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"I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development."
- Arthur C. Clarke

Digital Ink License Plate  
  License tags that can change both state and number in the blink of an eye.  

Slick implementation of this idea with near-future technology. How can you alter your license plate without leaving your car?

Gragg motioned with one black-gloved hand... Gragg's digital ink license plates flicked from California to Oregon vanity tags that read GECCO...
Technovelgy from Daemon, by Daniel Suarez.
Published by Dutton in 2006
Additional resources -

When I read about this, I immediately thought to the same idea implemented with futuristic 1941-style technology in Robert Heinlein's novel Methuselah's Children; see the entry for alterable license number.

I seem to recall that 007 had something similar, but with a rotating "drum" of plates, in the 1960's.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Daemon
  More Ideas and Technology by Daniel Suarez
  Tech news articles related to Daemon
  Tech news articles related to works by Daniel Suarez

Digital Ink License Plate-related news articles:
  - Electronic License Plates For California By Smart Plate Mobile
  - Rplate Digital License Plates Now Legal In Michigan

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