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FieldLogix announces the release of its guide for creating a company policy for dash cameras. The guide discusses all of the factors involved when creating a dash camera policy and how to make the policy driver-friendly in order to minimize driver resistance. “In todays’ litigious world, fleets are often targeted by unscrupulous motorists for insurance […]
Oil prices sharply declined to their lowest level in four months after the United States and 27 allies announced that they are planning to release 60 million barrels of crude oil from reserves. Increasing the nation’s oil supply could lower gas prices as much as 50 cents a gallon, but relief at the pump is still several weeks away.
The purpose of tapping the oil reserves is to boost the global economy. The US is hoping to avoid another recession, as recent sky-high oil and gas prices have been contributing to the slow economy.
Gas prices have skyrocketed in recent months, surpassing the $4-a-gallon mark in May. Though gas prices have decreased since their recent peak, today’s national average price for regular unleaded is still over $3.61 a gallon, which is more than 87 cents above gas prices one year ago, according to the AAA Fuel gauge Report.
Gas prices have caused the IRS to make an unusual mid-year hike to the standard mileage rate used to deduct the cost of business-related driving. The mileage hike, linked to rising fuel prices, will begin July 1 and increases to 55.5 cents a mile. The current reimbursement rate is 51 cents a mile.
“This year’s increased gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. The IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the recent increase in gas prices,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a press release. “We are taking this step so the reimbursement rate will be fair to taxpayers.”
The standard mileage deduction is limited to companies using four or fewer vehicles. For larger companies ineligible to take the deduction, the IRS standard mileage figure is widely used as a benchmark in setting reimbursement rates for employees’ driving expenses.
GPS System Interference Caused By LightSquared’s Network Threatens 3.3 Million U.S. Jobs and $96 Billion in Annual Direct Economic Benefits Are at Risk
According to an economic study released this week, over 3.3 million American jobs depend heavily on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The economic study by Dr. Nam D. Pham of the Washington, D.C.-based NDP Consulting Group warns of “serious economic repercussions for the U.S. economy” if the GPS system is disrupted by interference, referring to a new network being built by Lightsquared.
LightSquared’s plans, according to the report, could cause serious economic consequences. “The commercial stakes are high. The downstream industries that rely on professional and high precision GPS technology for their own business operations would face serious disruption to their operations should interference occur, and U.S. leadership and innovation would suffer.”
The report, which traces the development of GPS from its U.S. military origins to today’s widespread commercial and consumer use of GPS, states that “the economic benefits of GPS to the U.S. economy are substantial. GPS manufacturers create employment, provide earnings, add value, and generate tax revenues for governments. Importantly, GPS technology improves productivity and produces cost-savings for end-users.”
The disruption of interference with GPS posed by LightSquared’s planned deployment of 40,000 ground stations threatens direct economic costs of up to $96 billion to U.S. commercial GPS users and manufacturers, according to an economic study released today. The study says that the $96 billion economic figure represents the equivalent of 0.7 percent of the U.S. economy.
GPS system data can be recorded when someone takes a picture of you, and you might not even be aware of it. Location information (GPS system coordinates) stored inside photos can reveal your home address, work address, and places you or your children frequent. Geotags can make it very easy for people to determine exactly where you are and when.
The good news is that there are easy ways to protect your privacy and prevent GPS location data from being revealed in your photos. Yes, there are several ways to do this. Here are a handful of easy ways that aren’t too complicated and don’t take require you to have expensive software.
LightSquared has been under major scrutiny after FCC tests concluded that the company’s high-speed broadband wireless LTE network was interfering with the global positioning system (GPS). LightSquared has now agreed to change their original plans and will use a different block of spectrum to avoid interfering with GPS system signals in space and on the ground.
The company told reporters that their new plan is expected to reduce the risk of interference to 99.5 percent of GPS devices.
However, some members of the GPS industry are still concerned that the LightSquared interference issues will continue. They believe that testing should continue to ensure public safety, as the GPS system affects thousands of applications that people depend on everyday.
In today’s world, technological innovations are created at a light speed pace, which – generally speaking – is a good thing. But Smartphone technology and other mobile devices are developed so quickly and intelligently that lawmakers have struggled to keep up with the implications of modern technology. This has become a big problem for society. […]
Sprint and LightSquared have agreed to jointly develop and operate LightSquared’s 4G LTE network. The deal is expected to give Sprint an edge in competing with AT&T and Verizon.
LightSquared executives are scrambling to find a solution for its network, after its spectrum has been shown to interfere with the global positioning system (GPS). The company asked the FCC for an extension on the mandatory GPS system tests. Members of the GPS Coalition called Save Our GPS were outraged the the FCC gave Lightsquared an extension after initially failing the GPS system interference tests.
Sprint’s deal with Lightsquared is an indication that nothing bad is in the near future for LightSquared’s plans to develop their network. Many people are speculating that Sprint has agreed to absorb some of the costs to build out the LightSquared network and as a result it will get privileged rates to become the network’s largest LTE wholesale customer.
GPS system signals are everywhere and the technology is used for literally thousands of applications, not just navigating drivers on the road. GPS technology is used to land airplanes, control financial services such as ATMs and stock trading, navigate ships and cargo, synchronize data on wireless networks, manage loads on power grids, etc.
Jamming the GPS system can wreak havoc on society in literally thousands of ways. Ways many people are not even aware of.
According to an article recently printed in the New Scientist, a British magazine, a global positioning system outage happened because the Navy accidentally jammed GPS signals in downtown San Diego in 2007.
New Scientist magazine wrote in its March 2011 edition: “It was just after midday in San Diego, California, when the disruption started. In the tower at the airport, air-traffic controllers peered at their monitors only to find that their system for tracking incoming planes was malfunctioning. At the Naval Medical Center, emergency pagers used for summoning doctors stopped working. Chaos threatened in the busy harbour, too, after the traffic-management system used for guiding boats failed. On the streets, people reaching for their cellphones found they had no signal and bank customers trying to withdraw cash from local ATMs were refused.”
The problem with the article in New Scientist is that most of what it reported wasn’t true. Although the Navy did admit to accidentally jamming GPS signals in San Diego in 2007, the outcome wasn’t anywhere nearly as catastrophic as the magazine made it out to be.
Representatives of a wide variety of industries and companies, including Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) and TomTom, have joined a Coalition called “Save Our GPS” to resolve a serious threat to the reliability and viability of the Global Positioning System (GPS) – a national utility upon which millions of Americans rely every day. The GPS coalition is […]
