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FCC To Allow Texting To 911
tekgoblin writes "The FCC is looking into allowing people to report incidents to 911 via SMS from their mobile phones. They are also considering mobile video to show the 911 service what is going on. The current 911 system handles around 230 million calls per year with most of the calls being from mobile phones. One situation influenced this move to allow texting to 911 was the Virginia Tech shooting. 'The technological limitations of 9-1-1 can have tragic, real-world consequences,' the release said. 'During the 2007 Virginia Tech campus shooting, students and witnesses desperately tried to send texts to 9-1-1 that local dispatchers never received. If these messages had gone through, first responders may have arrived on the scene faster with firsthand intelligence about the life-threatening situation that was unfolding.'"
I wish I could text pictures or video from the highway. I see people driving so dangerously that it's effectively assault, all the time. I can't drive 5 miles on the highway, or 5 minutes in a town/city, without seeing people texting while driving as they do something dangerous. I sometimes pull up next to them and take a picture with them with my phone that I keep in my dashboard, which used to get most of them to stop (though the past year or two it often sends them into an insane self-righteous rage).Taking the picture isn't distracting to me as I drive; it's about as distracting as punching an FM preset button, and I make sure I'm not changing lanes or in any other complex driving situation when I snap the picture. I yearn for the day when my car has 360 degree video all the time as part of its security system, which should connect to my phone or a car WWAN.
I wish I could then press a button to send the picture, or (even better) video, to 911. I'd then voice call 911 (on speakerphone), and give details. If the other driver were really nuts I might even follow them for a while, or just watch them careen off into traffic, updating the cops. I'd get their license plate in the shot. I'd show up to testify against them in court, swearing to the video evidence. And then maybe these lunatics might keep their deranged driving off the roads.
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make install -not war
GPS only works outdoors.
Just saying that unless GPS was enabled when they walked indoors and stored the last good lock position, it'd be useless. They absolutely do need you to tell them where you are exactly, just in case.
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Trilateration
Thanks for playing.
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