I am Here Lawrence
    Smart Cards being introduced at Circuit City 
    I work in the SOHO department at Circuit City and we are to be using Smart Cards by mid   month. This should bring about more efficiency into the stores and also help prevent   shrinkage in inventory in the stores from any internal theft that could occur. As far as sales go   the store I work at in Omaha is doing quite well as we usually beat competitors prices as   Omaha is very competive with Nebraska Furniture Mart being there as well as the other   national companies.    As long as I am there the SOHO department will do well I assure you as that department   carries the stores budget most of the time. 
    I have several friends of mine at Circuit City buying NPCT stock as it is involved in helping   resolve the antenna problem in Smart Cards with its PI technology. When the site gets back   up go to www.nanopierce.com. Also go to www.ctst.com and look at the agenda of that   conference coming up in a few days. There is site for NPCT here on RB as well to go to.   They just annouced a deal with Orga and Multitape so take a close look at this release. 
    American Express Licenses Smart Card Framework 
    (noticed Orga's involved) 
    American Express Licenses Smart Card    Framework 
    May 7, 1999 
    HONG KONG, CHINA, Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : American    Express [NYSE:AXP] has announced the licensing of its smart card    multiple application framework to more than a dozen industry leaders. 
    This represents a significant step toward promoting interoperability    among a wide range of smart card applications, especially in the    travel and entertainment industry. 
    The multiple application framework is being licensed to Cards Etc,    Continental Airlines, De La Rue, Discover Card, Europay International,    HTEC, IBM, MasterCard International, Microsoft, Orga Card Systems,    Proton World, Sun Microsystems and Tesa Entry Systems. In addition,    Visa International has expressed its intent to license the multiple    application framework. 
    American Express also announced the formation of the Interoperability    Consortium, an independent and open body that will govern the    multiple application framework standard. 
    The American Express smart card framework contains a detailed    description of the data, files, and structure of the multiple functions    and applications contained on a smart card. The framework currently    supports the following functionality: personal profile;    corporate/government agency profile; airline, hotel, car rental;    charge; credit; and physical access. 
    The Interoperability Consortium will ensure an open process for    proposing and considering changes to the framework, certify    compliance, and promote the specification. 
    One of the Consortium's first steps will be to create a set of common    commands for multiple applications based on the framework. These    commands will help ensure interoperability, allowing applications to    work on any smart card platform, such as MULTOS, Java Card and    Smart Card for Windows. 
                                                                                        
                                                                                    
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