New Tool to Combat GPS Theft?

A mostly “old news” article from CBS News talks about GPS thefts and advice to prevent them. (Don’t leave them in plain site; wipe off “fingerprints” of suction cups.) But, ends the article with this:

GPS manufacturers like Garmin and TomTom are trying to make their products less tempting to steal. New models now require you to enter a 4-digit pin number to work, the hope being if thieves know they can’t use it, maybe they won’t steal it.

Think that’ll work?

High Praise for Virtual Earth

“The Weather Channel Desktop also edges the competition, notably WeatherBug, in map quality, the former having switched to dynamic maps provided by Microsoft Virtual Earth that are complete with undulating cloud patterns in various levels of transparency.”

- Jessica Dolcourt on C|net’s Download Blog

Trapster in Detail

Trapster is a free mobile/Web app that depends on users to post the locations of speed traps they see via their mobile phones. PocketNow offers a detailed review and gives it thumbs up, save for the need to install and use 11 separate little programs.

Dundee GPS’s Routes Stitched

The art project in Dundee Scotland reflects its residents treks. “Ramblers” carry a GPS and their routes are projected onto a large canvas where “stitchers” sew them in colored thread. The project is hosted by Abertay University.

- BBC

GeoEye Non-News and Real News

The Motley Fool helped me sort these out:

First off, last week GeoEye put out a press release noting what appeared to be a new deal with Mitsubishi to resell its imagery. It wasn’t - it was the continuation of an existing deal. The stock price rose 9%.

Second, and this is the real news: the company apparently didn’t know when its ownership changed back in 2005. I don’t fully understand the legalize, but it seems to mean the company owes a bunch of back taxes: $15.8 million.