Heinlein
