I am sure you have all heard somewhere or another (even if you don’t quite understand what it means) of RFID (Radio Frequent IDentification) technology. This is the technology which is becoming ever more present in our world today to (predominantly) manage products within a commercial setting. It basically involves sticking an RFID “tag” onto an object which then can be identified and tracked by a receiver using radio waves.

Although (as I said) predominantly used to track the stock on our major retailers shelves, RFID technology has come in for some major scrutiny recently as its use to track not objects but people have been discussed, either through the direct placement of RFID tags on passports for instance or because (by their very nature) many RFID tags applied to products still remain functional after they have left the shop.

Whatever the long term implications of this technology, it wasn’t going to be long before RFID technology was packaged to the general public as a new gadget to exploit in a whole host of situations. Tikitag is the first (as far as I am aware) of these products. Consisting of a set of “tikitags” and a “reader”. Users can add the sticky tags to a whole host of objects and in essence use these in conjunction with the reader to perform a number of different actions on the computer. These can range from tags which are programmed to automatically open a webpage which can be placed on hi-tech business cards to tags which automatically send an SMS message when scanned by the reader.

Although fascinating, the site looks to me as though it is a solution looking for a problem. To be of long-term use, tikitag readers have to be ubiquitous otherwise the person receiving the business card with the tikitag on it will not have the technology to exploit your nifty gizmo. It is also clear from the site that they are sort of looking to us to provide the problems, which in a way is quite exciting. So, are you interested? Do you want to become an early adopter of this technology? According to tikitag the technology “is only limted by your imagination.” So what is the limit of yours…

Well here it is…my first post…I have had this blog sitting here for a while now and have been looking at it thinking…mmm…what should I write? Anyway, the time has come to stop shilly shallying (as my gran used to say) and just start.

I thought I’d start by pointing you in the direction of a new website I have just found. It is called “a good place for a cup of tea and a think.” This site sort of encompasses everything I like about the internet as it provides us with useful information on the aforementioned subject in a very easily accessible, understated way.

None of your flashy graphics here, just down to earth, honest information about places where you can get a decent cuppa and be left alone to ponder the deep things of life. Why don’t you have a look? Although the site may contain places that you can’t physically get to for a cup of tea, the very essence of this site challenges the modern convention for faceless coffee shops and shows us that the ordinary things of life can be celebrated!