I never thought I'd be envious of the students of Bovine University, but apparently cows are getting some sweet gear to wear. Ranchers may soon be able to herd cows without getting out of bed now, and be able to set up virtual fences for your cattle. Like virtual dog fences, these use electric shocks and sounds to herd, but unlike dog fences, these use gps devices to locate cows and determine if the cow is where they should be. They also use 802.11b to communicate wirelessly to update the virtual fence maps.
"[the researchers think their system would be] attractive to farmers in Australia who must move cattle across ranches that range up to 22,000 square kilometres - roughly the size of Massachusetts.
Currently farmers herd the cattle on horseback, motorcycles or even in helicopters, and have to open and close gates frequently, all requiring many workers and considerable time."
Okay so maybe the cows will have wearable computers before I do, but at least I won't be wearing a shock collar.
Update:
<anselm> soon i will steal ipaqs from cows