GPS Tracking

Alzheimer’s can be an insidious disease. It comes on slowly, subtly, and seems almost harmless at first.

In later stages, it commands control of the body, and the victim feels helpless under its tightening grip. Whole chunks of memory seem to be erased. The patient has moments of clarity, only to be robbed the next moment of rational thought.

A Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune feature about the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on a Midwestern couple has recently stirred up debate and powerful emotions. Clarice and Jennings Sunderland, who live and work on a dairy farm, struggle daily with the cruelty of Alzheimer’s. Clarice, 76, often loses her bearings in the house she has occupied with her husband for decades. A mother of six and former registered nurse, she thought she knew what to expect when she was first diagnosed. But today, she spends long periods of time in silence and confusion, until the face of her husband of 50 years pulls her back into reality.

Jennings, 78, was recently put in jail and charged with false imprisonment when authorities questioned his care giving practices. They found out Jennings occasionally draped a chain around his wife and her lounge chair when the two were in the same room watching television. His wife was prone to wandering and Jennings said he was afraid she would disappear on their vast acreage if he dozed off. His tracking system was crude, but effective. If she lifted the chain off, he would wake from the rattle.

The Sunderland children support their father and have turned their anger against a society that they think judges first and asks questions later. Social workers took their mother away to a nursing home, where she stayed for three months while the matter was sorted out. Her health quickly slid downhill in the cold and unfamiliar environment.

The charges were eventually dropped and the couple are back together. The chain security system is replaced with custom door alarms and smoke detectors.

Jennings never harmed his wife, but he now admits there are alternatives to restraint – many of them good ones.
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It works brilliantly for golfers, bicyclists and marathon runners. It was only a matter of time before GPS tracking technology became a useful tool in the sport of skiing.

Skiing is an incredibly popular sport, all year round. For those who can’t count on snow all four seasons in their state of residence, there’s always the mountains for guaranteed recreation and entertainment.

United States ski resorts cumulatively log about 60 million visits a year. Needless to say, there’s a lot of competition for skiing dollars. Some visitors look for the most challenging slopes. Others make family accommodations a top priority.

Two things ski resort owners cannot control are the weather and the scenic views. But they can add amenities in an attempt to bring their visitor numbers up. So don’t be surprised if your next run down a mountain in Keystone, CO or Bretton Woods, N.H. is accompanied by a GPS tracking device.

Resorts are vast playgrounds for skiers, with many of them boasting hundreds if not thousands of miles of runs and trails. In peak season, a mountain could be occupied by thousands of sportsmen. It’s no wonder one of the main priorities of skiers and their hosts is safety. Bad weather or a misguided turn could get a skier suddenly and seriously lost, hurt or trapped.

GPS-based tracking systems are being used to monitor skiiers’ whereabouts; and to enhance a skiier’s enjoyment of the sport. (more…)

In 2008, at the depths of the gas price wars, companies big and small made serious efforts to reduce fuel consumption, while delivering goods and services more efficiently.

One solution became great material for news magazines and late night talk show hosts:

Avoid Left Turns.

The study was apparently well-documented and the intent, quite serious. When the general public stopped laughing long enough to give it some consideration, “Avoid Left Turns” actually began to make a bit of sense.

Drivers spend an inordinate amount of time idling at stop lights, waiting for traffic to clear, before maneuvering a sweeping left turn. Right turns are shorter. They’re easier accomplished and hence you wait less. And then there’s the safety factor: Right lanes are safer, because the driver is not crossing an opposing lane of traffic.

Why else would bureaucrats in the upper echelon of the U.S. Government see fit to pass the “Right on Red” rule? Because Right is Safe; Left is Waste.

All this silliness was quite taken to heart by the corporate world. Companies which adopted “Avoid Left” policies include the United Parcel Service. They use a software tracking system to plan their routes in a loop, with as few left turns as possible. Little changes can add up fast over a year’s time. UPS reportedly saved 3 million gallons of gas in a year after adopting “Avoid Left Turns.”

Of course today, a much more exact, and proven method of cutting mileage and fuel dependency is GPS tracking technology. A GPS tracking system shows and records everywhere a vehicle goes. Satellites send out signals and the GPS tracking receiver “reads” them to determine its position. This happens every few minutes; in some cases every few seconds.

