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Legoland Introduces Wi-Fi Tracking for Kids

mindless4210 writes "Lego announced today the successful deployment of a full-scale child-tracking system within Legoland Billund in Europe. The tracking system, deployed by Bluesoft, Inc and KidSpotter, allows park visitors keep track of their children using one of the world's largest Wi-Fi tracking networks. The children must wear a wrist band with a Wi-Fi tag on it, and if they become separated, parents simply send a text message from their mobile phone, and receive an automated response giving them the accurate location of their child."

347 comments

  1. Privacy Concerns by frazzydee · · Score: 3, Informative

    The AeroScout Location System can locate the tags which I believe is in use with Lego's Kidspotter Wi-Fi tracking watch. The tag itself seems to be very small. Privacy concerns, anybody?

    1. Re:Privacy Concerns by eliza_effect · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Does your 8 year old need alot of privacy at Legoland? What would they be doing which would warrant the parents not knowing where they are?

    2. Re:Privacy Concerns by frazzydee · · Score: 0

      Well, if somebody gets ahold of one of these devices, what's to stop them from taking it apart and using the tag to spy on somebody who is not their 8 year old?

    3. Re:Privacy Concerns by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

      Wow, the FP is a tin hat poster .... what a surprise. Guess what, if you don't want to have your kids tracked you don't have to go to the amusment park. Wow, there is a shocking idea.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    4. Re:Privacy Concerns by eliza_effect · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At Legoland?
      Seriously? What could an ADULT do at Legoland that would require privacy?

      This works only WITHIN THE GROUNDS at Legoland.

    5. Re:Privacy Concerns by Snaller · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Privacy concerns, anybody?

      None what so ever. You pay to borrow a bracelet, don't want it - don't rent it. And you hand it over when you leave. Only thing someone can do is track the kid while in the park, and usually most of the kids are with their parents. There are hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    6. Re:Privacy Concerns by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Eh?? Wouldn't a Paedophile follow their target around waiting for a moment of parent's in-attention? How would knowing the coordinates help this? Besides the parents could always register their cell phone numbers upon entry to the park. Not to mention only the parents are going to have their childId to lookup the location.

      See my sig for why I think this kind of paranoia about technology is rediculous.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    7. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Doesn't this just provide paedos with a free kiddie tracking system?

      Yes, because otherwise, kids are so hard to find at LEGOLAND

    8. Re:Privacy Concerns by frazzydee · · Score: 5, Informative

      OK, you're right :). Until all cities have one wifi connection covering it, not much of a privacy concern- but just to clear up something:
      it doesn't only work at legoland. this page says that "Bluesoft's Aeroscout(TM) wireless LAN location system is a novel technology platform that location-enables a standard Wi-Fi wireless network". So even if you have the tag and the location system, it would only work within a Wi-Fi connection (and that's ANY wi-fi area, NOT just legoland's)

    9. Re:Privacy Concerns by toiletsalmon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I see no privacy concerns at all. I fact I think this is the PERFECT application for this type of technology that keeps the Tinfoil hat crowd up all night:

      -It doesn't work everywhere, only in the park
      -It's temporary
      -You have to opt in
      -It's actually useful

      The only drawback is that someone who is already a "Bad Parent" might use this as an opportunity to not keep an eye on their child.

    10. Re:Privacy Concerns by phoenix321 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most kids have cellphones anyway. What about the old-fashioned method of meeting like calling the kid and asking "can we meet at the X building in 15 minutes?" An even older fashion would be to tell your kids "if anything goes wrong, we meet at location X every half an hour" or "Talk to a park official if you get lost, so they can help us finding each other"

      Sometimes I wonder how I have survived a youth without being tracked in a theme park.

    11. Re:Privacy Concerns by PennyUK · · Score: 1

      But if you hire the tag at the gate in the morning, and return it to the gate at the end of the day, it won't be able to track the child anywhere else (because it will never get to another w-fi area).

    12. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Parent is making mountains of mole hills, but your argument isn't much better. Let me rephrase for you:

      If you don't want to be tracked, you don't have to live in America.

    13. Re:Privacy Concerns by BigFire · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of dead spots of cell coverage in any amusement park. Besides, it can get kind of noisy to talk with all of the background noise.

    14. Re:Privacy Concerns by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 5, Funny

      I see what you mean, scary stuff. "Excuse me sir, but could you put on this wristband? Perfectly innocent, I assure you." Then the hapless fool walks away, oblivious to the fact that, as long as he stays within range of the Legoland WiFi system, some nefarious evildoer can track his every move. Creepy.

      --

      I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
    15. Re:Privacy Concerns by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 3, Funny

      I, for one, am disgusted. If children can't roam around unsupervised at an amusement park, what is this country coming to? Next the jackbooted fascists will be telling kids they can't play in traffic or go home with the creepy guy at the arcade offering to show them puppies.

      --

      I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
    16. Re:Privacy Concerns by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      or you could just not have them wear the bracelet... this is OPTIONAL

    17. Re:Privacy Concerns by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

      Oh right. I forgot about that super secret tracking mechanism they installed in my brain at birth. Better put my tin hat on to block the secret service.

      Get over it. Nobody is watching you.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    18. Re:Privacy Concerns by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1
      this is OPTIONAL
      Oh, obviously you don't understand the Fallacy of the Slippery Slope. Once it starts it will never end. ;-)
      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    19. Re:Privacy Concerns by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 1
      There are hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.

      That's what they all say.

    20. Re:Privacy Concerns by andalay · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Am I the only one that thinks that its useless if a) the kid takes it off or b) A bad person takes it off the kid? What type of measures are there to prevent this?

    21. Re:Privacy Concerns by pilgrim23 · · Score: 1

      I remember taking my kid to the Legoland driving school. This gives a whole new twist to: War Driving...

      --
      - Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
    22. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      the creepy guy at the arcade offering to show them puppies.

      Man, this dates you. Arcade? What's that?

    23. Re:Privacy Concerns by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Informative
      There is hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.

      At Legoland, the adult entertainment is not underhanded. It's just hard to see, and entertaining to an adult mind.

    24. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I'd like to use it to make it easier to keep an eye on my child. Bring an headmount display and entertain myself with a computer, with the computer signaling with beeps when the child moves in case he's out of sight behind stuff. ...and use more beeps to tell me in which direction to move.

      (Insert joke about overlaying virtual world, with virtual opponent moving toward location where I should walk to in order to be near my child...)

    25. Re:Privacy Concerns by edrain · · Score: 2, Informative

      I guess I assumed that this would be used for kids who are too young to have a phone. Like the poor kids who get those leashes attached to them. They might even be young enough (6 yrs old?) that 15 minutes would be meaningless to them.

    26. Re:Privacy Concerns by BondGamer · · Score: 1
      Wouldn't a Paedophile follow their target around waiting for a moment of parent's in-attention?
      As if there wasn't a hundred other children in the park they could watch and wait for.
    27. Re:Privacy Concerns by NewNole2001 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Like the poor kids who get those leashes attached to them.

      Watching those kids try to run away is more fun than riding the rides at some parks.

    28. Re:Privacy Concerns by NewNole2001 · · Score: 1

      Simple, put a locking mechanism on it so that it can only be removed at the place where they are rented.

    29. Re:Privacy Concerns by andalay · · Score: 1

      well yeah thats what I had sort of assumed. but you never know :) I just wanted to know what they are _actually_ doing

    30. Re:Privacy Concerns by p00p+at+instable.net · · Score: 0

      This will be quite useful! It will make playground trolling that much easier! I haven't gone wardriving for a while but I may have to do it now!

    31. Re:Privacy Concerns by mcrbids · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Privacy concerns? Not really. Paedophile concerns? Yes.

      It's posts like this that will probably bring to life a new abbreviation:

      RTFP: Read The F---ing Post

      I mean, sheesh. I can understand not RTFA but not even reading the text in front of you?

      Perhaps, when you post, there should be a "I'm feeling lucky" option where your post is inserted randomly into any article that's currently on the home page?

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
    32. Re:Privacy Concerns by AlaskanUnderachiever · · Score: 1
      Now where the hell is my mod option for "AFDB +1"

      --
      Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
    33. Re:Privacy Concerns by Nobody+You+Know · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Okay. Let me make sure I've got this. Some anonymous paedophile may track some random unique identifier through the park from some great distance. As a parent, I'd be much more concerned with a paedophile using the decidedly low-tech approach of actually following my kid around.

      And if you're worried about said paedophile cracking the (presumably) secure system to somehow tie a unique braclet ID to a person, I'd be more worried about said cracker breaking into the billing system and getting the credit card data I used to buy the tickets.

      As the parent said, the biggest risk is that some negligent parents will decide that such a system obviates the need to actually keep an eye on their kid. As the saying goes, if you make it idiot-proof, someone somewhere will just build a better idiot...

    34. Re:Privacy Concerns by bechthros · · Score: 1

      I'm sure that for insurance purposes, this will change soon... you know that insurance and lawsuits are what's driving this...

    35. Re:Privacy Concerns by wo1verin3 · · Score: 1

      How many missing children do you know that have life insurance policies on them?

    36. Re:Privacy Concerns by wo1verin3 · · Score: 1

      >> Oh, obviously you don't understand the
      >> Fallacy of the Slippery Slope. Once it starts
      >> it will never end

      Wow you're like Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State!

    37. Re:Privacy Concerns by Mantorp · · Score: 1
      I agree, maybe version 2 will have subdermal chips that can be activated for a small fee?

      Damn those lead lined sweaters.

    38. Re:Privacy Concerns by james_in_denver · · Score: 0

      Oh come on now, just RFID your children when they are 2 or three years old, certainly more attractive than barcoding their fore-heads, and it is coming, and it will probably start out as an extension of this. Almost certainly in our lifetimes.

    39. Re:Privacy Concerns by Feanturi · · Score: 1

      I think the privacy concern is not about who will be tracking 8-year olds at Legoland, but rather that the device is very small. Small enough, it could be put just about anywhere, like into manufactured items such as bank cards, cellphones (wouldn't need your phone on for it to work), and other things that identify a user.

    40. Re:Privacy Concerns by Feanturi · · Score: 1

      Most kids have cellphones anyway. What about the old-fashioned method of meeting like calling the kid and asking "can we meet at the X building in 15 minutes?" An even older fashion would be to tell your kids "if anything goes wrong, we meet at location X every half an hour" or "Talk to a park official if you get lost, so they can help us finding each other"

      You must not have been around many 8 year olds. Cellphone, lost very easily. Meet at location X every half hour? Yeah that's gonna happen. How about taking the parental responsibility of staying with your kids? Those who find that cramps their style should have kept it wrapped.

    41. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I think it's time to replace the term tin hat with American. I mean, I apreciate concerns on privacy etc. But in the same way that the US has a serious problem with guns, Americans get really paranoid about it, but for some reason no good seems to come of their rabied paranoid. Infact, is just seems to have the opposite effect.

      What will probably happen in the US of A, is that hardly any one will end up using things like WiFi tracking, even when there is a good use for it. At the same time, the technology they fear so much will be used against them, right under their noses and they'll be too dumb to see it.

      Oh well. I'm sure some company will make a killing off selling RFID jamming devices or dissablers or something.

    42. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You call it the "Fallacy of the Slippery Slope". Reasonable people call it 'Learning from History', and 'Deductive Logic', and 'Being Familiar with Human Nature'.

    43. Re:Privacy Concerns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IF they are "6 yrs old", they shouldn't be on their own to begin with.

    44. Re:Privacy Concerns by ozmo · · Score: 0

      no, this is the perfect opportunity for the "lost children" to *sue* the parent(s) for *loosing* them in the "parK"

    45. Re:Privacy Concerns by Phekko · · Score: 1

      what is this country coming to?

      Silly you, America is still safe for all that. It's those obnoxious Europeans that have problems. See, it's in Denmark. Lotsa problems there.

      --

      Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
    46. Re:Privacy Concerns by dave420 · · Score: 1
      Well, seeing as the Wi-Fi hotspots are in public, it's no matter of privacy. Public. The clue's in the name :)

      Fair enough if Lego came round and put one in your bathroom...

    47. Re:Privacy Concerns by bechthros · · Score: 1

      None, but how many insurance companies do you know that *don't* give discounted rates to businesses that institute new security measures? Install a burglar alarm and your insurance drops, install cameras and it drops some more, so I'm sure installing personal tracking devices will bring a similar rate reduction.

