10 years ago today
The first experimental GPS satellite was launched in 1978, with the real thing (the Block II series) starting to go up in 1989. But the Global Positioning System was of limited use to anyone but the military in the early days, due to Selective Availability (SA), which degraded the signal, resulting in inaccuracies of [...]
Criminals turn to GPS jammers to avoid tracking
This is bad. The Register reports that car thieves in the UK are now using illegally imported GPS jammers to avoid the GPS tracking systems now found in many autos. Consider the implications — bank robbers and sex offenders with jammers, bleed over from the signals affecting emergency services, etc. Not good.
Waypoints – Thanksgiving hangover edition
Odds & ends from the holiday weekend:
I thought the tryptophan in turkey was supposed to mellow people out. Must have worn off by the time the fights broke out in Wisconsin and Florida over TomTom Black Friday deals at Walmart!
The Magellan Car Kit for the iPhone and iPod touch has shown up on Amazon, [...]
California regs to kill GPS reception
Regulations recently adopted by the California Air Resources Board will require automakers to reduce the amount of solar energy entering vehicles by 45% by 2014 and 60% by 2016. The problem is, the technology used to do this will utilize reflective metal oxide particles embedded in windshields, effectively blocking GPS signals. Stay tuned; I’m [...]
Consumer Reports rates the best GPS navigators
The September issue of Consumer Reports showed up this past weekend, with an article titled “Best GPS Navigators.” Their top ten chart says it shows the best choices from their tests of 89 models; the list includes five Garmins, three TomToms and two Magellans.
Topping the list are the Garmin nuvi 885T, TomTom GO 740 Live [...]
NJ legislator: Don’t touch that GPS
Looks like those hands-free cell phone laws and bans on texting while driving may soon apply to GPS if one New Jersey legislator gets his way. L. Harvey Smith, a Democratic Assemblyman, has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to program a non-voice command GPS while driving.
More on Best Buy Insignia GPS
There isn’t a lot of information to be had yet about the forthcoming connected GPS units from Best Buy, but I do have a couple of things for you, including the promo photo above. It shows multiple route options, ala the Dash Express. There’s no indication that they’ll use crowd-sourced, anonymized cell phone data for [...]
Geohashing – New GPS sport requires planning and caution
Geohashing is a new GPS sport where participants are sent to random coordinates to meet. Each day, new coordinates are automatically generated for each 1°x1° square of latitude and longitude.
World’s largest GPS hoax
A few days ago, stories started appearing online about an artist who drew a self-portrait with a GPS receiver carried around the globe by DHL. Trouble is, it was all a hoax. Wired does a pretty good job of debunking it, and now the artist has posted a disclaimer saying it was a "fictional work."
Left-handed use of GPS may become California law
Okay, maybe that’s overstating it a little, but those nanny-state legislators are at it again. If they would just remove the prohibition on GPS windshield mounts, that would be great, but no, they want to limit where you can mount a GPS to "a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to [...]
