A biometric doorman for smokers

(Credit: IDScan)

As if recent laws haven't made smokers feel like pariahs already, now they may have to start punching a timeclock too.

The "SmokeScreen" is a fingerprint-reading system that tracks smokers as they leave a building to sneak a cancer stick or two. Made by a U.K. company called IDScan, it's being targeted at clubs to monitor the comings and goings of patrons who presumably have paid their cover charges but are in dire need for a quick fix outside. Red Ferret says savvy club owners could even promote it as a status symbol, an "automatic doorman for VIP rooms."

The biometric device can be easily adapted to other venues as well. So if your boss is a control freak, you'd better pray that he never finds out about this.