GPS System Could Begin to Fail Within a Year

On Thu, 28 May 2009 16:07:13 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Mark
writes
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

You mean 'us men', of course!

Would I say that ;-)

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid to
safe driving.

Bill

On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

I've never seen the need for a sat-nav myself, but then I usually have
a navigator ;-)
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In message , Mark
writes
On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
. ..
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

I've never seen the need for a sat-nav myself, but then I usually have
a navigator ;-)

As a direct result of her navigational skills, my navigator and I have
frequently considered that divorce was the best route to follow.
--
Ian

On Fri, 29 May 2009 10:54:53 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Mark
writes
On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

I've never seen the need for a sat-nav myself, but then I usually have
a navigator ;-)

As a direct result of her navigational skills, my navigator and I have
frequently considered that divorce was the best route to follow.

Potential problem:

Have the address of a recommended divorce lawyer;

Have maps;

But do not seem to be able to find the lawyer's offices.

In message , Peter Duncanson
writes
On Fri, 29 May 2009 10:54:53 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Mark
writes
On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
m...
On Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:56 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Ivan
writes
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...system_could_b
egin_to_fail_within_a_year.html

Then it's just as well that I still have my AA 'Book of the Road' and a
London 'A-to-Z' (both bought in the 1960s).

Yes, the few of us that can still read maps or look at signposts will
be in big demand.

The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

I've never seen the need for a sat-nav myself, but then I usually have
a navigator ;-)

As a direct result of her navigational skills, my navigator and I have
frequently considered that divorce was the best route to follow.

Potential problem:

Have the address of a recommended divorce lawyer;

Have maps;

But do not seem to be able to find the lawyer's offices.


What you need is a GPS thingy.
But isn't this where we started?
--
Ian

"Mark" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:
The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route
by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid
to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

All a satnav is is a map in a box. If you have an idiot driving he will be
misled just as much by an inaccurate paper map as by an inaccurate satnav.
The difference is though, that thickys don't even attempt to read maps,
whereas they do buy satnavs.

When I was a kid the way people round here used to find their way to the
seaside was to follow a trippers' bus. To get home they would look out for a
vehicle with a Doncaster reg plate (DT) and follow that. Our neighbour once
set off for Scarborough on his motorbike and sidecar and ended up in
Tadcaster looking at Mother Shipton's cave. When they got back they said it
had made a pleasant change.

Bill

On Fri, 29 May 2009 15:40:40 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:19 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:
The use of a satnav and the ability to read a map are not mutually
exclusive. I use the satnav as a convenient aid, having planned my route
by
map and fed it into the dumb machine. I am convinced that this is an aid
to
safe driving.

My point was very much tongue in cheek. There are some who seem to
abandon common sense and rely entirely on their sat nav otherwise we
would not see people (nearly) driving off cliffs or getting their 40
ton lorry stuck down a narrow country lane.

All a satnav is is a map in a box. If you have an idiot driving he will be
misled just as much by an inaccurate paper map as by an inaccurate satnav.
The difference is though, that thickys don't even attempt to read maps,
whereas they do buy satnavs.

When I was a kid the way people round here used to find their way to the
seaside was to follow a trippers' bus. To get home they would look out for a
vehicle with a Doncaster reg plate (DT) and follow that. Our neighbour once
set off for Scarborough on his motorbike and sidecar and ended up in
Tadcaster looking at Mother Shipton's cave. When they got back they said it
had made a pleasant change.

More recently there was a report of research into navigation by pigeons.

Pigeons reveal map-reading secret:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3460977.stm

How do homing pigeons navigate? They follow roads
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...low-roads.html

Researchers have cracked the puzzle of how pigeons find their way
home: they just follow the main roads.
....
Some pigeons stick so rigidly to the roads that they even fly round
roundabouts before choosing the exit to lead them back to their
lofts.

Animal behaviouralists at Oxford University are stunned by their
findings

OK, when there are no roads they have to revert to magnetic and solar
navigation.

On Fri, 29 May 2009 15:51:07 +0100, Peter Duncanson
wrote:

To get home they would look out for a vehicle with a Doncaster reg plate (DT)

Ah, I wonder if there was an archive of those codes anywhere. They used to
publish it in the old AA books, but I threw that away years ago.
I often used to while away the tedious journeys as a kid looking for local
plates (AL and NN etc.) and special numbers.
It gets more irrelevant by the day though since they went to the latest
system.

Some pigeons stick so rigidly to the roads that they even fly round
roundabouts before choosing the exit to lead them back to their
lofts.

How do they know whether to fly on the left or the right?
What happens if they meet a foreign pigeon?

On Fri, 29 May 2009 17:48:34 GMT, Paul Ratcliffe
wrote:

On Fri, 29 May 2009 15:51:07 +0100, Peter Duncanson
wrote:



Some pigeons stick so rigidly to the roads that they even fly round
roundabouts before choosing the exit to lead them back to their
lofts.

How do they know whether to fly on the left or the right?

Good question!

What happens if they meet a foreign pigeon?

If the local pigeons are members of the BNP[1] all hell will break
loose.

[1] British Nationalist Pigeons.