Food For The Week

The Start Of The Week

Well, here we are, the start to another week.  It’s hard to believe that this month, or for that matter, this year, is going by so fast.  Heck, I still I remember the blizzard we had back when in February.  But as we have this warm weather, there is one thing on people’s minds: 

The social life, and getting together with friends.  And of course with social life, food will be the main thing which comes to people’s minds.  So with this as the background, food is the topic we start off this week in these series of Postings.  But, with food, there is also Biometrics.

Biometrics At the Food Service Line

A Biometrics Vendor known as “Fujitsu” has announced it will be deploying its award winning Vein Pattern Recognition technology at the Pinellas County School District, based in Florida. 

The details:  “All food service program transactions will be done using PalmSecure biometric technology and the MCS Software POS system. The use of palm vein biometric scanning for food service program transactions has many advantages. For example, a simple palm vein scan rapidly identifies the student, assuring the student's identity thereby reducing waste and impersonation, while providing a level of reliability not found in legacy fingerprint systems which often malfunctioned or simply froze, causing repeated disruptions in the student cafeteria service . . . The Fujitsu PalmSecure sensor uses a near-infrared light to capture a student’s palm vein pattern, generating a unique biometric template that is matched against the palm vein patterns of pre-registered users. Unlike other readers, a PalmSecure device does not come into contact with the skin, making it extremely hygienic, non-intrusive and unrestricted by external factors such as skin types and conditions.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9088/). 

Using Biometrics at the lunch counter line at the school district is really nothing new.  It is very often used in those places where subsidized lunches are served (this is where very low income students can qualify for lunches, paid for by the Federal Government).  This is so to keep students honest, and that exact accounting can be followed, in terms of the number of lunches served, and the monies collected, all reportable to the Federal Government. 

But from what I can garner, it seems like that this Biometrics solution described up above is not being used for a subsidized lunch program, rather, it is being used for general purposes, primarily for again for accuracy, and even convenience.  Traditionally, Fingerprint Recognition has been used, but now, Vein Pattern Recognition is being employed.  This of course has many advantages also, but one is that of hygiene.  With kids at a school lunch line, comes the perception of contracting ailments (after all, kids do get sicker more often than adults), with direct contact with the Fingerprint Recognition device.  But since Vein Pattern Recognition requires no direct contact, this misperception should be alleviated.

Biometrics At the Pizza Parlor

Pizza parlors are often a popular place to hangout on a Friday night, and even on the weekends.  But now, you may be seeing Biometrics used here as well.  A Biometrics Vendor known as “Digital Persona, Inc.” has announced that Pizza Hut will be adopting its Biometric Solution. 

The goop:  “DigitalPersona, Inc., a global provider of authentication and endpoint protection solutions, today announced that Pizza Hut franchisee Rage, Inc. has rolled out DigitalPersona  U.are.U Fingerprint Biometrics in 118 Pizza Hut locations throughout the east coast in South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia to reduce employee theft. By deploying fingerprint biometrics as a part of their Speedline Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, the Pizza Hut restaurants have improved employee accountability, reduced unauthorized discounts and decreased payroll fraud.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9090/).  Some of the immediate benefits are:

*Elimination of buddy punching;

*110% proof that management authorization for any kind or type of activity has been legally authorized (in other words, an employee cannot steal a manager’s ID number, and expect to open a cash register with that);

*Reduction of cash register shrinkage;

*Improved customer service;

*A substantial decrease in unauthorized employee discounts as well as payroll fraud.

Yea, these are great advantages, but another one I can think of which is not even mentioned (I highly doubt it is even available yet) is: 

Why not pay with pizza with your fingerprint???  I mean it’s a great way to pay, and if you don’t carry cash all the time (like me), it would be certainly very convenient.  But, how about Biometrics being used at one of my most favorite places:  Starbuck’s.  I would love to pay for a Venti coffee with my fingerprint!!!

Comments

[gclub]

Good day! this is one of the most interested statement I have heard anyone said. I have always say to myself there are no rules telling us what to do, but rules telling us what not to do. We need to start making rules telling us what to do and we will see how creative our world would be. thanks,