Bruce Napier wrote:
> On 5 Jan 2007, at 10:36, Mack, David wrote:
>
>> In the past it was necessary to display a licence to enable local BW
>> staff to check who was licensed and who was not. I thought that
>> nowadays BW staff carried computers with a copy of the whole licence
>> database on, so they can check on the spot (from the boat name and
>> number) whether it is licensed.
>>
> According to the patrol officer we spoke to this November, they used to
> have handhelds with the whole database on it, but there was some
> problem (battery size, I think) so this year they all had reams of
> print out on clip boards, ordered by number not boat name.
If that is true then BW need some more current IT advice. It is a
relatively straightforward task to send a boat name/licence
number in the form of a text message number to a server and the
server will interrogate the current license details and send back
a text message. In fact, at least half of that technology is
available from Waterscape as there is a system one can sign up to
where you will be sent a text message when new stoppage details
are issued.
Use a somewhat more sophisticated PDA/phone (but not hugely
expensive -- less than £100 from ebay) and the lengthsman could
download a list of boats each day that are moored in the area
that s/he are about to visit. For example, I have written a
utility that interrogates Waterscape's stoppage database and
downloads all of the current stoppages on a particular canal
section.
For around £100 more one could go one step further and have
a GPS-enabled PDA/phone and could report the precise location of
anything untoward on a waterway (unlicensed boat, canal blockade,
etc) back to the central server.
In fact, it occurs to me that if there was such a system it
would be relatively straightforward to allow anyone with an
internet-enabled phone to report instances (with or without
GPS coordinates).
Cheers
Will Chapman
nb Quidditch
>
> Atm, he's the only patrol for Wales and Border Counties, so his patch
> runs from Swansea to Llangollen to Chester and across to Macclesfield.
>
> ATB
>
> Bruce
> ––
> Bruce Napier
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www.nbsanity.net
> 07884 003581
>
> Save Our Waterways: visit www.saveourwaterways.org.uk
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--
Will Chapman
Save Our Waterways
www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
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