Here A Penny, There A Penny, No More?

Image Credit: USAToday

Oil is up, Gold is up, it turns out that the prices of the common metals that make up our coinage are up as well.

It now costs more to manufacture and distribute a penny (or a nickel) than it is worth as money. This turn of events has some in Congress wondering if they should vote to scrap these coins altogether.

Don't try melting down the hoard you may have in the coin jar though, it will cost you more in effort and energy, not to mention marketing than the metals you have at the end of the process ... so just keep the jar, it makes a good paperweight/doorjamb.

Excerpts from USAToday via Yahoo! News -

Coins cost more to make than face value
By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts, you might want to take them up on it.

For the first time in U.S. history, the cost of manufacturing both a penny and a nickel is more than the 1-cent and 5-cent values of the coins themselves.

Skyrocketing metals prices are behind the increase, the U.S. Mint said in a letter to members of Congress last week.

The Mint estimates it will cost 1.23 cents per penny and 5.73 cents per nickel this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The cost of producing a penny has risen 27% in the last year, while nickel manufacturing costs have risen 19%.

The estimates take into account rising metals prices as well as processing, labor and transportation costs. Based on current metals prices, the value of the metal in a nickel alone is a little more than 5 cents. The metal in a penny, however, is still worth less than a penny.
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Metals prices have been soaring this year as a strong economy worldwide has led to an increase in demand. The prices of metals used in coins are all rising: Zinc is up 76% this year, copper is up 68%, and nickel is up 42%, according to the London Metal Exchange.
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The Mint is one of the few government agencies that makes a profit.

The Federal Reserve, which distributes money to banks, pays face value for coins. If a coin costs less to manufacture than the face value, the Mint makes a profit.

Last year, the Mint's coin-making profit was $730 million. Mint officials estimate the added penny and nickel expenses will reduce the Mint's profit this year by $45 million.

Coin compositions, which are set by Congress, have been changed in the past because of rising costs. The penny has been altered several times since it was first changed from pure copper in 1837 to add other metals.
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You guessed it, as usual, the Government still "makes a profit" through a ponzi scheme supported by the law of the people!

Privacy And Convenience Go Head To Head

Image Credit: Google

Google believes that it has the answer for the convenience of online shopping with its release of its new service - Google Checkout.

eBay’s PayPal and Microsoft's former attempt at streamlining the online checkout process, Passport, have tried to address the security and convenience concerns of retailers and buyers alike, but neither have been able to make the processes deliver sales at the end of the shopping experience.

Google is banking on the trust built through owning the private information of the online shopper and insuring its privacy, they can deliver valuable purchasing information to retailers so that the retailer can market more directly to its potential target market.

What is the convenience to the online shopper? To be able to purchase online as if one had a "Mobile SpeedPass", in that the shopper would not need to enter private purchasing information for every shopping experience at every online retailer.

The rub is this -- Can shoppers trust Google to treat the information and its potential monopolistic power with a strong enough respect over time? There lay many strong temptations to play with this information and its collective power to the detriment of the user of the service.

Excerpts from Reuters via Yahoo! News -

Google Checkout to make debut
By Lisa Baertlein Thu Jun 29, 12:46 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) on Thursday will launch a long-awaited service called Google Checkout, which some analysts said could help online merchants boost sales and convince them to commit more advertising money to the Web search leader.

Analysts were mixed on whether the product, initially available only in the United States, puts eBay Inc.'s (Nasdaq:EBAY - news) PayPal online payment system in Google's competitive sights.

The new offering, referred to in news and analyst reports as GBuy or Google Wallet, promises online sellers an easy way to add a checkout to their sites and can be used in addition to other options such as PayPal or a merchant's own pay system.

Google said Checkout stores names, shipping and credit card information and eliminates the need for consumers to resubmit that data with each purchase. Google is responsible for processing the credit card payments and keeping data safe.

"We think we're making e-commerce a lot more efficient and easier to use," Salar Kamangar, Google's vice president of product management, told Reuters.

