T'internet is wonderful!

[Bob Williams]

This could have gone in travel or PC stuff, but it’s a side issue of Health. Just me pondering t’internet and how useful it is in so many situations.

I needed to give the family directions to get to Castle Hill Hospital when I am ‘open for visitors’ next week. I was able to find a map of the hospital, which is a huge place, and print off 2 copies. I annotated this with directions to the relevant Reception, car park and Ward. I used Open Office to append details of discharge routine, phone numbers and visiting hours. I used tinyurl to give a Google Maps link for family to find a map. (hoping dear daughter does not get lost, as she is wont to do)

This created my musing about t’internet and computing devices in general: I would have found all this more difficult without it. Thank you, Tim Berners-Lee, Sir Alan Turing and all those genius people who created it all.

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

Last month i was picking my lad up from the airport. I googled the flight number (it use to use to show google now bit sadly no more, for me at least) bit what i did get was a page that, shown when the flight took off, that it was on time, (well 15mins early), its altitude, speed, and a live map view of its current location

Amazing times we live, but my first thought was about security.

One app i absolutely love for giving others directions to me or vice verse is glimpse. It’s a little gem, for when you need to meet up with some some one match day, night out (very usefull for groups), or any clouded place.

You can set a te limit too, so i could great bob access to my location for x amount of minutes, so you can make tour way to me, and i can keep wandering, and not will track me in real time. The time limits good as you dont want it on 24/7. Google maps does something similar, but climes give you finer control. Anther staple on my phone.

The recipient doesn’t need the app, you location shows up on google maps for them. Though if both partied has the app, its better.

I’ve just book a month in Spain and France this summer, i do have road maps of both countries, both over 10 years old, but ill be using nokias here maps, (dont need data) and tomtoms speed camera and speed limit  overlay app, to navigate the continent safely. I prefer google maps, but last time i put Here on my Hudle, as i didn’t want to use my phone, and the 8″ display made a cracking satnav. I stuck two bobs of blue tac behind the gear lever, to sit it on and its own weight kept it in place.

You sit low down in my car so being next to the gear knob is fine, it wouldn’t work in a mpv or 4×4, but you can get tablet car holders. Great sat nav experience.

So yes bob the internet is great. Especially for the elderly or disabled. If you don’t want to or cant leave the home often, you can now easily get by and lead a sort of normal life.

You couldn’t do that just 10 years ago. The net has gone form a geeks play thing, to an essential bit of kit.

[Richard]

Yes Steve and Bob, I agree with those sentiments. Hospitals are our main tour destinations these days and some are really huge sprawling places. The two things I don’t like are their ways of inventing new names for once familiar entrances and the cost of the car parks. The internet cannot solve the second but can sure as heck help with the first. Mobile access and a mapping function was a real time life saver when roads were blocked by silly events on the way to the hospital, but it helped us to get there only 10 minutes late. We are back there again this Tuesday, first thing. With younger daughter on the cusp of one of her melt down phases and elder daughter’s two dogs staying with us, a dash through rush hour traffic via the motorway access roundabout is not a happy prospect. My emerging electronic friend will be on standby to bail us out again I hope. I might try the full ‘bypass hell route’ this time and miss out the town we would otherwise go through.

One issue that email and texts do not suffer is wet mail problems. Some years back one of my wife’s friends was scheduled to pass via the nearby airport but the flight number on her letter was water damaged. Anyway we left a party at about 01:00 hours rolled up at the airport and drew an airside pass. So with sketchy details we were stumped as to where the friend could be, there were three or four flights in at the time. I bet passengers still talk about the time their plane was searched at 02:00 hours in the morning by two people my wife in a long evening dress, who had clearly left a party to turn out. You could feel the crowd sink a little lower into their seats when a chap bowled up with SECURITY in large bright letters on his top and asked if we had found who we were looking for.

We found the friend in the shop in the transit area during her stop over.

[Ed P]

Steve, security is optional! Try and do the same for an El Al flight. They just are not there or obfuscated in some way. It all depends I guess on the perceived level of threat.

[Tippon]

The Duke wrote:

One app i absolutely love for giving others directions to me or vice verse is glimpse.

Sod’s law, it’s got odd spelling! It’s Glympse on Google Play, and comes with optional Android Auto and messaging add ons, so you can send your location over messaging services and from the car. I’ve just found it from your description, and it looks really handy, thanks 🙂

Glympse is here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glympse.android.glympse

 

 

[The Duke]

You know spelling isn’t quite my thing.

