Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
AlertBox Wireless Device Warns The Neighbors
A wireless device called an AlertBox is going on sale in the United Kingdom this week; it allows neighbors to warn each other about "dodgy characters" on their street. It can also be used to transmit requests for help in the event of fire or medical emergency.
(From AlertBox Limited)
The AlertBox device is about the size of a small paperback book; it sends short text messages. It will be sold to individuals for £147. Once an AlertBox has been activated, all of the AlertBoxes within 100 meters are automatically activated. By pressing just one button, a message can be sent to all of the neighbors, making it easy to use in stressful situations. It is currently in trial use in Devon, South Wales and north London; Neighbourhood Watch organizations are involved in the trials.
I think that there is an interesting comparison to be made with services in the US like Lifeline Medical Alarm, in which a request for help goes to a central dispatch office, rather than to neighbors. Take a look at some of the reasons that AlertBox Limited brings up in favor of their device:
- AlertBox has an important contribution to make to security and peace of mind. An AlertBox network provides a channel for communication within a neighbourhood, reducing isolation, preserving privacy and helping residents to live the lifestyle of their choice.
- Many incidents that worry or alarm residents are not matters for the police, making any remedial action difficult. With an AlertBox network, a resident can alert neighbours to antisocial behaviour, unwanted callers and other disturbing situations.
- By empowering residents to take action, AlertBox helps to promote a more cohesive community.
- An additional and valuable function is the ability to use AlertBox to call for neighbours’ help in an emergency, saving valuable minutes before emergency services arrive.
In Jack Vance's award-winning novel The Last Castle, the expatriot aristocrats who rule Old Earth have enslaved a race from Etamin 9 - the Meks - to do their work for them. The Meks make excellent servants because they have a natural wireless network built into their nervous system. They have metallic quills that serve as antennae. Whenever one Mek gets into trouble, it notifies the others wirelessly. The original article is available here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/1/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...' - Cordwainer Smith, 1950.
Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone
Why can't we get more innovative phone configurations?
Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.' Vernor Vinge, 1999.
Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
'He had piloted the Adastra to its first contact with the civilization of another solar system.' - Murray Leinster, 1935.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.'
US Army IBEX Exoskeleton Walks Troops Out Of Danger
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
'Did you never see a moving house before?'
Will An AI Found A New Religion?
'You must decide how you will worship Me.'
Terraformer Industries Make Methane
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
'Usually a spherical display hovered in the centre...'
Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.
'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...'
Ridiculous 'Ghost Murmur' Tech Still Science Fiction
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
