Let Goofy Track Your Children 291
Rio writes "The Walt Disney Company unveiled a new wireless phone service that allows parents to track their children on a map using Global Positioning System technology, according to Local 6 News. The new "family friendly" service, called Disney Mobile, allows parents to decide who their children can call and when, the report said. The phone service will launch in June and has not been priced yet."
coming next (Score:5, Funny)
The next (logical?) step? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The next (logical?) step? (Score:3, Funny)
Wally? How come everytime we go to Larry's house mom and pop head straight to the bedroom?
Geez Beav, I don't know. But I bet Eddie might.
Re:coming next (Score:2, Interesting)
Really, if I had this so called 'implant', and I were kidnapped, then leave the safe zone... would this shocking stick keep shocking me if I stayed out of the 'safe zone'?
But then, if I were kidnapped then I would rather be dead.
(mind you I am drunk at this hour)
Re:coming next (Score:2)
segfault! (Score:2)
"Grandma took little Timmy to get ice cream, then, on the way he started shaking a lot. After a trip to the hospital (within the safe zone), Timmy was diagnosed epileptic."
Though, it would be funny to see a real life equivilant to an IndexOutofBounds execption.
Re:coming next (Score:2)
Re:coming next (Score:2)
How about a Disney Vault for your kids. Disney lets you see them once every 15 years.
Re:coming next (Score:5, Funny)
Re:coming next (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:coming next (Score:2)
With totally non-existant evidence, you are assuming that AC is smothering his children.
This is a great idea... for something else (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a great idea... for something else (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This is a great idea... for something else (Score:2)
Re:This is a great idea... for something else (Score:3, Interesting)
Mount a covert muted cellphone in your car, and when it's stolen ask the police to contact your cell service provider to trace the phone.
There was a howto the net somewhere regarding this topic, but I can't seem to find the link.
Good ol' Steve (Score:4, Funny)
Just waiting for the rants about people should be looking after their children...not technology.
Re:Good ol' Steve (Score:2, Funny)
Oh great.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh great.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Sorry, I don't know why it makes me so angry, it just does.
Re:Oh great.... (Score:2)
Re:Oh great.... (Score:2, Informative)
To use one of the very links you posted:
"To give a cue to; signal or prompt."
Insightful (Score:2)
While I don't think we need another 200 comment discussion about it, the parent is fucking right.
End of story.
not sure about this... (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing in particular, but the concept of this thing sounds a bit....twisted.
Time will tell.
Z.
Re:not sure about this... (Score:2, Interesting)
I hope the GPS can be turned off at the handset, like parental override.
Re:not sure about this... (Score:5, Insightful)
A necessary part of being a kid is the ability to do an end-run around one's parents. This is necessary because it creates a balance of power that is very important to the development of that kid into an independent functional adult. Can you imagine how you would have turned out if your parents had actually been able to control EVERYTHING you did and experienced? Can you imagine the level of dysfunction? The disconnect from reality that would result? Just think of all the crap they tried to sell you that seems like a cold cruel joke and an insult to your intellect today. Now imagine being 30 years old and only just now realizing you've been had!
This kind of technology brings us one step closer to a world where parents really CAN make their children into vessels for their own neuroses. The only effective means of mind control is information control. Control what people see and hear and you control what they think because you control what they think about. Developments like this make me fearful for the future of our civilization. If the day ever comes when your average kid never realizes that his or her parents are full of shit, then I'm afraid we're done for.
Lee
Re:not sure about this... (Score:5, Insightful)
Great argument, wrong technology.
This service (probably!) does not beam mind control rays into your head; it tracks where your child has been, and who s/he has been calling.
"Stepfordism" and Trust but verify are two totally seperate concepts.
This isn't particularly technically innovative (Score:5, Insightful)
From http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/parents_bosse
Re:This isn't particularly technically innovative (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:This isn't particularly technically innovative (Score:2)
Re:This isn't particularly technically innovative (Score:5, Informative)
In fact, it's now under the authority of Homeland Security:
http://www.iowahomelandsecurity.org/asp/E_911/Gen
This will be GREAT! (Score:5, Funny)
The End
Re:This will be GREAT! (Score:2)
Then again, I like Rube Goldberg plans as much as the next guy. Next time, work in some monkies.
Re:This will be GREAT! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:This will be GREAT! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:This will be GREAT! (Score:4, Informative)
In summary... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In summary... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:In summary... (Score:3, Insightful)
and how many generations of kids past do you think were used to being tracked 24/7? assuming they had any significant mobility at all.
anoymnity is a late twentieth century conceit.
it doesn't exist in a rural society or small town. it didn't exist in a traditional inner city neighborhood. where territories were, if anything, even more rigidly defined.
Re:In summary... (Score:2)
As someone who grew up in one, boy, would you ever be surprised.
So I guess... (Score:4, Insightful)
Another false layer of security for parents that can't be bothered to actually raise thier children. All the kid has to do is to:
Re:So I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So I guess... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Wow, so child molesters don't even have to slip something in your drink anymore before they rape you, they can now knock you out with a tiny radio jamming device from 50 feet away!
