Recent tragedies have highlighted parents' need to keep their children safe from abduction. And what parent wouldn't want to have their child wearing the equivalent of Newt's tracker wristband from "Aliens?"

That's where devices like Wherify come in. A rugged, lightweight, two-way GPS transceiver, Wherify's Personal Locator can help you keep tabs on your child's whereabouts from your Web browser or over the phone. For the kids, it's a cool-looking watch/pager combo with a built-in "panic button" with which they can signal 911. For parents, it's a way to always know where they've scampered off to with the accuracy of GPS.

Let's say Tom is supposed to be studying math over at his friend Huck's. But you suspect they're actually down at the creek hunting for crawdads -- since that Huck seems like a bad influence. Just Web browse over to Wherify's locator site, enter Tom's ID number, and Wherify pulls up a street map or archived aerial photo of his location. Send him a quick page that he's in for trouble, and you can check his progess as he rushes home.

The Locator locks with the touch of a button, though it can be unlocked remotely with the right signal sent by Mom. You can even program automated location checks or "breadcrumbs" to make sure that he really is coming home straight after soccer practice.

The GPS Personal Locator for Children sells for $399.99, and charges a $24.95 service fee.

http://www.wherify.com

-- Robert Myers