Rocky Mountain Tracking

By Jackie Gately

There are many signs that indicate teenage substance abuse. While some represent normal rites of passage through those hormonal teenage years, consider these signs as “red flags” to validate or rule-out your suspicions:

1. Loss of interest in hobbies or favorite activities
2. Falling grades and behavior changes in school
3. Extreme moodiness and irritability
4. Changes in appetite or eating habits
5. Physical indicators, like glassy eyes, a stuffy nose, or stagger
6. Changes in friends, particularly if new friends are older or adults
7. Frequent lying and secrecy
8. Having excess amounts of cash
9. Missing money and personal belongings
10. Run-ins with the law or school authorities

Just how much to trust your teen is controversial. However, issues of privacy can be insignificant when weighed against your child’s safety. If you suspect something beyond ordinary teen drama, and have reason to believe alcohol or drugs are the culprits, don’t turn a blind eye. It’s in his best interest for you to invade his space.

Rely on your own instincts or opt for a data-driven source of information, such as a vehicle tracking system, to hone in on the issue:

1. The best approach is always honesty. Approach your child directly to let him know of your suspicions. If he admits to a problem, be supportive of his efforts to become drug and alcohol-free.
2. Consistently communicate that drug and alcohol usage will not be tolerated. If you haven’t established an on-going dialog about the safety risks of drugs and alcohol use, start now.
3. Discuss views on drugs and alcohol with his friends; they might reveal more than intended.
4. Check the laundry basket. Drugs, receipts, beer labels, or written notes are often stashed in clothing pockets or backpacks.
5. Go on a cleaning spree. You might find more than you bargained for.
6. Network with other teens’ parents to find out what’s going on in social circles. Other parents may have an inside track or similar concerns but hesitate to approach you.
7. Discuss your child’s behavior and academic work with teachers to gain insight.
8. Check his computer. Browser history, instant messaging, emails, MySpace and Facebook can help fill in the blanks as to what might be going on.
9. Run errands when he’s out with friends and drive by familiar hangouts for a glimpse of the social landscape.
10. Install a vehicle tracking system to gather concrete data needed to confront your teen and get him help.

Jackie Gately is a freelance writer and mother of two children. She can be reached at jackiegately.wordpress.com.

A woman in Lansing, Michigan will be celebrating a very happy new year, knowing that she was able to escape an attempted abduction. But getting away from her captor is only part of the story. She will also be able to ring in the new year knowing that the man who attempted to abduct her has been apprehended thanks to cell phone tracking technology.

The woman was with another friend at a motel when a man forced his way in by breaking a window on the first floor. He carried the woman out of the room by force, made her get into his car and then drove away from the motel. Somehow the woman was able to break free from her captor and get out of the car not too far from an intersection.

Because she already knew the man who attempted to abduct her, the woman was able to give the police important details about him. She was also able to tell the police what kind of car the man had used when he tried to kidnap her.

Then the police used GPS tracking technology to track phone calls that the would-be kidnapper had made to house. Later they were able to arrest him.

It is a good thing that the police were able to use cell phone tracking to find this criminal. However, GPS tracking can be useful in a variety of ways when it comes to preventing crime and unpleasant situations.

If you fear that you or someone you know may be in some kind of danger, you can use personal GPS tracking device for safety. GPS tracking is not just for extreme cases like kidnapping either. You can use a personal GPS tracking device to keep track of yourself and others while hiking or as a way to ensure safety when going out in rough winter weather. You and elderly relatives may also benefit from the added peace of mind that comes with using personal GPS tracking.

Take a look at the PT-200 GPS. The PT-200 GPS is the world’s smallest tracking unit for personal tracking. Although it is the world’s smallest, and quite unobtrusive, the PT-200 GPS has great tracking capabilities. It may be small but, the PT-200 provides accurate information, even in hard-to-reach environments and it does all of this without using antennas.

By Chris O’Toole

If I were to ask you what the largest convention in the world is, what would you answer? The Comic-Con in San Diego, perhaps? An Auto Show?

