Saturday, February 13, 2010

TAPH, TOF and Susan navigating



Taph and I have gone down the coast for a few days. One of the things we are doing is a tour of op-shops on the South Coast.

We have been finding them with my latest toy, an el-cheapo satellite navigation unit, that we have decided to call Susan Ivanova (but more on that later)

It has been fun to drive along and hear her soothing voice say, you are going the wrong way, In 300 meters, make a u-turn.

Which can be annoying when we know we are going in the right direction as we can see our goal ahead.

This is all because of a little glitch in its street numbering function, where quite often it has no idea where the Street numbers are, and on other occasions it send you to the wrong end of the Street.

Here is is showing me that i had 35 meters until i was at the Vinnies at Moyura, when really it was at the other end of the street, about 1 kilometer behind us.

But otherwise I cannot fault it. At least it gets us to the right street, and if I know the closest street junction to your destination, I can program it to take us there.

If anyone out there feels compelled to buy one of these things, dont buy the cheapest. And if you do buy one, get used to it by using if for a couple of weeks driving around your home town. I did this and have realised that it prevents you from getting lost, but is no substitute for local knowledge.

I have named it after Susan Ivanova from the TV show Babylon-5 as in season one she makes the great statement that all satnav users should know

"Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out."