    48. Re:Privacy Concerns by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      In Denmark??

      Not only is it not the US, but it is as far as you can get from the frivolous US legal system in a civilized western country. And besides in what way would an insurance company by involved in a case of lost kids? (remember Denmark is safe country).

      No, I think that it is parents wanting to find their kids who are driving this.

    49. Re:Privacy Concerns by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      It is much likely a paedophile abuser would be the parents themselves or the childs teachers than a stranger. In fact it is so much more likely that talking about paedophile strangers is pure FUD.

    50. Re:Privacy Concerns by itsnotthenetwork · · Score: 1

      I have an idea. Make your life soooo boring that nobody would want to keep track of you... Oh, you've heard this one already ?

    51. Re:Privacy Concerns by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

      Remember, the vocal minority gets more attention than the silent majority.

      The technology will come even here in America and eventually all these paranoid fears will be laid to rest (even laughed at). It has happened many times before and it will happen again.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
  2. Where's my wife? by IdleTime · · Score: 5, Funny

    That'll come next :)

    --
    If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    1. Re:Where's my wife? by Mateito · · Score: 1

      Just after "Where's the milkman"

      or

      "I've come over to fix the television".
      "Its in the... bedroom".

    2. Re:Where's my wife? by NineNine · · Score: 5, Funny

      And why would you need that? If I lost one of my ex-wives in Legoland or whatever theme park, I'd drive away just as fast as I could!

    3. Re:Where's my wife? by eclectro · · Score: 3, Funny

      Where's my wife?
      That'll come next :)


      Only in Soviet Russia. In America, the wife keeps track of YOU!

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    4. Re:Where's my wife? by phallstrom · · Score: 4, Funny

      This one is easy... at the mall!

    5. Re:Where's my wife? by antic · · Score: 2, Funny


      Yeh, a Wi-Fi system that warns you when your wife comes within 50 metres...

      --
      'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
    6. Re:Where's my wife? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After watching your ex wives in action on your site, I would have to second that motion!

    7. Re:Where's my wife? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just follow the credit card transactions. The statement is good and bad on so many levels.

    8. Re:Where's my wife? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Just talk to the nearest good-looking woman.

      I guarantee that once you do that, you're wife will inexplicably show up.

    9. Re:Where's my wife? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With me ;)

    10. Re:Where's my wife? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can they change the returned text message to a _small_ electrical shock so the wife knows she's lost?

  3. Think of the children! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, I didn't RTFA.

    I hope these things have some sort of security mechanism. You wouldn't want just anything being able to instantly locate your kids would you?

    Given the history of these types of deployments it wouldn't surprise me if there were more than a few holes in any security (if any) they have.

    1. Re:Think of the children! by Evil-G · · Score: 1

      Well, according to the kidspotter website it's also used to track your visitors' locations. However, it isn't too difficult to work out that your visitors would be in the themepark anyway.

      Quick, put Don's tinfoil hat on!

    2. Re:Think of the children! by black+mariah · · Score: 4, Funny
      You wouldn't want just anything being able to instantly locate your kids would you?
      Yeah, because eyes don't usually work that well.
      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
  4. Low tech alternative: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A leash.

    1. Re:Low tech alternative: by Nexzus · · Score: 5, Funny
      Damn, I hate that. It just seems so... derogatory.

      A couple times I've seen a mother with a kid on a leash, and I've asked her if the kid knows any tricks. Every time I got a dirty look. I guess some people don't like to be reminded of their bad parenting habits.

      --
      Karma: Can only be portioned out by the Cosmos.
    2. Re:Low tech alternative: by AlecC · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The alternative is usually tighter, not looser, control. Do you say the same thing every time you see a child strapped into a buggy? In a dangerous environment, children *will* wander. A hand-hold is *not* safe enough - parents can get distracted (assuming lack of superhumanity). For a certain age-band a leash, while harmful to a dignity the child doesn't yet have, allows the maximum of freedom consonant with safety. I call not using a leash, for that age band, either overprotective (if you keep the child tied up) or underprotective (if you let them stray into roads, over drops, out of sight) and hence bad parenting. I do not see how the child suffers from the leash, and hence how it can be bad parenting.

      BTW, do you have children?

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
    3. Re:Low tech alternative: by Mateito · · Score: 3, Funny

      > BTW, do you have children?

      This is slashdot.

      There are certain things you have to do before having children... and Im not referring to painting the spare room yellow.

    4. Re:Low tech alternative: by Rorschach1 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but it's murder when they want to ride the kiddie roller coaster.

    5. Re:Low tech alternative: by NeoSkandranon · · Score: 1

      Don't laugh. My mom kept me on a harness and lead when i was little, as I was too big for her to carry (and she had my brother as an infant to lug around anyway)

      --
      If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
    6. Re:Low tech alternative: by KEVINWASH1 · · Score: 1

      Hey, those leashes can be lots of fun...For instance, i remember hearing about how my older sister tied my older brother to a seesaw and hung him there when he was a little kid :)

    7. Re:Low tech alternative: by J2000_ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would agree with that parents can get distracted but leash or no leash it should not be for long enough for the child to have wander out of site. If your a little kid in the time you take to wander away you can have put a thousand bad things in your mouth you should have put there or bumped yourself or end up pulling the cat's tail and getting scratch. Your right a hand-hold is not safe enough. A leash is not safe enough. Children require supervision! I personally think leash do hurt the child. You have to wonder how the children grow up not really been taught right from wrong, for instance when they start to wander and the parent comes and grabs there hand and gives them a strict talking to. Parents do get distracted, but when they get so distracted that they must tie their kid to them, you have to wonder if they really can give the kid the attention they need. FYI, I do not have kids (too young).

    8. Re:Low tech alternative: by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

      Bet you've never been on a leash. (either end of it)

      I have.

      If you think that the parent can stop supervising their kid for one second just because they are on the end of a 7 foot leash then you have never seen a 190 something mother with a 40 some odd pound kid.

      The kid can drag her around like a saint bernard.

    9. Re:Low tech alternative: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other alternative: just leave with as many kids as you came in with. I mean, do you really care which kids you end up with? They're all just pains in the ass.

    10. Re:Low tech alternative: by J2000_ca · · Score: 1

      7 foot leash? Isn't that a big problem to everyone else in the park too if you and your kid go running forward 7 feet appart?

    11. Re:Low tech alternative: by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

      No more than a dog on a leash.

      Unless the kid is really determined to knock people over.

    12. Re:Low tech alternative: by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      Damn, I hate [kid leashes]. It just seems so... derogatory.


      You're absolutely right. Leashes are not the best solution. What's really needed here is a distance-activated electric shock collar.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    13. Re:Low tech alternative: by MoodyLoner · · Score: 1

      Try chasing a toddler through a crowded amusement park sometime.

      Now that's funny.

      --
      No Longer a Menace to Society.
      Alexandria Morrigan born 2/22/01 l. 20.5in wt. 7 lbs. 5 oz.
    14. Re:Low tech alternative: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eh your going to turn the kid into a furry lol

    15. Re:Low tech alternative: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go ahead put the little runt on a leash. then when he hits 13 and becomes a furry... he will see this post and shank you. lol jk bout the shanking but still a funny thought ^.^

    16. Re:Low tech alternative: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      In a dangerous environment, children *will* wander

      Leash is not the answer!

      but Ritalin....

    17. Re:Low tech alternative: by J2000_ca · · Score: 1

      The park near me doesn't allow pets (Wonderland) Probably for that reason. As well a kid is fair more likely to think it's fun then a dog.

  5. Giving kids IP addresses by strredwolf · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh great. We're now giving kids IP addresses so their parents can ping them. What it going on now?

    Excuse me while I compile IPv6 on my systems. We need it now.

    --

    --
    # Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
    $Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
    1. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by bagel2ooo · · Score: 1

      Of course there's always NAT. :)

      --
      ( o ) one could say I'm rather baked
    2. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by kunudo · · Score: 0

      children as a subnet of their parents? over several generations? fun stuff to manage...

    3. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by justMichael · · Score: 5, Funny
      Oh great. We're now giving kids IP addresses so their parents can ping them. What it going on now?
      Actually it's more like a
      traceroute lil-johnny
      cause a ping is only going to tell you if he's alive, not where he is ;)
    4. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by jared_hanson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't know any of the specifics, but I can't think of any reason why they would need to assign public IP addresses to these wristbands. In all likelyhood, they've set up a wireless LAN and are dolling out private addresses set aside for self-contained networks. They could set up a NAT box with some nice interface if they really wanted external access to it.

      So, your IPv4 addresses shouldn't take a hit. I do agree we should move to IPv6 though, but this instance is not justification.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    5. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Omestes · · Score: 1

      Now if only could grep the little bastards...

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
    6. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      But that's only if there's a route to the kid. If a router goes down somewhere it could look like the kid is dead.

      Police: "I'm sorry. I can't ping your son. I'm afraid he may be dead."

      Mother faints. Father starts crying.

      Police: "Oh wait. There it goes. A router just went down in seattle for a few seconds. I hope I didn't scare you. Say, is your wife OK?"

    7. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you do about that routing loop when Lil' Johnny gets on the teacups-that-spin-until-you-puke?

    8. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What it going on now?

      It's call advances in technology and better way of life. I know it sounds exotic to Americans, but it happens quite often outside of USA.

    9. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and if you have a linux phone with Wifi you could run ping the whole time your there and get it to alarm if the ping gets to long.

    10. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever read 1984

    11. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Tore+S+B · · Score: 1

      Actually, on some legacy Unix systems the reply from ping isn't "64 bytes from lil-johnny (...)" but "lil-johnny is alive" or "lil-johnny is dead"! :)

      --
      toresbe
    12. Re:Giving kids IP addresses by Alsee · · Score: 1

      Even more hacker fun - feed bogus GPS coordinates into the system.

      Billy must have fallen down a hole! He's 35 feet underground!
      Tiffani... Tiffani is in... Syria???
      What's lil-johnny doing at 65,000 feet altitude?!!!


      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  6. Peace of mind by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, this sound like a great idea. The peace of mind for parents is great. Not to mention not having to use one of those horrible Child Leashes that make it look like you are taking your child for a walk.

    --

    "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    1. Re:Peace of mind by eliza_effect · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Actually, I tend to applaud parents who put their children on leashes. At least they're honest.

    2. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As a science teacher, I am pushing for this sort of system to be introduced in the school for which I work. We have a real problem with children sneaking out and missing lessons and are finding it hard to crack down on offenders. Often the biggest problem is finding the children: the police don't want to know and we just don't have the resources to go looking for them.

      If we can track the children then we can find out where they are and punish them accordingly. Unfortunately we can't afford fancy wifi equipment but most children carry cell phones these days, so by setting up a fake base station we should be able to approximate their position to within 10 metres.

    3. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Wow, this sound like a great idea. The peace of mind for parents is great.

      Yup, now I can go smoke cigarettes in the parking lot and then go out for a drink up the road and not worry about anything.

    4. Re:Peace of mind by tsg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My only problem with this is the tendency some people have to rely on technology. In other words, I'm afraid some parents will think that they don't have to watch their children because the tracking device will do that for them.

      But that's a problem with people, not the technology.

      --
      People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.
    5. Re:Peace of mind by UserGoogol · · Score: 1

      I think when I was particuarly young I had a child "leash," but it was just a little thing which went arouund my wrist. A full-blown child harness is just weird.

      --
      "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
    6. Re:Peace of mind by onion2k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And it has the added bonus that Lego can know exactly how long children spend in each area of the park, what to concentrate on in their ads, what to rip out if its underperforming, etc..

      Not that thats a reason not to track kids. I just think its a 'side effect'.

    7. Re:Peace of mind by nkh · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      At least they're honest.

      No, they're just stupid. A child is not an animal, it's a human being. Why don't they give their child chastity belts so that pedophiles can't rape them?
      This is called education: watch over your kid, but don't fuck with him because he's trying to live his kid's life. If you're scared that he might be kidnapped, just teach him to cry in the loudest way possible, it's very easy.

    8. Re:Peace of mind by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

      It doesn't remove the need for supervision. It simply quells that heart renching fear of not knowing where your child has wandered off too.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    9. Re:Peace of mind by MerlynEmrys67 · · Score: 1
      You are going to compare the cost of a simple Wi-Fi base station with the cost of a cell base station ?

