The Bitch Ditch

Each year the NTSB National Transportation Safety Board logs some 7,000 over the road truck accidents relating in humans becoming dead. As a general trend those fatalities have decreased over all, year over year. Yet overturned trucks are something that continues and it is a serious issue.

Those who design infrastructure such as over passes and highway on ramps and curves pay extreme attention to detail to such hazards. A proper blinking light and pre-curve warning system will save many lives over a ten-year span. We have all seen the pictures on the sign which show a truck tipping over and say caution underneath them with a number such as “SLOW 15 MPH” and often these signs also include a flashing amber or red light to alert drivers of the serious nature of the turn ahead.

I propose that we go one step further and include a satellite warning thru a GPS and Truck Transponder System, which will be a warning, which will signal an additional warning inside the truck itself. The system could be run via satellite or from a warning system on the curve itself, which alerts all trucks, which have a transponder system of the curve ahead. We could save over 2200 lives per year this way or about the number of people lost in the entire Iraq War. Think on concepts like this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Recent research has revealed that possessing a company smartphone can have negative effects on an individual’s social life.

A research conducted by Peninsula Ireland, a business consultancy company, shows that people who have been issued smartphones from their companies are more likely to turn workaholics. People with these phones have been found to be working an additional 16 hours every week compared to their counterparts who do not possess them. The additional hours of work involve checking and responding to messages and mails beyond office hours.

The research involved interviewing 600 employees of Peninsula, who are expected to work about 40 hours per week on an average as per corporate norms. It was found that employees having smartphones with them put in an additional 16 hours of work every week.

According to the Managing Director of Peninsula Ireland, Alan Price, the latest technology involving mobile phones have made Irish employees antisocial and workaholics. Smartphones like Blackberry and iPhones have made people available and contactable, so much so that workers continue to be on the job even while not in office. In spite of being pro business, this technology, and the newfound freedom provided by our little friend the USB dongle, is creating a negative effect on the social life of employees.

Moreover, as the extra time that the worker devotes to his job is usually not paid work, any company will only be happy with the current arrangements where output is obtained without overtime pay, and will be least concerned about the negative effect these gadgets have on the employee’s social and personal life.

The GPS, which means Global Positioning System, is a fully-functional satellite navigation system. It has the capacity to provide people information regarding locations any time and any where on Earth. This type of technology has been greatly used and now vehicles could be installed with such systems. It could assist drivers on knowing the right roads to tread on as well as giving drivers information on the roads to their destinations.

If you are interested in having a GPS navigation system for your car, you would to do some thinking first. There are in fact a lot of things to consider and to check before you go ahead and purchase that navigation system. One of the very first things would be to think and choose as per how often you would be using the system. Just like any other feature of a vehicle, the GPS navigation system comes in a variety of prices and specifications. Of course, there are inexpensive ones but are not user-friendly.

It would be also very helpful if you try to check out your car’s layout also. You see, there are some GPS navigation systems that come with a monitor which shows you a map and this monitor is usually installed on a car’s dashboard. Try to see if your vehicle could support such. You would not want to have a crowded vehicle just to have a GPS navigation system.

A system that has the capacity to find out multiple ways to get to your destination should be one of your choices. That way, you would be getting the most out of your vehicle. Also, try looking for a system that provides directions. There are some that gives you arrows that show you when you need to turn during your drive. Another important specification that you should consider when choosing a GPS navigation system is that it should also be capable of updating its data and information.

Things are constantly changing and with GPS systems that could be updated, it would show you that your system could be put to use for a long time. On the same line, Auto Parts Information also is continuously updating its collection of Mercedes Benz partsand other auto parts for its customers worldwide.

Terry Brown is a 32 year old from Houston Texas, and an enthusiast for anything auto-related. He currently writes auto-related articles for several publications.

A recent study by Broadband Genie shows that most of the mobile internet users feel frustrated with the speed of their internet connection. This is in contrast with the opinion of the Director of Technical Solutions at 3 UK, Phil Sheppard, who said that mobile internet could be a good solution for those who do not have access to fixed line broadband.

The UK government intends to make internet available to everyone in the country. Currently there are close to 2 million families with no access to broadband. The Digital Britain report deals with this problem and the possible solutions. The government recently held a Broadband for All eForum seminar in which the report was discussed.

