Just how good, really, are all those gps navigation systems?
I got a chuckle out of a local news story last week about our city’s newly relocated airport. It has to do with the question posed in the title of this post: Just how good, really, are all those gps navigation systems and map aids many folks (not ME!) use when they’re driving or even hiking?There have been news stories in recent years about genuine tragedies where families have found themselves stranded in isolated mountain and desert areas because they relied on their vehicle’s navigation system instead of their own good sense, and the system sent them down a closed or changed road — because the system’s maps had not been zealously updated.
But in the case of our local airport, the problem was more amusing than dangerous. We have a newly built terminal — hey, it’s a small city and one terminal is all it takes to do the job for us — which is located not so cleverly about a mile or two from the old terminal. Not only is there significant distance between the two, in their wisdom or financial “tightwad-ery” the city fathers/airport directors built the new terminal so that you can only access it from an entirely different set of streets. So there is no way to get from the old terminal directly to the new from within airport property.
Seems logical to me that such major changes would deserve a map update, wouldn’t it to you??
The new terminal opened last July. But if you use Google maps to find the Springfield Branson National Airport in Springfield, Missouri, you’ll see the OLD terminal, you’ll get directions to the OLD terminal — and undoubtedly many automotive navigation systems continue to use the same outdated information. Because the airport officials report a dozen or more people showing up at the now empty old terminal every day trying to catch their flights, only to mutter nasty things about the misdirection their navigation system gave them.
Here’s a thought. Why not check with local sources for something as significant as directions to catch your flight instead of relying on Google or some high-tech automotive navigation system?
Nah. That’s too old fashioned, I guess.
Do you do much coupon shopping? Do you look for online coupons?
My wife and I stopped at our usual grocery store this morning to pick up a few things before taking her to work, and my mind was turned toward coupons and coupon shopping. We bought twice the amount of one product as we needed because she had a serious discount coupon on the product.Okay, okay, I can understand that. We had the money; she had a great discount coupon. And the product was one which has great shelf life (canned soup), so I was good with that.
She has one or two websites she goes to and prints out coupons, but not many and none are the more popular “one size fits millions” coupon sites. We’re far more likely to use regular coupons for soup, salads, and sandwich bags than hiking gear or nordic track coupons.
I suppose I might look for an online coupon for a specific major purchase or from a regular off-line store where we shop regularly. And I’m happy that my wife enjoys going to some sites for online coupons, even though I don’t.
Couponing of one sort or another is frequently in the news, though. People love to find ways to save a buck or two, and why not. I saw one really “Xtreme” couponer a couple of weeks ago on one of the morning network news (?) programs. This woman had online and off line coupons down to an art (or science). She went to her usual grocery store, bought $100+ worth of groceries and other stuff — and showed off a register slip after all her discounts and coupons were deducted. SHE BOUGHT THE WHOLE CART FULL OF STUFF FOR A QUARTER. Yes, 25 cents.
The more I think about that, the more it makes me think 1) something’s really messed up about consumer pricing on so many levels, and, 2) I’m keeping my eyes open for more coupons!
Just now finally getting into the video age, sort of
As a “guy who reads the papers,” I confess it has been difficult for me to make the move from print to online, especially from text-oriented print news to some of the amazing video formats now available.(I bought my wife one of those “picture frames” that let you load jpeg images that cycle through a slide show. She’s got the hang of it; me, not so much.)
Video and various video technologies for me are sort of stalled somewhere back in the 1980s or 1990s. Heck, I’m just as happy with something like photo graduation announcements for graduates as I am with the idea of student-created online video resumes and portfolios. I understand cards with words and pictures and like to hold something solid in my hand, not just read it or view it from a computer screen. (And I’m no where NEAR smartphones yet!)
What’s the point of all this? Well, last night I started looking around Hulu, a famous online streaming video site everyone in the world knew about but me, I guess. I found some great episodes of “American Experience,” the PBS American history series, and watched the episode I had missed about “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.”
My eyes now have been opened. You can expect me to toss aside our local newspaper rag and spend all my time now on Hulu and YouTube. I have arrived, finally, at the threshold of my own personal video generation.
Okay, I won’t exactly toss aside the print newspapers just yet. But I’m getting there!