      I also don't think you can get a cell location to within 10 m without the cell phone reporting back GPS info. Cell tracking just isn't that accurate (especially with only one base station)

      --
      I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
    10. Re:Peace of mind by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

      Sounds like a great idea. I went to public high school for 9th grade and being that accoutability was nill and the school had a couple thousand kids in it, ditching class was easy. Then I went to a private school with a class of 26. In the three years I went there I only remember one incident of kids ditching class ... and a teacher recognized their car driving away and they got in house suspension for a day. Let me tell you. I never even considered ditching.

      Being accountable for where you are makes a big difference.

      --

      "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    11. Re:Peace of mind by ps_inkling · · Score: 3, Interesting
      At the 1984 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN, my brother had a fabric dog leash snapped to the back belt loop of his pants, with the other end held by a parent. (This was way before the leash reels you see today). My mother was paranoid that he'd run off and get lost, or get snatched.

      Many people looked at our family as if we were being "cruel and unusual" to the six-year-old toddler. But, we didn't spend half the day holding his hand or pushing him in a stroller, and he was able to roam in a small circle around us. If he wanted to see flowers, or grass, or whatever, there was plenty of slack in the leash.

      A few people did like the idea, and said they would do the same for their toddlers; I did not see anyone else using a leash the week we were there. We should have taken out a patent!

      We did tie him to a tree and take pictures, but that was just for show.

    12. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that problem is already here :)

    13. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there should really be an opt in condition about this. I think under european data protection laws you have to inform people that you wish to use data about them for advertising. If you want a really good marketing system why not go all the way, track the parents too so the kids can find their parents if they are lost but parents don't realise it yet. And this way you find out things like how long parents queue in restaurants or spend waiting around or how long they spend with out their kids.

    14. Re:Peace of mind by nkh · · Score: 1

      When I was young, which means 10 years ago, we had something called parents: when a child was missing school, the teacher would take his phone and call the parents.
      But if a child is stupid enough to come to school just to sneak out, instead of not coming at all, I can't help you...

    15. Re:Peace of mind by M.+Silver · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you're scared that he might be kidnapped, just teach him to cry in the loudest way possible, it's very easy.

      You've never been the parent of a toddler, huh?

      I've never put mine on a leash, but I can think of some situations in which it would have been the best, safest thing to do. Some times and places you get tired of carrying him, but it's too crowded to put him down (trust me, a two- or three-year-old can move through a dense crowd a *lot* faster than a grownup can), and he's not tall enough to make holding hands workable unless you enjoy walking like Quasimodo, and strollers are just intolerably rude in a crowd. A leash, held short enough not to tangle up with other people, is sometimes the most practical option there is.

      That said, I don't get the people who put 6-year-olds on leashes. *That* just looks wrong. A toddler doesn't have the impulse control to keep from running off after things and forgetting your instructions, but an older kid really ought to be able to.

      --

      Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
    16. Re:Peace of mind by parcel · · Score: 5, Funny
      Good point. I can see it now:

      parent frantically types out SMS message on cel phone, waits in agony for response...
      Your child is currently: squashed underneath rear left tire of delivery truck.
    17. Re:Peace of mind by Skater · · Score: 1

      Excuse me, but my parents raised three kids sans leashes, and NEVER ONCE had a problem. Yeah, the occasional getting lost, but nothing serious.

      How about parents just pay attention to their kids?

      --RJ

    18. Re:Peace of mind by Sabaki · · Score: 1, Insightful

      As someone that once lost track of his niece at a crowded park for a minute or two (blink and they're gone) after spending a lot of effort to keep up when a lot of parents didn't, I can tell you that the added piece of mind is probably worth it even if you're a good parent. (Probably especially if you're a good parent.)

    19. Re:Peace of mind by M.+Silver · · Score: 1

      the six-year-old toddler

      Six-year-olds are toddlers?

      We should have taken out a patent!

      Errm, you might have a bit of a prior art problem. Child leashes were available back in the 60's, and perhaps before.

      --

      Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
    20. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no need for that. They can already count how many people are in a particular area of the park at a particular time. All you gain by using this tracking for that is knowing which particular kid is in what area, and that's pretty much useless for marketing.

    21. Re:Peace of mind by M.+Silver · · Score: 1

      Excuse me, but my parents raised three kids sans leashes, and NEVER ONCE had a problem.

      Heh. Hearsay is inadmissible in court... report back when you've got your own.

      How about parents just pay attention to their kids?

      Oh, trust me, leashes don't eliminate the need for that. I still pay attention to mine even when I've got a mommy-hand manacle clamped around his wrist. Leash and a straitjacket, *maybe*, but I wouldn't count on it with some kids...

      In any event,"paying attention" isn't the problem. Like I said, a toddler can move faster through a crowd than a grownup, or duck through a store display a grownup has to go around. You can be paying close attention to them, but if they're not old enough to respond reliably to verbal commands, it doesn't always help. It may only mean you get to *see* them getting hit by the car, instead of just hearing it.

      Certainly you don't want to leash a kid all the time, but there *are* plenty of times when it's appropriate to have a permanent physical attachment to a child... mine's tall enough now that I can hold his hand long-term when we're in that sort of situation, but if I had more than one child to keep track of, that might not be practical.

      I still don't like the look of them, and they *are* often used as a substitute for parental attention, or for kids who *should* be old enough to have learned self-control (this last point is, I think, the most often abused... if the kid's on a leash whenever it's handy, versus only when it's necessary, he never learns). But I do, now that I've been there myself, appreciate that sometimes they're the most reasonable compromise.

      --

      Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
    22. Re:Peace of mind by NoodleSlayer · · Score: 1

      No, they can't tell this by simply observing the number of people in the section of a park, the number of people that ride a ride each day compared to the capacity, how many people are in what lines where and how long they stand around at various sections of the park! It simply can't be done unless you strap tracking devices!

      If you haven't noticed most parks already have areas geared towards specific age groups, afterall they're not putting the "Super-Ultra-Puker-Coaster" next to "Barney's Putt Putt Merry-Go-Round". Little tracking devices would simply give them more asccurate statistics but nothing that they don't already know and haven't been acting on for a long time now.

    23. Re:Peace of mind by Beyond_GoodandEvil · · Score: 1

      How about the crazy idea that, your job is to educate not police. The more schools start to become prisons the more students will behave like prisoners(and try to escape). Or think of it this way. That is one less student you have to waste resources educating b/c they don't want to be educated.

      --
      I laughed at the weak who considered themselves good because they lacked claws.
    24. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please don't feed the trolls.

      And by the way, your homepage is the best porn site I've ever seen.

    25. Re:Peace of mind by Skater · · Score: 1

      You say hearsay isn't admissable, but then you go on giving more hearsay and not a shred of real evidence these things are necessary. How about some statistics?

      Millions and millions of children have been successfully raised without leashes. There's my statistic for this argument. What's yours? Do you have anything showing that these things reduce accidents, injuries?

      Sorry to be nasty, but your "report back when you've got some of your own" is just arrogant. How do you know I'm not Mormon and already have a dozen children?

      --RJ

    26. Re:Peace of mind by NewNole2001 · · Score: 1

      Disney World has started randomly handing out these red card things when you first get in line, then when you step onto the ride, the card is scanned and Disney knows how long you've spent in line. I'm not sure if this used for the boards that say how long the various waits are, or if it is used for something that is trying to reduce the insane wait times. Hopefully it's the latter. I go to Disney World a few times a year, and waiting 75 minutes to ride Space Mountain is insane.

    27. Re:Peace of mind by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1



      Wait until he or she is a teenager - then you'll want a chocker collar at the end of the leash. /.'s talking about raising kids - you'd think they'd talk about some thing they now about instead, like sex - oh wait, never mind...

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    28. Re:Peace of mind by M.+Silver · · Score: 1

      Sorry to be nasty, but your "report back when you've got some of your own" is just arrogant. How do you know I'm not Mormon and already have a dozen children?

      Merely flippant, but not (intentionally, anyway) arrogant. How do you know your parents wouldn't say "Well, there *were* some times they would have come in handy, but it wasn't worth the trouble to actually buy them." (Or, perhaps, "but there are so many people who abuse them that I don't want to encourage that." My feelings are a mix of those.)

      I'm not saying they're necessary, by any means. I'm just saying that there are times they're quite helpful and make a great deal of sense, in contrast to you and some other posters who seem to equate leashing with bad parenting. I'm just saying that's not *always* the case.

      --

      Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
    29. Re:Peace of mind by psetzer · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'm willing to let some usage statistics be collected if it would help improve my experience. With what I look for on the web, that's different, but if I'm running around their theme park and my activities can be tracked down to when I got on a ride and when I got off, where I just hanged around, and such, as long as it isn't tracable back to me. Unless you're one of those paranoid types, there's nothing wrong with them knowing that much.

      --
      "Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is living in a state of sin." -- John von Neumann
    30. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This might be sound silly, but why would you like to take your kid to a crowded place? I hate them just being alone, not to mention what if I'd be carrying a child. There are lots of places that you could go out as a family that doesn't involve thousands of people in the same place.

      This is of course a totally personal point of view. I just don't like crowds.

    31. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excuse me, but my parents raised three kids sans leashes, and NEVER ONCE had a problem.

      Heh. Hearsay is inadmissible in court


      It's not hearsay, it's eyewitness testimony OR did you miss the part where the poster says "my parents"...?

    32. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a toddler can move faster through a crowd than a grownup, or duck through a store display a grownup has to go around.

      Teach your kid not to run off.

      if they're not old enough to respond reliably to verbal commands, it doesn't always help

      If they are that young, they should be carried, or in a stroller.

      mine's tall enough now that I can hold his hand long-term when we're in that sort of situation

      SO's mine. She was 18 months when I was taking her places holding her hand. Before that, she was in a stroller.

    33. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You Muppet!

      Try reading out loud, it might help things to sink in.

      "Millions and millions of children have been successfully raised without leashes. There's my statistic for this argument." ...and how many more might be alive today if their parents had put them on a leash to stop them from running out in a crowd into oncoming traffic?

    34. Re:Peace of mind by dave420 · · Score: 1

      This isn't the first technology to "help" parents, so I think your point is a bit late :) Baby monitors, etc. Electronics are everywhere in modern parenting, and unfortunately act as a crutch for the less-inclined parents to goof off.

    35. Re:Peace of mind by Skater · · Score: 1

      I know because my mom said, "I could never imagine needing one of those." Very clear. :)

      --RJ

    36. Re:Peace of mind by PurplePhase · · Score: 1

      Your left or my left?

      8-PP

    37. Re:Peace of mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stats are tracked. Its one of the selling points on the kidspotter website.

      "KidSpotter® offers a wealth of opportunities for the theme park management from looking at densities, analysing visitor
      behaviour and analysing average velocity of traffic to optimizing movements of visitors in real-time, i.e. moving them from
      one end of the park to another and offering location based promotions to families."

  7. Please... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...put this in my local mall! Nothing worse than seeing those terrified parents, or bawling kids looking for mommy.

  8. Tracking implications by Space+cowboy · · Score: 4, Interesting


    [this is reasonably political - feel free to ignore]

    Whereas this is bound to be a 'good thing' (the cry 'child in trouble' is just about the most instinct-driven response any adult has), the signature is somethinng to be wary of.

    Consider that analysis of people-in-crowds is pretty easy these days. Consider that tracking (after positive analysis) is again reasonably simple (I was doing it 15 years ago - the key is to track in feature-space (region features: circularity, RGB, connectivity, 1st- and 2nd-order parameters) rather than just using image intensity. Using relations between features gives you context and thus more contextual information).

    Consider that if you can track individuals within crowds, and given a covert surveillance system (eg: London, UK) you can track indivduals from locality to locality. You can start to (automatically) build circles-of-trust where individuals who meet regularly are automatically associated.

    Consider that biometric information is now being put forward (eg: fingerprints, DNA samples, Iris scans, head ratios (eye:nose:chin parameters) and other observable information) and encoded within a compulsory identity card

    Consider the amalgamation of this automatic identification, automatic relation of associates, and automatic recognition of individuals. Consider the implications. And yet a "Labour" government (the "People's" party!) is putting this forward in the UK.

