Visa of the Beast | Biometric Visa Required for Saudi Travel

Beginning on May 26, the Government of Saudi Arabia began requiring a biometric identification in order to qualify for a visa. The biometric requirement is valid for all travel including business travel, but its greatest impact will be for religious pilgrimages. The Hajj and the Umrah are both pilgrimages that are taken by Muslims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The attendance at the Hajj in 2012 was almost 3.2 Million persons. Attendance was down in 2013 due to fear of the MERS virus. All able bodied Muslims are required to attend Hajj once in their life. Now their worship will require biometrics.

No Buying Phones without Biometrics | No SIM to be activated without biometric identification after July 31

Pakistan intends to become the latest country to require the biometric registration of SIM Cards. SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module and is the card within a mobile phone that makes the phone unique. It identifies the user on the cellular system so that the calls to and from the device are properly routed as well as many other services to make the phone compatible with the cellular system.

Nigeria and India have biometric SIM registration programs in various stages of implementation as well. The Pakistan program is the most aggressive. They want their program to be fully in place by July 31. The stated objective of the program is the prevention of terrorism and crime. Although, they fail to remember that terrorism and crime existed before the use of cell phones. This is also part of the move to a cashless system in which people will be identified by an unique biometrically registered device. In this way all commerce will be tracked and controlled.

Being Paid by the Beast | Tencent's Red QR Codes Prevail Nationwide, Bringing a New Way to Download APPs

Currently, the activity of "Scanning the Red QR Code, Obtaining a Red Packet" is prevalent in China. As mobile phone users scan the red QR code, they can obtain lucky money from Tencent Yingyongbao. Tencent Yingyongbao contributed RMB500 million for this activity. Downloading Apps through the red QR code is different from the traditional way of App downloading. Users can download Apps directly through Wechat Scan. This provides a new way for App developers to distribute and popularize their Apps. Tencent staff revealed that all Android users who scan the red QR code through Yingyongbao can obtain lucky money from Wechat, with the winning rate of 100 percent. Each of these packets can contain as much as RMB200.

During the May Day holiday, the offline marketing campaign "Red QR code storm connecting all" was held in landmark buildings and plazas within major cities (i.e. Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen), where approximately 20 App developers and Tencent participated. Tens of thousands of people were attracted to join this campaign, ranging from elders to children and even foreigners. All were actively engaged in joining the "Scanning the Red QR Code, Grabbing a red envelope" activity. Furthermore, marketing images and footage of the red QR code can be seen in buses and metros, main streets and mainstream TVs of China' big cities.

Creeping Biometrics | Indiana School Board OKs Fingerprint-scan Policy

Another school district is quietly introducing biometrics. The Southwest Allen County school district in Indiana has approve a "limited" biometric policy for their school lunch program. They say that parents will have the option to opt out of the program, but they don't say if the child would be refused access to school programs. It is very telling that the program at this district is already planning to expand the service to a full time child tracking system.

May I read your Palm? | The ATM that reads your veins

London - Fingerprints, signatures, and chip-and-pin are all passé. The future of banking security is in your veins.

The first cash machines that can read the unique pattern of your blood vessels have been launched in Europe.

Almost 2 000 ATMs are being installed in Polish banks and supermarkets, alongside an advertising campaign heralding the arrival of “cash within your finger”.

Buying and Selling of the Beast | Biometric technology to boost mobile security for Samsung devices

Samsung is gearing up for the eventual release of its new Galaxy S5 smartphone and new details concerning the device are being released. The company intends to equip its new smartphone with biometric sensors that will be able to identify fingerprints and even scan a user’s retina. These sensors are expected to make the device much more secure than its predecessors, which may be good news considering how popular mobile commerce has become.

Security continues to be a major issue in the mobile commerce space

Security is a major challenge in the mobile payments space. Because this market deals in the trafficking of financial information, it is often targeted by malicious groups that seek to exploit this information to their own ends. Security concerns are actually what keep many consumers away from mobile commerce, as they fear that mobile payment services are unable to protect their financial information appropriately. Biometric technology can help allay these fears and provide consumers with more peace of mind.

