me lose brain? uh-oh?

Gosh ... even the Boulder police could have solved that crime.


/lives in Boulder

This hearkens back to the implanting GPS chips in humans discussion of yesterday. See? I told you it would help missing (people) things be found quicker!

/DNRTFA

lawlz

They weren't normal GPS receivers. They must have been GPS enabled tracking devices (e.g. James Bond, or those ankle trackers for criminals). Normal GPS devices don't have the ability to transmit their location to anyone.

Wow, it's too bad that the cops didn't off this Darwin award candidate

In that thread mentioned, wasn't there someone swearing up and down that GPS couldn't be used to find someone anyway, they only worked by the receiver positioning itself with the satellite and not the other way around?

Gee, guess that person didn't know wtf hey were talking about. What a shocker.

The buses here have GPS but they won't let anyone look where they are so the trip can be timed better.

Go stand in the snow and wait for the bus instead of checking where and only stepping out when it's near.

\sort of threadjack
\\hate how public bus system are run in Michigan

GPS Devices != homing beacons... there's more to this story than the reporter is telling...

The headline is too funny... I'm afraid to RTFA for fear of ruining a good laugh...

it's happened before :(

copper1861

They weren't normal GPS receivers. They must have been GPS enabled tracking devices (e.g. James Bond, or those ankle trackers for criminals). Normal GPS devices don't have the ability to transmit their location to anyone.

I was thinking the same thing.

But, they were going to be installed in public vehicles (snowplows etc) so I'm sure it's the one like you said.

copper1861

They weren't normal GPS receivers. They must have been GPS enabled tracking devices (e.g. James Bond, or those ankle trackers for criminals). Normal GPS devices don't have the ability to transmit their location to anyone.

I believe that at least some cell phone gps systems transmit their position. Per some cell phone advertising, you can see where your pal is at when you try to call them.

Town officials said the thieves didn't even know what they had: they thought the GPS devices were cell phones, which they planned to sell.

I submitted this with an unfunny, but more accurate headline that played off of the "thought they were cell phones" part of the story.

Normal GPS devices don't have the ability to transmit their location to anyone.

You just keep telling yourself that and it will be alright. GPS locators have been added to the flu shot. Thats why there is some much news about the bird flu so more people will get the shots. I've been totally off the grid for 5 years.

schmack

In that thread mentioned, wasn't there someone swearing up and down that GPS couldn't be used to find someone anyway, they only worked by the receiver positioning itself with the satellite and not the other way around?

Gee, guess that person didn't know wtf hey were talking about. What a shocker.

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back there buddy.

These were not normal GPS devices. These were tracking devices that use GPS to know where they are. Apparently the town uses them to track town assets like snow plows and such.

Normal "how to I get to main st" GPS devices do not broadcast any significant signal (unless they are also a cell phone). The poster you mock was correct.

That's some good thinking, Lou.

I guess it may not be the actual "GPS - global positioning system" that is giving up the location of the phone in the ads I mentioned. Maybe it transmits the phone position based on what it reads via it's GPS input or something?

schmack

In that thread mentioned, wasn't there someone swearing up and down that GPS couldn't be used to find someone anyway, they only worked by the receiver positioning itself with the satellite and not the other way around?

Gee, guess that person didn't know wtf hey were talking about. What a shocker.

Speaking of someone not knowing what they are talking about... dumbass.

Krazymutz: I believe that at least some cell phone gps systems transmit their position. Per some cell phone advertising, you can see where your pal is at when you try to call them.

Another reason to not use your cell phone when carrying out an affair.

In that thread mentioned, wasn't there someone swearing up and down that GPS couldn't be used to find someone anyway, they only worked by the receiver positioning itself with the satellite and not the other way around?
Gee, guess that person didn't know wtf hey were talking about. What a shocker.

Gee, I guess you don't know what you're talking about. I'm shocked. GPS receivers are just that. Receivers. Obviously they do transmit their data by some means, otherwise they would be useless paperweights. Now the way the receiver transmits data is important. USB cable, bluetooth, or by cellphone network (to name just the consumer applications).
The receivers in this story obviously transmit their data wirelessly, assumingly over a cellphone network. That would make them a tad larger than the current zippo-sized gen of battery-powered bluetooth receivers. _MUCH_ larger than the OMGZGPS chips the size of a grain of rice.

I only wear my tinfoil hat when I'm outside of my house. I'm protected inside by the tinfoil wallpaper, ceiling tiles and window shades.

Cheron:
GPS locators have been added to the flu shot. Thats why there is some much news about the bird flu so more people will get the shots.

Oh wow. TB2K much?

I've been totally off the grid for 5 years

So...you're posting via...? IPoverSmokesignal?

Dumb da dumb dumb....

They didn't have enough time to read the manuals!



SpectroBoy , Tinfoil Fez: for the more dashing paranoiac! +2 style points!

I'm still all in favor of being implanted with the kind of GPS that *does* let people know where you are. I'm a white chick -- I could get kidnapped. (j/k) But seriously -- I'll be the amount of f*ckery that people get up to would decline rapidly if we really did have GPS chips that told where we were.

Most of the people screaming about Big Brother watching are really just worried about getting caught doing something they shouldn't be anyhow.

/puts on flame-proof minidress

Please read that "I'll bet", rather than "I'll be"...

/growl

They should've hidden them all in different, mind-boggling places.