    I am fortunate. I am planning to emigrate this year to the US from the UK - previously I thought the UK (despite the lack of consitution) had a reality more responsive to the people and their ideals than the US. No more. I am one of the lucky ones that Joseph "Blunkett" Stalin will have no hold over. I feel deeply for my erstwhile compatriots. Freedom, after all, is a state of mind, and mind control is a tool of (this UK) government.

    Simon.

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
    1. Re:Tracking implications by RegalBegal · · Score: 0

      Well thought out and well said.

      funny how many friends I know here in the US are talking about moving to the UK.

      Which brings to mind thoughts of the future and how scary things could be.

      thats all.

      --
      "It'll destroy you if you try to make it mean anything to anyone but yourself." - Henry Rollins
    2. Re:Tracking implications by Delirium+Tremens · · Score: 1
      Worse, imagine them trying to geolocate IP addresses and making the database freely available. Now, they can not only track what you do in crowds but also what you do when you leave the crowds and get in an Internet cafe.

      Now, that's freaky.

      Or is it?

    3. Re:Tracking implications by radish · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Both political (which is fine), and as far as I can tell, completely off topic :) But that's Slshdot.

      As someone who recently did the same move from UK to US - if you value your privacy this really is not the place to come. It starts when the Immigration official takes your photo and fingerprint, and just goes downhill from there. I'm not saying the UK is great, but things like identity theft are much easier and more rife here, and there no useful data protection laws meaning companies share all their data about you. You would be happier I think somewhere like the Netherlands.

      Just my 2p.

      --

      ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

    4. Re:Tracking implications by robotim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Granted, neither countries are utopic. It seems that both UK and US are adopting the control model of government in different ways.

      What I find more deeply disturbing however about WiFi child monitoring is the further detachment it may cause between child and parent. Marketing to children is dangerous because of the long term effect it might have to create or further increase a generational gap. Divide the consumer, create demographics, and the corporate fat-cats line their pockets selling different brands of the same products and services to a wider variety of market groups at the expense of Human History. In fact it wouldn't hurt us to take a step back and evaluate how we perceive kids today.

      Of course, I could be completely overreacting. But try not to blame me too much, it's just that I have a hard time putting full faith and trust in the good intentions of ANY corporation that has been around longer than I have. And Lego certainly qualifies.

    5. Re:Tracking implications by Space+cowboy · · Score: 1


      [grin] touche

      But then, if you think they'd be tracking you by your IP address, then 'authority' has far easier (and way more accurate) ways of getting your information than via my website. My thoughts on the subject are outlined on the 'Privacy Issues' section of the site.....

      Simon.

      --
      Physicists get Hadrons!
    6. Re:Tracking implications by MooCows · · Score: 2, Informative

      You would be happier I think somewhere like the Netherlands.

      Not exactly, not with our current minister of justice winning the annual Big Brother Award

      One of the brilliant ideas of our government is to oblige everybody of 14 years or older to have identification with them at all times.

      --
      The path I walk alone is endlessly long.
      30 minutes by bike, 15 by bus.
    7. Re:Tracking implications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dude im in the US trying to get out for the same reasons... maybe the US isnt the best choice?

      me, im going to canada.

    8. Re:Tracking implications by radish · · Score: 1

      Doh! And here was me coming up with reasons to justify moving to my fave city in the world (a'dam). Well there has to be somewhere in the world safe from lunatic politicians. Doesn't there?

      --

      ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

    9. Re:Tracking implications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For best privacy, buy some big guns, hire a few tough guys and move to a country like Kenya.

    10. Re:Tracking implications by dave420 · · Score: 1
      If you're in public, you have no privacy. That's what public means. When you step outside of your foil-lined house, you're accepting the fact that people can see you.

      What's different about the methods you describe and people following you around and spying on you? Nothing. It just happens easier, and you can't spot it. Do you get annoyed/scared/tingly when people look at you outside? It's not as if the only way for people to even notice you outside is via CCTV. People have eyes and memories, and can talk to each other.

      If you don't want people looking at you, don't go outside. That's what "public" and "private" mean.

      You'll fit right in in the US. If you think security and tracking is off the hook here, just see what happens in the states. The difference there is if you act up, you get a redneck with a revolver in your face, calling you a terrorist.

      We have a constitution, by the way. We've had one for ages. It's just not in one place, or in a "So You're An American Citizen"-style pamphlet. If you researched the society you believe is trying to spy you into the ground, you'd realise just what you're leaving. I guess it's wasted on some people. have fun!

    11. Re:Tracking implications by nutshell42 · · Score: 1

      I'd take mandatory id over surveillance cameras any day. With the id I have at least some control over who gets the information and I can't imagine that any government would go through the troubles of tracking my movements by hand when cameras are so much faster and easier.

      --
      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
  9. another reason why RFID-likes techniques suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    your mom can keep track of you!

  10. This will be very useful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been trying to come up with a way to track my child slave labor, and this seems perfect.

  11. well... by Dreadlord · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, it's about time for kids to start wearing tinfoil hats.

    --
    The IT section color scheme sucks.
    1. Re:well... by RussDavisDotCom · · Score: 1

      Let's just hope that no one ever gets ahold of this network (read: slashdotters). I envision something like: "Your Child Is... a little slow". Legoland will wonder why so many adults come there with their laptops... and what's this 'snort' that we keep hearing so much about.

      --
      My favorite phrase: You have 5 Moderator Points! Use 'em or lose 'em!
  12. I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Johnny's location is: Wedged in the swing.

  13. Well,, by nevek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Its a nice step up from the Leash that some mothers seem to employ upon thier crying 5 year olds.

    I wonder how they'll get a wifi tracker out of a kids stomach?

    Thats where some of my sisters lego ended up.

    1. Re:Well,, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its a nice step up from the Leash that some mothers seem to employ upon thier crying 5 year olds.

      I wonder how they'll get a wifi tracker out of a kids stomach?

      Thats where some of my sisters lego ended up.


      You let a FEMALE play with LEGO?
      Did YOU play with Barbie?

    2. Re:Well,, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      • I wonder how they'll get a wifi tracker out of a kids stomach?

      Why would you want to?

      There's no way the kid can lose it then, or a kidnapper could remove it.

    3. Re:Well,, by JivanMukti · · Score: 3, Funny

      True story...

      A few months ago a woman called the police because her son had swallowed the electronic key to her SUV's alarm system and she couldn't get the vehicle to start.

      The officer thought a minute, lifted little Johnny up and put his stomach near the stearing column. It was close enough for the RFID. Security disengaged and the woman was able to drive away.

    4. Re:Well,, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah right.

      And you got this story from where?

    5. Re:Well,, by jared_hanson · · Score: 1

      I wonder how they'll get a wifi tracker out of a kids stomach?

      12 - 18 hours and lots of solid food to make the exit more... uh... bearable.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    6. Re:Well,, by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 0

      I certainly hope they were those 1-by-2 pieces and not the 6-by-2. Otherwise, OUCH!

  14. Yeah, but... by BayBlade · · Score: 3, Funny
    I built one out of legos
    But it kept breaking every time I moved.

    --

    The key difference between a Programmer and a Senior Programmer is that one of them is Mexican.

  15. That's a little low-tech sounding. by I'm+a+racist. · · Score: 4, Funny

    It shouldn't just give the location of the child. For a lot of people, that's totally useless. Most people couldn't tell you the difference between latitude/longitude and UTM coordinates. Instead, it should guide them to their child... let the parents page through instructions. Not only would this be more useful for them, they could get charged by the page, so our corporate overlords should be pleased as well (afterall, reuniting a parent and child isn't satisfying enough).

    Secondly, what ever happened to Darwinism? The lost children should starve and/or form their own feral societies. Only the best would survive to re-enter society, hopefully as very productive, since they'll have lots of useful skills.

    Lastly, where the hell are all the wolves? Aren't they supposed to take care of the lost children?

    First post? I doubt it...

    --


    Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
    1. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by c_oflynn · · Score: 1

      Uh it gives you a location in a format that you can find on the map that comes with it. It isn't GPS or anything like that. I assume the format is like C5 sorta idea. I'd say thats pretty good, as well as giving the name of the location.

      Not like the article would have told you that....

    2. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by big+daddy+kane · · Score: 1

      Secondly, what ever happened to Darwinism? The lost children should starve and/or form their own feral societies. Only the best would survive to re-enter society, hopefully as very productive, since they'll have lots of useful skills.
      hah my point exactly! look at the surplus of stupidity today, if it werent for science and medicine then we would be at least a little more evolved. just look at the gross surplus of morons :p

    3. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by TwistedKestrel · · Score: 1

      RTFA, as always.

      The system reports a specific park area, partnered with coordinates that correspond to special maps. It's easy enough even for your average SUV bulldozing modern mother.

    4. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by UserGoogol · · Score: 1

      That's easy for you to say, YOU'RE A RACIST! ;-)

      More seriously, much of the behavior of humans is due to cultural factors (memes), not genes. With memes, killing people off is a highly crude way to get things done.

      Ideas kick the collective ass of genes.

      --
      "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
    5. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by ktheory · · Score: 1

      RTFA. From the first paragraph(!):

      "[The parents] will then automatically receive a return message stating the name of the park area and the map coordinate of their child's position in the park. On their special Kidspotter map of the park, parents can easily see where to find their child"

    6. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously don't have kids. Kids don't stay in one spot, waiting patiently for their parents to locate them and move there. And parents don't have the energy to chase after their kids either, there is a reason they took the kids to legoland: so they can let them loose while they relax in the cafe.

      What is clearly needed is this: a system where, after locating the child by cellphone, the parent presses on the '*' key and presto, a robot zooms in on the kid, picks it up and delivers it to the parent.

    7. Re:That's a little low-tech sounding. by Syberghost · · Score: 1

      It shouldn't just give the location of the child. For a lot of people, that's totally useless. Most people couldn't tell you the difference between latitude/longitude and UTM coordinates.

      You seem to have missed a key point. This isn't a GPS tracking system for kids anywhere in the world; it's a tracking system for kids in a specific park.

      The location wouldn't be "10 degrees 15 minutes 39 seconds by 47 degrees 12 minutes 58 seconds", more like "in the candy store next to the Lighthouse in Pirate Land".

      Instead, it should guide them to their child... let the parents page through instructions.

      That would only be useful if the parents were also tracked. This has far worse implications for privacy, not to mention being a completely unnecessary expense for an in-park tracking system.

      Secondly, what ever happened to Darwinism? The lost children should starve and/or form their own feral societies. Only the best would survive to re-enter society, hopefully as very productive, since they'll have lots of useful skills.

      There are animals that treat their young that way, but none of them ever managed to evolve to the point of having cellphones and amusement parks.

      Learn a lesson from this.

  16. Asset Management by alakon · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Asset Management" at its best :)

    1. Re:Asset Management by eliza_effect · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Though it's clearly not as fun as pasting barcodes to their foreheads.

  17. The good news is... by pyrrhonist · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...you get to put it together first!

    --
    Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
  18. Re:Hi, i'm a pedophile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Better yet, you could port-scan their kid's IP and see if there are any "vulnerable security holes" :-)

  19. Biggest Customer: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Michael Jackson

    1. Re:Biggest Customer: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Needless to say, that's disturbing.

      Here's another disturbing thought: Netstumbler with GPS data for locating wifi equipped children.

  20. They are late by Snaller · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen has already installed that a month ago, and before them another park in Jutland - so they are a bit late :)

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    1. Re:They are late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know how you feel. People on slashdot discover stuff and thing they are the great Columbus for alerting slashdot... submissions should be anonymous only, because it gives people too much of an ego boost when they submit stuff, especially anoying when its OLD stuff.. which slashdot posts too much of.

    2. Re:They are late by Your+Pal+Dave · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen has already installed that a month ago, and before them another park in Jutland - so they are a bit late :)


      More than a bit late, here's an article from July, 2000 which describes a similar system. This doesn't use wifi or text messaging, but that seems to be a bit overkill to me anyway.

      IIRC this was discussed in /. at the time. I'd check, but the thought of using the /. search page for something that old chills me to the bone.
    3. Re:They are late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just try using the system at Tivoli. I tried it and it does not work.... Wait until they switch to what Bluesoft has to offer

  21. Have parents really gotten that lazy? by Guildencrantz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We plop kids in front of TVs and now we let them run around amusement parks alone? Yes, I understand that this is probably intended for kids who get away from their parents, but you know some parent is going to sit somewhere with a laptop tracking their kid and not actually keeping an eye on them. I'm horrified.