Mr. Sheppard said in the seminar that mobile broadband could be a possible solution and it would be easy to implement it if the proper spectrum was released by the government. He also said that it is going to be the most inexpensive way of achieving the government’s dream and would not require any funding from the taxpayers’ money.

While this all sounds quite well, Sheppard is probably ignoring the fact that most mobile broadband users are not too happy with the service. Considering the study done by Broadband Genie, there is a long way to go before mobile broadband can become as good as fixed line broadband. For information on your ISP, refer to Broadband Genie for provider reviews and news - click on mobile broadband pay as you go for a comparison and price data for all the leading broadband service providers.

There are three major types of GPS vehicle tracking; cellular based tracking, wireless passive tracking and satellite based real-time GPS tracking. This article will outline the advantages and disadvantages associated with all three types of GPS Vehicle Tracking.

Cellular Based Tracking

The initial costs for setting up the system are slightly lower than the other two options. With cellular based tracking average costs are about $500. A cellular based tracking system transmits information about where a vehicle is every five minutes over a land network. The average monthly costs are about thirty-five dollars for airtime and for the information to be displayed over the internet.

Wireless Passive Tracking

A major advantage to this type of tracking system is that there is no monthly fee, so once the system is set up there will be no other costs associated with it. However, setting up the system is a little expensive. The average is about $700 for the hardware, and $800 for the software and database. With this type of system most people say the disadvantage is that the information about where the vehicle has been can only be found out when the vehicle returns back to the companies base. This is a major drawback especially for companies that are looking for a tracking system that will tell them where their vehicle is if it has been stolen or in an accident. However many systems are now inserting wireless modems to their devices so that tracking information can be viewed without having the memory card from the vehicle. With wireless modem wireless passive tracking systems are also able to collect information about how fast the vehicle is traveling, stops made and other detailed information. With this new addition many companies feel this system is a perfect fit because there is still no monthly bill.

Satellite Based Real-Time Tracking

This type of system gives less detailed information, but it works nationwide, which makes it a good choice for shipping and trucking companies. The costs for setting up the system average around $700. The monthly fees for this system vary from five dollars up to one hundred dollars; based on how detailed a company wants the reports to be.

New Technology

In the next few years GPS tracking will be able to provide companies with a number of other advantages. Some companies have already set up a way to have a customers sign and run credit cards onsite through the unit. Others are setting up ways for dispatchers to send re-routing information directly to a drivers GPS unit. Another new advancement for GPS systems is that they will have internet access and stored information about the vehicle so that a driver or mechanic can use the GPS unit to look up diagrams to help them fix the vehicle. In addition to this all of the information will be stored and saved in the companies database.

Chris Simons is a prolific freelance writer. You are welcomed to visit http://gps.theconsumerguide.net, for more information on GPS Vehicle tracking.

A common thinking among “Marketing people ” is that for every product that enters the market there must be a path, a target, a need ( real or created) that decides how the product must enter the consumer’s life, which part of the population is more likely to go for it, which niche it is going to fill and, most important “…certain things being stated, something other than what is stated follows of necessity from their being so.” and that is the final issue: the price.

Depending on those anavoidable patterns a product is more or less ready for a certain market.

High technologically devices, the ones that offer perfect quality and cost a fortune will target the elitarian market, where the price has not big importance (on the contrary, if the price would be lower than what certain people can afford, the product wouldn’t reach them) since it means luxury.

When a product ceases to be luxury and begins to be a need, then the mass market is ready. The product can enter 60% of consumers’ lives, reach easily a good upgrade in the percentage and become ” The New Product of the year 200….”.

Let’s consider the VoIP market.

Prior to recent theoretical work on social needs, the usual purpose of a product invoked individual (social) behaviors. We now know that these assumptions are not completely wrong.

Wrong would be NON considering them.

In systems where many people are free to choose between many options, a small subset of the whole offer will get a disproportionate amount of traffic (or attention, or income), even if no one of the system actively work towards such an outcome. This has nothing to do with moral weakness, selling out, or any other psychological explanation. The very act of choosing, spread widely enough and freely enough, creates a power law distribution.

Now, thanks to a series of breakthroughs in network theory by researchers we know that power law distributions tend to arise in social systems where many people express their preferences among many options. We also know that as the number of options rise, the curve becomes more extreme. This is a counter-intuitive finding - most of us would expect a rising number of choices to flatten the curve, but in fact, increasing the size of the system increases the gap between the #1 spot and the median spot.

