Is there any end to the abuses young people will inflict upon themselves in the pursuit of fun? Sneak hears that patrons of Barcelona venue the Baja Beach Club can ditch both their membership card and credit card if they elect to have an RFID chip implanted in their arm. The plus points are the ability to jump the queue at the door, and the ability to rack up a drinks tab by flexing your biceps at the scanner-equipped bar staff. The negative sides are rather more numerous: the chip probably hurts going in, you won't have any control over the data stored on it, and the scar might ruin your tattoos. Plus, nobody seems to have given much thought to getting the chip out again when, as does happen, the place ceases to be a cool place to hang out. Then there is the prospect of accumulating hundreds of the things if the idiotic idea actually catches on. "Is it my shoulder, knee, nipple or earlobe that gets me into the bingo? And which buttock was it that has all my Tesco points?"

02 Jun 2004