A Hip Chip

CNN: Technology gets under clubbers' skin. Small clue as to the next frontier for a play ethic: the cyborg-posthuman. I always thought it would be street and pop cultures that would be coolest about the flesh-silicon interface being broached - already a lot of prosthetic playin' going on, from drugs to mobys to skateboards to iPods. Here's a club in Barcelona (ah! modernisme!) that takes it the next step: membership is verified by a rice-grain-sized chip, inserted under the skin.

The technology, known as a VeriChip, also means nightclubbers can leave their cash and cards at home and buy drinks using a scanner. The bill can then be paid later. The system is also designed to curb identity theft and prevent fraudulent access to credit card accounts that is increasingly common in crowded restaurants and clubs.

And here's where the play ethics come in: if bio-tags become pop practice, then at what point does the state demand its 'ID implant'? Or retailers their 'loyalty plug'?