The Global Positioning System, usually called GPS, is the only fully-functional satellite navigation system. A constellation of more than two dozen GPS satellites broadcasts precise timing signals by radio to GPS receivers, allowing them to accurately determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) in any weather, day or night, anywhere on Earth.

GPS has become a vital global utility, indispensable for modern navigation on land, sea, and air around the world, as well as an important tool for map-making, and land surveying. GPS also provides an extremely precise time reference, required for telecommunications and some scientific research, including the study of earthquakes.

United States Department of Defense developed the system, officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging GPS), and the satellite constellation is managed by the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base. Although the cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of aging satellites, GPS is available for free use in civilian applications as a public good.

More on [ Global Positioning System ]

NYT > Home & Garden

On Location: Clubhouse Living
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:19:03 -0000
After designing office spaces that encourage the easy interaction of people, like those at Google headquarters, Clive Wilkinson designed his home to do the same.
Boom Times for Job Site Thieves
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:29:44 -0000
Larceny at residential construction sites across the country has increased significantly in the last two years because of soaring prices of building materials.
Design Notebook: A Superjumbo Jigsaw Puzzle
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:35:12 -0000
Marc Newson, an industrial designer, was commissioned to design the cabin of the Airbus A380 double-deck superjumbo jet for the Australian airline Qantas.
In the Garden: A Backyard Bargain in the Bronx
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:43:10 -0000
Using skills in economics and international diplomacy, Sam Oglesby created a backyard haven in the South Bronx.
Shopping for Vanities With Joey Arias
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:42:05 -0000
Joey Arias, the 49-year-old star of the production, “Arias With a Twist,” knows about vanity and vanities: he has nine mirrors in his 14-by-6-foot bathroom.
The Fix: Carbon Footprint: Saving at Home
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:37:40 -0000
Reducing your home’s carbon footprint can be worth it, for the environment and the pocketbook.

L.A. Times - Home & Garden

Neutra's Maxwell house moves to Angelino Heights from Brentwood
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Once it is reassembled, the new owner will restore and sell it. FOR ANYONE lucky enough to have witnessed the move, it was some kind of spectacle: the 1941 Maxwell house by Richard Neutra, one of Southern California's most celebrated residential architects, loaded onto a flatbed truck for a cruise down the Sunset Strip.
Porsche's Kitchen for Men
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Dudes, it's as sleek and cool as a certain sports car. There's even a TV. But what if you want toast? You're an evil genius, bent on world domination. You have a nuclear weapon simmering away in the basement of your underground lair, deep within some Polynesian volcanic island. You still have to eat.
Modern architecture mixes with traditional furnishings in Los Angeles house
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Grandma Gloria Swanson's influence is felt in every room of Brooke Anderson's home, which was designed by Gregory Ain. ALTHOUGH Brooke Anderson was brought up in a modern milieu, she credits her famous "Grams," actress Gloria Swanson, for imbuing her with a love for the traditional. As a young woman, Anderson frequently visited her grandmother's stylish apartment on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park. "It was formal but very comfortable, and filled with beautiful antiques with tons of books everywhere," Anderson recalls, adding that her grandmother always wanted to be an opera singer. "She had a baby grand piano in the living room where she would play and sing."
Cactus and succulent container gardens
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Dioramas by Anna Goeser of Pot-ted are dish gardens for people with a love of kitsch. ANNA GOESER'S container gardens -- desert dioramas she calls Mojave bonsai -- started as simple arrangements of cactuses and succulents. Then she began to add roads, cars and people. "They became little worlds," she says.
Book review: "Houseonomics: Why Owning a Home Is Still a Great Investment," by Gary N. Smith and Margaret H. Smith
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Owning instead of renting, even in the current climate, pays a financial dividend, the authors explain. With home prices continuing to fall -- and expected by many experts to decline further before finding a bottom -- it's very easy to play that "woulda, shoulda, coulda" game and envision how life might have been different had you sold that home back in 2005 and run off with the profit to Tahiti.
About your summer vacation
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
It was O'Hare, cousins, bug spray, golf lessons, fishing and Grandma's grill. Chicago

Christian Science Monitor | The Home Forum

High hopes for slam-dunk success in China
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
On the basketball court, a little girl saved the day for her American friend.
Head lost in the clouds of computing
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A sigh of relief that Dell was not allowed to trademark a generic phrase.
God's law of abundance
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.
Prayer for elections
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.
Sneaky tactics in the food wars
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Dad knew that if he could get my sister to try a new dish, I'd clamor for some, too.
Off to college – the great unknown?
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

Denver Post: Lifestyle

Together, we watched
editor@denverpost.com (The Denver Post) Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:33:21 -0600
It felt like a real party in Denver's historically black neighborhood, where around 350 people gathered to watch Barack Obama accept the nomination.
Review: Rage Against the Machine
editor@denverpost.com (Elana Jefferson / The Denver Post / ) Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:54:59 -0600
The music event that was characterized as having the largest potential this week for violence between activists and police went off Wednesday more like a mass training in peaceful resistance.
The glitz is glowing, the wine flowing
editor@denverpost.com (s column appears Sunday / The Denver Post) Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:17:24 -0600
The hottest three events Tuesday started with brunch at Strings for 125starring the Kennedy clan.

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