Friday, October 17, 2003

MSNBC Smile, you're on surveillance camera

" Instead, there’s an overwhelming feeling that too often surveillance is used not to make the country safer but to monitor innocent people and, in the case of speed cams, raise much-needed tax revenues. “There’s this notion starting to build in countries around the world that maybe we’ve been conned — that these ‘security measures’ are smoke and mirrors,” says Simon Davies, director of London-based advocacy group Privacy International. “People here are demanding a proper threat assessment. It’s one area where Europe leads the trend.”

U.S.officials might want to take note of that. Two years after September 11, the Bush Administration, led by Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, are fast creating one of the most comprehensive, high-tech surveillance societies in the world."

redux [08.21.03]
Wired News No Surveillance Tech for Tampa

"Police thought facial recognition software could be a great way to spot criminals or missing children in crowds. Civil rights activists deplored it as "Big Brother" on the street.

Now police in Tampa, Florida, are removing the software, which is linked to street surveillance cameras, from the Ybor City entertainment district after the 2-year-old scheme, the first such deployment in the United States, failed to produce any arrests."

WorldNetDaily City dumps facial-recognition program

"The move is a hollow victory for privacy proponents. While the department is abandoning the use of the facial-recognition software, it will continue to rely on the 36 surveillance cameras to fight crime in the making.

"Officers have been able to make arrests involving illegal drug dealing, fights and things of that nature,'' Durkin told the Tribune. "One officer monitoring the cameras has been able to be the eyes of many in foiling this type of activity.""

redux [10.07.02]
The New York Times Protesting the Big Brother Lens, Little Brother Turns an Eye Blind
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"Confronted with the unblinking eyes of surveillance cameras, Michael Naimark believes he can hide in plain sight with the aid of a $1 laser pointer."

"In his research, Mr. Naimark discovered that there was already military literature widely available about using lasers to blind sensors, and that it was relatively simple to become invisible in front the cameras that now watch over many public spaces in this country."

The Chicago Tribune Surveillance on rise, and so are concerns
[requires 'free' registration]

"I have lots of worries about how this technology is being used," said John Graham, who is the founder of BroadWare Technologies, a Cupertino, Calif., maker of software for video camera networks, and who was one of the first researchers to send audio and video over the Internet.

"I've become Big Brother, but I didn't mean to be," Graham said. "It's just that there's no money in education or scientific collaboration.""

redux [09.09.02]
SFGate Surveillance Society Don't look now, but you may find you're being watched

"These days, if you feel like somebody's watching you, you might be right.

One year after the Sept. 11 attacks, security experts and privacy advocates say there has been a surge in the number of video cameras installed around the country. The electronic eyes keep an unwavering gaze on everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Washington Monument."

redux [03.11.02]
Wired News Spying: The American Way of Life?

"In the six months since the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans may not have exactly embraced a surveillance society, but they appear to have grown to accept portions of it. A Zogby poll conducted last December says that 80 percent of respondents favored video monitoring on public places such as street corners.

Especially in the dark days after the Pentagon was hit, the White House targeted, the Capitol anthraxed, and the World Trade Center leveled, that public reaction was predictable. In national emergencies, the uneasy relationship between freedom and order edges toward greater restrictions on individual liberty."

redux [02.25.02]
NPR: Morning Edition The Video Surveillance Debate

"It hangs over Times Square, looking more like a street lamp than what it really is: a police video surveillance camera that can swivel 360 degrees and zoom in close enough to read a Broadway ticket in a scalper's hand 50 feet away.

As Jad Abumrad reports for Morning Edition, the camera and thousands of others like it in New York City and millions across the country are at the center of an escalating debate: is the use of such devices to combat crime and terrorism worth the loss of privacy and other guaranteed constitutional freedoms?"

redux [10.12.01]
The New York Times Magazine A Cautionary Tale for a New Age of Surveillance
[requires 'free' registration]

"Before Sept. 11, the idea that Americans would voluntarily agree to live their lives under the gaze of a network of biometric surveillance cameras, peering at them in government buildings, shopping malls, subways and stadiums, would have seemed unthinkable, a dystopian fantasy of a society that had surrendered privacy and anonymity. But in fact, over the past decade, this precise state of affairs has materialized, not in the United States but in the United Kingdom. At the beginning of September, as it happened, I was in Britain, observing what now looks like a glimpse of the American future."

redux [02.15.01]
The Atlantic Online The Reinvention of Privacy

"The debate over these questions illustrates one irreducible truth: privacy is not so much a legal or technical concept as a social one. "The dominant feature of the current privacy debate," Fred Cate told me when I asked him to try to sum things up, "is its irrationality. The drivers are emotional." I think he's right. The crucial question about privacy today is the same it has always been?namely, whom should you trust?