Surprisingly, one of the largest hubs of annual commerce is at the National Quilt Show in Columbus, OH. These are not your grandmother’s quilts with kitties and log cabins. This is the quilting big league. The Super Bowl of the Knitting Committee. In fact, a typical quilt displayed at this national convention can cost as little as $8,000. A top of the line quilt will require a trust fund as most of these can cost upward of $35,000.

Now, with an industry as competitive and prestigious as this, a little theft can happen here and there. However, in the years past, the National Quilting Convention has been host to needlepoint heartbreak and agony. Inexplicably, it’s not just a Christmas patch here or a Snowman patch there, but grand larceny of quilts.

The problem has escalated to such an unbelievable degree that it necessitated the creation of an unexpected website: lostquilt.com. That’s right. The poor quilters have been plagued with such thievery that they must unionize and crack down on missing artwork (made with love of course) by using the internet.

This coalition of the obsessive is a good start, but there is only so much that the neighborhood gossip circles can do. With GPS anti theft devices, this problem could be instantly fixed. No longer would the elderly quilt aficionados have to rely on good faith that their blood, sweat, and tears will be returned to them. They can know their unique “log cabin” quilt is on its way home to its rightful owner. With the GPS tracking devices, the quilt crook won’t drive away with a quilt worth more than a luxury car. The police (and sweet Mrs. Hutch) will be waiting for him.

By RMT GPS News

Researchers at the University of the West of England, Bristol, found that an in-car information system from GPS could improve the safety of older drivers, according to Science Daily.

Older drivers currently face difficulty with reading signs which distracts their focus from the road causing them to driver slower. It’s believed that an information system in the vehicle advising them of road signs could increase their reaction time. The system would display road signs, track the vehicles position, and give audible notifications of events, such as, speed, speed limit changes, etc.

Researchers also believe this would build their confidence and give them continued independence. A survey was conducted among 65 to 85 year old men and women. It was determined there was a positive psychological effect with those who were still driving as the freedom gave them a better quality of life.

On the other side there are advocates against older drivers who are trying to place limitations on them. A system is currently in development that will put restrictions on senior’s driving. It would regulate speed and distance between vehicles. A survey shows strong opposition to this new system that would restrict drivers.

Although, the in-car information system utilizing GPS has created favorable interest among many, Dr. Charles Musselwhite, who led the study says, “Our research highlights issues that have been overlooked by car designers and those advising older people on lifestyles.” He also points out that his primary objective is to promote safe driving and independence.

Dr. Charles Musselwhite is not alone in his findings. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have found that seniors who continue driving are less likely to enter nursing homes or assisted living centers than those who have never driven or have given up on driving. An increase in senior independence also makes sense from a financial perspective as nursing homes are costing patients approximately $69,000 annually. The Hopkins study findings were published by the American Journal of Public Health. The study was conducted over a 10-year period 1,593 seniors between 65 and 84 years of age.

“We hope that understanding the very real health impact that losing the ability to drive has on seniors will encourage families to plan contingencies to assist elderly members with transportation issues,” says Ellen Freeman, Ph.D., an epidemiological researcher at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

Technology developed by Mobileye already offers the ability that could increase the safety of seniors behind the wheel. Their camera-based safety solution for accident prevention offers audible alerts, such as, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and headway monitoring and warning.

The promotion of safe driving by seniors with the use of GPS is not a completely new concept. “It has been our belief for several years that the implementation of GPS tracking technology will improve safety among older drivers and give them the freedom they deserve,” says Brad Borst, President of Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc., which is one of the leading GPS tracking companies in the United States. In fact, they have written many articles to introduce the idea, such as: Keeping Track of Elderly Relatives, and GPS Tracking Can Help Seniors Stay Independent, just to name a couple.

Borst says family members and care givers are most concerned about the SAFETY of older drivers. The company receives numerous reports that older drivers occasionally have a temporary phase of disorientation and need some guidance getting back to a street they are familiar with to get where they are going. This often leads to the senior being stranded without help and a family member worried not knowing where the elderly person is located.