    ~~Guildencrantz

    --

    Penguin Trivia #46: Animals who are not penguins can only wish they were. -- Chicago Reader 10/15/82
    1. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      **tracking**.......
      location: local police office

      *phone rings*
      oh gosh.. lil john got himself in trouble again

    2. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by UnanimousCoward · · Score: 1

      So, you're a parent, and your kid has NEVER gotten accidentally separated from you? Well, I'm a parent, and I don't really give a flying whatever about the parents who will do the laptop tracking, but I will get my kids the wristband...

      --
      Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.
    3. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm horrified.

      You are sooooooooooo over reacting. Legoland is probably a safer place to leave a kid than your local day care. It is totally kid friendly, with extremely competant staff. Legoland is somewhere in which you could easily let your kids go free, its just that most kids wouldn't really feel comfortable at young ages wandering around alone.

      You are way over reacting. I bet your kid has to wear a helmet and knee pads to play on the jungle gym.

    4. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We plop kids in front of TVs and now we let them run around amusement parks alone?

      What do you think kids were doing before TV? Sitting in the living room watching the cat, while Dad read the newspaper and Mom (in tasteful, frilly dress, of course) cooked dinner?

      I was a kid in the '70s, and my friend and I went out to the "forest" (really just an overgrown bluff) and tried to melt crayolas over a pile of matches. When we were in second grade. And we did similar things, none of which were under the watchful eyes of our parents -- though I suspect other parents were watching, back in the days before everyone moved their driveways to the back of the house and put up 10-foot-tall privacy fences.

      Taking away the TV is only part of the solution to the problem you've almost uncovered. The other part of giving childhood back to our kids is to let them *have* their childhood. That means we have to let go, sometimes -- something that's harder to do, now that all the neighbors have their blinds drawn out of paranoid fear of the "unknown".

      Now that we've moved out to the country, with eight acres of land and neighbors that keep an eye out, God only knows what my second grader and his friends are getting into. But I think my boy will be the better for it.

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    5. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Flame on:
      Well having learned how most US adults almost consider an unsupervised kid a felony, I can inform the USians here that there are other parts of the world which have a very different view on life. In parts of the world where *this* Legoland is placed it's very common to let your kid run around alone, or in small groups, so they can try the rides without the hassle of their parents. Parents trust their kids to come back at a set time (well, around that anyway .. if not before then when the hunger sets in) and the kids mostly do as told. You see this as a lazy parent not wanting to look at their kid, people in that area see it as giving the kid it's freedom to play without having to have a parent along.

      Young kids, which are too young to be left alone, will most likely not be the primary consumer of this "tag". Older kids probably have a cell phone anyway, so who cares.
      Flame off:

    6. Re:Have parents really gotten that lazy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey moron, it's called letting your kids socialize with other kids. It's a Good Thing to do for your kids. Otherwise they'll grow up to be like Americans: baffoons.

  22. Surprisingly, a good idea by PennyUK · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm normally opposed to this sort of thing, but in a place like a theme park this sounds great. Assuming that the tag could be hired from the theme park, you need only use it while you are there.

    When you are in a place which the parent or the kid knows reasonably well, you can easily arrange a good meeting place if you get seperated, and the kid has a reasonable chance of finding it. OTOH, most people only go to a theme park occasionally: even if you do decide on a meeting place, you could easily get lost en route to it.

    It could also help if the child is with the other (custodial) parent: the first parent can quickly check whether other parent is still queueing for a ride, or has gone onto designated meeting spot. Dh and I have tried using mobiles, but as dh's mobile is his work phone he is too likely to get work related calls for it to be particularly useful on his day off.

    1. Re:Surprisingly, a good idea by The+Human+Cow · · Score: 1

      Better yet, integrate the tracker into a FastPast/Q-Bot like device so that kids will want to keep it with them.

      --
      The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
  23. Hmm... by Joey+Patterson · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does this mean we can ping our kids now?

    1. Re:Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pity the kid with millions of parents. She's about to get slashdotted.

  24. I am led to wonder... by Grey+Ninja · · Score: 1

    Of course a dedicated enough geek pedophile could find a way of spoofing the signal to lead the parents on a wild goose chase I'm sure.

    Or there's a good low tech alternative. Just take off the bracelet.

    1. Re:I am led to wonder... by stephenisu · · Score: 1

      tied the tag to another kid and or animal.

      --
      Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
  25. camara acces by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    maybe they can put a camara on those thing, so the parrent can sit down in the pub, look at his phone, and nows his kid has a nice day.
    Legoland earns more monney and the parrents don't have to walk trough those boring places...

  26. Heh. by pclminion · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Considering that children don't usually wander far away from their parents, it would be reasonable to assume that where the child is, the parents also are.

    Thus this is a nice way to get parents to consent to having their motions tracked as they move throughout Legoland, under the guise of helping "the children."

    Imagine it... If you had a giant database of people's movements as they go through the park, you can more strategically position the food vending carts, move the rides and displays around in order to maximize the "candy aisle effect," etc.

    1. Re:Heh. by UnanimousCoward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      under the guise of helping "the children."

      As a parent, I'll take your Legoland-has-ulterior-motives angle and STILL get my children wristbands...

      --
      Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.
    2. Re:Heh. by kaisyain · · Score: 1

      I don't think this is intended to solve the "usual" case. It is to help with the unusual case in which the child is not in the immediate vicinity of the parents.

    3. Re:Heh. by fireduck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      don't you think they already have this information? Perhaps it's not as high tech, but certainly they have to know which routes are the most heavily traveled, which rides/attractions are the most visited, etc. Simply by how often the trash recepticles are filled, or how much waste is swept up will give you an idea how popular an area is. and that's incredibly low tech. How about line lengths at rides or how much business each food stand does in a day?

      There are hundreds of ways they can track how heavily traveled areas are and none of them involve tracking devices. The idea that this child tracker will somehow give them more info seems a little exaggerated.

    4. Re:Heh. by pclminion · · Score: 4, Interesting
      The idea that this child tracker will somehow give them more info seems a little exaggerated.

      Not at all exaggerated. Like you said, they can already track mass usage patterns in various ways. But now they can track where you go, personally.

      You get all kinds of great things out of that. "People who eat hamburgers don't tend to ride the Crazy Lego Ship. Maybe it makes them feel sick? We should put less mayo on the burgers." Or perhaps people who shop in store XYZ don't tend to also shop in store ABC. Perhaps there is too wide an array of popular items in XYZ -- leading people to forgo any further shopping. This tells you you should move some of the popular items from store XYZ over to store ABC, and hike up all the prices a little bit. Since people arent' buying as much per location, they are less likely to notice a 3% price hike.

      Maybe you find that people who walk past a certain ride are more likely to want to buy ice cream. This leads you to put more ice cream stands in that location. Maybe you're asking "Why the hell would a particular ride cause people to want ice cream?" Believe me, the company doesn't care why, but they'll sure as hell cash in on it.

      The only reason you can't think of uses for this is because you (obviously) aren't the one getting paid to do it.

    5. Re:Heh. by Sjobeck · · Score: 0

      What's wrong with migrating the human race in to an electronic engine? What is the Matrix, or is it: What is LegoLand?

    6. Re:Heh. by ucblockhead · · Score: 5, Insightful
      " Considering that children don't usually wander far away from their parents, it would be reasonable to assume that where the child is, the parents also are."


      Hahaha! Hohoho! Heeheehee!

      You don't have kids, do you?
      --
      The cake is a pie
    7. Re:Heh. by Splab · · Score: 1

      Uhm - Long time since I went to legoland - but in other places where they put this stuff (copenhagen tivoli) the rides tend to stay in place - the new rollercoaster (The demon) is friggin huge - dont think they are going to move it around anytime soon :)

    8. Re:Heh. by Ieshan · · Score: 1, Funny

      And they're going to get this information from tracking the kids? What, is the wristband going to ask for a bite of your burger?

      Come on now. There's privacy concerns, and then there's stupid privacy concerns. Someone might be watching you from the bushes with binoculars, too. Damn those bushes and their tricksy ways!

    9. Re:Heh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting


      I don't think this is intended to solve the "usual" case. It is to help with the unusual case in which the child is not in the immediate vicinity of the parents.


      Excuse my french, but BULSHIT!

      There are simpler and more effective solutions that would not allow the park to gather data on folks movements, but the tracking-enabled solution is the one that gets implemented. Soerta makes you want to say "Hmmmm..."

      Now, the solution I would use would be a pair of braclets (one for the parent and one for the kid) with some sort of simple proximity detection. If the two braclets get too far apart from each other (oh ... say ... short shouting range) then the child's unit goes off like a car alarm.

      If the kid is simply wandering off, the parents are alerted before s/he gets too far. If someone has grabbed the kid, then suddenly, everyone around knows that something is wrong. (as opposed to the system that they implemented where the parents would be working out the cell phone interface as the kid gets hustled into a washroom somewhere)

    10. Re:Heh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you can more strategically position the food vending carts, move the rides and displays around in order to maximize the "candy aisle effect," etc.

      OMFG! Run for your souls! The end is near!

    11. Re:Heh. by pclminion · · Score: 1
      OMFG! Run for your souls! The end is near!

      Did I say that? Did I seem panicked? I think not.

    12. Re:Heh. by glwtta · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Perhaps there is too wide an array of popular items in XYZ -- leading people to forgo any further shopping. This tells you you should move some of the popular items from store XYZ over to store ABC, and hike up all the prices a little bit.

      It seems like you are really struggling to come up with reasons why this is a bad thing. (Even if you could somehow imagine that this system would give them more information about shopping habbits - you know those credit cards people tend to use nowadays?)

      If walking past a particular ride makes me want icecream, hell, I want there to be an icecream stand nearby.

      So, you go to their park, pay them money for the entertainment they provide, but somehow it's nefarious of them to more accuratly measure what the hell it is you want?

      You are at their park, you wan't what they are selling, you are not somehow bucking the system by getting extra mayo on your burger before going the the Crazy Lego Ship.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    13. Re:Heh. by ExoticMandibles · · Score: 1
      When I was eight, my parents took the whole family to Walt Disney World. While we were in SomethingOrOtherLand, we stopped because my parents wanted to watch a steeldrum band. I wasn't interested, and then I saw something really neat--a talking parrot! It was sitting on top of the archway to a store, and it was saying... well, I figured out it was just telling you to come into the store and spend money, so I lost interest. And when I turned around my parents were gone! I looked around and couldn't find 'em, and I cried and cried because I had been left behind. I turned myself over to a US Marine (!) who at the time was helping an old lady (!!), and he took me to The Authorities. They sat me in a ticket booth (this was back when Disney parks still had "E" tickets), where I waited for an interminable time until my dad picked me up.

      I also got lost on BART (the Bay Area light rail system), and once at the old Marine World Africa USA.

      I betcha my parents would have bought those wristbands for me. I bet I'd buy 'em for my kids, iff'n I had any.

      p.s. I bet they already know the appropriate places to put vending carts! Because they try different positions and see what works better. Golly, maybe not everything on the planet is a conspiracy!

    14. Re:Heh. by pclminion · · Score: 1
      It seems like you are really struggling to come up with reasons why this is a bad thing.

      No, what is happening is you have made too many assumptions. Please tell me where I said that this was a bad thing.

      If walking past a particular ride makes me want icecream, hell, I want there to be an icecream stand nearby.

      Me too! Where did I say otherwise?

      So, you go to their park, pay them money for the entertainment they provide, but somehow it's nefarious of them to more accuratly measure what the hell it is you want?

      It sounds like you're the one with some repressed conspiracy theories. I never used a word even approaching the meaning of "nefarious." Has it occurred to you that perhaps I know a bit about data mining, and thus would comment on the value of this system from a data mining perspective?

    15. Re:Heh. by glwtta · · Score: 1
      Has it occurred to you that perhaps I know a bit about data mining, and thus would comment on the value of this system from a data mining perspective?

      Actually no, it hasn't - my bad. Kind of seemed in line with the rest of the tinfoil bullplop posted here, guess I was just reading too much into it.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    16. Re:Heh. by Ginga_Ninja · · Score: 1
      dude, way too much time playing theme park manager

      Just let it go

      --
      the future's bright, the future's ginger
    17. Re:Heh. by dave420 · · Score: 1
      It's specifically for the exact situation you mention - when the child gets seperated from its parents. They're not talking about just knowing where the kid is, but finding them if they get lost.