A lot of people instinctively don't trust technology, especially in the hands of businesses, to protect privacy. But, as Robert Ellis Smith and others have pointed out, contemporary notions of privacy have in many cases evolved not despite new technology but because of it. "Privacy," the influential journalist and editor E. L. Godkin famously wrote, in Scribner's magazine in 1890, "is a distinctly modern product, one of the luxuries of civilization." Phil Agre made a related point to me, a bit more bluntly. "The idea that technology and privacy are intrinsically opposed," he said, "is false.""

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Ananova 'Emotional' robot goes on display

"As well as expressing a range of emotions from anger to happiness, eMo is also programmed to respond to the moods of people it meets."

""I can imagine that people would feel happier in an automated taxi driven by a robot with a colourful character rather than a just a faceless voice , and these are potential debates of the future."

redux [08.05.03]
The Register BT boffins develop SMS 'with feelings'

"For example, if a happy symbol was sent to a toy dog it would come to life and start barking. Alternatively a love message could be sent to a teddy bear, which would trigger its heart to glow and become warm to the touch."

"The idea is that a recipient of the emoticon can sense the actual meaning of the message that has been sent from their friend or partner. In this way it's hoped the technology could be applied to make the messaging experience more fun and tangible."

redux [12.05.02]
The New York Times Building a Better Cat
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"But the development of the FurReal cat may also suggest that the electronic toy industry is beginning to grow up, subordinating the gadgetry to classic, open-ended modes of play.

"You don't want the technology in a toy to be visible," said Judy Ellis, the chairwoman of the toy design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "The first robot pets were very cool-looking, but a child doesn't relate to a shiny surface. A child can relate to a furry cat.''"

redux [05.15.02]
Ananova Researchers to study how children interact with their Aibos

"Washington University professors Batya Friedman and Peter Kahn fear children may establish friendships that robots can't live up to.

The husband and wife team say early tests show while most children are aware robots aren't actually alive, others do not.

Some reason they must be living because they are able to learn how to respond to limited commands and move apparently independently."

redux [03.20.02]
Wired News Furrybot to Watch Over You

""While children often form emotional attachments to teddy bears, stuffed animals, blankets and other objects, senior citizens generally do not."

But Matsushita said residents have no problem interacting with the pets. Women who participated in a trial wanted to keep their newfound friends, Kadota said.

"I see no reason why, with the appropriate feedback, that reasonable bonding could not be achieved between a robot pet and its human owner," said Martin King, a research fellow at the University of Salford's Center for Robotics and Automation. The center is currently designing a robotic gorilla to interact with children."

redux [02.04.02]
The New York Times Man Who Would Be God: Giving Robots Life
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""A game it might have been, but if you'll forgive the staggering lack of modesty this implies, Creatures was probably the closest thing there has been to a new form of life on this planet in four billion years," Mr. Grand writes. "These creatures probably still represent the state of the art in synthetic life forms.""

""Steve Grand is the creator of what I think is the nearest approach to artificial life so far," Mr. Dawkins has said. Speaking of Mr. Grand's latest endeavor, what is known as the Lucy project, he told The Sunday Times: "With his record, if anyone could pull off such a spectacular coup, it would be him.""

redux [11.07.01]
AsiaWeek Robot Lovin'

"A.I. is of course fantasy, but Japan today is testing the plotline for real. Using interactive toys programmed to behave as obsequiously as the average lapdog, health care workers are trying to add companionship and emotional sustenance that may be missing from the lives of hospitalized children and elderly shut-ins. Researchers hope that one day, armies of sharing, caring machines will shore up a medical system that is hard-pressed to meet the demands of a rapidly aging society. Robots might even serve as surrogate family members, providing contact and affection for patients who have no immediate relatives nearby."

redux [08.01.01]
Ananova New doll 'has real feeding and sleeping patterns'

"A new toy doll which it makers claim has realistic skin, senses and reflexes has gone on sale in the UK.

Miracle Baby smiles when she's fed, frowns when she's tired and develops her own feeding, playing and sleeping patterns over time.