I seen from another thread it’s for your dad, or g-dad. Glympse also has a secondary app, (or did it may be built in to the main app now), that let’s you but a ‘button’ on the home screen that your dad can just press and select the phone number to send it to. Much simpler to use for the none tech folk than the more feature rich main app.

So if he gets into trouble its all simple to fire you his location.

I’ll try and look it up, and report back.

Update

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glympse.android.glympseexpress

There is also a glympse auto, will have to check that out.

[johnbarry]

The possibilty to do all things on the T’internet is brill.

Let’s not forget T’internet is useless without PCs, mobiles, tablets etc.

Cheers
John

[Ed P]

Bob, don’t forget podcasts too!

You may like this SF podcast site:

http://escapepod.org/

[Bob Williams]

Downloaded Glympse and Express, thanks Steve and Ryan!

Ed, I will look into that SF Podcast later, thanks! A family “do” coming up at lunchtime, rolling several birthdays into one.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Glympse is not needed anymore, you can location share direct from Google maps. It’s under (strangely enough) location sharing on the left hand menu. Time period is selectable from a few minutes to until switched off.

[The Duke]

I did say that PM, but I like that Glypse is more powerful and Express is more simple.

Express is good to put on your kids/grandparents phone. And tell them in an emergency press that and ill save you.

Anyone that has kids fro 15 to cough 23, (or a wife) will know trying to get directions from them is, well…. Not good. So a simple app is worth it.

Also when the kids was younger, I had an app that would show you all the public toilets near by. Probably good for pensioners also.

I think George Michael originally eloped it.

[JayCeeDee]

The Duke wrote:

I think George Michael originally developed it.

 

LOL’s – You’re only saying that because he’s not around to sue you!!?

We were once in Thailand and got a call from our 19/20 yo – ” I’m on the M25 trying to get to Uxbridge, am I on the right heading??”

” Which way round are you going??”

“Don’t know.”

“What was your last exit signed to?”

“Can’t remember.”

“Go on to the next exit, note down the number, then go on to the exit after that, note the number and call me!!”

 

Kids………..wives……………the list goes on!!

[Drezha]

Ed P wrote:

Bob, don’t forget podcasts too! You may like this SF podcast site: http://escapepod.org/

Only recently got in to these (well, over a year ago now I guess!) but I was hooked on the Dan Carlin Hardcore Histories. I’ve just finished the epic Blueprint to Armageddon series. I also await the Infinite Monkey Cage downloads.

Used Glympse in the past and it’s been dead handy.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[The Duke]

About two years ago i was a a family wedding that was held manchester the church and the do was 20 plus mins apart. The F/MiL don’t do sat nav, so said they would follow me. They got lost.

They rang was on a A road, a long one, but if they was going the correct way it ended near our hotel. Only they had no idea.

Given it was about 7pm, i simply said where is the sun? After the inevitable line ‘in the sky’, and me saying ill hang up and leave them lost, they told me the position of the sun.

I checked my phone map, against the suns location then I told them to do a u-turn, then said drive straight till you see x pub and I’ll meet them there. 10mins later they turned up. There 20min drive took 90mims.

Navigation doesn’t need to be hard, but some just don’t prep. And if your bad or rusty, you should prep more. God knows how my FiL made it in the Reme. I’m guessing he never lead the way!!

If my phome goes down, i have an Uk, Fr and Sp road atlis. I’ll likely never need them, but on trips they get taken out the wheel well, and put behind the passenger’s seat.

Pre sat nav. I’d sit at the table before i could right the directions to anywhere on a fag packet. Just a list of junctions to exit at and what road they meet, and the distance id be on it

Ie a 400miles round trip boiled down to 8 points. Extending the trip hardly ever ups the number points either .it’s basically just point to point map reading. Except i don’t need to carry beads or rocks to count my paces.

J31 on A55 20m

merge to M56, 20m

J9 m6, 50m

J15 A50 follow past utoxeter Maybe by 10m

A515 on the right. Follow north

Pick up signs for Alton Towers.

 

Simple effective, and safer than a sat nav. As i would know the route in my head before i left (seems ancient today), so all i had to do it, get on a road, anda a quick glance to see the distance of my next run, and know the next junction or road number i need.

Now i just input a postcode and follow the machine. Hardly taking note of the route in taking. Ask many underthe the 40s what route they took, just make up some roads, did you tell the m221 or the M67 followed by the b11. Most will say, i don’t know i filled my phone. But Q few will pick one of your two made up roads, not wanting to look ‘unmanly’. Lol.

