Re: Missed It By That Much

In article <200804231443.m3NEhPZ6173654@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
mstemper@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 said:

> I read something over the winter that had a character unlocking a
> door with a "Chromokey".  It wasn't explained, but I took it to be
> a device that sent a particular pattern of colored light to the
> lock.
>
> This is very close to the RFID chip embedded in the badge that I
> use to unlock the door to my place of employment every morning.
> Really, the only difference is wavelength.

Is the hypothetical Chromokey's "pattern of colored light" all in
the same color or multi-colored?  If the latter then we have the
distinction that RFID only uses a single wavelength (frequency).

And of course, I bet that the author's conception of the Chromokey
required a clear line-of-sight, which RFID generally doesn't.  Hmm,
I bet that few if any sf authors foresaw keys/cards that work just
fine while still in the user's pocket or wallet.

-- 
William December Starr <wdstarr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>