dustie Loc: Nose to the grindstone

About four days ago, I found some chopped-up automobiles dumped on some U.S. Forest Service land. Seemed sort of suspicious.... that if a person was going to go to the work of cutting them into chunks like that, then not take them to the scrap yard and be paid salvage price for the material, maybe there was something more involved.

When I went back into the small town in the area, there was a sheriff department vehicle parked outside a store. So, I says to mese'f, "Hey, wait out here, and when the dep-uh-tee comes back out th' store, tell 'im 'bout all that chopped-up car trash in the woods."

The deputy who exited the store and headed to the vehicle was fairly young, probably mid- to late twenties, I'd guess. When I told him I had some information about chopped-up vehicles dumped in the woods, he asked, "Do you have a location waypoint pinned?"
That took me by surprise for a half-second, but I told him I could give him verbal directions of where to find the mess.
Then, I saw his look of surprise crossing his face, as he reached into a pocket to get a notebook.

I can't help but wondering if that young fellow has lived his whole life with electronic device location sharing, mapping, navigation, etc, and verbal directions written by pen in a notepad seems to him like something from way back in the twentieth century. Maybe he was wondering if I'm actually some kind of early 21st century Rip Van Winkle.

Chiroman8

Dear Jerry,

I use Waze which gives a lot of info !

catskinner Loc: Middle Kansas

My wife and I were going to AK. one time and we ended up in a small strange town and she got us going around a block. I told my wife, turn the damn thing off and I'll find us a motel. She did and I did. catskinner

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Jerry:
GPS just tells you where you ARE - Right Now.
Then it's up to your Navigation Program to figure out HOW to get you where you wanna be.
Waze, Google Maps, Crapple Maps all download the local maps as you travel and update the routes.
Automobiles have the maps loaded into memory.
SO - it is the COMBINATION of GPS, your downloaded local maps AND the navigation software that make it all work.
There is ALWAYS a GPS signal EVERYWHERE on the surface of the earth sufficient for navigation.
Provided you aren't underground (in a tunnel), etc.
IF you are navigating with a Cell-Phone based program YES - you CAN get Stranded IF you lose cell service.
ONLY because you can't get a map of the local area. GPS still knows where you are.

lbrande

I have a Garmin GPS that I used from 2003 to 2010, and it still works.
All my cars have built in GPS, and the better ones don't take me too far from my known route.
My plane has a Garmin 530W that is used all the time. The biggest problem is the yearly cost.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Definition: Airplane.
A hole in the sky surrounded by aluminum into which you continuously pour money.

lbrande

Better than a hole in the ocean to continuously pour money...

Red6

GPS and travel apps are a great thing whether on your cell phone, iPad or dedicated GPS device. However, remember that they are only as good as the people who programmed them and the maps that have been embedded into them.

Which brings me to another issue. Several years ago I read an article in a business magazine about one of the big commercial map companies that was suing another company for using its maps without permission or paying royalties. The map company had discovered this company was using copies of their maps in a product being sold.

How did the map company know of this? Apparently, it is common practice for map companies to put dummy or fake roads or other map features into their maps as a "trademark" to verify it is their map. If someone copies the map they can verify it by checking to see if this imaginary road or feature is present.

The article said that this was common practice for many of the large map makers for verification of their products. The article even gave an example of a small street in the city of London that does not exist but appears on a company's map of the city.

So beware of trusting everything you see on a GPS map.

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

I have been using WAZE GPS lately and find it a great help.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I take the opposite approach. I always try to see how much time I can shave off the predicted arrival. 😜🤪

kufengler Loc: Meridian, Idaho 83646

I'll still use my Great Paper System. :-)

I do have a Garmin GPS that is in my car that's always on. But these day I much prefere GOOGLE MAPS GPS, it's much easier to program a route. I would love to be able to have it run through my cars dash monitor.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Keep it up, Jerry, and your epitaph will read, "But- but- but I was following GPS!"

GPS is indeed a good tool (not great), but you need to review its recommendations. Haven't you read accounts of hapless travelers who, blindly following GPS, ended up stranded on a snowy road, or of a big rig stuck on a lonely dirt trail? Some have had deadly outcomes.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

There’s a big difference between a dedicated GPS and something like Google maps or Waze. Dedicated GPS is great if you’re traveling in areas with spotty cell service, but you don’t get the big benefits of those services. I use Waze and it’s amazing how accurate it is. It’s crowd sourced, meaning it uses data from everyone logged in to determine how traffic is moving on the roads and uses it to determine the best route. If something changes while you’re driving it will recalculate and keep you on the best route. You can set parameters to avoid tolls and things like that. It also warns you about hazards and most important, speed traps. I’ve on a couple of occasions said, “nah, I’m not going that way”, and regretted it. It does at times take you off the highway and to local roads, only to get back on a couple of miles up. I only wish it would let me know how much time it was saving. It might just be a minute or two, but you never know.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

That’s the great thing about new cars. They all have Apple or Android car play. I get Waze, my Amazon music and hands free phone all through it.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

*Newer cars, not just new. Ford's Sync 3 began offering this in 2017. Others probably did too.