Ever feel a little bit out of place in a new neighborhood? Everyone does when the first buy a new house, and it is no different for those with a Newark NJ zip code. But in Newark, thanks to the same kind of technology what brings you cooling water treatment chemicals can also bring you a way to keep from feeling lost and helpless in your new home. We are talking, of course, about the combination of advanced robotics and the Internet.
This is the marriage that has brought about NEWGIN, or the Newark Geographic Information Network. People all over the world can use this brand new service to find whatever they want, provided that the city of Newark deems the site important enough to include on the NEWGIN site. That might not mean you can find a great store when you are looking for growers supplies, but it means you can bet that you will be able to find the nearest fire station! For when you have to walk to the fire station in order to tell them there is a fire in your house, instead of calling 911!
While some aspects of the NEWGIN system are a bit ridiculous considering the likelihood of their application, there are practical purposes to the NEWGIN program as well. For example, even if you can't locate a specific business on the NEWGIN site, you will be able to find the address on the map once you find the address of the business in the phone book. So, if you were looking for somewhere to exchange cash for scrap gold, you could find the business in the yellow pages and the directions on the NEWGIN site.
What a breakthrough in technology! What did the citizens of Newark do NEWGIN was implemented by the municipal government on the public dime? What features does NEWGIN have that Google maps or any of the other mapping systems on the Internet doesn't? Is there a special way to find tray packaging using NEWGIN that one couldn't use on the Google site?
The answer is a definite no. What the city fathers were thinking when they spent the money on the NEWGIN system is anyone's guess. Perhaps they took a few too many hits to the head at hockey school when they were younger. But since this somewhat redundant program is here to stay, interested citizens might as well use it.
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