The old excuse "I've left my wallet at home" will soon no longer hold when it's your round. A British nightclub is about to offer its regulars the option of having a microchip implanted in their arm that will obviate the need to carry cash or plastic. \nLining up for entry or a drink at the bar would also become a thing of the past when the "digital wallet" is introduced by Bar Soba in Glasgow. The chip is already proving popular with VIP members at two nightclubs in Barcelona and Rotterdam. \nAlthough the concept strikes critics as Orwellian, others believe it is only a matter of time before the chip becomes a method of fraud-proof common currency. \nBrad Stevens, owner of Bar Soba, said his motivation was to be cutting-edge and to reward loyal customers. He said he had received a surprisingly enthusiastic response from regulars. \n"There are a number of advantages from instant access to one of our many exclusive DJ and VIP nights and not having to carry money or credit cards to letting bar staff know a customer's name and favorite drink. By the time you walk through the door to the bar, your favorite drink is waiting for you and the bar staff can greet you by name," Stevens said. \nHe also recognized the risks. \n"There is a danger that if a person's not carrying cash, they could just keep on drinking. But we're looking at ways of setting a limit on how much can be spent," he said. \nThe VeriChip is the size of a grain of rice, does not set off airport scanners and contains no power supply. It is encased inside a glass and silicone cylinder and implanted by a medical professional, under local anaesthetic, between the layer of fat and skin on the upper arm. It has a life span of around 20 years, lies dormant until a scanner is passed over it, and sends out a low-range radio frequency. It responds to the signal and supplies the scanner with its unique ID number. How that number is used depends on the database the scanner is hooked up to. In the case of Soba, it will be the balance on a person's bar account.
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BUSINESS AS USUAL: Thousands of people were forcibly removed from their homes in the dead of night and all mentions of the incident were scrubbed from the Internet Thousands of COVID-19-negative Beijing residents were forcibly relocated to quarantine hotels overnight due to a handful of infections, as the Chinese capital begins to take more extreme control measures resembling virus-hit Shanghai. Beijing has been battling its worst outbreak since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 1,300 since late last month, leading city restaurants, schools and tourist attractions to be closed indefinitely. China’s strategy to achieve zero COVID-19 cases includes strict border closures, lengthy quarantines, mass testing and rapid, targeted lockdowns. More than 13,000 residents of the locked-down Nanxinyuan residential compound in southeast Beijing were
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