We Scoff In Your General Direction
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Poor Bushie just can't get a break - though his administration pounded their little fists, screamed "terrorism", and wrung their hands over imaginary signal interference threats, they still couldn't manage to trip up the march of technological progress in Europe.
Last year, President Bush laid plans to temporarily disable Global Positioning Satellites during national crises, claiming that terrorists could use the technology to their advantage... and apparently forgetting that counter-strike and rescue forces might also rely on GPS. Lucky for them, and for us, the European Union has made the first step in providing continual navigation services; and they're doing it better. "Giove A", the first of some 30 Galileo navigation satellites, was launched successfully earlier this morning. Though the Galileo system is not expected to be fully funcitonal until 2010, receivers will become commercially available in 2008 after three more satellites have been launched and the program's testing phase is deemed complete. Consumers will be able to switch between the US government sponsored GPS and civilian controlled Galileo as simply as changing cell phone networks - though with Galileo's continual signal, doubled navigational coverage, lack of governmental limitations and restrictions, and improved technology (Galileo will have a precision of about three feet, allowing the satellites to give not only street information but lane information, allowing users to navigate efficiently through traffic) I'm not sure why anyone would continue to use the glitchy GPS.
Originally set up by the European Commission and the ESA, the Galileo program is not strictly an EU enterprise. China, Israel and the Ukraine have already signed on to the program and discussions are also under way with India, Morocco, South Korea, Norway and Argentina. Two-thirds of the $4 billion budget allotted to the project will be contributed by the private sector and some 150,000 European jobs are expected to be born of it.
Last year, President Bush laid plans to temporarily disable Global Positioning Satellites during national crises, claiming that terrorists could use the technology to their advantage... and apparently forgetting that counter-strike and rescue forces might also rely on GPS. Lucky for them, and for us, the European Union has made the first step in providing continual navigation services; and they're doing it better. "Giove A", the first of some 30 Galileo navigation satellites, was launched successfully earlier this morning. Though the Galileo system is not expected to be fully funcitonal until 2010, receivers will become commercially available in 2008 after three more satellites have been launched and the program's testing phase is deemed complete. Consumers will be able to switch between the US government sponsored GPS and civilian controlled Galileo as simply as changing cell phone networks - though with Galileo's continual signal, doubled navigational coverage, lack of governmental limitations and restrictions, and improved technology (Galileo will have a precision of about three feet, allowing the satellites to give not only street information but lane information, allowing users to navigate efficiently through traffic) I'm not sure why anyone would continue to use the glitchy GPS.
Originally set up by the European Commission and the ESA, the Galileo program is not strictly an EU enterprise. China, Israel and the Ukraine have already signed on to the program and discussions are also under way with India, Morocco, South Korea, Norway and Argentina. Two-thirds of the $4 billion budget allotted to the project will be contributed by the private sector and some 150,000 European jobs are expected to be born of it.
On a lighter note - here's a great spoof article on how Bush intended to 'fly over' New Orleans using Google Earth rather than get his feet wet:
The Daily Farce
Link