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Of all the RFID uses I've heard of, this one is the most unnerving because there's no clue who is behind it. And while chips in coins is seemingly ineffective given what we think we know about reader technology, it leaves open the possibility that there is stronger reader technology out there under the radar.

Then again, it was probably a targeted operation for the individuals given the coins, perhaps by a program accepting the short-term nature of the association of person and coin and perhaps simply for detecting if the individual passed a certain, specific reader. Of course, I'm wandering off into James Bond land here, but, given the cost and trouble to do the coin tagging and plant them, I suspect it was hopeful about something someone deemed important.

Throughout '06, I posted some interesting, and some of my favorite, uses of RFID. Here is an article which is titled "The best, worst... and craziest uses of RFID" that also outlines some of the more progressive uses of RFID throughout the world.

One example is "Marks and Spencer has long been associated with being at the forefront of flogging ladies' undies. It's also now at the forefront of item-level tagging, having chipped some of its men's clothes. The retailer has avoided questions of privacy protection by attaching the tag to a label on the suit that can be cut off."

Do you have a problem with the RFID tags in your credit card? Many do and, as a result, some have decided to shield their cards from readers so they are not targets of the new breed of stealth cross-marketing. I blogged previously about the "Hello Kitty" shield in my industry update. Here's another shield blocker. This one is transparent.

According to the company, "The RFID Shield consists of a plastic credit card with a metal side and the plastic sleeve. The metal in the card serves to block the RF transmission from any RFID reader. The plastic sleeve keeps the RFID Shield and your credit card (or ID card) together. When the 2 cards are physically near each other, the RFID tag will not be able to receive RF transmissions so your RFID tagged data will not be transmitted.

The beauty of the RFID Shield is that it's simple and protects your information."

On the lighter side of RFID comes this story of a different type of RFID chip implant. A dog, George, ate the chip which had to be in vicinity of the owner’s car to get it started. I am getting a Prius which has a similar “smart key” RFID entry. I will make sure a dog doesn’t eat my chip.

The poop scooping for George will involve more than turning a bag inside out until the chip is found. If there’s ever a time to over-feed George, it may be now.

Thanks to Craig Mullin's blog, I learned that yet another computer has gone missing from the Veterans Administration. Embarrassing and dangerous asset losses such as this could be prevented. For a video on how, click on the graphic at http://www.axcessinc.com/. Companies and agencies with sensitive information likely to be on computers and latops need automated protection of those assets.

The pharmaceutical industry is tracking its sensitive assets - the drugs themselves. The FDA has a December deadline for pedigree tracking all the way from manufacture to consumer sale. The technology component of the solution is the same as for asset protection - RFID.