[bigbear]

I consider myself somewhat of a luddite. Let those on the bleeding edge work out the kinks. I need a good reason to venture forth. My 1990 Wutzdatnoyz is rapidly approaching the scrap heap. Only the fear of having it strand me by the side of the road, prompted me to get a cell phone. If “The Queen” hadn't brought a load of cheap movies back from overseas, I wouldn't have bought a DVD player. The PC that I am currently using, runs Win98. You get the idea.

Usually, my first exposure to new technologies happens at my brother's house. He's got stuff. His business requires that he keep up with the latest. A while ago, he was showing me this Garmin GPS thingy. Cool toy, but I can still read a map. Recently, a bunch of us piled into a neighbor's ride to go to an out-of-town wake. He had a GPS thingy. Following its directions led us right to the front door. What impressed me the most was that nobody had to concentrate on navigation. Nobody had to pre-print a Google map. There were no missed turns. Everyone could partake in conversation.

I have missed my fair share of turns, even on familiar routes. I always try to blame “The Queen” because she talks to me (when she's not nodding off) while I'm trying to navigate. Friction ensues. Even bigger friction, if I don't quite understand her reading of the directions from a Google map.

I bought a GPS thingy. I am not going to list all its uses, besides friction prevention. This is interesting though. At Roadfood.com, “Insiders” or paying members can download a POI or points-of-interest file for the restaurants from their database. Road trip, anyone?

There are lots of POI file sources out there, some free, some not. These files are not difficult to create.

[rancho_gordo]

These are pretty expensive, aren't they?
What about using the phone? I see that has GPS now.

And welcome to the future, bigbear!

[Rail Paul]

Jeff, a lot of folks are into geocaching. This game involves landmarks, benchmarks, and clues, goodies, etc. You use your GPS to find certain locations, and move in precise directions from those points.

The US government labeled millions of bridges, railroad structures, and other landmarks with very precise brass plates. Surveyors use them to launch their measurements, etc, but gamers can build treks around them. Prizes or clues are stashed and may be found along the way.

Far northwestern NJ, Orange County NY and similar areas with abandoned railroad lines, lots of open fields, etc are excellent locations for geocaching. Note, hunting season is NOT a good time for this activity.


Geocaching

[memesuze]

My Garmin Nuvi is a couple of years old, and I've found its directions lacking in a few newly constructed areas. Amazon has a deal on lifetime quarterly updates for $75 here. Cheap as the annual update from Garmin.

I'll let you know how it handles itself....

[g.johnson]

We had one in our hire car in Ireland. Loved it except... when it got lost due to new road construction or the time we took a ferry it would mutter "Recalibrating" every two minutes in tones of increasing (or so it seemed) frustration. We were particularly impressed with its ability to take us straight to the door of our hotel when we would have been driving round in circles for hours.

[memesuze]

g.johnson, on 27 September 2010 - 01:22 PM, said:

We had one in our hire car in Ireland. Loved it except... when it got lost due to new road construction or the time we took a ferry it would mutter "Recalibrating" every two minutes in tones of increasing (or so it seemed) frustration. We were particularly impressed with its ability to take us straight to the door of our hotel when we would have been driving round in circles for hours.

I have my "voice" permanently muted because of the recalibrating or the "turn right in ...." I'd rather have my podcasts, books, or music that are loaded onto the GPS' SDHC continue uninterrupted.

I do like to have fun with it by persisting in taking a route that it doesn't want me to take. I am not going down a series of farm-to-market roads that might technically be shorter when I know that it will actually take less time to go farther on highways and toll roads. I need to re-visit the initial settings to ensure I have "faster" rather than "scenic" or "shorter distance" set as the default.

[Blondie]

g.johnson, on 27 September 2010 - 02:22 PM, said:

We had one in our hire car in Ireland. Loved it except... when it got lost due to new road construction or the time we took a ferry it would mutter "Recalibrating" every two minutes in tones of increasing (or so it seemed) frustration. We were particularly impressed with its ability to take us straight to the door of our hotel when we would have been driving round in circles for hours.

The GPS I had in Ireland 2 yrs ago had an outdated map that didn't include the new motorway, so it looked like I was driving through the fields for an hour. I'm not even sure why I got it since I ended up sticking to places I already know like the back of my hand. Considering how much it cost per day, if I think I need one next visit I'll save money next time by purchasing the Europe map for my Garmin.

[memesuze]

Blondie, on 27 September 2010 - 03:52 PM, said:

Considering how much it cost per day, if I think I need one next visit I'll save money next time by purchasing the Europe map for my Garmin.

Search around on Google for a free alternative set of maps for Europe or Ireland - I'm considering d/l-ing one for New Zealand before I go.