Lot 49

Brain-scans can defeat terrorism, InfoSeek founder claims

Just when you thought crowd surveillance with facial recognition gear was the sickest idea circulating, some naive do-gooder comes along with 'brain fingerprinting' to detect evil memories, loudly urging its use as a public security measure in the wake of the 11 September tragedies. Steve Kirsch, founder of InfoSeek and current CEO of data management outfit Propel Software, reckons that the relevant technology companies could deliver a working system of brain fingerprinting databases and a companion retina scanning system for (supposedly anonymous) identification reference in something like ninety days' time. And this will "infallibly" defeat terrorists, he fervently believes.

If the Register's barbed reporting weren't reason enough to read this article, I'd mention the brilliantly imagined Microsoft employment pre-screening interview toward the end of the piece.