N and V column

Column #120: You Can’t Touch That: Non-contact Access Control
The Nuts and Volts of BASIC Stamps (Volume 6) • Page 61
Column #120 April 2005 by Jon Williams:
You Can’t Touch That: Non-contact Access
Control
Today I had a bit of a headache and was feeling cramped in my office so I decided to escape
to the treadmill for a half-hour or so in the complex's private gym. To keep it private,
members gain access by waving a security card in front of a small plate adjacent to the front
door – if the card is a match, cha-ching, the door unlocks and you're in.
Okay, what's going on with the card? You've probably seen them, they're everywhere. The
cards in question contain technology called RFID: Radio Frequency Identification. Even if
you haven't heard of RFID, you may have unknowingly been exposed to it. RFID tags can be
as small and nearly as thin as a postage stamp, and are often used to track package movement
in retail stores (big companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and others are adopting the technology).
Drug companies are even putting RFID tags into their packaging to the prevent piracy of
expensive medicines. RFID is big news, and now you can get in on it too.