Her makers, Mattel, have used similar technology to that used by the manufacturers of robot dogs which led to a worldwide craze for the artificial pets."

redux [05.11.01]
NPR : All Things Considered People Who Like Fake Dogs

"Robert Siegel talks with Sherry Turkle, professor of the sociology of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Turkle has studied people's relationships with computational objects for the past 20 years. She says recently some computers have been designed to ask humans to "nurture" them and humans respond. Turkle says that the attachment of AIBO owners to their robot dogs raises questions about what it means to love an object that doesn't know you're there."

redux [05.25.00]
The New York Times What Do You Mean, 'It's Just Like a Real Dog'?
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"What do children think about what it means to be alive? And at what ages can children distinguish mechanical objects from real animals or people? Research into these questions is still in its earliest stages. There was a flurry of interest in children's reactions when Tamagotchis, virtual pets from Japan, first appeared a few years ago and then started dying on their young owners. But the topic is attracting more attention now as seemingly intelligent toys and other robots appear on the market in increasing variety and numbers. "

"Again and again... researchers have asked the children: "Is it alive? Is it like a real pet? Does it know you?"

"Strikingly," Ms. Audley said, "often the answer they settled on was, "It's not alive in a human or animal kind of way, but in a Furby kind of way.""

redux [04.21.00]
The Third Culture A new kind of object: From Rorschach to Relationship

"I have studied the effects of computational objects on human developmental psychology for over twenty years, documenting the ways that computation and its metaphors have influenced our thinking about such matters as how the mind works, what it means to be intelligent, and what is special about being human. Now, I believe that a new kind of computational object - the relational artifact - is provoking striking new changes in the narrative of human development, especially in the way people think about life, and about what kind of relationships it is appropriate to have with a machine. Relational artifacts are computational objects designed to recognize and respond to the affective states of human beings - and indeed, to present themselves as having "affective" states of their own. They include children's playthings (such as Furbies and Tamagotchis), digital dolls that double as health monitoring systems for the homebound elderly (Matsushita's forthcoming Tama), sentient robots whose knowledge and personalities change through their interactions with humans, as well as software that responds to its users' emotional states and responds with "emotional states" of their own."

"By accepting a new category of relationship, with entities that they recognize as "sort-of-alive", or "alive in a different, but legitimate way," today's children will redefine the scope and shape of the playing field for social relations in the future."

redux [09.88.00]
Wired Magazine Congratulations, It's A Bot!

""When kids play, they create an entire world that's alive, and it never objects to them. A kid's imagination is a completely open architecture, and there are no bounds to what a toy can do," he explains.

"That's the future of toys. Technology's role is to become transparent. If you give the cues of autonomy, the imagination fills in the blanks, because that's what it's meant to do."

As processing power and sensors improve, the difference between simulated autonomy and actual autonomy will blur. Already it's difficult to relate to these new technological creatures without imputing to them the sorts of feelings we routinely discover in, say, our pets. And when you throw in realistic human behavior, not to mention silky skin, things become rather surreal.

"These are not toys anymore," says Chung as the screwy signal scrambles his face again. "These are way beyond toys."

"So what are they?" I ask. For once, Chung pauses. "They are the next iteration of our attempt to re-create life.""

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Red Herring Who needs the phone company?

"When the University of Arkansas wanted to trim the cost of intra-campus calls, it bypassed its local carrier by combining two technologies: voice-over-IP (VoIP) and 802.11 wireless. By using its existing TCP/IP networks and spending $4 million for a Cisco Call Manager, the university circumvented its local carrier and reduced monthly service fees from $530,000 to a mere $6,000. Meanwhile, the City of Dallas eliminated circuits altogether. It standardized on an IP network and expects to cut the costs of internal calls by $21 million over the next decade.

Individually, VoIP and 802.11 are hot technologies with promising futures. Now they are gaining attention for their potential as a combined force."

redux [10.01.03]
Inc Internet Phone Service is Here

"There is no risk of everyone swooping out and buying VoIP phones and eliminating the plain old telephone service (POTS) overnight. However, in the next five years there is going to be some serious worry at the traditional phone companies about how they will make money."

"The local phone companies, or incumbent local exchange carriers, will do whatever they can to slow the growth of VoIP, but the fact that the phone traffic is on the Internet will make VoIP impossible to stop. Vonage, for example, isn't a phone company at all in the eyes of the Federal Communications Commission."