Google charges merchants 2 percent of the value of each sale plus 20 cents per transaction -- a fee that early users said was in line with other options. The company rewards its advertisers by offering them $10 in free sales processing for every dollar they spend on its advertising program, AdWords.
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Forrester analyst Charlene Li and early users such as Buy.com said it will expand the market by giving consumers another way to pay.
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If Google helps Web retailers sell more, they could be persuaded to spend more money on AdWords, Li said.

"It's a win, win, win all around."
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"Google is looking at exactly the right problem," said John Bresee, president of Backcountry.com, which specializes in high-end outdoor gear and had $52 million in revenue in 2005.

The company, along with online stores run by Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq:SBUX - news), Timberland (NYSE:TBL - news), Levi Strauss & Co. and underwear seller Jockey, is among the first to try Checkout.
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"What we may discover is that Google knows a lot about search, but they don't know a lot about the way consumers are shopping. We just don't know," Bresee said.

In storing personal data, Google Checkout is reminiscent of Passport, Microsoft's online wallet, which bumped into security and privacy issues and failed to live up to the software titan's expectations after its launch about seven years ago.
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Li predicted an eventual backlash as Google pushes ahead with its goal to be the world's information clearinghouse and encounters inevitable customer service problems.

"Whereas Microsoft wanted to own the desktop, Google wants the monopoly on your information," she said, noting Checkout also provides buyers with a purchase history that shows where they spend their money. "I'm concerned that they could fall into a situation where they're the next Microsoft."
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Laptop Records Employee Identity Theft Is Epidemic

At a conference in Japan, a Dell laptop suddenly exploded into flames, and lucky for its owner the fiery blast occurred while the PC was sitting on a table and not in his lap. An onlooker reported that the notebook continued to burn, producing several more explosions over the course of about five minutes. It’s only a matter of time before something like this happens on an airplane. [editor's note: at least the records will not be comprimised] Photo Credit: Charlie White – 6-21-2006 (HT: Gizmodo)

The U.S. Military is not the only organization to suffer from personnel records being compromised when a laptop is stolen. This stuff happens in the private sector as well. In fact it has happened twice to a major food marketing company this month alone.

Why are public and private employee records allowed to be transported on laptop computers that can be stolen and possibly compromised? Why aren’t these records kept on database media that is encrypted and locked down much like PDF documents while they are being moved around from location to location?

Forgive me if I am wrong, but in our society, don’t we take better care of our copyrighted sales brochure and procedure manuals data than we take care of our employee identity data?

Excerpts from Progressive Grocer -

Laptop with Ahold Employees' Confidential Info Swiped -- Again
Progressive Grocer, JUNE 27, 2006

QUINCY, Mass. -- In the second such incident to occur this month involving one of Ahold USA's external service providers, a laptop computer containing the personal information of current and former company employees was stolen during a domestic commercial airline flight.

Ahold USA spokesman Barry F. Scher told Progressive Grocer that Ahold here wasnít responsible for either of the security breaches. "We're the victims," Scher said.

A Deloitte Accountants spokesman told PG that the information on the stolen computer was password-protected. Deloitte spokesman Jeff Zack confirmed that one of its employees had violated company policy by checking the computer as luggage on an airline flight. According to Zack, the incident has been reported to airline and law enforcement authorities.

The information was about current and former associates who received or exercised stock options last year, Scher told PG. Ahold and Deloitte Accountants would not disclose any further details about what kind of personal information was stored on the computer, when the laptop was stolen, or how many current and former employees were affected.

There so far has been no evidence that information relating to any current or former associate has been misused, Ahold noted in a written statement.

"While our company has substantial policies and procedures concerning data confidentiality, both internally and with external service providers, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of such policies," Scher said in the statement. "We plan to evaluate and, if appropriate, implement additional safeguards upon completion of this review, and we will require our external service providers to confirm their compliance."

Earlier in June, an employee of Electronic Data Systems who was boarding a commercial flight had checked a laptop containing former Ahold employees' pension information, and the computer was also reportedly subsequently stolen. Current employees' information wasn't stored on the first stolen computer, officials said.
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From Hollywood Script To Fairy Tale - AJ 2-4-2

Allmendinger on the podium with trophy and flag. Photo Credit: Michael L. Levitt, USA LAT Photographic

You just can't make this stuff up. AJ Almendinger wins second race in a row after starting for Forsythe Racing.

