The Transborder Immigrant Tool is Intriguing - as are dead Popes ;-)

Ricardo Dominguez

The associate professor of new media arts at the University of California, San Diego, has created what he calls an act of civil disobedience: a "Transborder Immigrant Tool," according to Sphere. It says Dominguez retrofitted a Motorola cell phone with GPS technology to help people cross the U.S.-Mexico border on the so-called Devil's Highway. Dominguez has collected $15,000 in grants to develop the tool, according to Sphere. It reports his plan is to have churches and groups such as Border Angels and No Mas Muertes pass out the phones and show people how to use then. The invention, which may not be ready for distribution until next summer, already has brought considerable criticism, Sphere said.

Sphere: Border crossings: There's an app for that

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/21/mip.monday/