It’s an art we are losing, but I’m not sure how as my kids love tracking our routes when on long trips. The only difference is 35 years ago id follow on a paper map, today on an iPad.

Thinking back, us kids the back came in useful in the times we got lost, my ant couldn’t read a map, but all the kids did, so we could say where we went wrong. To the amusement (not) of my uncle.

[Bob Williams]

JayCeeDee wrote:

We were once in Thailand and got a call from our 19/20 yo – ” I’m on the M25 trying to get to Uxbridge, am I on the right heading??” ” Which way round are you going??” “Don’t know.” “What was your last exit signed to?” “Can’t remember.” “Go on to the next exit, note down the number, then go on to the exit after that, note the number and call me!!” Kids………..wives……………the list goes on!!

It took me sometime to explain Signage to my Gert, not sure she has it now. She kept looking at signs on holiday routes and saying “We don’t want to got to- (whichever place was first name on sign)” I kept explaining that the destinations are in reverse order, and the next place will be the last name on the list. I just got those funny looks they give you when you try to explain something logically.

Same thing happens now with Satnav and phone directions, with added confusion caused by an occasional inability to distinguish left from right. And don’t get me started on her older map-reading efforts from years ago.

“We’re getting lost again!” (or, when grandkids were small) – “Grandad is getting us lost again!”

Later: “Oh – we’re here!” – as if it’s a miracle.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

I bought out first sat nav, when me and dorris was going on our first foreign drive.

A few months earlier me and my BiL decided on Saturday night to drive to nice for the week, the next day. We sold it as a reccy for the upcoming holiday. Good job she said yes, as I booked the ferry while in the pub.

Me and him made it easily, map reading for each other while the other drove. 17h from north Wales to nice.

Coming home we zigzagged from city to city on the old trunk roads, mainly to save toll fees, but we found we saved about 1/3 the fuel to, and it was way more interesting if twice as long.

Now we always drive the trunk roads and county lanes, staying over at random places.

Anyhow, I learnt from that trip, if I didn’t get a sat nav, the trip would end in divorce. I have decent bearings and Geographical Knowledge of the UK, so even if I get lost, i can find my way back on track.

I don’t have that luxury on the continent. And given she can’t drive, or map read, both would be done to me. At that time I’ve been known to follow an atlas on my knew, I’m the UK. But there is no way i wanted to do that in a contrty with different signs, road lay outs, speeds and road atlases that have different standards to ours.

So i bought a tomtom or navman (cant recall ) off eBay. It turned up, and i soon noticed it had all the maps and unlimited updates, so was as dodgy as they come. Nut for £50, in the days of £150 satnavs, i never bothered to complain.

It’s still in my glove box now, i changed the battery in it last year (or the one before), and updated the maps. I’ll try it out later if i think on. Ill Probably forget.

[Bob Williams]

Got my Garmin nuvi50LM 3 years ago, with case, home and car chargers, all Western Europe maps and lifetime updates. Can’t recall cost altogether, but the lifetime updates still work. I think the battery is on its way out, as our last use was up to Beverley Hospital and a full charge went in < 20 minutes. I always have the car charger ready wired in, if I get the Low Batt warning SWMBO plugs it in. I usually only have to drive a route once with Garmin on to remember it, so now and again I delete ‘Favourites’.

I know what you mean about Geographical Knowledge: Seven years of planning exercise routes for a whole aircraft workshop from North to far South Germany, gave me the experience to plan routes anywhere. Satnav and Google Maps has spoilt me a bit, but I always have alternates in the back of my mind in case of the delays caused by RTC tailbacks. Or the Roadworks that local areas “forget” to tell anyone about.

Getting known for route planning followed me about a bit: what should have been the OiC MTO’s job, became passed to me when I was attached to a Strategic Reserve Armoured Workshop move from Tidworth to Belfast. What a nightmare headache that was: balancing ‘packets’ of different groups of vehicles, from Armour Recovery trucks, through Heavy recovery, 10- and 7- tonne trucks, some trailered, to Land Rovers. I filled pages of calculations with average speeds and times. Then we brought Liverpool to a halt for a day and a night, getting our stuff to the docks. I still don’t know how it all went without a hitch. No breakdowns, no problems. I should have got a medal for that and the journey back, but a certain Wupert of a Captain blagged the credit. At the last Officers Mess “do” back in the UK, one mate was the chef, another waiting at table. They managed to insert a laxative into his coffee. I was glad to get back to my own unit.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Author]

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