Monday, June 14, 2004
Have PDA? Will Track Wild Animals
Posted by Jonathon Watkins in "SOFTWARE" @ 06:00 PM
I spotted this in the Economist magazine the other day:
"CyberTracker is a hand-held device that lets users record what they see quickly and easily, and then plots maps showing exactly where the observations were made, using the Global Positioning Satellite navigation system. Mr Liebenberg's invention is designed to allow currently untapped expertise to be used when trained scientists are not around to note things down. Rangers, park guards and even well-informed tourists could use it to record handy data as they work or play. There are other advantages, too. Many expert trackers are illiterate, so CyberTracker uses only symbols and pictures. And it is cheap. The software to run it, which is now available for general use, can be downloaded from CyberTracker's website for nothing. All that is needed to run it is a mass-produced hand-held computer."
Looks good. Trouble is, when I went to the Cybertracker website, it turned out that the only 'hand-held computer' they offer the software for, was PalmOS. :? It would be useful if Cybertracker ported the software to the Pocket PC, as PPCs are poised to overtake Palm in terms of shipments very soon. :wink: (The point of the post is NOT Palm vs PPC, but rather the interesting use to which PDAs can be put etc. OK? :wink:) Cybertracker has proven useful for park rangers, conservation projects etc. and has even been used to track down muggers and improve management in hospitals! Now that's what I call a versatile piece of software!
"CyberTracker is a hand-held device that lets users record what they see quickly and easily, and then plots maps showing exactly where the observations were made, using the Global Positioning Satellite navigation system. Mr Liebenberg's invention is designed to allow currently untapped expertise to be used when trained scientists are not around to note things down. Rangers, park guards and even well-informed tourists could use it to record handy data as they work or play. There are other advantages, too. Many expert trackers are illiterate, so CyberTracker uses only symbols and pictures. And it is cheap. The software to run it, which is now available for general use, can be downloaded from CyberTracker's website for nothing. All that is needed to run it is a mass-produced hand-held computer."
Looks good. Trouble is, when I went to the Cybertracker website, it turned out that the only 'hand-held computer' they offer the software for, was PalmOS. :? It would be useful if Cybertracker ported the software to the Pocket PC, as PPCs are poised to overtake Palm in terms of shipments very soon. :wink: (The point of the post is NOT Palm vs PPC, but rather the interesting use to which PDAs can be put etc. OK? :wink:) Cybertracker has proven useful for park rangers, conservation projects etc. and has even been used to track down muggers and improve management in hospitals! Now that's what I call a versatile piece of software!