The vehicle tracking system also records the vehicle’s direction and speed. Every stop is noted. (more…)

Three men in Florida have been arrested for a series of home and vehicle break-ins, after eluding police for months by, literally, staying off the beaten path.

Anthony Thayer, Casey Keith and Nicholas Ayers, three partners in crime, were arrested on multiple theft charges in December near Malabar, FL. Police described the trio as “uncaring kids” because they lived in the area and were stealing from their own neighbors. It is believed that they carried out their crimes mostly under the cover of darkness. They would take off into the woods near the rural community and carry their loot through a network of off-road trails.

In the suspects’ home, deputies found about $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise, including cell phones, computers, GPS tracking systems and two motocross bikes. The stolen items were traced back to 19 homes in the nearby communities of Malabar, Valkaria and Grant.

Rod Vanderjagt said he was thrilled that his stolen Honda CRF 450-R bike was returned. The off-road vehicle is valued at $7,000, but that’s only a number on paper. Vanderjagt said the theft opened his eyes to the true affection he has for his ride.

“It’s like your best girlfriend, after she’s been on a date with someone else,” he said. (more…)

In a survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, (aptly timed during the holiday shopping season,) 54 percent of a group polled said they owned a portable or handheld GPS tracking or navigation product. Twenty-three percent said a GPS gadget came standard with their vehicle.

Regardless of point of purchase, that means that about 77 percent of vehicles traveling America today are being “watched” by satellites. Hard to believe that a little over a decade ago, consumers considered Global Positioning Systems something of science fiction.

What is to be concluded is that the concept of satellites in space, zeroing in on the exact location of an object on earth, has long left the imagination stage and become everyday reality. A woman who conducted the above survey of 1,000 respondents through Internet interviews concluded that, when consumers buy GPS tracking systems, it is not for the novelty, but with safety and economy in mind.

In spite of the crippling economy, which one could only assume would curb spending, companies dealing in GPS technology are seeing solid sales. Business owners in particular see vehicle tracking as a necessity, because it helps fleet management trim operating costs. (more…)

United Kingdom ‘Gritters’ Tired of Being Patsies

Tired of being the pasty for poor drivers year after year, Derbyshire, a city in the United Kingdom, is fighting back this winter with GPS tracking.

Every time it snows, citizens caught in fender-benders point fingers of blame at one the city’s 140 snow plow/salt truck drivers, claiming they are doing a poor job of road maintenance.

“Across the pond,” the chore of salting or sanding roads with trucks is called “gritting” with “lorries.” And in that particular town, the gritters are getting a bit grumpy.

It doesn’t snow much in the U.K., so when it does happen, claims pile up about the city failing to clear roads adequately. Before vehicle tracking, the city council had no real way of telling which complaints were valid and which were just attempts to shift blame.

That will change this snow season, as all 47 of the council’s front-line gritting vehicles will be equipped with GPS vehicle tracking systems.

The Derby City Council will address constituent complaints and determine the seriousness of the problem, once it starts seeing the results of a vehicle tracking system, purchased through a local vendor. (more…)

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Experts in the insurance industry say the trend is caused by more diligent police work, and the growth of anti-theft devices available on the consumer market. Vehicle tracking systems based on Global Positioning System technology top a list of effective devices for loss prevention and recovery.

By installing vehicle tracking devices on their cars and trucks, people can save a lot of time and money associated with theft investigation. A residual benefit to the pocketbook is the lower insurance premiums GPS tracking users often are given.

GPS tracking and theft prevention systems have become immensely popular in urban areas, according to the FBI. Ninety percent of all vehicle thefts occur in metropolitan areas. Car thieves do some of their best and quickest work in plain sight. (more…)

Each year throughout the U.S., the holiday season is marked by incidents of Christmas decoration theft. Every police department across the country probably has some story to tell about a reindeer, a wise man or a Santa, snatched from the front lawn of a residence.

Today, people can rest easy that their expressions of holiday cheer will not disappear without a trace. GPS tracking systems are being placed in or on these items. So if the gift-filled sleigh is stolen in the night, a quick check on a computer or handheld will quickly show its present location. And it’s a good bet it won’t be the North Pole.

