[EAS]Speedtrap Alert

[pjk]

Subject:   Speedtrap Alert

Information technologies tend to 'dissolve' business and
institutional boundaries. Napster, even in its present chastened
form, forever changed the music industry. The same will happen to
much of traditional educational practices.
Here is a cute little unexpected tidbit involving GPS.

   --PJK

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(from INNOVATION, 26 September 2001)

SPEEDTRAP ALERT
A British company is using GPS technology to pinpoint the location
of  stationary cameras used to trap speeders and alert drivers to
their  presence. Morpheous' Geodesy is about the size of a deck of
cards and plugs  into a car's cigarette lighter. As the car
approaches a speed trap, lights  and audio signals grow more
persistent, urging the driver to slow down.  Drivers can also
report the location of new cameras by pressing a button on  the
front panel of the Geodesy. In return, Morpheous will send them a
check  for 50 pounds. The company has raced to keep up with demand
since its  launch in the UK last year and has sold franchises in
several European  countries and Brazil. It's hoping to find a U.S.
distributor next year.  "Our product is 100 percent legal," says
Morpheous exec Gareth Hopkins.  "The only way they could outlaw our
product would be by banning GPS, and  that's not going to happen."
(Wired.com 24 Sep 2001)
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,46677,00.html