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Archives for December 2006

Another geocaching Christmas, this time with travel bugs!

December 31, 2006 By 1 Comment

Geocaching_travel_bug

Last year I reported on a geocaching Christmas, now a firmly ensconced family tradition. For those of you not familiar with
geocaching, it’s a way to have fun with your GPS and get kids
out of the house and hiking. And if you just got your first GPS, geocaching is a great introduction to GPS navigation.

This year we found several caches while in North Carolina, including Decaying Tunnel which had a couple of travel bugs in it. My nephew took one to Indiana and I took the other to California.

Daisy Mae Duck is the lucky bird that hitched a ride to California, where she awaits her next trip at Ploverlook in MacKerricker State Park. According to Daisy Mae’s web page, she wants to travel and see places like Florence, Tuscany, London, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. If you can help her out, give her a lift.


Filed Under: Geocaching, Trip report (TR)

Top posts of 2006: The year in review

December 26, 2006 By 3 Comments

While blogs like this have a lot going for them, one of their weaknesses is that old posts quickly get lost, so I like to do an annual review, and highlight more recent popular posts in the sidebar. With that introduction, here are the top 20 most popular posts from 2006, and a few others to boot:

  1. SiRFstar III – Why it’s a big deal – The chipset of choice. It is so cool to get a signal lock indoors!
  2. Custom POI’s – 6 million POIs not enough for you? Maybe the NAVTEQ or Teleatlas database doesn’t have your favorite fast food chain. Check out these resources. Someone else may have already done the hard work for you.
  3. Handheld GPS recommendations – ‘Nuff said.
  4. Consumer Reports rates GPS receivers – People value these independent reviews.
  5. Garmin City Select vs. City Navigator – This has got to be one of the most common questions out there for owners of Garmin handhelds wishing to use them for auto navigation.
  6. Automotive GPS recommendations – ‘Nuff said.
  7. Hacking eXplorist 100, 200 and 300 GPS receivers – Now you can get a PC interface cable for these Magellan units.
  8. Why have a barometric altimeter? – The joys of knowing your elevation and elevation gain.
  9. How to create custom POIs for your Garmin GPS – If you looked at item number two, but couldn’t find what you were looking for, here is a DIY resource.
  10. Why have an electronic compass? – Didn’t REM do some songs about this (Standing Still, Stand)? How to tell which way you’re facing while standing still.
  11. GPS rebates and deals – Everybody loves a deal.
  12. Does the nuvi have a weak feature set and interface? – Maybe, but much depends on what you are looking for. The nuvi is still the best at lots of things.
  13. Garmin nuvi compared to Mobile XT – More on that last one.
  14. Garmin to focus more on pre-programmed SD cards? – Can you say "planned obsolescence?" How about "legacy product?"
  15. Free maps of Japan for Garmin GPS receivers – Everybody loves getting something for free.
  16. GPS for your car: Factory-installed or aftermarket unit? – Puh-lease. This is a no brainer!
  17. Can my GPS be used to track me? – The short answer? Not unless it has a transmitter.
  18. Pros and cons of PDA-based GPS receivers – They do it all, but they sure are fragile. Now where did I put my stylus?
  19. Convert National Geographic TOPO (.tpo) files – GPS lovers that use TOPO should send Robert Lipe a thank you!
  20. DesktopEarth – Eye candy for your desktop.

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Filed Under: FAQs