What’s better than when the local municipality uses hi-tech against you? It’s all the rage in France, where parking meters are ruining people’s lives by calling the cops when time expires. So, instead of paying €2 for parking all of a sudden you’re whipping out your checkbook to the tune of €100 for overstaying the meter by four seconds. That’s good.

The tech here was developed by a company named Technolia. It’s raison d’etre is to create these little parking meters with a direct phone line to the police station. Overstay your welcome in the parking space by a minute and la police come a-knockin’.

I wonder how long till Mayor “Cut Services, Raise Taxes” Bloomberg hears about this.