Clubbing in Fortress Amerika (fwd)
Roy M. Silvernail
roy at scytale.com
Sun Oct 21 11:01:43 PDT 2001
On 20 Oct 2001, at 22:09, Dr. Evil wrote:
> Carry your passport, which doesn't have a mag strip
> (last time I checked).
My US passport does have a magstrip. It's embedded in the front
cover, and must be read by a special device. I've seen it scanned
only once, when leaving Montreal to return home. (point being, a
driver's licence reader can't read passport magstrips)
At least one club in Minneapolis has a prominent sign stating they
will not accept a US passport as ID unless it's accompanied by a
"yellow slip", that being the document indicating that the person
has applied for a state-issued ID card. I've never taken the time to
ask the reasoning behind this policy.
> > Do different states use different formats for the data on the
> > magstrip?
>
> Do all states even have magstrips?
It's probably reasonable to assume the formats differ. I haven't yet
had the time to build up a magstripe reader and check mine, but
Minnesota also puts a high-density barcode on the front of the
license. I have read that out, and it's name, address, DOB, licence
class, a couple of fields I can't figure out and a final field that says
"20 EXTRA BYTES HERE". (yes, really)
--
Roy M. Silvernail [ ] roy at scytale.com
DNRC Minister Plenipotentiary of All Things Confusing, Software Division
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