The company’s RMT Rover GPS vehicle tracking system has provided their GPS to hundreds of elderly drivers. The tracking is conveniently accessible online from any computer allowing the senior additional safety and the care giver peace of mind.

By Jackie Gately

Is your dog the one that neighbors greet by name when he arrives, tail wagging, at their back door? Or, is he that nuisance night scavenger, ripping through trash bags in search of a tasty treat? Perhaps your dog celebrates temporary freedom with a race through the brush and swamps of the backwoods. Despite best efforts to keep a beloved pet at home, most families experience the occasional escape. Whether often or infrequent, if your dog is loose, his safety is at risk.

There are many threats in an ordinary neighborhood. A dog that ventures off might fall victim to a speeding car. He may ingest poisons, like antifreeze in puddles, or rancid foods and household toxins in trash. Your dog could have a territory dispute with another dog, or worse, brawl with a wild animal. In cold climates, long periods in sub-zero temperatures might result in exposure or hypothermia. Small dogs are particularly vulnerable to frostbite. And finally, the most desirable of dog breeds are susceptible to dognapping, a trend which is steadily on the rise. The Missing Pets Bureau reported that a whopping 38% of missing animals have actually been stolen.

So, as a loving dog-owner, it makes sense to protect and retrieve your pet as quickly as possible. Taking steps toward making your dog a happy homebody is in his best interest. Here are a few tips:

• Walk your dog on-leash often to curb his wanderlust.
• Allow plenty of playtime with the family, which makes him feel like a “pack” member.
• Provide social interaction with other dogs.
• Invest in a physical or invisible fence to establish safe boundaries.
• Train your dog to respond to commands, like “come” and “stay.”
• License your dog with town authorities for easy identification.
• Attach a dog tag with contact information on his collar.
• Consider a surgical chip that identifies him to authorities.
• Have a recent photograph on hand should you need to post flyers.
• Equip him with a GPS pet tracking device that reports his position if lost.

If he does escape, notify neighbors, the dog officer, and local officials, particularly if you suspect theft. If he is not equipped with an electronic tracking device, scan the neighborhood on foot and by car with a treat in hand to lure him home. Contact animal shelters and vets if he goes missing for long. Post flyers around town to report him missing.

If you invested in a GPS tracking device, you will save hours of phone calls and worry. Simply activate the tracking device to locate your dog, and go “Fetch.”

Jackie Gately is a freelance writer and pet-lover. She can be reached at Jackiegately.wordpress.com.

When we tell you that installing GPS tracking devices can save you money, many times we are referring to the savings you get when your vehicles are running more efficiently and there is less were and tear on them. The decrease in wear and tear means that your vehicles will need to be repaired less often and will last longer.

However, there are other ways in which GPS tracking systems can help you to save money that do not involve keeping your vehicles in good repair.

One Tampa Bay police department found that some of its officers were attempting to “save” the department money by using the vehicles less…however, they were still harging the department for hours that they did not work. So in reality, they were attempting to defraud their employer. The police department set out to investigate a number of its officers with them aim of getting to the bottom of suspected fraud.
After reviewing records from GPS tracking systems in conjunction with time cards, receipts for gas and records of surveillance, investigators found that four officers were being less than honest about the hours they were working. The investigation showed that one tenth of the officers who were investigated were not being truthful about the hours they were working. On the one hand it is good to know that a majority of the officers are not trying to get more pay than they deserve. Still, though with municipal budgets getting tightened everywhere, municipalities can’t afford to let money be siphoned away in this manner.

The four officers who were found to be padding their work logs with hours that they were not working no longer work for the police department. Three of them retired and one of them was fired.

On the other hand, GPS tracking technology does not only let you know when vehicles are not being used, it can also alert you to unauthorized use of company vehicles. With our software you can not only track but easily establish an alert system for events like a driver going outside of a designated area or staying idle for too long. Idle time and stops at unauthorized locations can become costly for your business; with a GPS system you can ensure that this does not become a problem.

Call Rocky Mountain Tracking at 877-477-9668 to speak with an expert about the GPS tracking system that will work best for your company and help you manage your fleet.