      They can't get any more information from this than just observing people's movements through the park. Simple metrics from vendors and trial-and-error placement of stalls, etc. covers their "candy aisle" scheming more than adequately. We're not talking about millions of people here :)

    18. Re:Heh. by dave420 · · Score: 1
      Do you get mad when you go round a friends house and they ask you if you want a beer or a cup of tea?

      friend: "pclminion - what do you want to drink? Beer? Cup of tea?"
      pclminion: "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME!?! VALUE MY PRIVACY, DAMN YOU!"

      They want to make the park better for you, not worse. Good park = repeat custom = more money for them. Bad park = lawsuits = no money for them.

    19. Re:Heh. by Alsee · · Score: 1

      I dunno - do they come standard with a PC? What do they look like?

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  27. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...can you nmap it?

  28. You know.... by Illserve · · Score: 2, Funny

    for kids!

  29. Re:Hey maybe you shouldn't loose the child in the by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I take it you haven't been in a place like that with 4 kids.
    Gutless AC.

  30. waste of time by snipersock · · Score: 1

    So instead of raising your head to look for your child you stare down at your mobile phone, haplessly unware that they just walked by. Come one people, this is just a waste of resources. ~ Nick

    1. Re:waste of time by PennyUK · · Score: 1

      Legoland Billund is a big place: kid could easily wonder out of sight in a couple of minutes, while you look at one of the models. If your phone says "kid is near the models of the pyramids", and you are near the models of the pyramids, you stop and look. If the phone says "kid is near the driving school", you leave the models of the pyramids, and go to the driving school and look, there: you are not looking somewhere that the kid is no-where near.

    2. Re:waste of time by justMichael · · Score: 1

      While I agree with you that quite a few parents do not pay good enough attention to their kids...

      If I'm in a park with my kids and some freak grabs one from behind my back (not likely since one of my tricks is to keep them in front of me), I would like to be able to find out where they are as odds are good they aren't going to be visible.

    3. Re:waste of time by Derf+the · · Score: 1

      Being from Rural NZ, where I have *never* heard of kids being snatched, I may not have a very good handle on the situation but you do sound a little paranoid; & since, as we all know, 'Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean thay are not out to get you' I thought you needed to think just a little more about this.

      This is not a Child Protection Device, it is for ordinary old Lost Children Finding and marketing benifits. It does not include removal resistant wrist-bands. The "freak" who came through the same turnstile as you, saw the bands being put on and *surprise* he|she took it off your child & put it in that rubbish tin 40m behind your back 20s ago; they are gone.

      Now such devices may evolve, & maybe they will be more intrusive, and maybe growing demand may prompt ever more sevices to be supplied vai Personel RFID tagging; but that sounds like a Slippery Slope & as we also know, thats a Fallacy so I think we will be walking free for at least a while yet.

      Oh no! wrong already, I have just been reminded of one of our political figures whos daughter was kidnapped for ramsom [it ended well] 3 years ago.

      --
      No. You can't look at my Sig; it's mine, and I'm not showing you.
  31. mallrats by yamcha666 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Reminds me of a scene from Mallrats

    I hope his pants get caught and a bloodbath ensues.
    What is with you today ?

    I don't wish the kid harm, but his mother should suffer that horrific ordeal...

    So she'll learn how to manage her child !
    Sort of a harsh lesson.

    Man, there's not a year goes by...

    That I don't read about some escalator accident involving some bastard kid...

    That could've been easily avoided had some parent-- I don't care which one--

    But some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator !

    Though these WiFi Trackers do sound like a good idea, maybe if the parents kept a good eye on their children, the need for these trackers could be avoided.

    1. Re:mallrats by tsg · · Score: 1

      Though these WiFi Trackers do sound like a good idea, maybe if the parents kept a good eye on their children, the need for these trackers could be avoided.

      Despite the best efforts of the most responsible parents, some kids do get lost. Used properly (ie. not replacing supervision, but supplementing it), the trackers could be very helpful. It's like insurance: nobody wants to need it but nobody wants to not have it. It's a backup. As long as it's used as a backup, there's no problem.

      --
      People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.
  32. And have 2 problems if you can't find kids in a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amusement park for kids.

  33. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by David+Hume · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The peace of mind for parents is great.


    Which may be precisely the problem. "Peace of mind" causing parents to be inattentive, incautious, and careless. And when the systems goes down, as it inevitably will? Will there be civil liability, or will the parents have to sign a waiver of liability when they rent the wrist band for their child?

    When the system goes down, will a child be lost, kidnapped, hurt, etc. that otherwise would not have been because his parents relied on the system instead of knowing that they, and only they were responsible for keeping track of their child?

    Perhaps the analogy is a bad one, but this reminds me a bit of the problem national parks are having with people who *rely* on GPS and/or their cell phones to keep them out of trouble. No wilderness or outdoor skills, no ability to use a compass or read a map, and half of the time no jacket. But they figure as long as they have their cell phones, they'll be ok. And when they can't get reception, the battery goes dead, or they drop it.....

  34. Re:Hey maybe you shouldn't loose the child in the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why'd you have more kids than you can handle?

  35. Accurate location? by tchdab1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >"...giving them the accurate location of their child."

    Actually, it will give them the location of the wristband.

    1. Re:Accurate location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact it will give them **at best** the location of the wristband...

    2. Re:Accurate location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So staple the trackers to the little fuckers forehead.

    3. Re:Accurate location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it show the exact location using trigonomotry and two or more access points or does it just show which access point they're closest to?

    4. Re:Accurate location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. Am I the only one who remembers "Aliens"?
      (And before any parents jump on me for being sick,
      I have a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old myself...)

      Actually, what would make even more sense, given
      that the watches/wristbands are transmitting back
      to the hotspots, is to make them like the newborn
      baby ankle-tags they use in hospitals, that sound the alarm if they get wet or are cut off (or fall off).
      In this case, when you pick up the tag you give them your cell number
      and you get a call or message instantly if that happens.

  36. This doesn't belong at 2.4GHz... by LostCluster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The biggest problem I see is that this service is subject to a perfectly legal denial of service if anybody were to flood the place with any other WiFi signal...

    That's the advantage that licensed frequencies have, they'd could be jammed, but then the jammer would be transmitting without a license and in trouble. Here the DOS wouldn't quite be covered by that.

    1. Re:This doesn't belong at 2.4GHz... by wronskyMan · · Score: 2, Informative

      ...perfectly legal denial of service...

      Umm... no. While it is true that the FCC says "this device must accept interference", this is more of a technical approval measure - manufacturers would ideally be required to build their devices to be resistant to other unlicensed/licensed uses of the band, in orfer to prevent interference under normal conditions. The FCC has held that *deliberately* interfering with radio communications would be illegal, even if it is against a part 15 (unlicensed ) service. The part 15 designation means that these devices have lowest priority - i.e, they couldn't complain if a 2.4Ghz amateur radio satellite were transmitting over them, not that John Q. Pedophile could set up a broken microwave oven for a few hours as cover without getting in trouble.

      --
      --- You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad- Neal (not Cowboy) Boortz
  37. Oh puleeezzze by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I understand that this is probably intended for kids who get away from their parents, but you know some parent is going to sit somewhere with a laptop tracking their kid and not actually keeping an eye on them. I'm horrified.

    So lets drag out some end condition that some minute percentage of users might abuse the technology. Hell, why are you even using the internet itself if all you care about is to focus on the minority that might abuse technology? People might sit around on /. all day on their employers dime, I'm horrified. People might surf kiddie porn, that's terrible. Whoever thought this internet thing was a good idea!?!

  38. solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The parent smells faintly trollish, but I will take it seriously for a moment.

    "hey Ted"
    "yeah Mark"
    "I want to skip chemistry, can you take my locator with you to class?"
    "sure no problem"

    Unless you plan on implanting or clamping them on in some permanant fashion, this will not work. My opinion has always been that if a person can pass your class with out going to it, it is your fault not theirs

  39. If I were a kid... by CHaN_316 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd gnaw off the wrist band and flush it down the toilet. The ensuing search in the sewer system by rescue teams should prove amusing...

    --
    "There is no spoon." - The Matrix
    1. Re:If I were a kid... by Sjobeck · · Score: 0

      .... kind of like the Snuggly Bear when he caught in that bear trap. Yeah.

    2. Re:If I were a kid... by Amgine007 · · Score: 1

      I'd gnaw off the wrist band and flush it down the toilet.

      But if you need the wristband to get on rides, you'd probably keep it around. (Of course a kidnapper probably wouldn't be concerned with getting another ride in..)

    3. Re:If I were a kid... by FirstManOnMoon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Much more fun to simply swap wrist bands with every other kid you see.

    4. Re:If I were a kid... by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't gnaw it off, you'll end up with Blue Tooth ...

      --
      Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
  40. Re:Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The "minorities" are not in the minority within the prison system. White people are bagged first kid. Anyone that has even spent a month in county knows this. I did it just for pointing a fake gun at a bitch on the freeway. I got convicted of a felony fool.

  41. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 1

    Of course it will happen, but I don't think there are many parent's who are going to forgo supervision simply because they know the can get the location of their child. Every parent knows that a child can get into plenty of trouble and danger in any location. The degree of which increases without supervision. So do we ditch the technology because people might abuse it ??? See my sig for your answer.

    --

    "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
  42. Obligatory (modified) by mobby_6kl · · Score: 0, Troll

    Bring on the tin-foil gloves!

  43. This might work, BUT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I worked for Openwave, you know, the Software.com and Phone.com merger baby...
    We worked with MMO2 in Britan, and they had a nicname for Fridays...SMS Fridays...

    They would send SMS (Text) messages during the week, and the lost ones (which there were a lot of) would get delivered on Friday, when they system went through housecleaning.

    So, send a text message looking for you kid at the park and MAYBE you will find out the location by Friday.

  44. Have you looked everywhere? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you checked my pants?

  45. MOD PARENT UP by Cyno01 · · Score: 0, Troll

    duh, an uncomfortable pokey lego themed (ever tried on one of those lego watches?) wrist band, yeah, the kids'll wanna wear that...

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  46. Switching bands? by modifried · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder how hard the wristbands would be to remove?
    What's to stop kids from switching their wristbands?

    I can't imagine being unable to find my kid, tracking him down, and finding some other kid instead.

    1. Re:Switching bands? by MemoryAid · · Score: 1
      And if the two kids sharing a matching set of two wristbands get too far away from each other, the wrist bands explode, severing their hands. That way, they are less likely to leave the group, assuming prior knowledge and rational behavior, of course.

      Relax, it way only a movie.

      --
      Language students: Don't try to learn English here. This ain't it.
  47. Moving target by ozbird · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unless little Wally realises they are lost and has been reduced to tears, knowing where they are this instant will be useful for only a few seconds. I'm sure the mobile phone company is gleefully aware of this.

    Why not fit the rugrats with something like those electric dog collars? If their squeals exceed X decibels or they move more than Y metres from their parent, they receive a little reminder from the collar... >:-)

  48. And the first response is geeky... by stienman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My first thought was, "What, a CF card on each kid with a little microcontroller where you have to cha[r|n]ge the batteries every day?"

    Then I looked at the website for the tags - 5 years worth of service, regular MAC address, only transmits occasionally, never receives.

    Way geeky, I think. I'd like to know what kind of 802.11 packet they're transmitting!

    Then I read the comments. Are all you guys privacy geeks, or what? What happened to all the "Cool technology! How'd they do that? etc" comments, consequences be darned (as in fixing holes in socks)

    Ah well. So much for *real* geeks.

    -Adam

    1. Re:And the first response is geeky... by stienman · · Score: 1

      Of course, now that I think about the matter further, I'm more concerned about the spoofing aspects of it than anything else. Chances are good it simply sends a simple formatted ethernet packet (not IP) every so often. Probably doesn't even use Keeloq or similar cryptographic functionality.

      So someone could, for instance, listen to the broadcast, set up their own cf card/microcontroller combo, cover the kid's arm with tin foil and walk out of the playland with them.

      The parents are thinking the kid is still inside the building, but in the end the park would be just as liable as the idiot parents who trust the technology more than their own good sense.

