Posts Tagged ‘GPS’

GPS For Children

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

We have talked about using GPS devices to navigate in your car. We have talked about how using a GPS equipped cell phone can help you find your lost cell phone. We have even talked about how easy it is to “amp up” your workouts by using GPS watches. But one of the best ways to use GPS devices is to use GPS for children in order to keep them safe.

Most parents have work schedules that are far too hectic to imagine. And when they come home the chaos does not get any better. As a result, they can sometimes not pay 100% of their attention to their child. It is in these times that children often do go wandering about and go missing (or worse, get abducted).

If the child had a GPS watch or a cell phone equipped with GPS their parents might be able to track them easier and be reunited with them very quickly. And this would help parents and the authorities find the child if the child were merely lost. But what happens if an adult with malicious intent has taken their precious little one?

Child abductors typically will seek to (more…)

Use Your Dell Netbook As A GPS Device

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Consumers now can use their netbooks as portable GPS devices. Yes, you heard that correctly! According to this article by CNN, with a Dell netbook you can use it like a smart phone so you can find out where you are currently located and where you will need to be and what route to take to get there.

Just by installing a GPS card into the Dell netbook, the user will be able to do all the things any normal GPS device can do. Dell is even claiming that users in European countries will be able to avoid roaming charges if they get the right accessories for their netbook.

One other thing that the article may not mention is that with GPS capability, you may be able to track your netbook if it ever gets lost or stolen.

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How GPS Works

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

The Global Positioning System (GPS) works through a constant communication between the GPS device on the surface and multiple satellites in orbit. The way it works is that the GPS device sends out signals and the satellite sends out signals back to it. The data is then analyzed and by determining how quickly the signal is returned by any particular satellite, the GPS device can establish where it is on the surface of the Earth fairly quickly.

This enables joggers to figure out how far or fast they have run, drivers to establish the correct routes to their destinations and even enables companies to keep track of their shipments and vehicles.

One of the nicest things about our world today is the video we can see to help us visually teach our students. Here is a nice video that explains the basics a bit better than we can.

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Where GPS Came From

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Lots of people talk about GPS but don’t ever really stop to think what it is all about. What we’ve learned through our education is that GPS stands for Global Positioning system and it was originally intended for sole use by the United States’ military.

You see, back in the 1970’s and 1980’s the U.S. launched satellites into geosynchronous orbits around the Earth. The communications satellites are positioned in such a way as to see the entire planet’s surface. From their position high above the Earth, they can communicate with any GPS device on the surface.

The U.S. military used (and still uses) it to navigate its land, air and sea units around (more…)