As it was previously noted here at MAXINE, the last 20 or so days in the life of AJ have been pretty "Above Average".

--- He was fired, let go, 86ed by RUSPORT (replaced by past champion, Cristiano Da Matta).

--- He decided to grab his girlfriend and go to Niagra Falls, where he asked her to marry him, and she accepted.

--- He got a call from Forsythe Racing, one of the top three teams in ChampCar (the one that has past champion Paul Tracy on it, and it had just let go Mario Dominguez), they asked him if he would race for them on a three race deal, AJ accepted.

--- He qualified at Portland Raceway at P2 along side of series points leader, and double past champion Sebastian Bourdais.

--- AJ got the jump on Sebastian into the first corner, led most all of the race, and won!

--- This week at the Cleveland Grand Prix, he qualified for the pole position (P1) and he did it by setting a new track record, one that was set by past champion Jimmy Vasser back in 1998.

--- Right away, in the first straightaway in the race, his car was clipped and he had to come in for service. This set up a counter fuel filling strategy that paid off in the end. AJ avoided trouble on the track, raced away from the competition, and won the race climbing into third place in the points race for the season.

That would be 2 (wins) - 4 (for) - 2 (starts) for AJ Almendinger at Forsythe Racing.

Everywhere he turns, he is matching the history of past champions, MAXINE believes it's time he eventually becomes one.

Excerpts from Champ Car World Series -

A.J. ALLMENDINGER BECOMES FIRST U.S.-BORN CHAMP CAR DRIVER IN 10 YEARS TO WIN BACK-TO-BACK CHAMP CAR EVENTS
By CCWS - CLEVELAND - June 25, 2006

A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was only two turns into today's Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford race before he was spinning in circles, having gone off course in a madcap start to today's event.

95 laps later he was spinning in circles again, only this time in jubilation, turning celebratory donuts after winning the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank.

Allmendinger survived a rough-and-tumble event that saw an event-record nine cautions, to come back and claim his second consecutive Champ Car victory - just one week after taking his first win with a romp in Portland.

Allmendinger became the first U.S.-born driver since Michael Andretti to win back-to-back Champ Car races with his victory today, and more importantly, got back in the title hunt as the top-two drivers in the standings suffered their worst results of the season. He beat Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to the line by 3.279 seconds to take the win with PKV Racing's Oriol Servia (#6 Gulfstream/Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) coming home less than a quarter-second behind Junqueira to round out the podium.
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The last U.S.-born driver to have back-to-back wins ... Michael Andretti, a past champion of this series.

Yep! This is fairy tale stuff.

A Good Show For Canada, F1 Race Had Its Moments

Podium of 2006 Canadian GP with Schumacher, Alonso, and Raikkonen. Image Credit: Racing-Live.com

And Michael caught up enough to almost made it into Alonso's finish line photo!

Excerpts from F1.Racing-Live.com -

Alonso takes Michelin’s 100th victory
Canadian GP - Race

Fernando Alonso can cross off ‘must win Montreal’ from his 2006 to do list as he claimed the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix, claiming his fourth straight win and extending his championship advantage to 25 points over nearest rival Michael Schumacher. The victory was a historic one for Michelin who recorded their 100th Grand Prix triumph – the first of which came at the 1978 when Carlos Reutemann took the chequered flag in Brazil.

Alonso controlled his pace through the opening stint with Kimi Raikkonen in close attendance. Starting second, Giancarlo Fisichella moved a fraction too early, checked his start and then lost out as the race got underway. Fisichella would serve a drive through penalty for the jump start, even though he gained nothing, and then had a relatively quiet race from that point.

Out front, Raikkonen kept the pressure on Alonso until the first round of stops, with the gap rarely above a second. The first McLaren pit stop saw a problem with the right rear wheel and Raikkonen lost five seconds to Alonso. With a small cushion now Alonso was able to control the gap until the second round of stops when Raikkonen’s Mercedes inexplicable stalled.

From that point onwards Alonso had the race in the bag, despite a late safety car and he duly took his sixth win of the season.

