Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Sebastian Thrun: Google's Driverless Car
Satellites Track Mexican Kidnapping Victims via Implants
As news of violent kidnappings in Mexico continue to proliferate, the Mexican elite are now using technology to fight back. Reuters reports that wealthy Mexicans are spending big money to implant tiny transmitters under their skin so satellites can track them wherever they are (i.e., the trunk of a car). The crystal-encased chips are apparently "the size and shape of a grain of rice" (their words, not ours).
Things are bad and getting worse, with news of both high-profile and middle-class victims hitting the newswire. Kidnapping rates in the country rose nearly 40 percent between 2004 and 2007 in Mexico, which now ranks up there with war zones -- think Iraq and Colombia -- as among the countries with the most abductions.
The chips are manufactured by a Mexican company called Xega, and cost $4,000, plus an annual fee of $2,200. Which sound like a lot, until you consider that it's a whole lot less than the ransoms being demanded by some of these kidnappers -- not to mention better than losing a finger. [From: Yahoo News]
Jennifer Aniston's Effortlessly Sexy Style
Whitney Houston Dead: Singer Dies at 48, Body Found in Beverly Hilton Hotel
16 Grammys Looks That Weren't Working
Whitney Houston Autopsy: Cause of Death Determined?
Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina: Late Singer's Daughter Hospitalized
Sheryl Crow Loves To Flaunt Toned Physique
Whitney Houston Dead: Stars React to Legend's Sudden Death
Grammy Red Carpet 2012 (PHOTOS)
QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About Marriage In The U.S.?
Grammy 2012 Winners' List: Adele Sweeps Music's Biggest Night
Katy Perry Grammy Performance 2012: Diva Tricks Fans With Faux Technical Meltdown
PHOTOS: Remembering Whitney Houston's Glittering Style
There's only one thing to do when the Nürburgring is covered in snow...
Tips for flying cheaper in 2012
Grammy Awards 2012: The Best & Worst Of The Red Carpet!
Tax Reform in This Election Year: It's Not Likely
LINSANITY CONTINUES
Comforter Soaked In Blood Found In Josh Powell's Storage Unit
TV's Best Music Moments
12 Grammys Stars Who Gave Good Style
SLIDESHOW: Scientists On God
Mena Suvari's Beauty Evolution
The Happiest People In The World...
PHOTOS: Two Outfits, One Day!
Mitt Romney Wins Maine Caucus
PHOTOS: Thank God For Grown-Up Glamour
Simon Cowell: Whitney Would've Been The Ultimate 'X Factor' Mentor
New Rankings Finds D.C. Is A Great Place For Single Men
Taylor Swift Does Great Depression Chic
PHOTOS: J.Lo Strips Down
WATCH: Adorable Animals Riding Other Animals
PHOTOS: Best And Worst Of Grammy Dresses
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsTigreAug 22nd 2008 12:58AM
This is a pretty good idea. I think the government should us a system like this with our military so that when they're kidnapped we can easily track them and hopefully bring them back alive.
Although now that news of this microchip is now public you know the kidnappers are going to search the body for it or get some sort of device that can tell where it's located in the body. If this happens then they're back to square one.
DarkLightAug 22nd 2008 1:53AM
No need to do such a thing - just build a faraday room and everything's gone (phone, GPS, implants, you name it)....
Problem is, Mexican kidnappers (or most Mexican people for that matter - they only care about cellphones and "iPods"... I'm one of the few Mexicans who actually know/care about how the "life" works) are too ignorant to know what a faraday cage is...
MattAug 22nd 2008 2:06AM
It's only a matter of time before the slave drivers find a way to utilize this technology to track their human merchandise.
UnknownAug 28th 2009 5:45PM
That'll be the NWO's excuse to use it on the rest of us. The MO is create or foment the danger then offer the "solution."
iansilvAug 22nd 2008 4:35AM
I want to know when the US military is going to use satellite technology to map the route that US troops are going to use to just go down and kill the known drug and crime lords. It's Mexico- it's right next to us, and I am sick of hearing about the drug and kidnapping violence. Sorry if it sounds racist / nationalist / or whatever "ist" you want to label my attitude as. But if the Mexican "government" can't get it together, then we need to help them along.
greenhalgeAug 24th 2008 7:54PM
Old news. I was exporting automotive products into Mexico City through-out the 90's and my importer and his whole family were chipped back in 1995.
The kidnappings were happening then to many of the wealthiest families in different manufacturing arenas. On top of that they had bodyguards for their children that acted as doormen in their homes.
But I do agree the chip industry has been doing all it can to force their products on us for this type of use. They also push it heavily for Alzheimer's patients in Europe.
JagerRevAug 24th 2008 2:08AM
EVIL!!! Bad bad bad bad bad.....
This is EXACTLY the mass hysteria causing news that is going to usher forth Orwell's "1984"......
Kidnappings are tragic sad sad horrible events.....but implanting EVERYONE with GPS chips opens doors for SOOOOOOOOOO many other problems.......
Even with the use of statistics like "jumped 40%", it's an attempt to scare everyone into getting these chips so that one day all governments everywhere will be able to tell where EVERYONE is at all times...
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security have neither." - Ben Franklin
wake me upAug 24th 2008 5:21PM
People You better start taking this implant thing seriously . Next thing you know we wil be made to have them just to buy and sell. oh i wonder where i heard that from before it happened.
DianeAug 24th 2008 9:45PM
Chipping is a wonderful idea. Think if someone took your child, wouldn't you want to have an advantage in finding them? Think of all the senseless murders by men who killed their ex's. If the men could be chipped and the women wear a receiver to tell her the man is getting within a 1/2 mile away, she would have an advantage. If they can chip animals now, humans should be chipped too.
JayAug 25th 2008 4:45PM
wow
Fred SchambergerAug 26th 2008 3:42PM
This is only for sale in Mexico because people down there are stupid enough to think that a RFID tag can transmit signals tens of thousands of feet to a sattelite. This is the same that you use for identifying a pet when lost. IT IS NOT GPS. IT IS NOT A TRANSMITTER. Those devices use far more power than can be provided in a total package less than 1 gram in mass. If they made these claims for their product in the US, the FTC would have their asses sliced thinly on a tarnished silver plate.