By Chris O’Toole

Did you not get what you wanted for Christmas or Hanukah? Perhaps the economy didn’t allow for it. Or perhaps… you were savagely manhandled like I was. The beatings and the abuse nearly killed me!

Hello, reader. My name is Larry the iPhone and I am the gift that you didn’t get. The Smiths saw me when they were visiting family and decided I would be the perfect gift for their young boy. It seemed like a simple process. Put the package on a plane and let the people do the rest. Let me take you through my itinerary for December 24th. (You thought your job was rough).

6:00 A.M.: Who wouldn’t love to wake up to their face being dropped on the concrete? Well, I wouldn’t. But some oaf wearing thick gloves couldn’t hold on and so now I am in need of facial reconstruction. A nice crack right across my nose.

7:30 A.M.: Good morning, this is your captain speaking. Looks like we are going to lovely Italy today! 77 and sunny. (That’s funny because I thought the bold print on my box said “SHIP TO ATLANTA, GA”). I hope this flight serves meals.

1:00 P.M.: So, I arrive in Italy and I wait there until the packaging company realizes someone loading the plane made a costly blunder. Oh by the way, I saw that, Postal Worker #4542B. That diamond necklace looks stunning on you, but not nearly as stunning as the cheap replica you put back in the box.

December 28th, 6:14 A.M.: Well, the packaging company hit some bad weather coming over the east coast and so my arrival was delayed a few days. (I’m gonna guess that they could have driven from Houston to Atlanta if they had got the shipping location right the first time). Oh well. Happy Holidays, Smith Family! I’m sorry that your son only received an excuse and an apology on December 25th. I might have been on time and in pristine condition if someone could be held accountable with GPS. But now, no one knows who made the mistake and even if they did, nothing could be proven. And they know that.

It’s really simple folks. Take the “trust” factor out of package delivery and include your personal GPS tracking device next time you ship something. If this seems unreasonable, at least make sure you are shipping with a company that employs GPS in their deliveries beforehand. It could make all the difference.

Whether you are a man, woman or child, there is no way to guarantee your personal safety. When you are at home, work, school, the mall or taking an evening walk, there is no weapon or defense tactic that can assure your safety 100% of the time.

As you read this, you probably think I’m only talking about safety from a potential attack by another person. I’m not. Let’s think outside the box for a minute. There are other things that can pose a threat, such as, animals, mother nature, our own actions, and medical issues.

Here are some common practices to deter a physical attack against a person or animal:
1. Always let someone know where you are
2. Walk indoors on a treadmill instead of walking outside
3. Walk in high pedestrian traffic and open areas
4. Stay vigilant
5. Walk with a companion
6. Walk with a dog
7. Walk with a stick
8. Walk in lighted areas
9. Keep alarms active
10. Carry pepper spray

Again, these defensive measures can promote safety there are no guarantees. Sometimes equipment fails and implementation is forgotten.

Now I suppose you want some tips to defend against the unexpected, such as, mother nature, accidents of your own, and medical issues. Other than what common sense tells us, which is be careful and stay healthy, the most important potential life saving tip in any situation is to ALWAYS LET SOMEONE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. I don’t mean let someone know where you will be in 15 minutes, in 1 hour or in 1 day, I mean at every moment of every day. The only effective, non-intrusive, way to always let someone know where you are is with GPS tracking devices.

There are countless stories of people running a quick errand, but not telling a friend, partner or spouse where they were going. Some live to tell the horror stories days, weeks or even years later, and tragically some don’t. Or, here’s another familiar newspaper headline: “18 year old female found dead five days after telling parents she was going to friend’s house.” It must be devastating for a parent to go through this. A parent must wonder for the rest of their life if there was something they could have done to change the outcome. It really has to be a heart breaking experience, and my sympathy goes out to any parent who has experienced this.

