GPS Tracking

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Will Plot Be Believable With Modern Technology?

The rumor out of Tinseltown is that Warner Bros. is planning an adaption of the old TV series “Gilligan’s Island” for the big screen.

Really. Few people remember it being that good the first time.

Apparently, some Hollywood executive figured other 1960s and 1970s classic TV shows were remade with moderate success, including “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1962-1971), “Bewitched” (1964-1972) and “Starsky & Hutch” (1975 to 1979), so why not “Gilligan’s Island?” Read the rest of this entry »

Something fishy is going on in the refuse department in Vadodara, India.

An internal investigation by the city’s governing council, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, (VMC) seems to indicate that the independent contractors hired to do garbage pickup are padding their wallets by weighing down their loads. The fleet management supervisor proposes to install GPS tracking systems on municipal trucks in an effort to solve the problem.

Vadodara is one of the biggest cities in the Indian state of Guyjarat. It has a population estimated at 1.6 million, and a high industrial base, mostly in chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Garbage pickup is a high priority service in such a densely-populated area. Residents and business owners are not pleased when garbage day passes and their receptacles go untouched. Read the rest of this entry »

The United Kingdom’s inaugural 1,000-mile Sport Relief Celebrity Million Pound Bike Ride got off to a rough start March 1 when the first fundraising competitor took a spill on a steep upward ascent.

Comedienne Miranda Hart started the first leg of the marathon – which promised to be grueling and physically demanding – and shortly thereafter toppled and cut her leg. She passed the accident off as a textbook pratfall, but the challenge has now become a frightening reality for the team.

The goal is lofty: to raise 1 million pounds, which translates to about $1.5 million U.S. dollars, for charity. The team will be traveling non-stop for four days along a course from John o’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in England, aided by GPS tracking devices. One celebrity sportsperson will ride at a time, with the others resting, recovering and rooting on their peers from a tour bus along the route. Read the rest of this entry »

By JAMES NEELY / guest writer

-        James is a freelance writer for Rocky Mountain Tracking based in Fort Collins Colorado, a provider of GPS tracking products, software and accessories. For information about Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. visit www.RMTracking.com.

Vehicles are becoming more difficult to steal with the proliferation of theft deterrent devices as well as recovery methods.  Current statistics bear this out.  But, the biggest draw for the theft of vehicles is that they are a high ticket item.  And with little to no investment into the theft process, the profits are huge.  That applies whether the stolen cars are parted-out or sold to foreign markets.

The war against auto theft is waged on two fronts:  prevention and recovery.  Which of these two should be given the higher priority or emphasis?  The answer is that there must be equal advancement of efforts on both sides.  Even though that does not happen, what is true is that these two methods must be used together to present a strong defense against auto theft. Read the rest of this entry »

By JAMES NEELY / guest writer

-        James is a freelance writer for Rocky Mountain Tracking based in Fort Collins Colorado, a provider of vehicle tracking devices, software and accessories. For information about Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. visit www.RMTracking.com.

There is a lot of talk lately about laws being enacted on a state-by-state basis that are banning the use of mobile phones and texting while driving.  The main motivation, of course, is safety.  There have been too many incidents of distracted drivers being involved in accidents because their attention is diverted from their primary function – drive the vehicle.

Other nations besides the US are grappling with this issue as well.  It stands to reason that we can only benefit from these devices if we keep from assuming room temperature because of our irresponsibility. Read the rest of this entry »

GPS Tracking Systems Help Senior ‘Road Warriors’ Stay Connected to Family

This winter was a good one for recreational vehicle parks located in warm weather climates. A national chain of RV parks called Equity Lifestyle Properties reported a 16.5 percent increase in revenue this winter over last.

The difference is an increase in snowbird campers, said the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.

There are three general categories of RVers: vacationers, part-timers and full-timers. The quickest growing group of these three is the full-timers. These are people who live in their RVs nearly all 52 weeks of the year. A majority of them sell their brick-and-mortar homes. They give up a permanent address for a license plate number. Read the rest of this entry »

People convinced that a battery is a battery, regardless of the brand name or variety listed on the packaging, are probably lacking experience with long-term relationships.

