Parents, students and teachers are at odds over a new ID card program proposed for the Dover, PA school district. Dover high recently added a comprehensive series of video surveillance cameras - 26 in all - in and around the high school campus. But, school administrators say, that's just not enough.

Ah, the idyllic days of summer, where the days consist of mischief, little league games, playing with friends, and swimming at the town pool. Perfect, right? Maybe for kids - but parents can quickly get worried when they don't know where little Johnny or Suzie ran off to. The Shanklin Municipal Pool in Goshen, Indiana has instituted an ID card program which city officials hope will help prevent this.

The Port Authority of Alleghany County (PAT) has announced plans for a new smart card fare-collecting program as part of its Connect ’09 initiative. The goal of the Port Authority in implementing smart card technology is to simplify and streamline the fare-collection system, offering added convenience to customers while supplying the agency with valuable rider information.

Colorado is evaluating a potential ID card system designed for volunteers and first responders in an effort to be better prepared for the next disaster situation. Hurricane Katrina proved that there’s significant room for improvement in this area. After the hurricane, a large number of evacuees entered Colorado. Many volunteers offered their services but were turned away because the state and federal emergency crews were overwhelmed. The state is hoping a new ID card system will prevent such a problem from happening again.

One of the most widespread ID developments in recent years is learning platforms. Universities around the world have developed comprehensive databases and intranet systems for the sharing of essays and assignments, distribution of grades, and private communications between teacher and student. One example of a flourishing intranet system is at the London School of Economics, where students not only gain access to an in-school network, but also materials from other colleges and universities all across Europe. These resources are wonderful for students and staff, but there are some disadvantages. Because recent developments have been focused more towards user satisfaction and not toward maximizing security, these large intranet systems are vulnerable to a number of network complications - hacking, identity theft, and the like. For IT experts at the London School of Economics, this belief was only reinforced by a recent break-in to the National Health Systems database, which compromised the information of thousands of young doctors and caused serious disruptions to the system.

Situated in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, the Alanya municipality is a popular seaside resort area. The region thrives on its bustling tourism industry, which includes a wide assortment of local tradesmen happy to push their wares on visitors with money to burn. While many tourists enjoy shopping the Alanyan markets, there have been a number of reports involving mistreatment and harassment from tradesmen towards foreigners. In an effort to stop this trend and reinstill consumer confidence, the municipality now requires all tradesmen to wear employee ID badges.

We’ve all experienced the helplessness of standing in line at airport security while the hands of the clock wind dangerously close to departure time. Usually we have no one to blame but ourselves for being tardy. And it doesn’t make sense to really get upset about the slow-moving lines. In fact, I feel odd when airports aren’t thorough at the security gate. But what if there existed a smart card that could speed up the airport security process? Wouldn’t that be nice?

When someone asks about children, you're the first to whip out your wallet. The plastic accordion is jammed full of pictures - baby photos, toddlers, mud fights, with Santa Claus, and a variety of toothless elementary school portraits. But do you have a recent photo of your child? The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children thinks you should. A recent portrait (less than six months old) of your child should be right next to all those childhood memories. After all, a recent, high quality photo of your child is your most valuable resource should the unimaginable happen.

The transition from bus tickets and paper transfers to ID cards and plastic bus passes has been rolling along for years. Major cities like London, Washington D.C. and Hong Kong have successfully implemented cards where riders can recharge over and over again. This feature is handy for commuters, especially in bustling, perpetually busy transit systems. Toronto has decided to add its name to the list of cities making the switch, and the Toronto Transit Authority has introduced a new system to implement integrated ticketing in to Toronto's heavily use system of buses and subways.

Interesting to note - as of 2007, more humans live in cities than at any other point in our collective history. 3.3 billion of us call cities around the world home, and that number is expected to grow to 5 billion by the year 2030. Increasing population means a rise in density, and pretty soon we'll live closer to each other than ever. This means that we'll have easier access to the grocery store and our friends' houses, but what about traffic? Such an increase in population is likely to make the morning commute that much more of a nightmare. Even increases in public transportation and carpooling aren't projected to clear up the freeways during rush hour. One solution to this? Self-powered transportation. Commuting by bicycle and on foot has been increasing gradually across the country in recent years. Along with being a healthy efficient alternative to a car or bus commute, bicycles are relatively low-maintenance. The one problem? Storage. Bicycle theft, especially in dense urban areas, is a real problem and unlucky victims of bike theft have quickly learned that keeping their bike safe from theft is a game of luck - even the most secure lock can be broken.