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Modern
society is converting us into information seekers. We
want to know the when, where, and how of everything and
anything. (Of course, only the smart people ask 'why',
which is much harder to answer and requires more brain
power, but I digress!).
The
History Channel has a show called "Tactical to
Practical" showcasing how military machines are
being integrated into our lives because they have
civilian uses. One such item is the Global Positioning
System (GPS) which uses satellites to guide people such
as when they are boating and the current
pushes the boat a bit off course. In this case, you can
easily figure out where you are using GPS technology.
People
love the idea of tracking things. Internet
technology has made it easier than ever to get the info
you want in a few seconds. We spend hours looking
up people and information using search engines. Anyone
who has used UPS knows that you can see where your
shipment is as it goes from place to place until it
arrives.
The
latest trend in tracking involves the integration of the
world wide web (emphasis on the word 'world'!) and actual
items. Two areas that have
become popular include tracking money and books.
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...For people who are willing to spend a couple minutes checking it out, this type of tracking can be a lot of fun!...
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Track
Your Money!
This
is one of the coolest ideas in terms of using the
Internet. A typical scenario is that someone gets a
dollar bill which has a message written on it saying to go to
such and such a website to see where that bill
has been.
The
original and most popular of these websites is WheresGeorge.com
which is for American bills. You can also track
bills in other countries as well, such as following
the Euro all over Europe (Eurobilltracker.com),
the Yen in Japan (osatsu.net),
and Canadian bills (Whereswilly.com),
among others.
For
people who are willing to spend a couple minutes
checking it out, this type of tracking can be a lot of
fun! You can see where you bills have been based on
people typing in the unique serial number and year of
your bill. Moreover, you can see how long that bill has
been in circulation between you and the last person
who checked up on it.
The thing is, it must be registered to track
it. So if you have money lying around and you want to
track it, all you have to do is go to one of these sites
and register your bill! It's that simple and can be
quite entertaining! I recommend spending money on
vacation or at an airport and seeing where it goes!
Travel
the World on $1!
You
can track any amount of paper money ($1, $5, $10, $50,
$100), even across borders since people spend everywhere! The peculiar
thing is that people who aren't aware that the bills
they are spending are being tracked will naturally spend
as they typically would so you get an unbiased view of
your bill's travels!
A
Free Read
Another
big area in tracking involves books. The idea
behind
bookcrossing.com is that you find a book
that has been left somewhere (like a coffee
shop) with a post-it note on the cover telling
you to take.
On
the inside cover is a message and a code
number that you simply type into the website
and it will tell you how the book got to where
you picked it up!
Aside
from seeing where else the book has been, you
can read it and send it along for others to
enjoy by leaving it at another random
destination.
One
of the beauties of this system is that
eventually, more books will appear at the same
places where you picked them up and so a lot
of people in your community who may share your
interests may get a free and enjoyable read! |
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| When
you see a book with this kind of message
attached to the cover, you just HAVE to grab
it! Check the inside cover for a tracking
number. |
The
Next Big Thing?
These
are just a couple of examples of the latest trends in
tracking. In fact, I only found out about them because
I received marked bills and found a book! After some
research, I saw how hot the trend was! As people get
more innovative there will likely be other forms of
tracking that will intrigue us. Until then, go track
the money you're spending!
If
you enjoyed this article, you may also like the Send-money
Trend article.
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