The 21st really is the century of convenience.
Re:So I guess... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm always amused by people like you. If any sort of tool isn't perfect, then the tool must be worthless. It's one more tool in the parenting arsenal.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
At what point are you going to stop invading your kids privacy? When they start Middle School? High School(can only hope someone around them tells them whats up by then)? No, probobly not because you are going to then want to track them when they start to drive...do you finally say "here take this new phone, we have been tracking you your whole life like cattle or endangered birds but i
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
1. Tell parents that they'll be over at billy's house for a while
2. Parents see child over at billys house on thier GPS system.
3. Kid leaves phone on doorstep of Billy's house, proceeds to go to the overpass to drop rocks on cars.
4. Cops show up at door with child.
5. Child spends the next week in the bathroom trying trying to crap out my shoe.
6. Child never pulls that stunt again.
7. Child tells the story to his grandkids of the time he tried to pull a fast one on his Dad and ended up passing a size 11 Nike Field General...
Works for me.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Tell parents that they'll be over at Billy's house for a while.
2. Kid proceeds to go to the overpass to drop rocks on cars.
No system at all is more easily defeatable than a simple system.
I'm going to take a wild guess and say you don't have children. When parents want to use a tool to enhance the safety of their children, it's not because they can't be bothered to raise them; it's because they love them more than anything, and will try every avenue to make sure their kids are okay. Parents who can't be bothered to raise their children don't care whether the kids are dropping rocks off of overpasses or not.
For those of you keeping score at home, another way to tell when someone doesn't have kids - when the server at the restaurant puts the silverware, full adult-sized water glass and piping hot plate of food immediately in front of the two year old in the booster seat; it's safe to assume that person doesn't have children.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Actually, the social darwinists, such as yourself, fullfill the role of the beast quite nicely. There has never been any shortage of evil people who prey on other people, and such shortage isn't likely to occur.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Have a Darwinian Day!
Re:Agreement. (Score:2)
"Yeah, the kids will be able to dodge the monitoring: who cares? Behavior control isn't what tracking is for: if something bad and outside their control happens to them (kidnapping, traffic accident, lost and need you to help them figure out where they are) this makes the parents' aid much faster and more effective. That's the point." If this is what you're saying, I agree, on the grounds that it's what I recall my parents doi
Re:Agreement. (Score:2)
Should you, the parent, depend on a GPS phone as your only tether to your child when they're not within your range of view? No. Is a GPS phone an omniscient presence? No. Nothing wrong
Re:So I guess... (Score:3, Insightful)
To make matters worse, the kind of control-freak parents who tend use these kinds of tracking devices tend to be overly punitive. I wouldn't be surprised if the kid gets 3 weeks grounding for leaving the cell phone on the floor. I also wouldn't be surprised if the kid gets 3 weeks every time the sch
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
It's very similar to this device. It's really nice to keep track of your kids in case they get in an accident of kidnapped or something beyond their control where they need your help
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
Also I forgot 5. Call Billy's mom and ask to speak with my son (Oh ALL RIGHT! I was chatting her up. Like you wouldn't :P) "What? He's not there?" Goto 3. This is AKA "OMG. Dad's going old school."
Defense-in-depth kids. Get used to it.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2, Insightful)
First thing is, I have kids that I have taught to listen to their parents. (Even if I'm drunk, but the lesson is they will never know unless I tell them.) They have learned that whatever they do, I have already done it in the past. So either they tell me ahead of time, or I figure it out, and shit hits the fan.
My kiddo' learned that if she goes to a club (she's 14), as club that I know is not suitable for a 14 year old, she is not all
Typical ignorant response. (Score:5, Insightful)
So, is being able to track your kid's GPS-enabled phone still worthless?
There are actually some very good arguments in favor of giving your kid a cell phone. However, there are downsides such as
So, a phone w/ parental controls and GPS goes a long way to addressing these concerns. I myself would have loved this phone back when I was a kid. When I was 15, my parents were pretty lenient about what I could do so long as I a) told them where I'd be b) who I'd be with and c) prove it (usually a phone call from me to check in). Not having a cell phone made it kindof a pain sometimes. Now parents can maintain the same rules but also give their kids a greater sense of freedom.
Re:Typical ignorant response. (Score:2)
So how did Stranger force Billy into The Van, then?
Re:Typical ignorant response. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So I guess... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's a tough question. I have no doubt whatsoever that the story you describe happened, I also don't doubt there are numerous other potential benefits of a US-wide tracking system. But it's a bit creepy to think your cell phone, that lovable device that you're hopelessly addicted to, is silently phoning home (no pun intended) all the time. It has a little microphone in it, y
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
The whole concept of people not being able to make decisions for themselves is what is called "childhood." That's the one crucial difference between children and adults you know. You don't want 4-year olds deciding that they can wander off to go down to the lake and play on the spillway all by themselves with no one around and no one knowing where they are.