In other words: give to the people the choice among desktop phones and mobile phones and the majority will choose what they think more convenient, in spite of the cost of the service.

In a way the cost of the service is the only left advantage in favour of the fixed telephony.

If the price was the same the desktop phones would disappear from the life of the average consumer (mass market consumer).

To see how freedom of choice could create such unequal distributions, consider a hypothetical population of a thousand people, each picking their favorite way of telecommunication. One way to model such a system is simply to assume that each person has an equal chance of liking each kind of telephony. This distribution would be basically flat - most kind of telephony will have the same number of people listing it as a favorite. A few will be more popular than average and a few less, of course, but that will be statistical noise. The bulk of the telephony will be of average popularity, and the highs and lows will not be too far different from this average. In this model, neither the quality of the voice, the availability, the design of the device nor other people’s choices have any effect; there are no shared tastes, no preferred genres, no effects from marketing or recommendations from friends.

This is the mass market of VoIP as dreamed and forecasted by most hardware producers.

People would choose VoIP in spite of the fact that the systems are not intercommunicating, the available phones are just desktop phones, most of the population doesn’t have a “Flat rate DSL” and some do not even have a decent connection, (just one ” UP to…) and just because VoIP means cutting cost.

They have a few wrong assumptions:

1. Most of the people want to save calling internationally

2. Most of the people will use a cheap Flat rate connection

3. Most of the people know how to handle a computer or a network, and so solve all the eventual problems that could arise.

But they do not consider that:

1. Most people call locally and just a few once in a while internationally.

2. Most of the people do not have a cheap flat rate Internet

3. Most of the people are not IT experts.

Besides people’s choices do affect one another. If we assume that any kind of telephony chosen by one user is more likely, by even a fractional amount, to be chosen by another user, the system changes dramatically.

If Robert (our average mass market consumer) likes to have a phone in his pocket, available mostly anywhere, it is very likely that Mary would like the same.

Is VoIp ready for the “Mass Market”?

The answer could be No and Yes.

What would VoIP offer more than the existing several choices?

1. Price. Telephone calls would be completely free of charge among two IP phones ( and that believe me is a GREEEEAT THING when you try it)

2. The never enough considered satisfaction to be able to ref..ck who f..cked us for many years…

What would VoIP telephony need to be #1 spot in the curve?

1. A reliable PORTABLE Phone that doesn’t need millions of Hot Spot’s to work.

2. A reliable, cheap flat rate internet connection anywhere for everybody.

If ONE could put these patterns together, THEN VoIP would really have the chance to be #1.

See my website: http://www.worldonip.com or contact me patrizia@worldonip.com

About The Author

Patrizia is an ebooks publisher. See also http://www.easymediabroadcast.com

patrizia@worldonip.com

“As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us more money, or save us time?” -Dennis Schooley

So what’s all this VoIP hype anyway? I mean we all know that our voice can be delivered to the four corners of the globe over telephone lines. (Actually, I missed that part of second grade math where they taught us that a ball has corners, but everybody says it, so I’ll accept it). Alex G. Bell, the second most famous resident of Brantford, Ontario, right after Wayne Gretzky of course, led us down the voice transmission path.

We’re also fully aware of the Internet. Otherwise where would we get our sports scores, weather reports, horoscopes, and genealogy fixes. So why do we care about the real-time transmission of our voice, in telephone quality, using Internet protocol (VoIP)?

Presumably the whole concept was created to deliver some benefit to us techno-ignorant dwellers of the house of the masses. As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us money, or save us time? Will it make us more efficient as a Manufacturer, Distributor, or Evangelist? If the answer to those questions is no, then we shouldn’t even think about it. So let’s explore those questions. After all, it’s all about results.

Geoffrey Moore introduced the concept that a product must cross the chasm of market acceptance in the ‘Technology Adoption Life Cycle’ in his book Crossing the Chasm. In his next book, Inside the Tornado, Moore talks about the tornado of market acceptance that lies like a siren beyond the chasm. It appears that VoIP is clawing up the far wall of the chasm, but we don’t know for sure whether it will find that toe hold to crawl out, and catch the swirling tornado winds of fortune. All indicators are that it’s going to happen. Dorothy and the Tin Man are holding their breath.

Perhaps the most significant indicator is that the ‘business-prevention specialists’, a title I usually reserve for lawyers, but in this case is applied affectionately to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), have begun the task of investigating what should be regulated in the world of VoIP. The FCC has already delivered a ruling on a VoIP product offered by AT&T. That fact in itself should make us all take notice that there must be something good coming, or they wouldn’t be showing up at the dance to make sure the band isn’t too loud.

