Twenty-First Century Passport Security

A biometric passport is a combination of a paper and electronic identity document that used to authenticate the citizenship of travelers. The biometric passport is valid for 5 years for first time applicants, compared to 10 years passports without biometric features. The biometric passport is planned to have digital imaging and fingerprint biometrics placed on the radio frequency identification chip. A biometric passport uses the most advanced technology to verify a persons identity, looking the same as a regular passport, with the exception of the computer chip on the photo page.

Passports and ID cards are unlikely to actually use most the thirteen biometric indicators the government proposes to collect on all citizens. Passports are to be now based on biometric testing, and the passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like how information is stored on smartcards.

Biometric passports first appeared in Belgium around the in 2004, putting the country a pioneer in the field. Biometric passports cannot be changed due to information only being able to be written to it once. Biometrics automates the process that verifies an individuals identity based on their physical characteristics. Biometrics included in a static chip provides a means by which the identity of visitors may be verified, and hinders entry by imposters and the use of fraudulent documents. Further advances in biometrics technology are growing all the time.

Biometric passport is a technology advancement that will spread across the world, and countries that have not adopted it will be alienated from rest of the world. The biometric passport is believed to be as a foolproof method to stop passport cheats in their tracks. A biometric passport is takes a scanned information of your photograph and stores it in a chip which is built into the passport itself. The DNA biometric passport is in development and has yet to be implemented fully, and governments that wish to implement it need to plan to ensure a smooth transition from the present system to the new system.

Aaron H Prather owns and operates http://www.thebiometricpassport.com exploring advancements in biometrics technology, biometrics security techniques, and biometric hardware. Biometric Passport

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The Struggle To Recover - New Orleans After Katrina

The New orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors bureau has its work cut out trying to convince the world that post-Katrina New orleans is the fabulous vacation place it was before the catastrophic events of 2005. In an attempt to revive the city's fortunes, the agency has received almost $9 million in federal funds and will be responsible for re-branding the city and persuading visitors to return to re-vamped, renewed New orleans.

Ironically, the traditional tourist areas in the French Quarter (and especially Bourbon Street) were relatively unscathed by the storm, as it was the outer lying areas and neighbourhoods of the city that suffered the most damage. Even so, many people have been put off visiting New orleans because of the negative perception given by the news coverage in the aftermath of Katrina, according to Kelly Schulz, VP of communications and public relations at the Visitors bureau. As a result the city has invested in a new campaign named 'Forever New Orleans', which is designed to stress the Big Easy's 'resilience, unwavering spirit and culture'. "The one thing that Katrina didn't wash away was our culture and the experience and emotional connection people have with this city," says Schulz.

35 percent of New Orleans' operating budget is generated by tourism and hospitality, amounting to $5 billion in a good pre-Katrina year, so the campaign's success is critical to the city's economy. In 2004, the city attracted almost ten million visitors and employed 85,000 workers in the tourism sector. Post-Katrina the city has struggled to get anywhere near those figures, with only 3.7 million visiting during 2006. That creates a huge hole in the city's finances and many New orleans residents wonder just how the city will recover, if ever.

However, things may be looking up if this year's Mardi-Gras is any indicator. Pre-Katrina visitor figures for the festival topped the one million mark and this year's were estimated at 800,000 - up 100,000 on 2006's figures. The event is crucial to the city's finances as it generates as much as $20.5 million in tax revenues alone. On the downside, although visitors are returning for one-offs such as Mardi-Gras, in general hotels in New Orleans are running at a dismal 35 per cent occupancy.

So, although the restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels in New Orleans' tourist area may be open for business, many of their proprietors are wondering if the visitors will ever return in the numbers seen before the disaster that was hurricane Katrina. Only time, and perhaps an aggressive marketing campaign by the New orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors bureau, will tell.

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