Usually it’s celebrities making headlines in Los Angeles. This time, it’s a mountain lion that is making news headlines in the Los Angeles area.

Biologists from the National Park Service located the mountain in the Verdugo Mountains, a small mountain chain just north of downtown Los Angeles, on May 7, after an amateur scientists was able to film him. He was given the identifying title P-41 and was fitted with a GPS tracking collar.

The National Park Service biologists hope that the collar will give them the pertinent information that they need in order to document how difficult it is for these animals to survive because of their close proximity to the major freeways that run through Montrose, La Crescenta, Burbank, Glendale and sections of Los Angeles.

P-41 is estimated to be an 8-year old adult male mountain lion who weighs 130 pounds.

According to Kate Kukendall of the National Park Service, after he was spotted, he was captured, blood and tissue samples were taken, he was fitted with a GPS tracking collar and released back into the wild. Read the rest of this entry »

As keyless start systems are becoming more common among newer cars, thieves are finding new ways to break in and steal these vehicles. In a recent article for The New York Times, Prius owner Nick Bilton detailed his search for the answer to how his car had been broken into three times over the course of one month. His experience was just one of many break-ins in his neighborhood.

While witnessing the last of these break ins, he noticed that the thief was using a small device to unlock his car with ease. After much investigation, he found research from one of the founders of 3db Technologies, Boris Danev. Danev explained that he believed the thieves may be using power amplifiers, which can be bought for as little as $17 online.

Keyless entry vehicles unlock by searching for a signal from the keys. Normally, keyless entry vehicles have to be within a few feet of their key before they will unlock. Power amplifiers, however, boost the strength of the signal that searches for the key. Because of this, they are able to use power amplifiers to break into cars as long as the key is relatively nearby. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to learn more about the way people move through national parks and how it affects the ecosystems in the parks, scientists have started a tracking study and are now using GPS
tracking on people.

Of course, the GPS tracking devices are not being attached to the people, but rather being handed out to people on a voluntary basis. Park visitors are now able to carry the GPS tracking devices with them as they roam through Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park to provide data on how the shuttle service can be improved in the often congested and popular lake.

Also, visits through two famous meadows are being tracked as well through GPS tracking at California’s Yosemite National Park. This type of tracking is very common in this country at the national parks, however, in earlier times, they were strictly used for tracking wild animals.

“It’s going to help us better understand the expectations, the motivations and then the ultimate experiences that people have,” said Jackie Skaggs, spokesperson at Grand Teton National Park. Read the rest of this entry »

If you own or manage a dispatch service, delivery, or shipping business, you know how important it to know the location of your fleet. With this knowledge, you’ll have a better idea of when customers will receive their shipments or service, which will greatly improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Despite the benefits of GPS fleet tracking, the idea of introducing it to your employees may have you a little nervous. You worry that your drivers will turn in their keys as soon as you announce that you want to utilize GPS fleet tracking; and that’s understandable, as your staff will want to know how it will impact their work and their performance. Fortunately, there are ways that you can introduce the idea of fleet tracking without aggravating your employees.

Here’s a look at effective ways that you can introduce GPS fleet tracking to your employees without scaring them off.

Let Them Know Early

Trust is one of the most important things in a successful employee-employer relationship. If you wait to tell your employees about the addition of GPS fleet tracking until a few days before it goes into effect, chances are you are going to lose some of their trust. Instead, be open and honest with them. Let your drivers know about this change long before you actually put it into practice so that they can express their thoughts and concerns. Read the rest of this entry »

If you have a jealous fiancé, before placing that engagement ring on your finger, you might wish to ask them some questions. Steve Bennett, UK jeweler has created the first original ring, which can be used as tracking technology. Its appearance is the same as all the others, however, in between the silver setting and the rock lays a tiny Bluetooth chip.

Bennett, Gemporia’s CEO, is used to offering couples with sparkling engagement rings. He has claimed that the main reason of placing GPS tracking in the rings is to protect the jewelry from loss or theft.

However, it does make it possible to locate the wearer wherever they are which is why the company is now planning to promote it as the ‘fidelity ring.’

This means jealous spouses now have the ability to keep tabs and know the exact whereabouts of their significant other.

There are two different designs of the tracking ring since being able to choose your ring is always important and rings that track every move you make should not be any different. The first design is a diamond that is square-cut and is encased inside an 8-pronged silver setting.  The other design is the violet diamond that is marquise-cut encased inside a square setting.

Bennett told the Daily Mail that the idea hit him when he was considering different ways to keep jewelry safe.  He went on to say that the collections he had included some pieces that were highly valuable.  He claims there is nothing worse than seeing people’s devastation when they have lost their jewelry or had their treasured pieces stolen.  He wanted to do all he could do to prevent this. Read the rest of this entry »