Brigitte Pellerin: The OPS wants to send you updates on 911 calls via text. Just don't try texting back.

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The Ottawa Police Service recently announced a new text message service and I am struggling to find reasons to rejoice. I believe the right tool with which to congratulate our constabulary on the appropriate use of a not exactly cutting-edge technology is the bélinographe.

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A bélinographe — sometimes shortened to “bélino” — was invented by French engineer Édouard Belin in the 1930s to send photographs by telephone or radio lines. Fantastic invention at the time, it was used in particular by journalists before fax machines replaced it and later the internet.

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