Re:So I guess... (Score:2)
So when can they make this decision ? When they're 10, 15, 18 ? You don't suddenly stop being a child and become an adult in one day, it's a gradual
Okay... (Score:3, Insightful)
Are there other phones with GPS capabilities? I could see a lot of useful applications for that - if they make it tiny & easy enough, it would eliminate the need for GPS receivers (obviously) - if I am in a large parking lot, at a sports event or something, it would make for a pretty easy way to meet up with friends & whatnot, if I can just get my phone to send their phone my GPS coordinates.
It would sure make losing your phone a less painful experience...
Re:Okay... (Score:2)
Hate to be the bearer of bad news... (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh wait, they probably already do...
Beware...
Disney Mobile phones in Iraq? (Score:2)
Re:Disney Mobile phones in Iraq? (Score:5, Funny)
I wouldn't like to see one of them blow...
This changes the meaning of the acronym entirely. (Score:4, Funny)
I for one... (Score:3, Funny)
If only... (Score:2, Insightful)
This will be fun (Score:3, Informative)
Factors that can degrade the GPS signal and thus affect accuracy include the following:
The more satellites a GPS receiver can "see," the better the accuracy. Buildings, terrain, electronic interference, or sometimes even dense foliage can block signal reception, causing position errors or possibly no position reading at all.
GPS units typically will not work indoors, underwater or underground.
All I can see coming out of this is a bunch of already paranoid parents having panic attacks when Little Jimmy goes in his friends house, or jumps on a bus.
"No Child Left Alone" (Score:2)
Young Jack (Score:4, Funny)
"Can't do it! He must have turned off the phone and removed the battery"
"Damn it!"
yet another service in search of a problem (Score:2)
Honestly? Not a bad idea... (Score:2)
They are the most soulless company I can think of. They aren't doing this because they think they can make the service turn a profit, they want survey data on our kids so they can more tailor ( ie: bastardize ) stories to grab them in.
Here's where it turns into money (Score:2)
And you have the means to find the hangout place for kids with the cells they use. Usually, a company spends some big bucks for that kind of information. This way, parents will pay them to give that info.
The execution will need to be done carefully... (Score:2, Interesting)
I for one have a handful of very young siblings that I wouldn't want this to happen to. If my parents ever get one for t
Yeah, but... (Score:2)
Hmm, nobody's noticed.... (Score:2)
If anyone can correct me on this, I really want to know.
In Soviet Russia (Score:4, Funny)
Car Theft (Score:2)
Let Parents Track the Children (Score:2)
1. The system should send messages with position data with increasing frequency when the child is in crowded places. This would lead to a wireless network (like GSM) overload.
2. Whe wireless network could introduce dangerous message delivery latency.
3. It won't work in almost all closed places because of either GPS or wireless network bad coverage.
4. Once y
secure is not a synonym for safe (Score:2)
Children should be chained down in the basement until the age of 25.
Only by serious security can one protect offspring from the EVIL world.
It's not really that difficult to track your kid.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Copyright enforcement? (Score:2)
Re:Copyright enforcement? (Score:2)
All cellphones are radios. It's not like they are wired into the network after all. They emit and receive radio waves same as any other two-way radio, like a CB or walkie-talkie. They just operate on a higher frequency and use more complex modulation schemes.
Re:Q: Why did Mickey split up with Minnie? (Score:3, Funny)
Mickey & Minnie are in divorce court. The judge looks at Mickey and asks him, "You want to divorce Minnie, because she is insane?"
Mickey replies, "I never said she was insane, I said she's fucking Goofy!"
Obvious problem... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Obvious problem... (Score:3, Funny)
this service and starts to use it on men.
Mod those parents down! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Mod those parents down! (Score:5, Insightful)
If you are watching them, in what way are you not around ? And what happens when they turn 18 and you can't watch them anymore ? Methinks they are going to go do all the things - sex, drugs, booze, tobacco, rock'n'roll - they think they missed out because they had to carry the all-seeing eye with them.
Re:Two Words (Score:3, Insightful)
Cell phone wasn't ever for calling anyone but my parents anyhow: they got to look at the bill. I assume it's the same way nowadays, though perhaps kids have been struck by a strange stupidity-causing disease and can no longer remember seven-digit numbers or write them on a card in their wallet.
Re:Gentlemen start your lawyers (Score:2)
Article 15 talks about freedom of association. What? You're telling me I can't tell my kid I don't want him hanging around with Johnny because he gets in trouble all the time and his parents are never around to supervise him? I'm infringing on my kid's universal rights because I'm looking out for him? Puh-leeze.
Apples. Oranges. They're kin
Re:Gentlemen start your lawyers (Score:2)
He doesn't. I didn't read TFA, but think about it: if it is technically possible for the kid to limit the degree, the parent will know, and the result is the same as leaving the phone home or turning off the phone.
"Accuracy or pain to the max, brat !"