Michael Schumacher took advantage of a late race slip-up from Raikkonen to claim the runner up spot after a very strong drive on a heavy fuel load in the early stages. Raikkonen will be disappointed with third position as will Fisichella who crossed the line in fourth position.
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Formula One Starts In Montreal

Saturday's Qualifing Notes

Excerpts from Motorsport.com -

Canadian GP: Renault Saturdy qualifying notes
2006-06-24 -- An all-Renault front row with Fernando ahead of Giancarlo in Montreal.

The Renault F1 Team locked out the front row for the Canadian Grand Prix during qualifying today at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Fernando Alonso on pole position and Giancarlo Fisichella second. This was the team's second all-Renault front row of the 2006 season, following on from the Spanish Grand Prix last month, and Fernando's fifth consecutive pole position, continuing a run that began at the Nurburgring.

Qualifying confirmed the strong performances both drivers had put in throughout the weekend. They tuned the car set-up throughout practice to adapt to changing circuit conditions as the track rubbered in, and the R26 has performed faultlessly. The car balance has been neutral, giving them confidence to attack the chicanes and braking zones.

Tomorrow's race is expected to be run in hot conditions which will suit the team's Michelin tyres. They have performed excellently all weekend, offering a competitive blend of first-lap performance and long-run consistency, and both Renault drivers hope to make best use of those qualities to fight for the race win tomorrow.

Fernando Alonso, Pole position:

"Five pole positions in a row is something I have never experienced and it is a fantastic feeling. The competition between myself, Fisico and Raikkonen has been very close all weekend, and that was how it turned out in qualifying this afternoon. The car has felt very good from the first lap we did on Friday, and we have only had to tune it to adapt to the changing grip conditions."

"We needed to run at the end in qualifying because the track was improving all the time, and this result was perfect. To have an all-Renault front row at the ninth race shows how hard the whole team is pushing to develop the car at the moment, and they can be proud of the work they are doing. Now, we need to finish the job tomorrow."

Giancarlo Fisichella, 2nd position:

"I was really pleased with the performance today -- it's fantastic to have a Renault one-two in qualifying. I made a change to the car right before my last flying lap to add a bit more front wing and after that, the balance felt really good."

"Now we have to see what tomorrow brings, but I know that we have a good strategy and the perfect starting position. We have a great chance to win the race, and maybe we will want a one-two finish there as well."
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Schumacher and Farrari will be waiting in the wings (having qualified fifth), hoping for some kind of terminal failure ... but he will probably be waiting ALL season.

Michael Schumacher, 5th position:

"Obviously, we can't be happy with this result, especially in the light of the championship situation. We have made some progress compared with yesterday, but we are still suffering from a lack of grip. This could be down to the car, the tyres or the set-up: at the moment we cannot be sure which. What is sure is that starting from fifth on the grid we can expect a very tough race. Seventy laps are a lot and yes, anything can happen. For our part, all we can do is give it our best shot and try and exploit any opportunity that presents itself."
Farrari Notes>>

One Down, Two To Go ... F1 Is Next!

Indianapolis 500 winner takes the "bull ring" almost from the very beginning. Image Credit: IRL

Well, okay --- I did take out the trash after the race! One "honey-do" down, a bunch to go.

This from RacingOne -

Hornish Dominates Richmond
J.J. O'Malley - RacingOne Contributor

Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead from Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves and never looked back Saturday night, cruising to his second IRL IndyCar Series victory of 2006 in the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio at Richmond International Raceway.
Complete Results

First Up, IndyCar At Richmond

Richmond International Raceway is displaying a collection of racing memorabilia, including an open-wheel car driven by Al Fleming in the inaugural race at the Atlantic Rural Exposition (aka Strawberry Hill Speedway) on Oct. 12, 1946, in the midway area this weekend.
Image Credit: IRL

Richmond International Raceway opened in 1953 and the track has been reconfigured five times to its current 0.75 miles. Lights were added in 1991. The IndyCar Series has been competing at the D-shaped oval since 2001.

The cars, tonight, will average over 150 mph per lap and do a lap in about 17 seconds - It is just a "bull ring".

This from the IndyCar Website -

Blogs from the track.

Drawing a crowd in the Richmond garage area
Posted by Patrick Stephan - Saturday, June 24. 2006

There are three ways to attract attention in the garage area and just a few minutes ago, we saw all of them. Of course, the first way is to be fast, and there are some fans desperately seeking an autograph from pole sitter Helio Castroneves.

