Taking creepy out of proximity sensing

Proximity sensing is that creepy technology that allows marketers to tailor the actions of digital billboards and posters as you walk by them. You are most likely to encounter the technology at museums, where a recording might pipe up as you draw near to a map or kiosk.

Soon, however, you might be able to surprise your spouse, or your roomie, with targeted messages and images (be they disturbing or inspirational), via a proximity sensing photo frame.

The user interface company Synaptics (synaptics.com), also hopes that the makers of lighting and home entertainment systems and PCs will incorporate its proximity sensing technology, leading to sleeker and more intelligent devices.

An LCD-TV with a proximity sensor, for example, could automatically adjust its backlighting.

It might also need fewer buttons and a smaller remote control if it can tell whether someone is in the room.

Proximity sensing technology is already in Microsoft's Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 keyboard.

At the moment, Synaptics's proximity sensing only detects a hand, for example, that comes within six centimeters of a device embedded with the technology.

With "Tap N Go" payment cards, your wallet is quickly becoming a hacker's delight. That's because many new cards carry both wireless RFID chips and enough data to make you vulnerable to identity theft.

The good news is that tin foil (in the shape of a hat, if you like) blocks radio frequency signals.

But there is another way to guard your cards, without creating the impression you've got a tuna fish sandwich stuffed into your back pocket.

The Secure Sleeve from Sarasota, Fla.-based ID Stronghold (idstronghold.com) blocks the electromagnetic energy that readers emit to power up and read the chips on ID cards.

Stronghold also sells clear sleeves for employee ID cards.

At the moment, it's unlikely a bad guy will sidle up to you at the bank and scan your wallet with a hand-held radio frequency reader. Identity thieves, for the most part, continue to be low-tech operators. Most of them are garbage pickers and online and telephone scam artists.

Carrying my 2-year-old fireplug of a kid on my hip sure feels like a workout. But I've been feeling like I need a little more. Not if that exercise is going to take me outdoors, mind you.

And that's what I like about the Wii Fit and the Wii Balance Board: I can get my washboard abs, and a heart like a hammer, without moving away from the TV.

Nintendo is selling Wii Fit as a Touch Generations game, with something for everyone in the family.

In trying to make Wii Fit both a game and a fitness tool, Nintendo does both fairly well.

The wireless Balance Board detects the presence of your feet (or your hands, if you're doing pushups). It records your weight when you update your fitness profile.

My 5-year-old girl, Maeve, could hardly stay still while the system assessed her balance control.

And I found Wii Fit's instructional screens and BMI calculations extremely tedious. Both of us wanted to get straight to the games.

Many of the games are also less exciting than what you will find at a well-equipped gym. Why run in place, as one Wii Fit exercise demands, when you can you can run on a treadmill, or, better yet, up the ski slope on Big Blue? You will probably have the most fun, as Maeve and I did, with the other aerobic workouts.

I was reminded of how hard and rewarding swinging a hula hoop can be, for example. But yoga on the Balance Board? I'll take my postures on a hardwood floor, with a sticky mat, thank you very much.

Before long we'll be required to step onto a scale so the airline can penalize those of us with a weakness for baked goods. Some airlines, such as American, are mulling, surcharges for checked bags. The tiny, cheap, Balanzza ($25 at balanzza.com) digital scale might help you avoid extra charges before you reach the check-in counter. You might also want to bring the Balanzza on your next trip to Belize or Acapulco. That way, you will know just how many souvenir conch shells you can get away with.