Police said that when they arrived there, Kurt Husfeldt, 46, had the device in his hands. Husfeldt was charged with criminal possession of stolen property. His 13-year-old son also was arrested on grand larceny charges.



Is this their mugshot?

Proving once again that certain people should not be allowed the breed.

amaranthe: I'm still all in favor of being implanted with the kind of GPS that *does* let people know where you are. I'm a white chick -- I could get kidnapped.

But consider this. If you donned the later-mentioned minidress and strapped on a Glock in a thigh holster, that would be:
1. Effective at preventing a kidnapping.
2. Devoid of Big-Brother abilities.
3. Really farking hot.

GPS = Globally Pharking Stupid

OK, so next question. I got the part about them actually being GPS receivers with (probably cell-phone) transmitters built in. But don't most consumer and even business GPS devices need a relatively unobstructed line-of-sight to the satellites to work? Did the device really indicate that it was in this guy's house, or did it indicate that it didn't know where it was, but its last known position was the guy's front porch?

/The more I know...

Was it Boost mobile that had some kind of "Where you at" location broadcasting?
(Googling)
Oh yeah it's "Boost Loopt"... Wow their site is pandering! Maybe 'the Man' wants to know where you at - at all times.

I'm LOLing at people's ignorance of this technology. If you go down and buy a $99 Garmin or Magellan GPS-r for hunting with your buddies, men in black SUV's will not, I repeat, will NOT follow you. Your wife will NOT be watching you from a satellite link on her laptop. About all you could do is use your cell phone and relay your GPS coordinates to someone in a REQUEST to come rescue you. If you take one of these hunting or hiking, nobody will be able to find you if you are lost BECAUSE you have it on you, unless you buy a better model with a transmitter, like a RINO. Those things are cool BTW.

Obviously what these thieves stole were meant to transmit signals, not just receive signals.

Now.. if you are an attorney and you hunt wearing bright orange-- watch out for the balding fellow with the snear standing next to you.

Krazymutz: I believe that at least some cell phone gps systems transmit their position. Per some cell phone advertising, you can see where your pal is at when you try to call them.

I haven't seen the exact thing you're speaking of, but that can also be done by triangulation from two base stations. As long as your phone is on standby, it'll track you.

Kar98: So...you're posting via...? IPoverSmokesignal?

Heh... IPoSS is similar to PPPoE. There's some additional overhead for error checking and the MTU is a little lower - down from 1492 to around 1, but the overall concept is the same.

Hmm... Stealing a bunch of devices designed specifically for the purpose of identifying their exact geographic location, and not getting rid of them immediately?

If the Darwin Awards did not require death as a qualification, this guy would be in the running.

Manfred J. Hattan:
OK, so next question. I got the part about them actually being GPS receivers with (probably cell-phone) transmitters built in. But don't most consumer and even business GPS devices need a relatively unobstructed line-of-sight to the satellites to work

fark no, not anymore. The current generations of GPS chipsets like SirfStar3 or MTK give a better reading indoors than the previous ones like SirfStartIIa ever managed to get outdoors under the best of conditions.

True. Previous generations got baffled even when driving on a straight highway lined with trees, or when passing under a bridge. Current gens, not so much.

Example:



Indoors, with a brand new iBlue 737 GPS receiver (MTK chipset).




Outdoors, in a van, parked against a wall, in the rain under a cloudy sky. (TomTom Mk2, SirfStarIII chipset)

no1rIf the Darwin Awards did not require death as a qualification, this guy would be in the running.

I think you can get honorable mention for "destruction of own nads w/o death" but I'm not sure.

Manfred J. Hattan: OK, so next question. I got the part about them actually being GPS receivers with (probably cell-phone) transmitters built in. But don't most consumer and even business GPS devices need a relatively unobstructed line-of-sight to the satellites to work? Did the device really indicate that it was in this guy's house, or did it indicate that it didn't know where it was, but its last known position was the guy's front porch?

That's probably the most likely scenario.

TFA: Babylon installed 300 GPS devices in snow plows...

Uh...not a GPS. That's a tracking device.

Kar98:

Great. So you're telling me I bought my TomTom Treo device pretty much the day before they upgraded them. ;) Mine works great in clouds and even moderate foliage, but indoors, not so much. Thanks for the info.

/Stupid TomTom doesn't know about Off-roadOff-road anyways.

What ever happened to on*star, wasn't that really popular 2 years ago?

You'll make sargent for that, Lou.

Dunno, Manfred, which version/model are you using?

/yeah, sometimes TomTom is freaking stupid. No, you silly Dutchlanders, a TX FM road is in fact not a highway and thus not the fastest way from A to B.
//Also, seriously, there's no street across the square here in town. That's the mainfloor of the courthouse and that one has been there in the same location since 1901.

amaranthe needs to turn on her GPS, my satellites are having a hard time focusing.

They were GPS receivers tied to radio transmitters so that the city could monitor its fleet of snow plows etc.

Tinfoil brigade: Believe what you want, we know you will anyhow, but GPS recievers are not all radio transmitters. Your cell, however, can give your location away based on signal triangulation based on your signal strength to the cell towers and their (well-established) positions. Google E911 (Enhanced 911, I think) if you want to know more.

Sorry, guys. I think it's illegal for me to have that chip implanted now. I'll just have to take my chances with the other white chicks out in the Cold, Cruel World(tm). ;)