Most people don't check the FBI's most wanted criminals list, nor do I often watch 'Most Wanted' TV shows. They should post the pictures of 'most wanted' criminals and kidnapped missing children on billboards, it would be harder for criminals to go unnoticed.
-- Blackanese, Sep 13 2002

Whenever a suspect is in a localized area and has a car that can be identified, it sometimes goes up on highway dynamic-message boards. The high cost of changing a billboard frequently may be the major downfall of this idea.
-- BinaryCookies, Sep 13 2002


Baked in Boston, MA. Funded by The Boston Police Foundation, which also provides funds for Crimestoppers hotline rewards.
-- waugsqueke, Sep 13 2002


BC: // The high cost of changing a billboard frequently may be the major downfall of this idea. //

Good point. The answer might be a sort of huge whiteboard behind a transparent panel, and an inkjet printer head on a carriage. Then the whole image can be rpidly erased and dynamically rewritten. Cheaper than a fifty square metre LCD or similar; far, far quicker and easer to change than a conventional paper poster.
-- 8th of 7, Sep 13 2002


Maybe a huge etch-a-sketch would work well. Though I wouldn't fancy having to shake it clear.
-- -alx, Sep 13 2002


Easy enough in L.A. - just wait for the next 'quake ....
-- 8th of 7, Sep 13 2002


Quake IV Arena?
-- bristolz, Sep 13 2002


Here and there, in large metro areas, electronic billboards have started to pop up. Every thirty seconds or so, a different advertisement would appear. This way, a billboard company ccan sell screen time to several clients, instead of selling space to one client, which is becomming popular in this era of anti-bilboard zoning laws. I also saw billboards that show pitctures of fathers who have not paid their child support.
-- 1kester, Sep 13 2002



random, halfbakery