Source : NY Times
Each day, it seems, marketers go further in their quest to deliver messages so engaging and personalized that one cannot help feeling special. The latest step will be seen Monday in four cities when Mini USA begins delivering custom messages to Mini Cooper owners on digital signs the company calls “talking” billboards. The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: “Mary, moving at the speed of justice,” if Mary is a lawyer, or “Mike, the special of the day is speed,” if Mike is a chef. And oh, “the signs will affirm the driver’s favorite things about their car and driving habits”.

Don’t you just love being watched!

Source : sitnews.us
DENVER — For years, people have been implanting tiny microchips under their pet’s skin so that if Rover’s collar slips off, there’s still a way to find him if he wanders away. Now a state lawmaker has added a twist to that concept with a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to require two-legged critters to have a microchip implanted under their skin. Under the bill, employers could not track workers’ movements, for example.