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GPS Devices Lead Authorities to Thieves' Home
Radon360 writes "A trio of not-so-bright thieves in Lindenhurst, NY stole 14 GPS position reporting devices used on public works equipment from a nearby township garage. Authorities didn't have to look too far to locate him or the devices, as one of them was still active and indicated the location of his home when it was queried. From the article: 'Town officials said the thieves didn't even know what they had: they thought the GPS devices were cell phones, which they planned to sell.'"
I think they only do it when in dire need of your coordinates (like when you call 911). Otherwise, it's probably a waste of resources (computing power/network data). After all, how much does the cell phone cost? free w/signing your soul away for 2 years right?
Grump.
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
If they were smart, they'd still be crooks, just at large.
Smart crooks are not identified - you hear very little about them apart from statements such as, "Police are appealing for help from the general public to help catch a criminal who did X."
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
"If they were smart, they wouldn't be crooks, they'd have real jobs."
Yeah, that's a fairly common thing for people who aren't so smart to say.
The idea of a "real job" is something the smart people invented to take advantage of people stupid enough to buy into it.
KFG
you forgot that they are probably working on Wall St wheer as long as they steal in the name of the company, they will be rewarded handsomely with end-of-year bonuses.
See my journal, I write things there
This often makes me wonder how often the GPS receiver in my cell phone is actually working. I have both a Garmin and a Magellan hand-held receiver, each which cost several hundred $, and neither of them pick up any useful signal or work even 10% of the time anywhere indoors, in my vehicle while I drive, or even when I'm under moderate to heavy tree cover or building cover. They stick themselves in "acquiring signal mode" until they return to a relatively clear view of the sky to get signal from at least 3 satellites. My mobile on the other hand, cost $99, has a camera, MP3 player, bluetooth, cell capabilities obviously, and probably several other features I don't know of (Moto e815) as well as this "GPS" feature, so the GPS cant exactly be state of the art or top of the line. I would have to think that 80 to 90 percent of the time, if not more, the phone cannot be getting any sort of meaningful GPS data - so in reality, unless I'm standing out in the open, with a clear view of the sky, with few buildings around, etc. - the GPS isn't actually doing a thing other than perhaps wasting some of my battery life trying to acquire a signal from a few satellites. I have a feeling if I call 911 with it, I'll still be telling them my location the old fashioned way - especially since the cellular tower nearest my location is a good 10 km away and covers an area probably close to 200 sq. km - that sure narrows things down for the emergency crews. Wasted feature if you ask me.
This isn't really all that funny, its the most insightful post i've seen on slashdot in awhile.