04 August 2003

Guardian: What time is it? Well, no one knows for sure Four different time systems are used: Coordinated Universal, International Atomic, GPS and GMT. They're gradually getting out of sync because they either observe or ignore (for mostly systemic or historic reasons) leap-second adjustments made for the earth's rotation slowing. Some outcomes: navigational/astronomic/legal quagmire; atronomers expensively upgrade their systems; a return to the kind of timezoning done in the railroad era (albeit on a smaller scale); each group redefines the second to get the different systems back in sync, and keep them there (which the ITU would never allow, but would be funny). 5:43:26 PM     comments

Antimega: a Life in Paper, stalked Antimega is receipt-mapping his life, which prompted the question 'What do the locations of his transactions tell us about him?'. We put Holmes on the case, who observed the some of these receipts came from Northish London, and others from the Docklands, or thereabouts. Holmes then suggested that if we were to pick a tube station in Northish London (one in zones 1 or 2), we might be able to find him on the London Bloggers list, by taking advantage of the 'Weblogs Within 10 Minutes Of This Station' feature. We tried Baker Street, and then performed a 'Find in this page...' search. Elementary: Case closed. Next week, Holmes says he may use inductive reasoning to delve further into Antimega's life, or to geographically stalk someone else. 5:30:49 PM     comments

SMS-mapped London will let you hail a cab by txt 5000 London Taxi Points and 4000 black cabs allow mobile users to text and book the nearest available cab, night or day. 28 July 2003: Anyone who has struggled to find a black cab in London will soon be able to locate the nearest available taxi and book it, all using SMS. With SMS connectivity supplied by Netsize, London's new Taxi Point service removes the need to wait on the street searching for a cab. Instead, customers can use one of the new 'Taxi Points' - actual signs that use a unique four-digit code to identify an exact location within central London. People wishing to use the service text the location code to the London Taxi Point short code (83220). Using GPS tracking, the service will identify and book the nearest black cab from the participating taxi fleets, delivering a confirmation SMS, and an alert when the taxi has arrived. The service will cost the user £1 and Taxi Point signs will be positioned in locations such as public and private buildings, restaurants, theatres and bars. More than 5000 Taxi Point locations will be created in London over the next three years. Just as the 5000 Taxi Point locations finished being rolled out, the mobileworld will finally tip over and most location mapping will be done by the network, not via an intermediary sign. Or is this done for ease of cabs: so they need to know 'merely' 5000 locations, rather than attempting to find where you are from location data that isn't granular or accurate enough? We don't understand. [via antimega] 5:02:10 PM     comments