News.Com Parsing with Powell

"Q: What kind of VoIP regulations do you see as necessary? Should VoIP providers be treated just like Verizon Communications or other carriers?

A: We'll probably initiate something to look at it this fall. But let me emphasize that we're going to look at it. That doesn't say what we're going to do about it. We only know that it's a growing issue. Basically, the advanced platforms permit divorcing services and applications from the infrastructure. That's very different from the ancient telephone models, when the application was the same as the distribution."

The Register Numbers don't add up for Telcos

"This whole deal reminds me of some work I did for a UK advertising company years ago. I got to have lunch with the MD and Creative Director, who had just done market research for a cigarette lighter company on who their competition was. Was it Ronson, the low-end player? Or Dupont or Dunhill, the high-end players? Turns out that it actually was Parker Pen. The company learned that they were in the gift market.

My take is that telephone companies still think that other phone companies are their competition, and that the rules and givens of phone company competition will work in their favor. But actually they are actually in connection. And with increasingly wrong numbers."

redux [09.24.03]
The New York Times A New Kind of Revolution in the Dorms of Dartmouth
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""As far as I know, no one has done a wireless voice-over-I.P. network this large before," said David Kotz, a computer science professor at Dartmouth."

"The roll out of voice over Internet protocol is closely coupled with Dartmouth's recent decision to stop charging students, faculty and staff for long-distance phone calls. The college made that decision when administrators discovered that the billing function was costing more than the calls themselves."

The Register Skype: putting the hype in VoIP

"Reading interviews with the KaZaA founders and looking at their new web site, Skype we think that their second revolution has a chance of being even bigger than their first. Perhaps it's called Skype to rhyme with Hype.

The idea is to use peer-to-peer networks to give free voice over IP telephone calls to the masses, and not just calls to a special instant messenger-like registry of friends, but to virtually anyone."

redux [05.22.03]
Washington Post High Speed With the Highest Anxiety

"Both sides agreed on one point: Nobody has any idea how to turn Wi-Fi into a profitable business.

Of all the talk, Babbio's prickly attack on MCI -- along with his lukewarm comments about Wi-Fi -- perhaps best reflected the painful disputes consuming the troubled telecom industry. While studies show broadband Internet access has reached nearly a third of American homes, it remains unclear what kind of pricing, quality and add-on services consumers should expect from their beleaguered suppliers."

Wired Magazine Why Voice Over Wi-Fi Has Telcos Dialing 911

"Think of it as the love child of the two hottest developments in telecom: voice over IP and wireless broadband. There are more than 3.5 million VoIP phones in the US - mostly at work - up from practically none five years ago. Meanwhile, the number of commercial Wi-Fi hot spots in the US exploded from 2,000 to 12,000 last year. Combine the two and any gadget - laptop, PDA, tablet PC, whatever - can become a voice communication device."

"For big providers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, voice over Wi-Fi isn't pretty. Those companies blew billions on licenses for next-gen cellular networks. Now they may find themselves undercut by the same grassroots groups bringing free, unregulated Wi-Fi to the urban masses."

redux [12.16.02]
The New York Times Web Calling Roils the Telecom World
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"After all, telecommunications and technology companies lost $7.6 billion in global market value from March 2000 to September 2002, as the industry was gripped by stunning collapses, financial scandals and an effort to absorb excess capacity on globe-spanning communications systems.

But alongside the industry's search for its direction after such turmoil are trends that threaten to destabilize global telecommunications further in 2003. These trends could be described as the start of a cannibalization of established services by disruptive new technologies."

redux [08.07.02]
Bob Frankston The Economist, the Internet, Telecom and the Dow

"Of course The Economist is not alone in this fundamental error but "Crash" story is a useful foil for addressing this misunderstanding.

It is a tragic misunderstanding since the woes of the Telecom industry are seen as representing the state of the economy rather than the collapsing of a facade of a Potemkin industry. In 1900's there was a real telecommunications industry just like in the 1800's when there was a thriving business in transporting ice from frozen lakes to warmer climes. Just as refrigeration put an end to the need for buying ice, the Internet has put an end to the need to buy telecommunications services from others. We just need commodity connectivity."

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

The Christian Science Monitor Why computers have not saved the classroom

"Mr. Oppenheimer's conclusion: Putting computers in classrooms has been almost entirely wasteful, and the rush to keep schools up-to-date with the latest technology has been largely pointless.

