[LINK] GPS and the End of the Road

Marghanita da Cruz marghanita at ramin.com.au
Mon Aug 22 11:03:28 AEST 2011


Michael Skeggs mike at bystander.net wrote:
> On 22 August 2011 08:29, Kim Holburn <kim at holburn.net> wrote:
>> A friend sent me a fascinating essay on GPS and the directions of modern technology.  Some of the points they make are similar to ones I've made here before.  Some are rather different.
> <SNIP>
>> Rather than being filled with adventure and the possibilities of freedom, the GPS-enabled, location-aware adventures of Sal and Dean or Huck and Jim somehow sound dreary before they have begun, filled with anticlimax, boredom, and restlessness. How can this be, when what these technologies seem to promise is a way of freshly opening up the world?
> 
> I suggest the biggest change has been the ageing of the author of the
> article. Nineteen-year-olds today don't appear to be lacking for
> adventures because of GPS. I know some who have spent a few months in
> Laos and Cambodia this year, and they seem to be having enough
> adventures to give their mother's heart attacks.
<snip>

I spent a year, with a few pit stops at relatives and friends, backpacking 
through relatively tame Europe, a little bit of India (including Kashmir) 
had my 25th Birthday in London. Pre-Internet/Mobile phones, my journey was 
causing some distress. But I knew I was fine, and where I was, even though 
friends and relatives may not have.

When I returned, I gave a work colleague, who was heading off on his world 
adventure, the contact details of a friend who they might meet in 
London...by amazing co-incidence the two met, in a hut, at the top of Mt 
Kilimanjaro.

On a related subject, over the years, I have put together a few walks.
Last year, at the Mash up at the Mitchell, I added historical images to 
this walk:
<http://ramin.com.au/annandale/annandale-to-sydney.shtml>

<http://libraryhack.org/2011/04/27/mashup-at-the-mitchell-2/>

My online walks also include google maps. Google now provides a KML 
download (useful backup from the Cloud) of user maps.

However, for my 1890s walk of Annandale, <http://ramin.com.au/walks/>, a 
reviewer has requested a map. The paper back will include a map on its pages.

I am now puzzling over how to provide the walk details in the E-Book/GPS/App?.

Marghanita






Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202





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