Big Brother Could Be Tracking You
An article by Gregory M. Lamb of The Christian Science Monitor (of all places), via CBS Technology News, reports that:
Most of us know where we are on planet Earth — or close enough to make do. But sometimes we travel on business or for pleasure and suddenly wonder: Where am I? Or maybe we might want to know the location of a spouse, teenager, or pet.
More and more, GPS — the global positioning system — is coming to the rescue. But the satellite-based system has one big drawback: Its signals can't reach inside buildings or down into the skyscraper-lined streets of major cities, where millions of people live or work.
The result? One of the era's breakthrough technologies — tracking the location of everything from packages to cell phone users in distress — remains impractical to much of the population. Now that appears likely to change.
Racing to fill in the gaps where GPS can't reach, companies are experimenting with various wireless technologies. Solutions can't come too soon. The federal government has charged mobile-phone companies, even the ones that are Internet-based, to make their phones capable of being located when a user dials 911 for help.
posted by Fergie @ 7/14/2005 09:01:00 AM
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