"At this early stage of the personal computer's history, the technology is far too complex and error prone to be smoothly integrated into most classrooms," Oppenheimer writes. "While the technology business is creatively frantic, financially strapped public schools cannot afford to keep up with the innovations.""

redux [08.08.03]
MIT Technology Review The Myth of Generation N

"This new generation, the thinking went, would be everything that their parents weren't when it came to technology: They would know how to type, partake in electronic communications, and be able to rapidly figure out how all this stuff worked. They would be so adept at using computers that calling them "computer literate" would be an insult. They would see society as something to be mastered and hacked, not something that they need to fit inside."

"But the more time I spend with the kids who should be members of Generation N--today's high school and college students--the more convinced I am that the notion of universal computer competence among young people is a myth."

redux [03.08.02]
Sp!ked-IT From ABC to ICT

"In contrast to the involved and transformative process of making a child literate, the use of [Information and Communications Technologies] is intuitive. Even my three-year-old nephew Stefan can turn a computer on, move in and out of computer programmes, including his parents' email programme, and send messages. He cannot write a message that makes any sense - but he knows which field the text should go in, how to move the cursor between fields, and that you fill the field with symbols by tapping the keyboard. He has learned this by watching his older brothers, by a lot of trial-and-error, and, no doubt, through intuition.

But Stefan, or any other child his age, could never learn to read, write, divide and multiply through intuitive learning - because the manipulation of abstract symbols, whether the written word or numbers, does not make 'human sense'."

redux [02.13.02]
The Oregonian School in heart of tech country teaches without PCs

"Several of Swallowtail's high-tech parents say they didn't pick the school solely for its no-tech stance but support the philosophy behind it. The parents say they know computer skills are easy to learn because they work with technology all day.

"It's not rocket science to use a computer," says O'Mahony, a former Intel electrical engineer whose husband, Barry, is a senior engineer for the company.

The couple's children learn about computers at home from their parents, but, says O'Mahony, "We certainly can't teach them to paint.""

redux [07.06.00]
First Monday Technology and Education: Between Chaos and Order

"Technology in all forms, young and old or simple and complex, can be potent tools that engage learners in meta-cognitive reflection. These tools engage learners to rethink their old beliefs, knowledge, and understandings. These tools might allow learners to compare new ideas with other individuals to assess whether new concepts and ideas are plausible and fruitful. Technologies can be educators' tools in finding creative ways that encourage students to self-test, self-question, and self-regulate learning in helping them to create solutions to complex problems. Educators need to help students realize that understanding about knowledge and beliefs are essential to human growth and development. Technologies should not estrange us from our humanity or the noble profession of educating competent citizens. We should not become "high-tech, self-driven slaves to technology.

"Protecting the embodiment of quality education encompasses learning to think, learning to teach, and learning to lead creatively, not only within the classroom (virtual and traditional) but also throughout all institutions of higher education."

Monday, October 13, 2003

Wired News Tracking Junior With a Microchip

"Solusat, the Mexican distributor of the VeriChip -- a rice-size microchip that is injected beneath the skin and transmits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal -- is marketing the device as an emergency ID under its new VeriKid program."

""My big concern is that kidnappers will simply use 'high-tech' tools like knives to get rid of them," said Lauren Weinstein, creator of the Privacy Forum, an online digest related to privacy and technology issues."

redux [09.08.03]
BBC Pocket tracker monitors children

"Worried parents will soon be able to keep an eye on their children at all times via a wearable tracking device and a website that maps where they go."

"Through the website parents will be able to pinpoint the location of their children in real time as well as replay where they have been over the last few hours."

redux [10.25.02]
Wired News Implantable Chip, On Sale Now

"The maker of an implantable human ID chip has launched a national campaign to promote the device, offering $50 discounts to the first 100,000 people who register to get embedded with the microchip.

Applied Digital Solutions has coined the tagline "Get Chipped" to market its product, VeriChip."

"The company plans to develop a prototype for an implantable GPS ID chip by the end of the year."

redux [08.16.02]
The Economist Something to watch over you

"HILLARY CLINTON is supposed to have said of her husband that he was a "hard dog to keep on the porch". She is not alone. All over the world, dogs, husbands, children and even inanimate objects are liable to stray from the home--whether willingly or otherwise. Now, though, the technology exists to keep track of them."

