A freshman computer-science student at the University of South Carolina has four microchips in his hands, which he installed himself.

I thought we should get that out of the way – kind of like ripping off the Band-Aid.

The thought of being ‘chipped gives me the creeps, so why the hell would Evan Bryer want to do that?

Well, people in Sweden have been doing it since 2015, and the UK is also getting in on the microchip/implant trend. It’s pretty much an extreme response to the daily ordeal of having to remember where you put your keys and wallet.

Adam Sandler’s rap will explain why that’s a thing these days.

Anyway, here’s The Daily Beast with the young computer scientist’s story:

Three weeks ago, robotics-obsessed Evan Bryer stumbled upon the website for the aptly named biohacking company Dangerous Things.

Along with advertisements for bundle deals on microchips, the Seattle-based company’s site proclaims: “Human, upgrade thyself.”

So he did, and installed four microchips in his hands himself.

Bryer now uses his microchips for all sorts of things, from opening doors to passing on his number.

“They have made things a bit easier when meeting new people because it lets me give them my contact information instantly,” the 18-year-old Michigan native told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “The biggest difference is definitely it as a conversation piece, though. It’s a great conversation starter, if nothing else.”

In his left hand, Bryer has embedded a radio-frequency identification chip the size of a grain of rice with his USC student ID and phone contact information. In his right hand, he’s got a password manager and links to his social-media accounts. He also put LED lights in each hand that blink from beneath his skin when a keypad or phone has been connected.

“I can rewrite them as many times as I want,” said Bryer. “Maybe my workplace will have me scan in with a badge, or I could hook these up to my door lock at home or use it to get into my car.”

You’ll have to sit through a short advert before this video kicks off:

‘Dangerous Things’ has a whole array of videos on ‘bio-hacking’, as it’s called when you enhance yourself with technology, like this one about how a chip is installed:

Nope.

It’s also your one-stop-shop for all things chip related.

The site, Bryer said, recommends that people get the implantation done by a piercing shop, but sends customers “everything you would need to do it yourself.”

“You are putting a needle into your skin so of course it’s going to hurt a bit,” said Bryer. But in the end, he said, it was no worse than giving blood, and he was guided by members of the forum on the Dangerous Things site, which has frequently asked questions and community projects, along with pages like “What is the best way to store cryptocurrency?”

Hey, if that’s what you keeps you entertained, then so be it.

Good luck out there, Evan.

[source:dailybeast]