Almost everyone carries a cell phone, but unfortunately, sometimes it does no good. A person can survive for a long time while they are injured, trapped, or held against their will, but they do not always have the ability to use their phone. The best method for someone to know where you are is through the use of personal GPS tracking devices. Carrying a small personal GPS on your person or using a car tracking device offers an added level of protection and peace of mind. Family members and friends can easily go online from any computer to ensure your safety.

There’s an old saying, “expect the unexpected.” If we all practice personal safety in a proactive way, we really can prevent what could have been tragic and even save a life.

Maybe you have a personal story of survival. Maybe you did something heroic to fight off an attack against yourself or someone else. If you did, congratulations! Maybe you survived from special training you have, maybe it was intuition, maybe a some type of defense or weapon or maybe it was luck (if you believe in that). What ever it was, we want to hear about your story so others may learn from you, so please leave your comment at the bottom of this story.

Some areas of Florida will now see a program that is similar to “Amber Alert,” except that it aims to keep senior citizens safe rather than young children.

“Silver Alert” will give information about the physical attributes, as well as the make and model of the missing senior citizen’s car, along with letting the public know where the person was last seen.

Florida is not the only state to enact this program, other states including North Carolina, Texas, Colorado and Michigan also have similar programs. Some of the inspiration for Florida’s Silver Alert program came after a woman in her eighties perished in her car a week after she had driven away from the assisted living facility where she lived.

It is great that some states have decided to enact programs such as Silver Alert to help families keep track of elderly loved ones. But we want you to know that you have options and can implement safety measures of your own whether your state has them or not.

A GPS tracking device can be used to keep track of parents or other elderly loved ones. As the case in Florida demonstrated, an elderly person who is not incapacitated can still come to harm if they wander off the beaten path or somehow become disoriented. Haven’t you been lost yourself? You probably have, but you likely also have a cell phone or perhaps even a GPS tracking device in your car so that you could be found. Don’t you want to do the same for your elderly loved one?

Your family members or the staff at an assisted living facility may not be able to prevent an elderly relative from getting lost, but you can use GPS tracking to make certain that they stay safe.

A personal GPS tracking device can give you up to the minute information about someone’s whereabouts and keep you informed of their movements. This means that your loved one will not have to wander far, for you to be aware that they are not where they are supposed to be. You will not have to endure a heartbreaking search that lasts for days and days and your elderly loved one will not have to go through a prolonged period of disorientation and discomfort.

Call Rocky Mountain Tracking and talk to one of our experts about a GPS tracker.

You may be at risk if you own anything of value. It used to be that high dollar items were most likely to be stolen but that’s not so anymore. From personal theft to shoplifting and even employee theft, you may be shocked to learn what’s hot this year.

Imagine coming home and finding your Christmas tree and all of your gifts missing. For one family in New York, this was not just an imagination, it was a reality. These types of thefts are happening all across America. Christmas gifts are being taken away from small children who had very little to begin with and cannot afford to buy more. Packages are being swiped from porches. Single trees are being taken from residences and dozens of trees are being taken from tree farms. One tree farmer said the last time trees were stolen from him was in 1978 when there was a similar recession. You could call it a Christmas tree crime spree.

Businesses are seeing an increase in employee theft. From fictitious sales transactions to theft of office equipment and retail products, research shows that some employees have resorted to theft to deal with financial hardship. What may be the most troubling is the most trusted employees are often the ones getting away with theft. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, “About 20% of employers polled last month said workplace theft has become a moderate to very big problem recently.”

Shoplifting is increasing by the day. The latest numbers show that shoplifting has increased by 10 to 20 percent this year. Reports show that one in 11 people shoplift. This is not something to take lightly; its costing stores $35 million every day.

As of last year, auto theft had decreased for four consecutive years according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Although, the official statistics are not in yet, we already have reports of an increase of auto theft for 2008. The holidays are the most common time for auto thieves to strike. With the cold set in people are leaving their vehicles unattended to warm up making their vehicle an easy target. Some are installing GPS vehicle recovery devices and others are just taking their chances.

Theft is always higher during an economic downturn and during the holidays. Whether you are away, at home or at the office, we would like to remind you to be especially careful and secure your property this holiday season.