Police say most of the cases of stolen Christmas decorations are pranks: the result of childish dares or boredom-inspired vandalism. Even so, law enforcement takes the reports seriously. If caught, suspects are charged with felony theft and sometimes trespassing. People are advised to secure their decorations with weights, nails, padlocks and chains to make them harder to steal.

GPS Tracking is a High-Tech Theft Preventative

GPS tracking might seem like an extreme way to secure Santa, but it’s actually logical. People have been using GPS tracking units for years to protect their assets: first for vehicle tracking. Later, more innovative forms of vehicle tracking were attempted. GPS tracking devices were put on trailers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, expensive furniture and works of art.

Vehicle tracking systems are getting very compact – many even palm-sized – and advances in design and production are making them increasingly affordable. Some sell for less than $200.

When GPS tracking technology is used for theft recovery, a real-time vehicle tracking unit is placed on the item to be monitored. Real-time or live vehicle tracking systems allow a user to see – almost immediately – on computer where their stolen item is. The Victoria GPS Tracking System, made by LandAirSea Systems, is perfect for an asset recovery application. It provides precise GPS tracking based position updates every 10 seconds. (more…)

ESCONDIDO, CA – Police in a southern California city are becoming quite the experts at collecting artwork. But their intent is not to display it on a wall for all to admire. It’s to send the artists to jail.

Escondido, Calif., near San Diego and the Mexican border, has one of the highest rates of property crimes per capita in California. It has a population of about 130,000 residents and a real problem with graffiti, also known as tagging.

Last year the police department started a new GPS tracking program. A special camera, equipped with GPS tracking and location technology, was purchased and put to work catching graffiti artists. The digital camera documents the vandalism in an image, then records its time, date and exact location on a computer mapping system. All the GPS tracking data can be downloaded to computer.

Over time, hundreds of vandalism incidents are recorded into the common database and patterns begin to emerge. Art experts with street smarts identify artwork by the same artist. Police say graffiti artists usually strike near their own homes. When a young vandal is located, he is charged with a series of his graffiti crimes instead of just one.

One of the latest tagging arrests was 19-year-old Isaiah Gastumel, who is charged with six felony and 146 misdemeanor counts of vandalism.

A measure of the GPS tracking program success, one police Lieutenant Bob Benton said annual restitution paid to local businesses increased nearly 10 times this year over last. Before the GPS tracking system was instituted young taggers’ crimes amounted to about $20,000 in fines. This year the figure multiplied to almost $200,000.

Much of the money goes to the shop owners. Some business owners in downtown Escondido say they pay about $300 a week to crews to clean their walls of graffiti.

Within a few days, the scrawl returns.

-          Source: Channel 10 News, San Diego, Calif.

Dogs and cats are often considered part of the family. So it is a devastating event when one wanders away or falls victim to theft.

For that reason, some consumers are investing in GPS tracking and locating systems for their pets. Owners say GPS tracking locators give them peace of mind that their pets are safe. In the instance that a much-loved dog or cat does go missing, GPS tracking serves as an easy and immediate plan for recovery.

How Fido Gets Found

The same type of vehicle tracking technology widely used by organizations and people to track their vehicles and other important assets, has been adapted for animals. Most GPS tracking systems for pets combine the technologies of GPS tracking from satellites with either GSM cellular networks or RFID (radio frequency) signals. That is because the GPS tracking unit worn by a dog must serve dual duty: receive position coordinates from satellites in space; and, once an exact location is determined, transmit that location data to a network where it can be read by the owner over a mobile phone or on a computer.

Some models send out text messages or emails to a pre-assigned phone or computer if the pet happens to travel outside an assigned safe boundary zone (geo-tracking).

An alternative is a GPS tracking device that is only pinged or prompted for location by special request. Once the pet is missing, the user can call a main call center and the device is then activated and the call center dispatch will give directions to the pet or the location is texted to cell phone or computer.

Some GPS tracking devices are designed specifically for hunters. Dogs get a transmitter that is attached to collar or harness. The hunter wears a GPS tracking unit as well and he carries a special mapping handheld that will “show” the hunter’s location and the dog’s location and give directions to the animal. (more…)