The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: April 19, 2009

Official News page 6


REAL LIFE NEWS: GOOGLE HELPS RETRIEVE STOLEN BAG

by Hazed

One of the services which Google offers is a way to share your location with friends or relatives, so they can track your movements - and you can track theirs. It's called Latitude, and it sounds a bit creepy to me - the ideal stalker's tool. However, a recent news story shows that it can be used to fight crime, too!

Janina Valiente from San Francisco had her purse snatched while she was waiting for a bus. The bag contained her mobile phone, which had Latitude installed on it - she'd put it on as a joke so she could "stalk" her sister in LA (see what I mean about it being creepy?)

When she realized the stolen phone would still be running the software, she borrowed a phone from a passer-by and called her sister. Sis was able to see the thieves progress to a nearby junction, where police picked them up, still holding the purse and its contents.

Hooray for stalking technology!


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