Author Topic: An interesting read  (Read 3787 times)

adi

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"We do not belong to those who only get their thought from books, or at the prompting of books - it is our custom to think in the open air, walking, leaping, climbing or dancing, of lonesome mountains by preference, or close to the sea, where even the paths become thoughtful." Friedrich Nietzsche

Callum

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2013, 08:35:40 AM »
A really interesting article and I guess cartographic spam was inevitable Adi :( The spam in my emails is mainly commercially driven, with less frequent malware emails to try and take over your PC, in other words there is always a motive behind it, but I just can't see why cartographic spam?

captain paranoia

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2013, 12:29:56 PM »
From a quick look at the website, I think I might be tempted to say that it's an interested article, rather than interesting; it appears to be posted on a commercial, or hoping to be commercial, website for sharing route data.  The 'cartographic spam' being discussed sounds to me rather like raw GPS tracks, rather than deliberate spam.

I think they're trying to promote their own, possibly vetted tracks, over simple route logs.

Anyone who downloads a route GPX and follows it blindly is rather foolish...  Rule 1 of navigation; always engage brain.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2013, 06:17:59 PM by captain paranoia »

Angle of Repose

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2014, 09:12:53 PM »
I'll stick with my Garmin GPS; but then again, I am old school.
Those dang smart phones cost too much to take them out on the trail (using them in over landing is a different story).
"You can't get there from here"

krenaud

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2014, 07:03:18 PM »
I use a Lifeproof case for my phone when in the field which makes it waterproof and shock proof. And, I have a USB battery pack which can charge my phone 4-6 times.

I have lots of fun apps in the phone such as SkySafari (shows the position of stars/planets), FlightRadar (shows me which aircraft I'm watching), I can see which commercial ships are in the area, I can identify birds / fungae / trees etc.

However, I also have a proper GPS unit which takes AA batteries as a backup or in case of low temperatures as a primary unit due to the iPhone's crappy ability to function when the temperature drops.

captain paranoia

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2014, 12:05:43 PM »
Can you post details of the field guide apps you use for birds, trees, fungae, etc?

It's always struck me that portable computers would be a great way of implementing field guides (going back to the days of the Psion 3), but it's only now that storage and performance is really making these things possible.  Ideally, an app would guide you through a search tree, helping you to identify the species.  More relevant to trees, flowers, fungae, insects, spiders, etc, than mammals, maybe.  You could get programmes that ran on a PC that were early incarnations of e-books, but they were always sold as programme, and therefore vastly more expensive than a printed book.  Whereas an e-book ought to be cheaper; not print & distribution costs, just data transfer (again, now so quick & cheap).

Thanks.

krenaud

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Re: An interesting read
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2014, 07:35:43 PM »
I'm afraid I use only Swedish apps for those purposes. Krax for birds, Svampguiden for mushrooms and Våra Träd for trees.