Waypoints – June 17, 2006

I love it when I can start my weekly Waypoints linkfest with a great list of resources like those found under the first heading:

Sources of maps, imagery and data

• TravelbyGPS lists some mapping resources for Canada.
• Mexico Maps has announced that they will carry maps from Garmin and BiciMapas.
• Free contour maps of Scotland for your Garmin GPS.
• Cartography links to historic (1655 to 1991) maps of Macau that can be downloaded in MrSID format (which can be used in OziExplorer). The source of these is the Library of Congress. You might find other interesting maps there as well.
• Free world shoreline datasets.
• Garmin has announced City Navigator Australia version 7. Via Allory.
• The European Space agency is making its collection of satellite imagery available online.
• Fuzzy Gazetteer "allows users to find geographic features without knowing the correct spelling."

TomTom

• GpsPasSion compares the TomTom 910, 500 and One/Rider.
• Open source TomTom resources.
• TomTom has released version 6.11 firmware for the TomTom GO 510, 710, 910.

GPS in the news

• A GPS-fueled meter maid.
• Your GPS is a tempting target for thieves.
• Of course, it can be used to catch thieves too.
• I recently posted about an upcoming adventure race you can track in real-time, courtesy of GPS technology. You can do the same thing this weekend with a sailboat race.
• GPS market share info for Garmin, TomTom and Sony. Via GPS Lodge.
• Garmin ramps up production to meet increasing demand.

Googled

• Google Earth beta version 4 is now available. More details here and here.
• OK, this is definitely a cool Google Maps hack.
• Birds-eye views in Google Earth 4.0.
• Google targets in-car advertising.

GPS and cell phones

• Verizon releases a child-tracking GPS phone service.
• Reasons to not use a cell phone in place of a dedicated GPS.
• GPS / cellphone weather alerts.

Miscellany

• CNet has a great table comparing online mapping services. Here is the full article. Via Cartography.
• Good tips on surviving in the woods without your GPS.
• Garmin’s blog discusses the Forerunner/Edge auto-pause feature.