What is Digg?49 Comments
- billmania, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16They. Can't. See. What's. In. My. Mind. Yet...
- DigitalWorld, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13I wonder if there really is an "opt-in portion. It seems to me that if the technology is in there, then they could simply turn it on at will, and not let anyone know they're doing it.
- igyigyigy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Really? They're not increasing tuition charges at all?
It's just a free phone, out of the goodness of their hearts? What a college :) - gothamcityprjct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Most cellphones already have GPS built in and NORMALLY they are set to broadcast your signal to everyone. I had to go in and change it to 911 only - which is to say, the issue of opt-in/opt-out on gps tracking is a bigger issue than just at a university level.
Sorry if that made little sense. My english is hating on me today. - DangerMouse9, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8do you also think cameras on every corner... hell on every building watching everything you do is cool too, just in case there's a slim chance that someone might break into your house, attack you, kill you and your family would be easier to catch?
I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have the watchful eye of someone else seeing everything I do.
There was an episode of Penn & Tellers ***** where they had someone in a van or something across the street watch a house. They told the guy that there was a known terrorist or something like that in the house and to keep a watch on him, that they needed to know when he left and where he was going. Next door they had a sultry wife and her husband get in an argument then start to get it on.
How many people do you think watched for the guy to leave? I think out of all the people they had watching the house, only 1 person didn't deter from the house too much. - scootinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Doesn't Verizon already have features like this?
- Orbatos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I'd actually doubt it's ever off really.
- farmergreg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I thought maybe I was just paranoid, but I see a lot of you have the same concerns I do. I do not like the idea of anyone including the police and definitely the Government having the ability to track anyone anytime. I think all of this crap is being passed on to us with the spin its for our own good and yes now its optional but how long before we don't get that choice. I would encourage everyone to look ahead to the future and the power over our lives and the freedoms we have that we just give to them from the standpoint of its for our Own Good. I live in the United States and I understand that some who will read this do not, however, I live in a Free Country somewhat anyhow and I intend to die someday in a free country and hope idiots don't give all of my freedom away.
- gothamcityprjct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@cremate: Actually, if you call 911 from your cell it will automatically allow them access to the information of where you are when you call.
- LacY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I can't wait untill someone shows up late for class & is like "sorry! traffic was awful!" and the proff is like "actually, according to your little blip, you left your apartment 10 minutes after class began. Care to change your story?"
(After TAing for whiny little Ivy undergrads, I'd do that in a HEARTBEAT) - ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sheeeeep.
- C0demaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sounds like a reason for people to be even more irresponsible than before. Technology is great and all but this seems a little overboard. They always try to use security to cover up being able to track your movements and I highly doubt its fully disabled.
This univeristy needs to screw all this stuff and just lower tuition costs. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7people don't control other people for good reasons, they control for the sake of control.
- ardellin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Oh really? Well add on a couple dozen good 'inexpensive' ideas and your tuition goes up a couple thousand.
Most college students already have cell phones, anyway. I'm guessing most students won't carry around a spare cell phone just to help out the university. - ardellin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Not sure of the exact details, but all phones in the US are required to have GPS capability that are sold after sometime in the fall, which means most cell phone makers already implemented this functionality. And yes, as you said, the detail for many phones is to only send GPS info when calling 911, but you can turn it on for all calls if you wish (911 is the minimum setting).
- Flashman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Uh, do you have any idea how big your typical university campus is? And just how much ***** is going on every minute of the day?
I would have loved for something like this to have existed when I was a security guard. You just can't plan for the kind of ***** that happens late at night on campus, and more "men on the ground" isn't the solution. This is a wonderfully altruistic development and I'm upset that people could think that laziness and budgetary considerations are the primary motivations for employing it. You cynics make me sick. - WhackingDay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3IIRC, the gps "tracking" ability of these cellphones has about a 100m radius. Good luck using it to find someone in a crowded area.
But who knows, maybe they're new. The Razrs have the capability. Most of them only enable if you call 911 although you can set it to be on all the time. - schapman43, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Yeah come on guys! Its only the loss of your privacy! Who cares if someone knows where you are and what you're doing every minute of every day!
You can't be serious? - cremate, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Every cellphone has this. Except it doesnt get broadcast to the police station. Rather they have to get a court ordered subpeona first and then get it from the telco.
- DangerMouse9, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5what the hell was he modded down for? It's a valid concern.
Seriously, half the time a lot of you are all about privacy and fighting (albeit ranting) to keep it, then when someone says something about a potential violation of it in another article some of you digg it down... what the hell?
DigitalWorld, you get a from me - hydrokayak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
I agree with you. No GPS enabled phone. No Onstar in my vehicle. NOTHING that can be used to identify my location to such a small area.
My school has telephone stations which you can pick up in an emergency. Sure, people can still get to you, but if you get to a phone station... which are pretty close, the police will be there in just two mins. - aliceinreality, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1as a 20 year old girl in college who usually hates the idea of being monitored, i have to say this is pretty cool. i would love to feel a little bit better (however false the security might be, with response times and all that.) about walking home from my campus job at night. at my university, security is really good about having a presence, so whether the police got there in time or not, i'm sure security would. also, being able to let one of my guy friends know where i was without them having to come walk me home would be nice on both me AND them.
as far as the social aspect, that is pretty nice as well. it's also sort of creepy, but i guess that's just life now. o.O however, being able to find my friends when they can't hear their phones or are off-campus drinking and all that would be nice.
but the convenience of that isn't worth the price, i think. i mostly like the safety aspect. - Twango, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So good to know that if you're mugged, the police will be there in 15 minutes to scoop up what's left of you. Ahh, that wonderful illusion of *safety*.
