Passports and licenses are so last century -- these days, sophisticated crooks can change their identity on a whim, and one particular Michigan State University researcher is looking to stay one step ahead. Anil Jain has created an automatic image retrieval system dubbed Tattoo-ID, which "includes an annotated database containing images of scars, marks and tattoos" that is "linked to the criminal history records of all the suspects and convicts who have a tattoo." Essentially, the application will give law enforcement the ability to query on permanent skin markings, which sure beats manually flipping through ginormous books of images just hoping for a match. Reportedly, Jain and his team are continuing to improve the system, but there's been no word on how long it'll take before implementation can begin. Better stay on the straight and narrow, Zune Guy Microsoft Zune.

[Via TG Daily]

We've certainly got to hand it to Dutch retailer relaxView B.V., which is making a name for itself by bundling off-the-shelf components together with a "hygiene set" and marketing the package as a distraction kit for providers of painful services. Following the presumed success of its relaxView 5.0 Dental Pack with tooth torturers worldwide, the company is back with what appears to be the exact same set of HMD plus video discman, but being sold this time around as the 6.0 Tattoo Pack. (FYI, we have no idea why the 5.0 and 6.0 packs both incorporate the relaxView 3.0 head mounted display -- and not the relaxView 4.0, which is the self-proclaimed "Rolls-Royce in video eyewear.") If you're looking to get your favorite tattoo artist something extra special this holiday season, relaxView will part with this kit for a mere €499 ($733) until Christmas, after which the price leaps up to €569 ($836).

We're not really sure how that late night of Red Bull-fueled coding wrapped up at a sketchy tattoo parlor, but needless to say we were beyond regretful when we woke up the next morning with "1337" emblazoned in huge black numbers on the back of our neck. Unfortunately for our bad-ass reputation and the integrity of our sensitive neck skin, tattoo removal was and still is an expensive, imperfect procedure; it can take up to 12 painful sessions and $5,000 to get that damn ink out, and even then, there's a possibility of permanent, disfiguring scars. So you can imagine our bitterness delight when we learned of a new type of removable ink from a New York-based company called Freedom-2 that, while it won't do anything to hide our shame, promises to help other remorseful human canvases remove their mistakes with only one simple laser treatment. This revolutionary ink -- only available in black for now -- is encapsulated in microscopic polymethylmethacrylate beads (the same synthetic material used to make surgical glue) that fall apart when exposed to laser energy, after which the body's natural ability to expel foreign particles kicks in and does the rest. Freedom-2's CEO, Martin Schmieg, predicts that his company's ink should only add about $50 to the cost of an average tattoo -- a small price to pay to ensure that you don't have to live with your ex's name on your bicep for the rest of your life. Like we said before, this technology comes just a little too late for our neck, but you better believe that once they begin manufacturing this ink in cyan, we're gonna be first in line to get the ol' Engadget "e" tatted right smack in the middle of our forehead.

[Via Book of Joe]