Larry Stocker, of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants in Kansas City says, ‘if my clients’ interest in VoIP is any indicator, then I think there will be a big increase in the provision of the service. We have quadrupled our number of assignments in the last six months alone, for clients that wish to select the right VoIP service, at the right price, from the right supplier. That seems to be a good indicator of market acceptance.

Another good indicator would be the number of suppliers, including the tier-one Telco’s that have entered the fray to provide VoIP in their own particular flavor. That fact should cause us pause. It should cause us to challenge the original premise that talking over the Internet will be free’, and that there will be no long distance cost any more. If that were the case, would all of these big companies - the renowned leaders in the telecom world - be scrambling to get to market to provide the service? Maybe it’s just their way of giving back to society. I’m more inclined to think there are huge profits at stake.

And now you say, ‘but I’ve already got the Internet, why isn’t it free’. Well first of all, you’ll need some kind of device that delivers ‘telephone quality’ over the Internet. Remember, I said ‘real time’. Those $20 microphones just don’t do it. In addition, have you ever tried to put someone on hold on the Internet, or call forward, or take a voice message you know, the things that businesses do everyday.

Presumably that’s what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that ’stuff’ at the end of the race. Whether they sell it to you outright, or whether you rent it from them for a monthly service fee isn’t the point. The point is that there is a cost to get access, as well as proper business applications. Included in the cost, which will be recovered through charges to you, are signaling, routing, protocol, and interface technologies. Oops, that’s not layman’s talk.

Presumably that’s what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that ’stuff’ at the end of the race.

In addition to the access ’stuff’ as a layman would say, there has to be access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or I would never be able to call my mother. VoIP calls have to terminate on everyday telephone sets because I’m pretty sure my mom doesn’t have a VoIP set up at her house. She doesn’t have a bankcard, won’t stay in a hotel that doesn’t have ‘real keys’, and still loves her dial phone (definitely in Moore’s technology buying group called Skeptics or Laggards). There is no way I’ll be talking to her over her Internet connection she doesn’t have one, and never will. So this VoIP thing will have to access the normal phone system. That’s where the FCC and CRTC step in. Their position is that if the PSTN will be accessed, then access fees will have to be paid by the providers. And up goes the cost.

In his book, Implementing Voice Over IP, Bhumip Khasnabish, says “The goals of VoIP implementation are to achieve (a) significant savings in network maintenance and operations costs and (b) rapid rollout of new services.”

O.K., so it’s not free but there should be ’significant savings’ if that holds true. Assuming those savings will be passed on, it should make me more money through cost reduction. Presumably these new services’ will be designed to save me time, make me more efficient, or provide easier access to my target markets. Just think if one step can be eliminated in the manufacture of shin pads, if distribution channels for cat food are more streamlined, or the Evangelist can find more heathens to convert.

Bill Webster, another Schooley Mitchell consultant in Calgary, Alberta says, “the key is to assess the reliability and quality of service. If the quality is what you need, and by the way, it’s improving every day, then a cost-benefit analysis is required comparing your current access to VoIP. Often times VoIP is the winner. As new services with VoIP become available over time, that win will be even more evident for the regular business person.”

So there you have it. Should you or shouldn’t you, as the title queries? It seems that the answer is akin to; should I or shouldn’t I, when Alexander Graham introduced the telephone concept in the first place. I’m pretty sure that everyone, at least those that are alive today, eventually got one. Bell had to deal with laggards too.

It seems that this is the way the market will develop if the supply and regulatory indicators hold true. VoIP is not out of the chasm yet, but when this many suppliers enter the arena, then functionality is driven up to deliver the ‘better mouse trap’, price is driven down through competitive alternatives, reliability (the bugs are worked out) is driven up by the same forces, and you have emergence.

It seems that if you take Webster’s advice and prepare the proper cost-benefit analysis, you’re likely going to be getting your kite ready for the VoIP tornado.

Copyright Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants 2004

Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He writes for publication, as well as for http://schooleymitchell.blogging,com and http://franchises.blogging.com, in the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology for the Layman. http://www.schooleymitchell.com, 888-311-6477, dschooley@schooleymitchell.com.

Gordon Brown offered some cheer to the broadband industry when he announced his full support to “broadband for all” by 2012.

