 GPS Jammers Illegal, Dangerous, and Very Easy to Buy  By John Brandon - FOXNews.com [link]An electronic device small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and big enough to conceivably bring down an airplane can be easily purchased over the Internet. All a terrorist needs is a credit card and $49.With car thieves in the United Kingdom using GPS jammers to aid their getaways, experts say it's only a matter of time until crooks -- and, ominously, terrorists -- in the United States catch on.
Jammers transmit a low-power signal that creates signal noise and fools a GPS receiver into thinking the satellites are not available. They can be used to confuse police and avoid toll charges, and some pranksters use them to nettle unsuspecting iPhone users.
But the real threat is the unknown. Criminals could use them to hide their whereabouts from law enforcement -- and some experts fear terrorists could use high-powered jammers to disrupt GPS reception on an airplane or in military operations.
The devices pose serious societal risks, and they're unquestionably illegal to buy and use in the United States. The FCC is bullish about pursuing anyone who buys a GPS jammer and will prosecute and jail anyone who uses one. Yet they're easily bought online, and their proponents say they should stay that way. Fox News was able to buy GPS jammers for as little as $50 from numerous online sources.
" GPS is so embedded in the transportation, manufacturing industries and economies of our societies that the risk is high," said David Last, an Emeritus Professor of Bangor University in the U.K. and a well-known authority on criminal use of GPS jammers.
"It's especially so in telecommunications: GPS is the ultimate source of timing for most of our telephone systems, the Internet and, in the U.S., phone cells."
Click to discuss this news item in the forums [/html] Comments are turned off for this item  | Posted by w2lie on Thursday March 18, 2010 - 10:13:41 |       |
Nassau County’s 911 System Swamped in Storm  Nassau County officials are meeting to analyze why the county’s 911 system became overloaded during the weekend Nor’easter.
County Executive Edward Mangano has ordered an immediate review.
During the height of the storm, Mangano says some of the estimated 10,000 Nassau County 911 calls were transferred. They landed in emergency centers in nearby Suffolk County — or as far away as Albany. Typically, the system gets about 2,200 calls a day.
Mangano says officials “cannot let another day pass by without addressing this situation.”
He was expected to meet with emergency management officials on Monday to determine why the system was swamped.
New York City experienced the second-highest volume of 911 calls ever in a 24-hour period — 65,000 between 11 p.m. Friday and 11 p.m. Saturday.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. Click to discuss this news item in the forums Comments are turned off for this item | Posted by w2lie on Tuesday March 16, 2010 - 10:14:52 | |
Radio outages hit Nassau buses, jail  Radio outages hit Nassau buses, jailNewsday Article
The radio system that MTA bus drivers and their supervisors use to communicate suffered intermittent outages Wednesday afternoon, the bus agency said.
[...]
The radio woes also affected the Nassau County jail in East Meadow, but a jail source said that correctional officers used handheld radios and that jailhouse security was not affected.
A county police spokesman said the department's radios were not affected. Click to discuss this news item in the forums Comments are turned off for this item | Posted by w2lie on Thursday March 11, 2010 - 07:52:05 | |
HAZCOLLECT Testing on 3/9/10  AS PART OF THE ONGOING HAZCOLLECT TESTING...A NATIONAL
TEST MESSAGE WILL BE SENT ON TUESDAY MARCH 9 AT ABOUT
1915 UTC/UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME/ OR 215 PM EASTERN
STANDARD TIME TO TEST DISTRIBUTION OF EMERGENCY MESSAGES
OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE NATIONAL TEST MESSAGE WILL
BE DISSEMINATED AS A SERIES OF STATE MESSAGES UNDER THE
FOLLOWING WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION /WMO/ AND
ADVANCED WEATHER INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM /AWIPS/
COMMUNICATION IDENTIFIERS:
WOUS41 KALY ALBADRNY FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK
WOUS41 KPHI PHLADRNJ FOR THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
WOUS41 KBOX BOSADRCT FOR THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
THE ADR ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE/FOLLOW UP TEST MESSAGES
MAY BE RELAYED BY EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM /EAS/
PARTICIPATING STATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH LOCAL AND STATE
EAS PLANS.
Click to discuss this news item in the forums Comments are turned off for this item | Posted by w2lie on Sunday March 07, 2010 - 18:28:13 | |
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