Welcome to the new AlphaCard Blog - your home for news and information about ID cards and ID card systems. Look for new posts every day about developing technologies, interesting uses of ID card technology, and AlphaCard products in action.

The British Army, one of AlphaCard's customers, recently forwarded on a couple of pictures from their current work in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Officers are using an ID card printer to make secure badges for the new Afghani police force.

The United States' involvement in Iraq is one of the most hotly debated domestic issues today. With such divisive opinions and harsh reactions to policies and troop movements, even the most inane details are highly debated topics. One current issue is President George W. Bush's initiative to send over 20,000 new troops to Iraq in a "surge" that defense experts say could help amend current problems. Predictably, the issue is split down party lines, with most Republicans supporting the surge and most Democrats opposing it. Democratic congressmen have gone so far as to draft a non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's proposed troop increase. The House of Representatives is debating the issue this week in what is predicted to be one of the most heated and emotional debates to take place in the Capitol.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has made another push for the implementation of a national ID card system, saying that ID cards and biometric identification technology are one of the most important steps a country can take in preventing terrorism and terrorist attacks.

Years of warlords, civil strife and drug trafficking in Colombia have brought thousands of refugees into neighboring Venezuela - over 200,000 in the past eight years. While only 20 of these are recognized as legitimate refugees, Venezuela has recently instituted an ID card program to protect those who have requested asylum.

ID badges have been commonplace for school visitors for years - but unlike the laminated "VISITOR" squares printed on the construction paper of the past, many schools have adopted high-tech badge policies which require bar codes, visitor names, and sometimes even photos. A Cincinnati area school district has announced that it's taking it one step further.

http://www.alphacard.com/lanyards.shtmlID cards have been normal at schools for years now. Students keep them in their wallets to use in the lunch line or to check out books, visitors and staff use them for identification. They're such a normal part of most students' lives that Now, in Florida, a controversy has erupted over a teacher  who refuses to wear an ID badge.

Students at Purdue University might soon be able to use their ID cards to make purchases in worlds beyond the freshman dining hall. A student government initiative has proposed that select off-campus merchants be added to the school’s existing BoilerExpress program, which currently allows students to deposit money on their student ID cards and make transactions at businesses run by the University. Enhanced features such as online account management would be added to the cards as well.