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3M Mobile ID Reader Helps Big Brother Take Your Identity More Efficiently
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 12:00 AM on September 28, 2008
3M's new Mobile ID Reader scans MRZ and RF chip data from passports and visas and immediately checks them against local or international watch lists by using wifi or GSM/GPRS EDGE networks. It seems like a great tool to further make you feel like you're living in some scary dystopian sci-fi novel, especially when you hear that dastardly monopolist Bill Gates got his little-loved Windows Mobile 6 OS onto the device.
One of our readers recently subscribed to Chrysler's 
Reader Olivier came up with this pretty interesting design for a form-fitting MacBook cooler that attaches to the bottom of your laptop and provides card readers, more USB ports and a gigantic fan to cool it. It might not look as slick as the 
As you know, 
MSNBC's new flash-based "visual newsreader" (as opposed to?) presents headlines by either spinning them off of a colourful 3D spiral or spawning them from the dominant colours in front of your webcam. The service is called Spectra, is one of the most ridiculous ways to communicate information I've seen in a long time. So I gave it a go, and as you can see, its pretty out there. While the New York Times wants to turn your computer in to a newspaper, it looks like MSNBC wants to make it in to a hallucinogenic drug. [
Not so hot on the heels of its Microsoft-built Windows-based counterpart, the Times Reader beta has been made available for all members of NYTimes.com. Although a Silverlight install is required, it's relatively painless and a small price to pay for Reader's efficient news presentation and olde timey typefaces. There are no subscription fees for now, but Mac users can expect to join the US$14.95 a month party when the software goes final. [
We don't usually give Reader of the Month awards, only stars to top commenters who actually post useful or funny stuff. But this reader doesn't comment in Gizmodo, even while he confessed he's addicted to it. He doesn't send us stories or suggestions to tips@gizmodo.com either. Or corrections. Nothing. In fact, I met him today for the first time, after my dog Jones bit me on the mouth this morning, cutting a very deep and nasty 1-inch-long injury in the shape of a seven—just below my inferior lip. His name is Dr. Francisco Gómez Bravo, and he's one of the top plastic surgeons here, in the Old Continent.
Every week, Giz Explains breaks down sticky, chewy tech into easy-to-swallow bits, like a mama bird eating stuff and puking it back into her babies' mouths, already digested. We've covered stuff like 
Purple Tentacle, Iron Man, the Spaghetti Monster, a super cool MacBook Air, Master Chief, Ren & Stimpy, and even a Blue Screen of Death made entirely of folders? Oh yes. We got 14 entries for the desktop clutter art contest that started with 
