Hope Island Golf Club in Australia is the first in that country and nearly first in the world to install GPS units in all of their golf carts. [via iSeekGolf] Not only that, the units have large screens that display in simulated 3D what a particular hole looks like, from the point of view of where the cart is currently positioned.

These displays give players an opportunity to make a better choice of golf club. Now all they have to do is offer RFID-enabled golf balls that an RFID reader will help you find, when you slice your shot anyways.

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Massachusett's state Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gatzunis recently suspended 20 of 24 state building and engineering inspectors because of their refusal to carry GPS-enabled cell phones that would monitor their whereabouts. Gatzunis considered their refusal as an "act of insubordination."

These inspectors typically inspect amusement park rides. Management members of the inspector's union had previously agreed, but other public workers such as school bus drivers, some police officers, and snow-plow operators had not.

Massachusetts problem might be one of scope. Consider: the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, had announced in late 2005 that they would be equipping their snowplows with GPS devices. I think that the difference here is the perception of an invasion of personal space. A cell phone coexists in personal space; a snowplow does not. Tracking a cell phone = distrust; tracking a vehicle = probably alright.

Sources: [Boston Herald]

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