Technofetishism XXXVII

Akin to my enthusiasm about News Is Free and NetNewsWire, I've been geeking out to Mass Info Paging lately. Basicallly, Mass Info Paging offers pager- or email-based distribution of Massachusetts and New England police, fire, and emergency services announcements similar to scanner reports. Receiving the email on my Sidekick, I've been enjoying an odd form of vicarious awareness. This is a page I just received:

ROWLEY ATV ACCIDENT FOREST RIDGE BEHIND WINFRIES FUDGE 15 Y/O MALE FELL 25 FEET OFF CLIFF ON ATV UNCONCIOUS REQ MEDFLIGHT

And last night, while IM'ing a friend, the Mobil station on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge was held up... not too many blocks away from my house. I didn't really do anything with that information beyond not leaving the house, but there's no way I would have know that had happened so quickly otherwise.

The service costs $36 a year, but the first 30 days are free. And I've exchanged several emails with one of the developers, who was extremely helpful providing assistance -- even tweaking the site so it was easier to use. Just continuing my search for more news than I can use.