Identity of the Beast | The REAL ID Act is the WRONG ID Act

REAL ID Act – Title II

Your Louisiana Drivers License could soon become a National Identification Card if House Bill 907 is passed in the full Senate between now and session’s end. After watching the Senate Transportation Committee pass this bill, it was obvious there were facts missing or overlooked. That is when I received the CATO Institute’s Weekly Dispatch with a link to their Policy Analysis No. 749 entitled “REAL ID: State-by-State Update and dated May 12, 2014. This turned out to be very timely information. Does HB 907 in 2014 violate HB 715 which became law in 2008?

Banking with the Beast | What's in Your Wallet?

Wocket stores electronic versions of your cards, that only you can access.

Wocket Smart Wallet to be Demonstrated at Event May 28th at Plaza in New York City

"It's a device containing a card created to replace all the cards in your wallet, all biometrically secured, separate from your smartphone" -- Gino Pereira, CEONew Images for Wocket and Wocket Card Released Prior to Launch May 28th at Wocketwallet.com

A biometric authentication company focused on the growing m-commerce market announces Gino Pereira, CEO of NXT-ID, Inc., will demonstrate the functionality of its next generation smart wallet, Wocket™, designed to replace all the cards in your wallet, at the May 28th launch event at the Plaza in New York City.

Image of the Beast | Mirror Image

Add Michael Jackson to the list of dead idols to be given new life. When the King-of-Pop's projected image performed the song "Slave to the Rhythm" on the Billboard Music Awards, he was added to a growing roster of performers and others who have appeared on stage as a projected image. The 'others' include Prince Charles, Bill Gates and the newly appointed prime minister of India Narendra Modi who appeared in dozens of cities simultaneously during his campaign.

Not everyone was thrilled by the performance. Some found it creepy. But still, this is a growing trend in performance. Live stars, dead stars and even fictional stars are getting in on the trend of virtual performing. The dead and the fictional are particularly intriguing. They never age and never do anything stupid and go to rehab - unless it is scripted. This trick makes it possible to appear virtually before huge audiences. In the very near future it is likely that concerts and major events will have a worldwide audience.

Emirates ID as a Financial Tool

ID cards in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates biometric national ID card, the Emirates ID, is moving into its next stage. The Emirates Identity Authority has teamed up with Al Hilal Bank to run a trial of monetizing the card.  

A World Neither Brave Nor New

When Shakespeare coined the phrase 'brave new world' he was being sarcastic. His character, Miranda, referred to what she thought were wonderful things in this manner because she just didn't know any better. And when Aldous Huxley used the words for the title of his famous novel it was with the same sense of irony and sarcasm.

Attached is an article from the Gulf Daily News with the title 'A Brave New World'. In it the author lauds a world of biometric national IDs, biometric databases, checkpoints and 'your papers please'. I can only assume that the author of this article, like Shakespeare's Miranda, just doesn't know any better. And that is how it will be when the beast of Revelation arises for his time on Earth. He will come with signs and miracles, his mortal wound will be healed and he will claim to be God. And people will worship him. And they will think it is a brave new world.

One Number to Rule Them All | Bank Verification Number eases your burden of carrying documents

"And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead," Rev. 13:16

The burden of carrying driver’s license, international passport, national identity card, and other documentation that identifies you will be a thing of the past as soon as you get your Bank Verification Number (BVN).

"Even those who are not educated or who do not have identity cards to open accounts with the banks can do so seamlessly.

With Banks Verification Number you will not be burdened with the issue of fraud, identity theft and other financial crimes."

Worship of the Beast | Less Than Equal Access

Nepal is asking members of religious minorities (those who are not Hindu) who are registering for their National Identity Card to consider converting to Hinduism. Naturally, this has been criticized by both Christians and Muslims in Nepal. These cards are used to obtain government services, financial transactions, registering property and other normal activities. Those without the NID would have great difficulty participating in these activities. Those who do not declare a religion will be Hindu by default.

The Nepali government is putting obstructions in the way for anyone who does not declare themselves to be Hindu. This links the Nepali national ID and biometrics to religion and reminds us that in the Revelation given to John by Jesus, those who receive the mark of the beast also worship the image of the beast. There is no indication why the government finds it necessary to have a person's religion on the ID card.