"The angel is intended to look after old people who have become forgetful and young children who have become too adventurous, as well as dogs who are too interested in the bitch next door."

redux [02.26.02]
MSNBC Human chip implants stir up a debate

"A Florida technology company is poised to ask the government for permission to market a computer ID chip that could be embedded beneath a person's skin. For airports, nuclear power plants and other high-security facilities, the immediate benefits would be a closer-to-foolproof security system. But privacy advocates warn that the chip could lead to encroachments on civil liberties.

THE IMPLANT TECHNOLOGY is another case of science fiction evolving into fact. Those who have long advanced the idea of implant chips say it could someday mean no more easy-to-counterfeit ID cards, no more reliance on dozing security guards."

redux [02.06.02]
Wired News They Want Their ID Chips Now

""Derek stood up and said, 'I want to be the first kid to be implanted with the chip,'" Leslie Jacobs said. "For the next few days all he did was talk about the VeriChip.""

"ADS chief technology officer Keith Bolton said he was a bit wary about the family's motives at first, but the Jacobses quickly convinced him they'd be perfect subjects. Since the VeriChip was announced in December, the company has been bombarded with queries from people interested in the device, Bolton said.

"Right now we have over 2,000 kids who have e-mailed, wanting to have the chip implanted," he said. "They think it's cool.""

redux [12.04.00]
News.Com Devices keep finger on wearer's pulse, place

"Applied Digital Solutions is launching a new line of products under the "Digital Angel" name that allow the monitoring of a person's whereabouts and vital statistics."

"Although the devices may evoke images of George Orwell's Big Brother, the company says the products could be used to keep track of pets, small children or adults with health concerns such as Alzheimer's disease."

redux [09.07.00]
Salon Put that silicon where the sun don't shine

"Worry no more, doting parents! Whether it's your little pumpkin's first day walking home from school by herself or the millionth time you've lost her at the mall, the BabysitterTM will track your sweetpea's location from a jelly bean-sized microchip implant, discretely tucked under her collarbone. You'll be able to chart her every move. What better way to give her independence, and put your mind at ease?"

Also available: The Constant CompanionTM lets you keep a watchful eye on grandma or grandpa, even when you can't be by their side; The Invisible BodyguardTM offers freedom from fear so you can enjoy the fauna and foliage when eco-tourism takes you to kidnapping hot spots around the globe. Coming soon: The INS Border PatrollerTM; the Maximum Security GuardTM; the Personal Private EyeTM; the Micro-ManagerTM."

redux [09.03.00]
SiliconValley.Com: Dan Gillmor Electronic leash would undermine our values

"WHAT can grease the slippery slope toward tyranny, and erode trust within families? Sometimes, it's as simple as parents' love for their children.

A colleague and friend says he'd gladly implant a location-tracking chip in his newborn daughter, to protect her from kidnapping and other threats. He says he wouldn't misuse such surveillance power. I'm sure he means it. I'm sure other parents would say, and believe, the same things.

This location-tracking product does not exist -- yet. Such is the race of technology, however, that it undoubtedly will exist soon enough. By then, I hope my colleague and others in his situation think hard about the consequences if they get what they want."

redux [07.17.00]
Wired Signing Up to Be Surveilled

"Forget the pager number and don't bother calling.

One company is making it easier for folks to "track" anyone, by allowing them to pull up a map of the person's location on a personal digital assistant (PDA) or computer.

"Cell-Loc isn't the only company to come out with location-sensitive devices. After all, the industry is expected to bring in a whopping $3.9 billion by 2004, according to the Strategis Group.

The same Strategis study showed that people didn't mind being tracked down for emergency situations like roadside assistance."

redux [05.25.00]
USA Today Denver may track workers by satellite

"It could be getting harder to hide from the boss.

After allegations that some city employees are loafing on the job, Denver officials said Monday they want to spend $1.5 million to track city vehicles with the military's Global Positioning System satellites."

"One labor expert said it might be counterproductive for an employer to try to scrutinize its workers so closely."

redux [04.11.00]
Salon Japanese firm developing tool to track stray grannies

"Johnny: "Mom! Grandma's missing again!"

Mom: "Don't worry, dear, the satellite will find her.""

"According to Reuters, a Japanese company has come up with a new way to track down grandmas, grandpas and anyone else who forgets where he or she is supposed to be, by using a satellite-based global positioning system and cellular technology."