Okay, what's going on with the card? You've probably seen them, they're everywhere. The cards in question contain technology called RFID: Radio Frequency Identification. Even if you haven't heard of RFID, you may have unknowingly been exposed to it. RFID tags can be as small and nearly as thin as a postage stamp, and are often used to track package movement in retail stores (big companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and others are adopting the technology). Drug companies are even putting RFID tags into their packaging to the prevent piracy of expensive medicines. RFID is big news, and now you can get in on it too.
Fuente: Nuts&Volts Column #120 April 2005 by Jon Williams