Out of the Past

Yes, Team Toronto...that title is for you ;)

I came across a neat little blast from my laser tag past...the key tag that I was assigned when I first started playing laser tag years ago. In an earlier post I mentioned that some years back I played at a center that used a code name system, but in the years since they had updated their system and these key tags are no longer used there. But if you roll the clock back a few years, this tag contained all the statistical data from when I first began playing. It was given to me upon my signing up for a membership. Back in the day I would attach this button to the front of my laser tag pack and it would retain my player information and the results and statistics from how I had played in that game as well as all my previous games. At the time I played under the name Tivia2 (that's not a typo...I added a number 2 to the end because just "Tivia" must have been taken...presumably by someone else paying homage to Photon?) and this is what the tag looked like...

I can't believe I still have this! Not that it's of much use to me, but I have to wonder if somehow my old scores are still encrypted on it? I wonder if the information stored on it makes it unique to just the system that it was originally linked to or if it could be pulled up if you found another location using similar hardware? Ah...wishful thinking. But I was curious and upon closer examination I can see some writing etched on the surface of the tag...

It's a 1-wire device with the website ibutton.com on the surface. So, what is ibutton? Here's what I found when I did a quick search...

http://www.maximintegrated.com/en/app-notes/index.mvp/id/3808 Apparently there are plenty of applications for these little tags. I'm certain there are still laser tag centers using similar progress tracking tags elsewhere (it's not like I kept this from all that long ago...in fact I think they had something very much like it for game to game player tracking when I last played in Mississauga), but I'm just guessing that they wouldn't be compatible with this one. Still, it would be interesting to take this back to the same center where I played before and still go to play all these years later and see if they have any means of retrieving those old scores to compare and contrast the progress over time. It would probably be like comparing apples and oranges, but it's an interesting thought...and makes me a little nostalgic too. If you have questions or comments please visit my website at www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com or email me at tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com.