GPS NAVIGATION

This is pretty incredible. From NPR: "Microsoft is under fire this week over a patent it was granted that's been dubbed the "avoid ghetto" feature for GPS devices. The new feature is meant to help pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods, bad weather and difficult terrain by taking information from maps, weather reports, crime statistics and demographics, and creating directions that, according to the patent, take "the user through neighborhoods with violent crime statistics below a certain threshold."

Just the other day we were lecturing about the Arsenal of Exclusion & Inclusion, talking about how GPS NAVIGATION can actually be a weapon of inclusion, since while there is a "fastest route" option and a "scenic route" option, there is no "avoid ghetto" option. Was someone at Microsoft at our lecture? Did they receive a leaked copy of our manuscript? We're flattered that people are using the book as a toolkit, but we were hoping people would use the tools that are about inclusion!