Unfortunately, Buddy Rice and his crew have drawn a crowd because he invoked the second method for getting attention at the racetrack - he crashed in the final practice session.

Several dozen fans have camped on the edge of the Rahal Letterman garage to watch Buddy’s team rebuild the rear end of his race car.

The team is in the process of fixing the gear box, rear wing assembly, rear undertray “wheel flip,” building a new left-rear and left-front suspension and changing the engine. The engine change alone requires breaking the car into three pieces, unbolting the engine from the tub and bell housing, then sliding the new powerplant into the middle. Fans seem fascinated by this hurried work, and many have been stationed there since the car came off the tow truck.

Of course, the other way to draw a crowd is to be famous. Danica Patrick was hanging out at the back of her transporter signing autographs for the hundreds of fans gathered there waiting for the sophomore IndyCar Series driver.

Eventually though, she had other meetings to attend to, so off she went on a scooter to head outside of the track where the motorhomes and hospitality areas are located. Before she left though, Danica caused another mini-commotion. She stopped at the infield exit gate to chat with Dario Franchitti and his wife, Ashley Judd. Took a good ... oh ... 15 seconds for the fans to see Danica with her competitor and the movie star and start heading that direction.

After signing a few more autographs, the trio disappeared into the tunnel on their respective scooters, and the fans went in search of other drivers such as Felipe Giaffone, who was talking with the Brazilian media outside of his transporter.
Link Here>>

Open-Wheel Racing's Orgy Week-End

Fernando Alonso takes the checkered flag at British Grand Prix, his fifth win in eight races this season. Photograph by: DARREN STAPLES, REUTERS

In North America, these are the auto racing week-ends we live for.

What with F1 in Montreal at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, ChampCar at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, and the IRL "flying" at one of NASCAR's more famous venues, the Richmond International Raceway in Virginia; how does one get any of the "honey-do's" done?

Excerpted snippets fron the F1, CCWS and IRL websites -

F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Sun, Jun 25 12:30PM (EST)

A pretty low-key opening day in Montreal, with Midland’s Tiago Monteiro the only man to experience drama, as he tangled with the infamous ‘wall of champions’. And once again it was BMW Sauber’s third man Robert Kubica at the top of the times .
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Kubica heads opening Montreal session
F1 - 23 June 2006

Practice for the Canadian Grand Prix got off to a quiet start in Montreal on Friday, under grey skies and windy conditions on the Ile Notre Dame.

Robert Kubica set the best time, for BMW Sauber, with a lap of 1m 16.290s. That compares with Jenson Button’s 2005 pole time of 1m 15.217s and Kimi Raikkonen’s fastest lap of 1m 14.384s.

Nobody else pushed particularly hard, with Anthony Davidson 1.916s down in second place for Honda on 1m 18.306s ahead of Alexander Wurz on 1m 18.941s for Williams. Right at the end they were joined by Michael Schumacher, with 1m 18.994s for Ferrari.
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CCWS - Cleveland Grand Prix - CBS - Race Live, Jun 25, 2:30pm (ET)

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS UPENDS FORSYTHE DUO WITH LAST-LAP SURPRISE TO LEAD FIRST DAY OF CHAMP CAR QUALIFYING IN CLEVELAND
CCWS - June 23, 2006

CLEVELAND - Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford points leader Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) had a great seat to watch a slugfest between Forsythe Championship Racing drivers Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), but when the dust had settled, it was Bourdais that stepped up to throw the battle-ending blow.

Portland racewinner Allmendinger and defending Cleveland champion Tracy swapped the first-day pole five times in a furious qualifying session at Burke Lakefront Airport today, but instead of locking up the front row, the Forsythe duo ended their day looking up at the two-time defending series champ. Bourdais blistered the 2.106-mile circuit in 56.851 seconds (133.359 mph) on his 15th and final lap of the day to lead the first round of qualifying.
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Wilson ended up fourth with a top time of 57.312 seconds (132.286 mph), putting him one position ahead of last week's polesitter Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone). Nelson Philippe (#4 CTE Racing-HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) continued his recent run of strong performances with a sixth-place finish, stopping the clocks at 57.779 seconds (131.217 mph).
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The final grid for Sunday's 105-lap 25th anniversary Champ Car Grand Prix Presented by U.S. Bank will be set by Saturday's final qualifying session, which takes place from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
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IRL - SunTrust Indy Challange - 8 p.m. (EDT), ESPN2

Castroneves awarded pole after qualifying washed out; Sharp second
By Dave Lewandowski - indycar.com - Friday, June 23, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. – Helio Castroneves said his mother told him to appreciate every gift he received. Years later, that includes pole starts in the IndyCar Series.