"Are you really you?
No
You're a chained-up dog fenced in a yard
Don't see much, you can't go far
Pace and froth, you're getting sick
Run too fast and it'll snap your neck
You say you'll break out
But you never do
You're just another ant in the hill
That's your Life Sentence" -- DK - tychop, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Dugg the story due to its horrific possibilities .....
- Aero1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2stupid, i live 3 miles from MSU and its the safest side of northern new jersey. jogi berra lives down the block for god sakes!
- vectorprime, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm more interested in the social networking aspect. TFA mentioned that they are allowing students to let their friends track them, which to me is the beginning of a wonderful idea. I'd love to see this sort of technology become more widespread.
Admittedly a bit more useful to us university-type people. Here's to never having to spend an hour walking from common area to common area trying to find your friends.
And yes, privacy and security are issues. But those are implementation issues, not problems with the idea. - JJ78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I mean, I'm cynical myself, but come on-did any of you naysayers bother reading the background of the technology? They're simply modifying a tracking system that, as other pointed out, IS ALREADY ON ALMOST EVERY PHONE. And debate the efficacy all you want, but at least they're trying to do something about a serious problem. Jesus...talk about "damned if you do, damned if you don't."
- drewolanoff, on 06/10/2008, -2/+2From a security standpoint, I think if left up to the students, they wouldnt mind being tracked for their safety. Their parents wouldn't either.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4obviously i do since i went to uni.
my point is, this thing won't prevent jack *****. like you said, campus is huge and by the time this thing goes off and you get there its all over.
where security walking a beat and showing a real presence ( not just watching monitors ) is a much greater deterrent for would be attackers. - To0n1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Dugg, primarily for the safety affect:
I used to work in the housing department at a University of California school. A joint department between Housing and the Police was a safety escort service - Anyone walking from any building to anywhere on campus (even to parking garages) could request an escort. Problem is, due to budgeting restrictions, as well as some logistical issues, it's impossible to respond to multiple calls all across the campus if they were to suddenly flood in (People aren't gonna wait for an escort forever).
I see this as, not a replacement, but an alternative to students who may not be wanting an escort, but would like someone to know where they're headed, and if they get stopped unexpectedly, where they were stopped.
Again, it's not an ideal alternative (It's useful only if something bad happens) but that use does come to mind. - cybersamurai, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3This is a great idea because: 1. I get a free cell phone. 2. Tracking me with it is my option. 3. If there really is an emergency this is a very useful device.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2It's better than sufficating on your own vomit or lying in an alley or in the bushes until someone happens to find you 6 hours later.
- smackjack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2good god if you're so concerned about being tracked, just don't get the phone. How difficult is that for you to understand?
- nozol03, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This is not doubleplusgood.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH - rodgerdesai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We developed this at Rave Wireless (www.ravewireless.com) and this is 1 of several apps that leverage opt-in GPS and we are launching another 15 colleges this September. The mobile phone is center of Gen Y's life and reaching them in clusters while freshman allows for a lot of innovation (for safety, social, academic, commerce). It's new so there will be positives and negatives but over time Gen Y will provide a vision on how all of us will use our mobile phones in the future.
- breakjobs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you're not thinking too clearly about it, it may seem like a free cell phone, which most people will jump at. I'm sure they're tracking it on some level. The only thing is, how devious is the person at the other end?
- gorndog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This site says they do the same thing (e.g., with an $80 Boost mobile phone and $6/month data plan). Can anyone who is using it share their experiences with it?
http://www.mologogo.com/ - cybersamurai, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3When I'm already paying $10,000+ a year, $100 is not really that big a deal.
- ptrcd003, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Guys, its OPT IN. So relax
- stvcsk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3You can do this on basically any cell phone now. Parents can opt--in for a plan to track their kids, and the kids won't even know. The conspiracy nuts will come out of the woodworks on this type of thing, but truly, the cost it would take to implement being able to turn this feature on remotely is way too high to be worth it, especially to a university. Besides, what the hell would they care if you're shacking somewhere?
- kingofthisnight, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3@ timmarhy
I fail to see the control part. It is GPS not some mind control device that they hit some magical buttons on and all of a sudden the kid becomes a Sims character and the person operating the GPS gets to move them around. What kind of information would they gain if they were to track students. " Hey the kids eating pizza at the local pizza place... wait, *****! *****! he is moving... oh never mind he went to class." The most they could find out is if the kid was at a bar or something and underage. That is about it. - kingofthisnight, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Yeah gotta worry about people finding out my daily routine. Home, class, work, and home... one could only guess what someone would do with that kind of information.
I don't see how that invades my privacy. Now if they were going through stuff like what I was doing at those places then I could see my privacy being invaded. But a buildings a building you could be doing just about anything anywhere. - nougat98, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"After 15 minutes it will remind you to turn the Guardian off. If you don't because you were mugged, beaten, passed out, etc, the police will call the phone and also go to your location to find out what the problem was."
uh...great - thanks for the help guys! - dramatools, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good..."
- hansamurai, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2This is an excellent idea since some campuses are so huge, policing them by manpower only is impossible.
- LordSkippy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Campus Cop #1: Any MDKs on the big screen today?
Campus Cop #2: No sir.
Campus Cop #1: Good, let's go to Taco Bell.
Campus Cop #2: Taco Bell is a little to expensive for me sir. - dmurray14, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6Sounds pretty cool.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5this is so they can find your body when once you've been raped and murdered.
seriously do they think this ***** is a subsitute for men on the ground? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2@DangerMouse:
Here is your sign and tin foil hat. You may want to see a shrink about your paranoia.
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is