New GPS Technology Can Locate People and Keep Kids Safe

GPS has been in use among the general public for several years, and is most notably used in cell phones and cars. While the technology is said to help find your missing car, it could now be used to find missing people. Isaac Daniel has invented a sneaker that can be used for all sorts of purposes, but the idea came to Daniel after a scare with loosing his son. In 2002, Daniel was out of town when he got the phone call that his son was missing from school. After quickly flying from Atlanta to New York, it was explained to him that it was a misunderstanding, and that his son was fine. But the incident made him realize that a GPS locater could have easily solved the mystery, and saved a lot of stress. When asked what he calls his invention, he says that it is “Peace of mind. We call it a second eye watching over you.” He wears his shoe invention on his morning run, and has tested them on long distance trips, and traced himself to the precise building he was in.

The GPS shoes can be extremely useful for emergencies, but is not really intended to find out if your child is really going where they say, or if you are concerned with your spouse’s whereabouts. It is designed to alert the authorities when it is activated, which can be done by either pressing a button located on the shoe, or remotely by calling the monitoring service, and giving the operators the correct password. This will work to help find a lost or kidnapped child, traveling teens, hikers on mountain climbing expeditions, or Alzheimer’s patients who tend to wander. If any activity is reported to the authorities in the even of a non-emergency, the wearer of the shoes will incur all law enforcement costs, explains Daniel.

The main difference between the sneakers bearing the GPS locator chip and other inventions such as GPS bracelets, watches, wristbands, or phones, would be that shoes just aren’t as easy to lose. The cost of the monitoring service, which provides 24-hour service, is less than twenty dollars a month, which is a small price to pay if you’ve got a wanderer that causes you constant worry.

The original manufacturing count is just 1000 pairs of the limited edition running shoe style, with two silver (activate and deactivate) buttons near the shoelaces. Daniel says there is already 750 pairs ordered. The GPS shoe invention has already peaked interest with makers of military boots, and there is talk of them being used in Colombia and Ecuador. If the idea takes off, it could put a damper on the total number of missing people world-wide.

The problem is, overcoming the cool-factor, says Lee Diercks, managing director of New Jersey-based Clear Thinking Group, an advisory firm for retailers. While the military might be able to successfully implement the technology into their already rugged look, teens and young kids may not find the available styles very compatible with their fashionable attire!

More information about inventor Isaac Daniel and his company Fele Footwear.

Wink.com - Website Review

Wink recently launched a company update, Wink Beta 2, with a fresher look for their website, and a new goal in sight: People Search. But not just for searching out names, but rather – identities. Web users are constantly creating new online identities, and Wink is gearing its technology towards recognizing people sharing common interests. This will enable users to create one main profile in which they can manage blogs, personal pages and profiles for websites such as MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn, Live Spaces, Friendster, and the Web. This, along with user ratings and tagging, is making it easier than ever to find people, as well as user-ranked web search results.

Wink is largely a tag based user-ranked search system, but is now taking people searching to a whole new level. Searching for people will never be the same. Wink started in August 2004 by Michael Tanne, with the goal of integrating user feedback to improve search result. “We know we are trying something really big - and challenging. People can help each other find the best information on the Web, better than machine-based algorithms alone,” Tanne stated in a recent interview. “It just takes a few people who take the time to weigh in with their preferences to create a super experience for everyone else.”

ZabaSearch.com - Website Review

ZabaSearch was launched in 2005 by Nicholas Matzorkis, the founder of US Search. After a childhood experience, where young Nick Matzorkis traveled to Greece with his family to reunite with family members which they lost contact with after moving to the United States. Whereas US Search was the first company to bring people locating services to the public at an affordable rate, ZabaSearch is the first company to provide search results for absolutely free.

The website is easy to use, just type in the name you are looking for, and your results are returned in a quick, search engine-like manner. Of course there is the option of pulling up additional information for a small cost, most of the information you would be looking for will turn up in the free results.

Because ZabaSearch is providing such personal information in their free searches, the company has recently become the target of privacy activists and media coverage related to a recent surge in identity theft, even though the company remains innocent of any negative actions. But it isn’t just the general public who uses ZabaSearch, and the company provides services to news agencies, business and real estate professionals, and the government as well. According to Matzorkis, “Government use is over 20 percent. Military is 12 to 13 percent. Department of Homeland Security is around 1 percent of the government portion. Media and news agencies is about 2 to 3 percent.”