For the third time this season, the series points leader will start from the pole after rain curtailed qualifying after 10 cars had made attempts. The field for the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio (8 p.m. ET June 24 on ESPN2, IMS Radio Network affiliates, XM Satellite Radio Channel 145 and www.indycar.com) was set on combined practice speeds from earlier in the day. The thunderstorm also postponed the final practice session until 2 p.m. (ET) on race day (check out live Timing and Scoring on indycar.com).

Castroneves topped both pre-qualifying practice sessions with quick laps of 173.029 mph (15.6043 seconds in the first) and 173.472 mph (15.5645 seconds in the second). Delphi Fernandez Racing’s Scott Sharp will make his first non-Indianapolis 500 front-row start since Kentucky 2001 after a quick lap of 172.712 mph in the second session.

“I’ll take it,” said Castroneves, who also started from the pole at Watkins Glen (practice speeds) and Motegi (points because all cars didn’t have equal practice time). “I’m not upset that we didn’t qualify. Every time you have a chance to start on the pole position without going qualifying it’s a blessing in disguise.”

It is Castroneves’ seventh consecutive top-5 start this season and his second pole start at Richmond International Raceway (2004). He was midway through his first warm-up lap in qualifying when he spotted two raindrops on his visor. Obviously, he immediately stepped off the throttle.

The starting position was especially pleasing to Sharp, whose team switched to the Dallara chassis from the Panoz before the season-opening race March 26.
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Sam Hornish Jr. (172.561 mph) and reigning IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon (172.492) will occupy the second row. Wheldon was the provisional pole sitter (173.991 mph) when rain cloud engulfed the facility.
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Rookie Marco Andretti (172.068) and Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira (171.972) will share Row 3, while Tony Kanaan (171.950) and Kosuke Matsuura (171.802) are in Row 4.

The Nos. 5 (Buddy Lazier) and 14 (Felipe Giaffone) cars would not have made qualifying attempts. Lazier’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 in the first session. The team will have the back-up car prepared for the race. The A.J. Foyt Enterprises team changed the engine and multiple other components after a plume of smoke was visible after eight laps.
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I guess the "honey-do's" will just have to wait!

"Totally" Free WiFi ... For A Price!

Brewed Awakenings, with its pithy name, artful drinks and wireless Internet service, has found itself unexpectedly percolating on the forefront of high-tech law. Image Credit: KATU - Channel 2, Portland

"Drive-by WiFi" just isn't what it used to be.

Here are some rules for "totally" free WiFi ... just to be clear:

1. Find multiple locations
2. Do not park in the same place at the same scouted access location
3. Bring water and a snack
4. Surf after you have cleared-up your legal record
5. Get a life

Excerpts from television's KATU - Channel 2, Portland -

Wireless piggybacking lands man in trouble
By Dan Tilkin – KATU Channel 2, Portland, KATU.com Web Staff

VANCOUVER, Wash., June 21, 2006 - Brewed Awakenings, with its pithy name, artful drinks and wireless Internet service, has found itself unexpectedly percolating on the forefront of high-tech law.

"He doesn't buy anything," Manager Emily Pranger says about the man she ended up calling 911 about. "It's not right for him to come and use it."

Pranger says 20-year-old Alexander Eric Smith of Battle Ground sat in the parking lot in his truck for three months, spending hours at a time piggybacking on the coffee shop's wireless Internet service for free.

When deputies told Smith to knock it off, he came back and is now charged with theft of services.

"It's a repetitive occurrence and it's something that is borderline creepy," says Pranger.

