GPS

I was just looking back through my blog posts and I realized that I never gave an update on my GPS setup. I got the receiver in the mail and used a suction cup to attach it to the front windshield of the van right behind the rear-view mirror. I got a copy of Microsoft's Streets and Trips 2007 and without much trouble the software was able to find my receiver and start reporting my position.

I've been pretty skeptical of commercial mapping applications ever since google and yahoo starting allowing you to print directions for free but I must say that I'm blown away by Streets and Trips. Not only does it show me where I am but the route planning is amazing. For example, just for fun I decided to plan a trip across the country. As you'd expect, I got a route similar to what google would give you BUT THEN I figured out that I could enter what time I want to start driving each day, how fast I want to drive on different road types, how often I want to stop and for how long, my fuel tank capacity and fuel efficiency, as well as what time I want to stop driving at night. The software then broke my trip down into day sized chunks. I was then able to click on an end point and have the software tell me all of the campgrounds within a radius of my choosing. With an Internet connection I can even get more information about each site or see a satellite view of it. Once I've found where I want to stay that night I just have the route shifted to incorporate the stop.

Now that I've got my route all planned out I can sit my laptop on the table between the driver and passenger seat and it will talk me through the entire route. It will even verbally tell me when I should start looking for fuel since it knows my fuel capacity. Not only that but it averages gas prices along the route and tells me how much money I should expect to spend driving the route. I can even get construction information in real-time and have the system route me around the problem area.

Another thing that this system lets me do is something that I've been wanting to do for years. I've wanted a system that knows where I am and can tell me where the closest x is. For example, if I break down on the side of the road I can find the closest AutoZone or gas station with just a few clicks. Also, if I start getting tired then I can see all of the hotels or campgrounds in the area. I'll use this feature a ton for everything from movie theaters to Target's. I travel around a lot and this will be a huge quality of life improvement. Let's just hope it works as well as I think it does. This weekend will be my first field test so I'll have to let you know how all this stuff works in a real world application.