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Rep. Barney Frank announced a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.

read more here.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling proudly brings you Victory Road from my hometown of Houston, Texas at Reliant Arena this Sunday.

I must say I am kind of jealous about my cousin David meeting Bubba Ray and Devon better known as the Dudleyz or Team 3D. I mean from what I heard from people who have met them they are some of the most down to earth and humble celebs you can meet. They are arguably the best tag team of the modern era. They have held a collective tag championships twenty time which consisted of the ECW, WWF, WWE, WCW, NWA, and TNA tag titles. No other tag team has come close to this not even the legendary Road Warriors. All they need to win is the AWA and ROH tag titles and they would have won all the major tag titles in the States.

Just wanted to wish everyone out there celebrating America’s birthday a safe and fun time tonight. Here is some videos to help ring in the 4th just right.

RFID enabled passports are not a new topic at all.  They have been in use for years, yet not everyone is happy about this.  First I’ll explain what RFID tags do and their use in passports.  If you already know then you’re ahead of the game and should skip on down.

What are these RFID thingys?
RFID (or Radio Frequency IDentification) tags are simply tiny chips that can be used to uniquely identify items.  Think of them as a new version of bar codes.  The main difference between bar codes and RFID tags are how they can be read.  Bar codes use an optical scanner to detect changes in dark to light coloration.  The problem, as we’ve all witnessed in the grocery store, is you must position the bar code relative to the scanner just right to successfully read it.  RFID tags, on the other hand, rely on radio waves to transmit data.  Currently RFID tags can be read from several yards (or meters for you non-US folk) away.  That fact alone makes it much easier and faster to identify items, packages, people, animals, or anything else you can stick a tag on.  Many large corporations quickly (relative term, I know) adopted this technology.  It is widely used in package and inventory management.  Wal-Mart has been one of the driving forces behind RFID adoption, requiring their top suppliers to use the technology to track shipments.  Aside from inventory, RFID tags are also widely used by toll road systems.  Here in Houston, we have an EZTag or TXTag which uses RFID technology to charge you on toll roads without actually stopping to pay an attendant.  Thats wonderful, convenient, and a great example of technological progression.  With props given to RFID technology, lets go into passport uses.

Passports.  Yes, finally got a chance to see the world!
Passports are nothing new to the common US traveler, but the government decided to get with the times and create a passport with RFID tags built in.  The most recent announcement (as I found via Engadget) says the passport can be read from up to 20 feet away.  That is roughly 7 yards which is only slightly shorter than Tom Brady’s average pass completion yardage this season.  It might not sound like much, but for a guard to be able to stand 20 feet away from you and know exactly who you are is a big improvement (or problem) from the old school non-electronic passports.  The government claims it will speed up wait times at the border yet still ensure we are all safe from those stupid (satire) immigrants.  I agree, it will, or at least should, speed up wait times.  This will allow those impatient types to scurry along happily (or at least happier than before).

Will, you don’t seem giddy jumping for joy!  What’s wrong?
As with many tech-savvy Americans, I see the potential privacy concerns with these new passports.  I don’t relish knowing any John Doe can figure out who I am from 20 feet away.  Not exactly my idea of secure.  I let it go though when I found that I can accidentally break the RFID tag without penalty from the government. Besides its not everyday that I personally go out of country, so it doesn’t impact my life enough to get worked up about.  With that said, the future of RFID tags and their uses is my primary concern.

The future?  What do you mean?
We started in the research facility with RFIDs.  Then they branched into the traffic and commerce sector.  Now they are slowly infiltrating the personal sector.  In the distant future, I can see them being used in Drivers Licenses and possibly even on your everyday credit cards.  With RFID tags in my wallet, anyone can identify me from a safe distance and get information I didn’t want them to know (even if it is just my name or social security #).  Of course many people will justify their use stating, “Oh Will, they’ll secure things by that time so only authorized people can get in.”  To those people, I’d just like to point to DRM technology and laugh.  Hackers will always have the upper hand and vendors will always be reacting to patch the latest crack.

Alas, this is something that we’ll have to deal with when the time comes but I’d at least like to get my opinion and stir awareness early.

The real question is: Are you concerned about our future snuggling up to RFIDs?