Consumer Reports, a source for objective consumer product information, recently took 17 brands of store-bought AA batteries for a road test, and its staff concluded that, if consumers could afford them, the higher-priced, single-use lithiums have the best staying power.

Consumer Reports is one of the highest circulated magazines in the U.S. It is published by Consumers Union, a nonprofit organized in 1936 to separate fact from hype in advertising. Read the rest of this entry »

It could have something to do with Uncle Sam’s looming income tax deadline. It could be a political statement. But then again, the timing could have been entirely coincidental.

A small passenger plane crashed Feb. 18 into an office building in northwest Austin, TX that housed the regional auditing and criminal investigations departments of the Internal Revenue Service.

Witnesses to the morning tragedy said the aircraft did not appear to be out of control prior to impact with the seven- floor building on Research Boulevard. In fact, one onlooker said the craft descended gradually and then suddenly banked right, as if the pilot was deliberately targeting the building. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson said they are treating the incident as an intentional, criminal act.

At least two people were hospitalized and one person from inside the building is missing. The building burned with smoke for most of the morning while investigators and rescuers tried to make sense of the odd occurrence. There were power outages and traffic tie-ups throughout the area.

Early reports ruled out terrorism. The Piper Cherokee might have been stolen. It originated in Waco, TX.

Key to accident reconstruction would be for investigators to retrieve data from the plane’s on-board computers. All modern airplanes today incorporate some level of GPS tracking technology. GPS tracking in an aircraft works much the same as vehicle tracking in autos and trucks. Under normal circumstances, the pilot would have used a navigation/tracking system to plot his course, although it did not appear that this pilot filed a flight plan.

While in flight, a receiver in the plane would have captured GPS satellite signals in real time to determine current position (including latitude, longitude, altitude, speed and heading). Some planes share GPS tracking data with air traffic controllers so it can be used instead of, or in addition to, ground-based radar, to track the aircraft’s progress and to guide takeoffs and landings.

It does not appear the pilot had any contact with air traffic controllers or other aircraft while flying through Austin. The most common causes of crashes are mechanical problems, pilot error and weather conditions.

Source: Houston Chronicle

There are some among us who are habitually punctual and keep to a schedule with military-like precision. Put one of these perfectionists on the road and frustration ensues. A pokey driver, road construction or rush hour can throw a monkey wrench in a perfectly-planned day.

For even the most easy-going of drivers, school buses are a source of irritation on the roadways. God bless them, we wouldn’t want to hurt a hair on the heads of those sweet passengers. But boy, do those bus drivers add precious minutes to our commutes to work.

Now, a study in Great Britain proves what working folk have been suspecting for years: average travel times are longer when schools are in session. Read the rest of this entry »

Steven Spielberg’s nail biter “Jaws” would have been a very different movie if GPS tracking technology were available in 1975.

The film, about a 25-foot-long, three-ton great white shark terrorizing a resort town in New England, kept us glued to our seats for two frightening hours. The beast devoured five people before it finally met its doom in a dramatic, stomach-turning explosion.

Add GPS tracking to the watery mix, and the terror and tension of the tale are cut to a fraction of their original levels. There might not be a need for half the gore.

Here’s an abridged version of the modern-day script:

1. Harpoon the giant shark with an activated (and of course, waterproof) GPS tracking device. A real-time GPS tracking device would be required so that the shark’s movements could be followed live.
2. Sit back and wait for the tracking system to acquire GPS signal.
3. Set a geo-fence around the tranquil shores of Amity Island, so the public can be warned if the shark comes close, and bathers will have plenty of time to hightail it out of the water.
4. Track the ocean menace’s travels on the Web over a laptop or handheld. Easily find its exact location with GPS tracking technology and destroy it a safe distance from the beloved town.
5. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

At best, the story is worthy of a 30-minute documentary. Read the rest of this entry »