Speaking at the Digital Britain summit in London, he suggested that strengthening Britain’s broadband access is integral to productivity and innovation in many other sectors of the British economy.

Brown delivered his speech before key players from the technology and communications industries as well as the media, outlining the link between Digital Britain and a successful future of the country. He declared that a ‘digital revolution’ is the key to the British economy’s success in the near future.

Trade secretary Lord Mandelson pointed out to those who attended the summit that realising the dream of Digital Britain may call for some government investment. He said that although the industry was perfectly capable of building the infrastructure needed for the project, the government would offer all possible support, most likely in the form of funding.

Broadband access to all households in the UK by 2012 is still being seen as an ambitious plan, but it seems the government is quite determined this time. The tone of speeches at the summit indicated that investments towards Digital Britain are not far away. This is good news for the broadband industry, especially the mobile broadband providers, who may be the first in line for government help when they are roped in to provide broadband access across the nation. For information and advice on free laptop offers, click here.

“I never though it would happen to me,” is a common statement from auto theft victims.

Auto theft is on the rise in the U.S. A vehicle is stolen about every 20 seconds. An alarm system and most theft prevention tips will not stop car theft. In most cases, people are unalarmed by car alarms because many go off without a break-in. Some alarms shut off as soon as the door is closed. Even if an alarm does alert of the theft, most people are not willing to risk their life to stop the criminal in the act. Two cars have now been stolen since you started reading this.

According to the FBI 2004 Uniform Crime Report, only 63% of stolen vehicles were recovered. Auto theft will happen, and a FAST recovery is the only solution to protecting your assets. Vehicles that are not recovered immediately are usually chopped up in pieces or taken on a joy ride or wrecked at the owner’s expense. Many times, stolen vehicles are used in the commission of other crimes. No vehicle is theft proof. So, what’s the answer? The NCIB recommends a GPS tracking device.

Find out if your vehicle and the state you live in are among the top 10 for auto theft: Auto Theft TOP 10 List at www.trackyourvehicle.net.

Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc.
Brad Borst, Founder & President
309 S. Summit View Drive, Suite 15, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Phone: (970) 207-1023
Fax: (970) 482-3774
http://www.trackyourvehicle.net

Telemetry, literally meaning “remote measurement” or remote collection of data is the study and measurement of the transmission of data over certain mediums. Despite the wealth of probable applications the primary purpose of telemetry is automated data collection at a place, which is inaccessible, inconvenient or dangerous, such as satellites in orbit, and relay the data to telemetry receivers on ground where the data is monitored, interpreted and recorded. Telemeter is the apparatus used for recording the readings of an instrument and transmitting them by radio. A telemetry handler, collects, formats and stores the data in a dedicated buffer, and then relays it to telemetry receivers.

Telemetry is expected to replace bar coding when the price point reaches an affordable level. Product information can be stored on specialized telemetry tags that will track the product along the supply chain and relay the information to telemetry receivers. Combined with local technology, the company assets can be located at any point in time. Thus, telemetry monitor will allow companies to wirelessly access information and monitor status levels at all times.

Telemetry also permits the tracking of endangered land and aquatic species tagged with telemetry devices, in order to get information on their patterns of movement, dispersal and migrations, and habitat use. Telemetry receivers are also used as an aid to understand and identify the natural causes that are linked to habitat conditions of these animals, which in turn alter their behavior, and how such conditions affect their mortality rates.

Since the early 1970s, the use of telemetry receivers to provide real time physiological monitoring in coronary care units has become widely recognized. These systems are used for monitoring of the electro-physiological state of patients who are at risk of abnormal heart activity. These patients are outfitted with customized telemetry devices without any other control, except an On/Off button. This device comprises a wireless receiver for the long-distance telemetry and a GSM module. If the patient is suffering from a critical condition, alert messages are relayed via the standard SMS (short messaging system) protocol to the central database, where they are allocated to the healthcare professional in charge of the patient. Back a few years when I thought I was having a heart attack, the hospital attached one of these devices to me to monitor me while I was a patient in my small town hospital.

The use of telemetry is wide spread and beyond the scope of this article. Science has advanced greatly in the last 30 years and continues to progress at at great rate.

Keith Londrie II is a well known author. For more information on Telemetry information, please visit Telemetry Information for a wealth of information. You may also want to visit keith’s own web site at http://keithlondrie.com/