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Barcelona clubbers get chipped
BBC ^ | 29 September, 2004

Posted on 9/29/2004, 4:23:56 PM by traumer

BBC Science producer Simon Morton goes clubbing in Barcelona with a microchip implanted in his arm to pay for drinks.

Having the chip inserted was a breeze Imagine having a glass capsule measuring 1.3mm by 1mm, about the size of a large piece of rice injected under your skin.

Implanting microchips that emit a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) into animals has been common practice in many countries around the world, with some looking to make it a legal requirement for domestic pet owners.

The idea of having my very own microchip implanted in my body appealed. I have always been an early adopter, so why not.

Last week I headed for the bright lights of the Catalan city of Barcelona to enter the exclusive VIP Baja Beach Club.

The night club offers its VIP clients the opportunity to have a syringe-injected microchip implanted in their upper arms that not only gives them special access to VIP lounges, but also acts as a debit account from which they can pay for drinks.

This sort of thing is handy for a beach club where bikinis and board shorts are the uniform and carrying a wallet or purse is really not practical.

Thumping heart

I met the owner of the club, Conrad Chase, who had come up with the idea when trying to develop the ultimate in membership cards and was the first person implanted with the capsule, made by VeriChip Corporation.

Nurse Laia held a rather large needle With a waiver in his hand Conrad asked me to sign my life away, confirming that if I wanted the chip removed it was my responsibility.

Four aspiring VIP members sat quietly sipping their beverages as the nurse Laia began preparing the surgical materials.

Like a scene from a sci-fi movie, latex gloves and syringes were laid out on the table as the DJ played loud dance tunes that made my heart thump, or was it just fear?

Questions were going through my mind. Would it hurt? What are the risks? What if I want to get it out?

I ordered another drink.

Comfortably numb

Laia started by disinfecting my upper arm and then administered a local anaesthetic to numb the area where the chip would be implanted.

With the large needle in her hand, she tested the zone which made me flinch and led to another dose of the anaesthetic.

The chip is contained in a tiny glass capsule With a numb arm, Laia held up the rather large needle containing the microchip and inserted it beneath the layer of skin and fat on my arm.

She pressed the injector and it was in - my very own 10 digit number safely located in my body.

The chip is made of glass and is inert so there is no risk of it reacting with my body.

It sits dormant under the skin sending out a very low range radio frequency so it will not set off airport security systems.

The chip responds to a signal when a scanner is held near it and supplies its own unique ID number.

The number can then be linked to a database that is linked to other data, at the Baja beach club it make charges to a customers account.

If I want to leave the club then I can have it surgically removed - a pretty simple procedure similar to having it put in.

Now, the question of did it hurt. Having the chip inserted was a breeze, no real pain to report of.

The real pain was the sore head the following day after a night on an open bar tab.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: privacy; rfid; vchip
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1 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:23:57 PM by traumer
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To: traumer
Wrist and Forehead mark is coming.
2 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:25:39 PM by bmwcyle (I wear sleepwear therefore I think)
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To: traumer
Imagine having a glass capsule measuring 1.3mm by 1mm, about the size of a large piece of rice injected under your skin.

I don't know.

But I betchya John sKerry does!

3 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:26:05 PM by woofer (If you've seen Edwards, call sKerry's Kampain Headkwarters 800-QUAGMIRE)
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To: traumer
The real pain was the sore head the following day after a night on an open bar tab.

The next pain will be when he gets the bill in the mail and realizes he was buying drinks for everyone in the club that night.

4 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:26:31 PM by So Cal Rocket (Proud Member: Internet Pajama Wearers for Truth)
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To: bmwcyle

THE MARK

Also, I am allergic to all kinds of things. One of them being metals. Happened after piercing my ears. I can't wear jewelry that isn't at leawst 10KT gold, it breaks me out. I wonder if the chip could possibly cause allergic reactions to highly allergic people like me?


5 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:27:47 PM by buffyt (You don't create terrorists by fighting back. You defeat the terrorists by fighting back. ~GWBush~)
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To: bmwcyle

Yup.


6 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:28:19 PM by starvingstudent (ask your favorite leftist: "If there is another civil war, who do you think will win?")
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To: traumer
about the size of a large piece of rice injected under your skin.

I don't know. Perhaps I should ask John Kerry how that feels before I commit...

7 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:28:25 PM by Chad Fairbanks (How do you ask a hamster to be the last hamster to die for a mistake?)
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To: So Cal Rocket

When I am at a bar I pay as I go, I seem to drink less that way.


8 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:28:54 PM by TXBSAFH (Member of 3rd Pajamahadeen Division, 2nd Boxer Shorts Brigade, 4th Bunny Slipper Battalion)
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To: So Cal Rocket
The next pain will be when he gets the bill in the mail and realizes he was buying drinks for everyone in the club that night.

And when criminals 'clone' his chip and begin buying all sorts of things. And when his government decides to use it to tell where he is. And when....

9 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:28:57 PM by atomicpossum (If there are two Americas, John Edwards isn't qualified to lead either of them.©)
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To: buffyt

Best thing to do is not take it.


10 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:29:36 PM by bmwcyle (I wear sleepwear therefore I think)
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To: traumer

NEVER!

i will NEVEr submit to that!

And if that means i die and old bag lady living off the black market so be it!


11 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:30:45 PM by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno-World!")
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To: traumer

Great that opens up whole new way for criminals to steal your money. Just like how everyone embraced online banking then the crime rate for identity theft shot through the roof. All this guy has to do is sit near the bar and some guy can scan his are all night and he wouldn't even be aware of it. And ideas like this lead to the gov't looking on and saying "Hey why can't we do this with everyone? It would be much easier to control Sheep, oh I mean People"


12 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:32:21 PM by AlexPKeaton04 (Moore and Kerry Please move to France)
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To: tiamat
Could it be used in the national health care system ?
13 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:32:40 PM by traumer
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To: traumer

Wow, War in the middle east, many natural disasters, the eU forming, and now the mark. I was agnostic, now I'm beginning to really wonder.


14 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:32:57 PM by bahblahbah
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To: traumer
Stiges (sp) south of Barcelona was the place to party.
A travel agent in London had a special price for the
shop girls vacation. Many happy times there.
15 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:34:10 PM by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Rather calls Saddam "Mister President" and calls President Bush "bush")
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To: bahblahbah

Is JESUS coming soon.... ?


16 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:34:15 PM by traumer
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To: bahblahbah

Yeah, roger that.

This is all a bit concerning. For a die-hard non-believer, I know my way round a bible and this is all looking a bit like the final chapter.


17 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:35:14 PM by Slipperduke (*lurks*)
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To: traumer

I've partied in Barcelona a few times ... if waking up with a rice-sized chip implanted under your skin is the worst of it, then he is doing OK.


18 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:39:44 PM by spodefly (A bunny-slippered operative in the Vast Right-Wing Pajama Party.)
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To: traumer

Doubtless they will try.

i avoid doctors like the plague anyway.


19 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:41:20 PM by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno-World!")
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To: tiamat

I think the first stage will be to chip all the MEDICARE / MEDICAID people....


20 posted on 9/29/2004, 4:43:07 PM by traumer
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