      Teenagers would just resent the technology. So what else good is this for, except a day care setting where each kid is 'checked in' and 'checked out'?

      Neat, nifty, cool, but socially not good for Americans. Another culture might find it quite acceptable.

      -Adam

  49. Gee, when I was a kid... by Resident+Netizen · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... I was more concerned with acurately tracking all of my lego pieces!

    --
    My other sig is a Porsche!
    1. Re:Gee, when I was a kid... by Pax00 · · Score: 1

      ... I was more concerned with acurately tracking all of my lego pieces!


      You mean to tell me that your feet were not good enough to find them? shesh my feat always found mine... Yes it was a little painful sometimes.. but it did tend to work...

  50. They stole my idea! by freelunch · · Score: 1

    A friend and I came up with a similar idea, only we wanted to do it in, er, trailer parks.

    Who would have guessed our idea could be extended across Europe.

    Anyone know a good IP lawyer?

    1. Re:They stole my idea! by zaren · · Score: 1

      I also had a similar idea, to keep track of kids (and possibly parents) at shopping malls. At the time, a friend and I couldn't think of a way to get components small enough to make it work. A watch isn't a bad idea, compared to the clip-on device we were thinking about.

      --
      Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
  51. Opps. by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 4, Funny
    Where's my wife?

    Sorry. Lost track of time. I'll have her home by 8:00 PM.

  52. Clueless, obviously doesn't have kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering that children don't usually wander far away from their parents,

    What, you're saying that in an amusement park with a million distractions that it is not usual for a kid to get sidetracked? What planet do you go to amusment parks on?

    Imagine it... If you had a giant database of people's movements as they go through the park, you can more strategically position the food vending carts, move the rides and displays around in order to maximize the "candy aisle effect," etc.

    The sheer evilness of this is only balanced by the sheer genius. Let's see, lets plan our park by the meanderings of a stray 4 year old.

  53. Re:Hi, i'm a pedophile. by Sjobeck · · Score: 0

    owh, yucky image. But, well, perhaps possible. I think I would point Nessus at the little buggers.

  54. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    OK, having actually taken a child (my nephew) back in 1999 to Legoland (California) I can comment on why I think this might be a good thing.

    Legoland has a number of "playground romper room" style attractions, which are very much kid-sized for kids. While they centralize the exits so you can watch who's coming and going from them, I was constantly pacing along the edge of it, trying to keep him in sight as he climbed around in the tunnels and bridges and such (some of these things were very large) and watching the exits as well...

    While I doubt something like this would have kept me from trying to eagle eye him all the time while he played in there, it would have helped MY peace of mind for the 5 minute periods where I wasn't sure exactly where he was...

    As another example, but going back farther to when I was the little kid. Many years ago, I was at Six Flags Magic Mountain (I think, its hazy, it could have been Knotts) when some of my family wanted to ride a roller coaster that I could not (probably would not, being the wimp that I was) go on. So my aunt and I waited at the exit for my sister and the rest of my family to get off the ride. I was impatient, so I ran to the exit ahead of my aunt, where I got swept by a crowd of people coming off and got confused (hey, I was maybe 5) and ended up following a group into a gift shop across the way. Of course, both my aunt who had tried to keep up with me and my parents when they got off the ride got fairly frantic in searching for me, but they found me fairly quickly (not before I had gotten scared and bawling of course. I told you I was a wimp.)... Having something like the finder wristband would have been great for them.

    Inevitably, if you have a kid, they are going to get lost at a department store, park, amusement park, etc, even if you are the most attentive of parents, unless you're all about the smothering. While I don't think its a good idea to use this stuff as a substitute for paying attention to your kids (and contrary to the likely childless respondants here, I don't think that really would be how they're used most often), I do think the option of having it is a good thing.

  55. Tunnel Vision by nfotxn · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Ok Billy just stay withing 30-40' of the access point and wear this Wi-Fi tracking bracelet at all times so I know where you are!"
    Solution looking for a problem, anyone?
    --

    _nfotxn

  56. hardly anything underhanded you can do... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    There are hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.

    Obviously one who never took a few frogs to the amusement park....

  57. No leash - Simpsons by messerman · · Score: 1

    Obligatory Simpsons' reference:
    "This leash demeans us both!"

  58. Will this locate the TV remote? by 1000StonedMonkeys · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because if it does, they've got my money.

  59. I remember seeing this in a film once by PeteDotNu · · Score: 3, Funny

    And if the kid walks outside the park boundary... kaboom! Right?

    --
    My other processor is big-endian.
    1. Re:I remember seeing this in a film once by PaK_Phoenix · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I can remember two movies relating to this. The first one is The Running Man starring Gov. Arnie. The other one is a B-Movie, whose name is I believe "Deadlocked Escape from Zone 14". And in that one, the prosoners were 'married', with their collars, if they got further than whatever distance from their 'marriage' partner BOOM for both of them. The whole trick, IIRC is nobody knew who they were 'married' to. I would imagine this was done to prevent escapes.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
  60. Re:Well,, this too.. by Marko+DeBeeste · · Score: 1

    Shall pass

    --
    Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
  61. Oh god your retarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    5, Insightful?

    What the fuck? How fucking stupid do you think we are??? Of course it gives the location of the wristband you dumbass.. and of course we know it could be taken off... but the chances of kids doing that is rather remote.

    Jesus F. Christ, you "deep thinkers" here are really annoying because you think your deep, but your just dumb.

    1. Re:Oh god your retarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Parent: OK John, what color wristband you want?
      John: Green

      doo dodoo dodoo...

      John: hi, my name is John, I'm 10
      Jim: hi, I'm Jim and I'm 9
      John: I like your wristband it's blue
      Jim: I like yours it's gween
      John: Let's trade!
      Jim: OK

    2. Re:Oh god your retarded by Luminous · · Score: 1

      Or the wristbands are locked on the wrist and there is a wire similar to the security cord in the newer fannypacks running through it that prevents it from being cut.

      This is an easy obstacle to overcome.

      --
      This is not the way to build a lasting empire.
  62. Seen similar before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I was at a waterpark in Colorado a few years back that had a somewhat similar system, but cooler (imho). All the family members wore wristbands, parents and kids. Then you could go to a kiosk and scan your wristband, and it would tell you where every other member of the family was. That way you could let kids do their thing (like, wait in line 5 times in a row for the big slide), and the parents could do their thing, and anybody can find anybody else.

    I believe also, the gates would sense the wristbands and the guards could stop any kid with a wristband that tried to leave. So you couldn't kidnap a kid with a wristband, and they couldn't wander off either.

  63. Zoo uses blue tooth by Fuzzums · · Score: 1

    article about blue tooth and tracking kids in a zoo which is more or less the same I guess.

    My cats have an implanted RFID chip. The other day I was just kidding about implanting such a chip in kids on birth. (for obvious reasons)

    "Would the owner of 123-513-00132 come to the informationdesk please. 123-513-00132 seems to be lost and is asking for his parents..." (or by SMS ofcourse ;)

    --
    Privacy is terrorism.
  64. Re:Hey maybe you shouldn't loose the child in the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope Darwin's theory works and you don't reproduce.

    Otherwise, his whole theory is flawed.

  65. You Lose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh fuck. What a stupid post.

    While technically this could happen, is it realistic?

    No.

    Thanks for playing.

  66. OH MY GOD! by Russ+Nelson · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Tag can be mounted in many different ways on a variety of assets, including the use of double-sided tape, screws and straps.

    Tape??? Screws??? Straps???? My kid isn't getting with a hundred miles of these guys. Nobody screws a wifi tag to my kid!
    -russ

    --
    Don't piss off The Angry Economist
  67. Needs a little something extra by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now if they could just integrate these with those electroshocking dog collars we'd have a complete solution. What use is there in being a obssesive-compulsive remote-control parent if I can't also punish my kids from a quarter mile.

    zzzzzt. little shit.

  68. Acutally useful by VMaN · · Score: 1

    I got lost at that exact park 18 years ago and my parents didn't find it amusing.

    Keeping track of 3-4 children isn't as easy as it sounds. I didn't wander off by accident, I saw something shiny and got lost in the crowd really quick. I was around 4-5 years old and didn't speak danish at the time. Not easy for me to find my way to "lost and found". Luckily they managed to find me looking at some planet models. Geek in the making I guess.

  69. Pacman returns by Magickcat · · Score: 1

    Would it be possible to stream the data into a mobile phone game? I'm thinking something along the lines of Pacman or Donkey Kong where you chase your children.

    The paedophiles could be the bad monsters in it. It would make the experience a bit more fun while you children were being abducted.

    --

    Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

  70. Legoland wristbands now and house-arrest bands... by Slashdot+Junky · · Score: 1

    Just think, some of these kids will taking such a likely to these things, that they'll eventually trade in the Legoland wristbands for house-arrest devices provided by their criminal system.

    -Slashdot Junky

    --
    .
    Landfill Mining Co.
    Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
  71. Turn it around by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mod parent up!

    You talking about enclosed playgrounds inside the park made it clear how helpful this is. But it could even be better if we can turn it around:

    SMS the park your kid is staying here (a particular play section) until SMSed off by you and you can sit at the border of the playground drinking your drink and waving whenever your kid shouts to tell you they achieved a new goal. If the kid gets distracted and wonders off you get an SMS ('subject has left through orange gate') and you can shout the kid back for walking away without permission before the kid is out of sight.

    Dennis SCP

  72. So much... by vwjeff · · Score: 1

    for the child leash.

  73. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by Trailwalker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In my experiences with backcountry search and rescue, the major cause of disaster is delilberate, repeated, acts of stupidity. It is almost never just one thing that leads to grief. Reliance on a battery opperated electronic gadget just adds one more thing to a long list.

  74. kids defeat wi-fi trakcing by linuxislandsucks · · Score: 1

    2005..Legoland..

    Kids defeat a year long runing wi-fi trakcing program by exchanging wi-fi armband tags with other kids while parents backs were turned..

    Kids got extra play time while parents searched for lost kids..news at Eleven..

    --
    Don't Tread on OpenSource
  75. Re:Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously you learned your lesson. Jackass.

  76. I'm still a kid at heart... by pkinetics · · Score: 1

    But wasn't one of the greatest things to do in a park was to wander around on your own, and play hide and go seek with your parents...

  77. A good use? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe this could be used to discorage the child trafficing handoffs that occur at amusement parks.

  78. An interesting problem... by elitebrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not to troll or anything, but what does it say when your child has been taken away from the complex? "Owned"?

  79. pedophiles? by ShadowRage · · Score: 1

    there are bound to be hotspots outside the park, all a pedophile stalker has to do is crack into the system from the outside, or even from the inside using a PDA, and then get a ticket, or just find the kid if already inside, rip off the bracelette and take off with the kid.

    looking at how pedophiles will go to get what they want, (remember the guy foubnd pantsless in his car searching for hotspots to download child porn?) this system could be abused, and hell, the pedophile could even work in the damn park, and could use the official system to keep tracks on lost kids himself.

  80. Re:Hey maybe you shouldn't loose the child in the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Congratulations. You cluttered this world with your dumb brood. Were we supposed to care? Keep your smelly children close if you care so much about them.

  81. marketing data by swestcott · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do we know if they will be using the tracking to evaluate park use? Compiling that information? I think we need to evaluate each new technology to see if the balance of our loss in privacy is outweighed by the benefit. In this case, I think as a parent of a child who may have wandered off before that I'd opt in, but

  82. LegoLand by CristalShandaLear · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Years before I made my first tinfoil hat, someone showed me an article about a tracking device for pets.

    It was placed under the skin and if the pet was ever lost it could be located. I was so naive, I never once thought anything like this would ever be used to find human beings.

    So now here we are, just over a decade later and people think it's a good idea to track their kids using computers.

    If your kids aren't big enough to understand the words "check in" and "meet up area" they shouldn't be away from you in the first place.

  83. Security will surely be a top priority. by Jerk+City+Troll · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm certain that Lego will take security into strong consideration with this system. I am certain they will ensure that preditors of children will not be able to hijack the system and locate your kids as effectively as you can. Afterall, strong cryptographic authentication will be used and identifications will be universally unique, or some other such mechanisms will be in place... right?

    1. Re:Security will surely be a top priority. by Feanturi · · Score: 1

      I am certain they will ensure that preditors of children will not be able to hijack the system and locate your kids as effectively as you can.