As it turns out, Smith is a Level One Sex Offender, but whether he in fact committed a crime by not buying a single tall latte before accessing the Internet, well that remains to be seen. The sheriff's office and prosecutors are now reviewing the case.
Read All>>

The television reporters took on a little additional investigation. They found out that anyone driving through a residential neighborhood could potentially find a connection to hook up to.

On their test, they stopped at a random neighborhood intersection in Vancouver, Washington, turned on the laptop and found a total of 11 active WiFi networks, 5 of them were un-secured portals on which anyone could log on and surf.

All the web without the caffeine! Scone, anyone?
(HT: Slashdot Daily Newsletter)

Beyond Human Implanted RFID & GPS Technology

Go from box to boat to dash with the portable and versatile GPSMAP® 478. This combination color chartplotter and land navigator comes preloaded with U.S. marine charts utilizing elements of the latest BlueChart® g2 technology, in addition to detailed street-level mapping. Optional weather and sonar capabilities combined with the ability to conveniently add plug-in data cards, let you easily add more maps and features — making this one incredible GPS navigator for land and sea. Image Credit: Garmin International Inc.

When one digs deeper into what the state of Wisconsin did by outlawing all human implanted RFID and GPS technology for any reason, in one persons opinion, they took away a tool that would allow parents a greater level of security over their children.

Beyond RFID, an amendment to allow parents to implant Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signal technology in their children was shot down during the run-up to the passage of the law disallowing the use of all human implanted tracking and locating technology.

Excerpts of an opinion article in Computerworld -

Thinking the Unthinkable
By Don Tennant - June 19, 2006 - Computerworld

A Wisconsin law that went into effect last week would probably be considered by most people to be a no-brainer. The law prohibits the implantation of any kind of microchip into a person's body without his consent. Who could fault legislation that serves as a proactive measure to safeguard personal privacy in the face of emerging intrusive identification and tracking technologies?

I could. And here's why.

A few weeks ago, at a dinner during Computerworld's Mobile & Wireless World conference in Orlando, I had the privilege of being seated next to one of the Best Practices award winners. In the course of our dinner conversation, we were talking about our kids, and he told me that he lost his teenage daughter in a car accident not too long ago. She had fallen asleep at the wheel. "Every parent's worst nightmare," he said.

"That's not my worst nightmare," I told him. "My worst nightmare is for one of my kids to go missing and to never be found." He understood and nodded. Not knowing would be maddening.
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One day last week, I asked [my daughter] Shelly whether she'd be OK with it if I wanted to have a chip with a tracking capability implanted in her so we could find her if she was ever missing.

"Certainly," she said without hesitation. "Because I trust you." Her caveat: "Parents should only activate it if they really need to." Agreed.

The technology to implant GPS tracking devices in humans certainly exists, as a simple Google search will affirm. But it doesn't appear to be actively marketed or readily available in product form for implanting in children so they can be quickly located if they're lost or abducted. There's just too much negative publicity surrounding the technology and its privacy ramifications, and the companies involved in its development seem unwilling to run the political and public relations gantlet. That's a shame.

About six years ago, Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy took a now-famous position on the issue. "If I could embed a locator chip in my child right now, I know I would do that," he said. "Some people call that Big Brother. I call it being a father."
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So I was troubled by the fact that an amendment to the Wisconsin bill that provided for an exemption in the case of parents directing an implantation in a minor was revoked before the bill became law. And I'm wary of the precedent set by such preemptive legislation and of the course that other states might take.

For anyone who finds that position unacceptable, I'll tell you what. Find me a parent with a missing child who wouldn't give anything to have had a GPS tracking device implanted in that child, and I'll keep quiet. Make a compelling argument that there's an abducted child who wouldn't feel the same way, and I'll shut up. Until then, I'll be a vocal advocate of thinking the unthinkable and doing something about it.

Don Tennant is editor in chief of Computerworld. Contact him at don_tennant@computerworld.com.
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Ahhh, yes, human implanted tracking and locating technology is a slippery slope.

Does the tracking "chip" come out at the age of eighteen? Can you get them removed at the same time you get your first right-of-passage tattoo?

HT: Symblogogy
(photo and equipment description above relates only as an example of GPS technology in general and does not relate directly to human implant technology discussed in the opinion piece from Computerworld highlighted in this post)