A derogatory reference to the cat-shaped :Cat Optical Reader barcode scanner being handed out by DigitalConvergence. The intention is to use the jobber, which plugs in between your keyboard and the keyboard port, to scan barcodes in print media to give the reader more information about advertisements. So far, Wired, Time, and the Radio Shack Catalog all are now utilizing their proprietary barcoding scheme. The above magazines are shipping the doodads out to subscribers, while Radio Shack is offering them for free at stores along with your purchase. DigitalConvergence is the same company that tried to scare a group of developers cooking up Linux device drivers for this particular keyboard wedge into removing the drivers from their site. And with good reason: each barcode scanner contains a unique ID that is transmitted along with each barcode scan. Whether or not this information is correlated with personal information of the owner is yet to be uncovered. Sometime within the last couple of days, DigitalConvergence appeared on FuckedCompany.com. No wonder.