      Umm, I think that a fox roaming the henhouse doesn't really care about the location of a *particular* one, they are all around.

  84. Sending her home now. by toughluck · · Score: 0, Redundant

    She will call on her way. :)

  85. oh good... by Some_Llama · · Score: 1, Insightful

    another thing to have to cut off while they are shaving the kids hair and changing their clothing in the bathroom.

    1. Re:oh good... by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      Besides having come up with this concept 3-4 years ago (damn i wish I knew how to patent) I know of a better solution than a wristband or other such wearable device

      Make a pill, small hard ceramic or other non-toxic, non-absorable material to encapsulate the rf transmitter.

      drink it down with some water, then poop it out the next day.... if taken before going to the park you dont have to worry about being able to throw it up (which is quite hard anyway for small pills).

      The other "plus" is that a potential pedo won't know which child is protected and which is not, which IS possible now with a wearable device.
      The only down side to any of these devices would be the easy task of "blocking" the signal like the do for wireless phones now in theaters...

  86. How do they get a position? by drewzhrodague · · Score: 1

    How do they get a position from wi-fi? Do they have a database of Wi-Fi access-point locations? We do, and we're planning on publishing this via xml as soon as we figure out how!

    --
    Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
  87. another field for the database at your expense by twitter · · Score: 1
    don't you think they already have this information?

    After you rent the tag, the company knows:

    • You and your children's names.
    • Your preferred method of payment for large amounts. You know they will charge you if you don't turn it back in. It's generally your credit card.
    • How well you read fine print. Did they extort the right to check your credit record? Did you agree to having the position of your cell phone tracked? Outside the park? Did you agree to helpful messages via SMS? Forever?
    • That you have a cell phone, its number and that it does SMS.

    I'm not saying all of the above happens, after all carnivals are know for honest people. It's not like they are run by Gypsies who steal children is it? Caveat emptor and consider what price you pay for the gadget and what it does for you.

    All you are going to gain from the bands is a false sense of security. As others have pointed out, this only tells you where the wristband is and it is not a substitute for responsible parenting. The low tech way of doing this was to lead the lost child to a help desk and page the parents over an intercom. If the park uses the tags to not hire as many people to watch the park, actual security will decrease and you might want to keep a sharper lookout than ever.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  88. This is a great way... by ChronoWiz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    for a kid to get freedom from his/her parents to go explore legoland by themselves. False or not, it gives the parents a sense of security that is likely to loosen their hold on the kid so they can really go have fun. I remember going to parks and lands like this but being unable to do what I really wanted to because of paranoid parents over my shoulder at every turn.

    There are no real privacy issues here, except I suppose the old slippery slope argument that we are being slowly conditioned to accept radio tracking tags. As it stands though, this development seems pretty harmless.

  89. Tracking Pirated Ships by 4ginandtonics · · Score: 1

    Anyone catch the NPR piece on piracy today?

    Seems to me like this, or a similar technology would be just the ticket to stop pirates from nabbing ships and their cargo.

    I've been thinking that an rf transmitter tag with gps interface would work well.

    I've built one based on a gps receiver, 2 meter ham radio, and the TinyTrack II Works great in my car, and with the ham radio APRS infrastructure... now how to convert to a ship in the ocean.

  90. sounds perfect by twitter · · Score: 1
    Then I looked at the website for the tags - 5 years worth of service, regular MAC address, only transmits occasionally, never receives.

    It would be great for cattle. Not bad for kids either, but I don't want to raise goats.

    Oh wait, you want to treat you CHILD like livestock. I see. Damn the consequences, let me put my daughter in a commune, I mean daycare, with an ear tag and all so she does not get lost. They might even have a surveillance system so I can see her in her cage while I'm penned up in my cubicle. That's good training, it makes them pliable, errr, sociable.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

    1. Re:sounds perfect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But how else is the child going to grow up into a responsible adult that is able to spend 10-12 hours a day in a small cubicle doing things other people tell them to? They need to learn those skills young!!

  91. Yet another example of an article sensationalized by slazar · · Score: 1

    Hmm the post says that the child must wear the band, which makes me think it is required. Well it is not, it's an optional rental. So this turns from a tinfoil hat article to some semi-interesting application of existing technology. yay.

  92. Great, another excuse for poor parenting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now parents don't need to even TRY and be vigilant over their kids. They can just cop the lax attitude that Hey, if my kid gets lost I can easily find him with this doo-dad.

    Way to go technology. What we really need is less stupid parents. Anyone have an invention for that?

  93. Get of the cell phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    How about the parents get off the damn cell phone and spend time with your kids, if you are with your kids you don't need to know where they are.

  94. Child snachers. by screwdriver · · Score: 1

    This will not prevent child abductions at all. In fact, it may even make it more likely that the abduction is successful.

    Consider that the device only works within the park -- and that many parents will consider this device as absolute protection. So when Joe Pedophile decides to kidnap a kid, he just has to make sure to get him out of range before anyone has a chance to query the device -- or simply cut off the wrist band. He also has more prey to choose from since more parents will be relying on the device to keep their kid safe.

    False sense of security anyone?

  95. i hear kidnapping is all the rage these days... by bechthros · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... and I can see a high-tech ransom outfit using this data to know where one certain child would be for quicker in-and-out kidnapping. Or knowing when that child might have been separated from it's protecive older siblings.

    Or how bout this: 5-year-old son of European royalty is playing at legoland, taken out by a sniper from a huge distance based on his location from an SMS query to their wristband system...

    OK, I'm being dystopian, and hopefully the crypto on those wristbands is bulletproof, but if the potential is there it will be abused and to think otherwise is naive.

    1. Re:i hear kidnapping is all the rage these days... by tuxette · · Score: 1
      To add to your post...

      I've read articles and engaged in various discussions about these kinds of tracking devices for children. Aside from the fears of kidnapping and kidnappers overriding the system, we have what you brought up here:

      Or how bout this: 5-year-old son of European royalty is playing at legoland, taken out by a sniper from a huge distance based on his location from an SMS query to their wristband system...

      While I have never come up with such an example, I can give another more realistic scenario - that a harm is done to a child within the confines of a "safe zone." For example, the child could be sexually assaulted in Legoland's bathroom. Just because a child is "where he should be," does not mean he is safe.

      --
      People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
    2. Re:i hear kidnapping is all the rage these days... by Alsee · · Score: 1

      taken out by a sniper from a huge distance...
      hopefully the crypto on those wristbands is bulletproof


      I doubt the crypto could stand up a sniper using teflon coated cop-killer rounds.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  96. This isn't new by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 1

    Outside of Denver, there is a pretty big water park (that's actually run by the municipality) called "Water World". A few years back, Water World introduced a similar system. Users had a watch-style band (waterproof, of course) with a barcode and a radio transmitter. They could go to any one of many kiosks around the park (which each had a barcode reader and a plasma display) and scan their band. Each member of their party was displayed on the plasma screen.

    Unfortunately, the system was torn out after it failed to generate any revenue.

  97. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by Algorithm+wrangler · · Score: 1

    Hmmm. I don't think the risk of being kidnapped is that big in Legoland, Denmark (being from Denmark I can tell you that the max. 5 child kidnappings we have here every year makes big headlines every time). However Legoland in Billund has a lot of very big playgrounds with a lot of exits, tunnels and stuff, so it is virtually impossible to keep an eye on your kid all the time - especially if you (as I do) have more than one. I for one will rent one of these when I go this summer - not to rely on it solely, but last time my son actually *did* slip by, and was quite hard to find again.

    --
    -._''_.-
  98. umm... don't kids move like an Alien(tm) by Raspberry · · Score: 1

    I don't know about your kids, but the kids I know wouldn't stay put long enough to get a bead on them.

    So you text something and by the time you get a response the kid is 50m from it -- and by the time you get there, you need to text again to figure out where they are.

    I think it would be better if the band alerted park security and then injected a fast-acting, minimal tranquilizer into the child to keep him at the location reported by the device.

    --
    ------------------------------
    Ray Raspberry
    raspberry@b3l33t.org
    1. Re:umm... don't kids move like an Alien(tm) by TiggsPanther · · Score: 1

      True, kids move faster than any text-speed locator could keep up. However it would still give you a better clue than pure guesswork.

      Plus, if worst comes to worst, I'm guessing that park security can then locate the kid a lot quicker than they can without this tracking.

      Tiggs
      --
      Tiggs
      "120 chars should be enough for everyone..."
  99. Re:Peace of mind; carelessness? liability? by crowley_dk · · Score: 1
    When the system goes down, will a child be lost, kidnapped, hurt, etc. that otherwise would not have been because his parents relied on the system instead of knowing that they, and only they were responsible for keeping track of their child?
    Legoland is in Denmark, where it's expected that people can think for themselves. Every attempt at suing someone for something that people should have been aware of in the first place has been laughed out of court. (ex.: Lawsuit against McDonalds)
  100. wardriving pedophiles by decepty · · Score: 1

    just think about one of those evil wardriving pedophiles the newspapers seem so fond of. if one of those bastards sits in the parking lot with a packet sniffer all hell may break loose.

    --
    Be careful! Bears shouldn't consume large furry dogs.
  101. What we have here sir... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is another so-paranoid-its-counterproductive American.

    1. Re:What we have here sir... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what we have here is another uncreative troll.

  102. cheap shot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do they have these tracking devices at Neverland?

  103. You are lucky by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've asked her if the kid knows any tricks. Every time I got a dirty look.

    You are lucky. When I tried, she said something in German and the kid jumped to gnaw my ankles.

  104. I wish I didn't RTFA... by Baby_with_a_nailgun · · Score: 1

    ..because I've now got kidspotter.com in my internet browsing history at work!

  105. vs. RFID tags? by beest · · Score: 1

    These products could certainly compete with the RFID tagging industry if cost and size were appropriate for the application. RFID tags have problems with near-field RF effects and antenna polarity. These devices would seem to be more effective since they are communicating over spread spectrum, then IP packets and not directly over narrow band carrier waves

  106. Some already do... by neonfrog · · Score: 1
    --

    I'm thinking about it, therefore I might be.

  107. Re: Pet IDs by jlockard · · Score: 1

    The one I got for my dog was subdermal, roughly between the shoulder blades. It couldn't be used to track the little guy, but if he ever went lost and showed up at a veterinarian or an animal shelter, they're supposed to scan each animal that comes in and verify or find ownership in the database. It would have never helped us get him back if someone took him and then never took him to a vet.

    -John

    --
    --JLockard - "Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps." - Emo Phillips
  108. Oh, this is rich... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdot readers, most of whom have no chance of reproducing, chiming in with parenting tips.

    Good grief.

  109. Old wisdom isn't always best. by Shurhaian · · Score: 1

    "640K should be enough for anybody."

    --
    NB: YMMV. IANAL. Take the above with a grain of salt.
    1. Re:Old wisdom isn't always best. by Skater · · Score: 1

      You do know he never said that, right?

      You might want to pull out an example that's actually real...

      --RJ

    2. Re:Old wisdom isn't always best. by Shurhaian · · Score: 1

      Someone must have thought something along those lines, because that 640K limit remained there for some time.

      The point also remains: Just because people didn't see the need for something in the past does not inherently mean it isn't a good thing. Engines, vaccinations, computers...

      The caveat, of course, is that just because something is new doesn't mean it's inherently better, either.

      --
      NB: YMMV. IANAL. Take the above with a grain of salt.
  110. RFID system! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think this system is quite good to purpose mentioned in the article but it can't be the only one to guarantee the children's safety.
    On the other hand I would like to know more about this technology, for example, I would know how the wristband sender and the receiver work. There are RFID systems runs on without power own, in other words the system gets the power from reader unit, what's about these units used in the park? If some of these wristbands were very close or they were in fading zones, could be their signs incorrect?
    Could somebody tell me where I can find more information about this kind of locate systems?

  111. RFID system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think this system is quite good to purpose mentioned in the article but it can't be the only one to guarantee the children's safety.
    On the other hand I would like to know more about this technology, for example, I would know how the wristband sender and the receiver work. There are RFID systems runs on without power own, in other words the system gets the power from reader unit, what's about these units used in the park? If some of these wristbands were very close or they were in fading zones, could be their signs incorrect?
    Could somebody tell me where I can find more information about this kind of locate systems?.