I used to maintain
a large list of a large selection of links that said that the mark of the
beast was any number of things.
Note, people in the past thought it was these other things:
Some said it was the barcodes.
Some said it was visa/mastercard.
Some say it was keeping Sunday as the Sabbath.
Some have said it refers to the practice of branding slaves to show ownership.
Some have thought it referred to pagan religious tattoos designed to show
devotions.
Some feel it refers to money, because the image of the emperor was on it.
Some feel it refers to the royal seal, which was required in many business
transactions.
Some link it to the OT practice (Deut. 6:8) of wearing phylacteries on
the left hand and the forehead.
Some have said it is a mockery of the sign of the cross.
Some have felt it was a number (like a social security number) that will
be implanted in our hands and foreheads in the future.
Some say it's a symbol of what you do (hand) and what you think (forehead)
But, notice how none of the above-mentioned items fully fulfills the scriptural
description.
From the year 1998 to 2002, so many links have come and
gone, I've decided to stop trying to keep track of the loony interpretations.
They just fold up and disappear. The only other consistent "alternative
interpretation" is that the mark of the beast is mandatory Sunday worship.
I suspect these are the beliefs of "Seventh-Day Adventists" or similar
splinter groups, but I'm not sure.
The Mark
of the Beast --Argues that the "mark" is keeping the Sunday holy instead
of Saturday.