[NTLUG:Discuss] Discuss Digest, Vol 105, Issue 13

[Ralph Green]

John,

On Mon, 2011-09-19 at 09:55 -0500, John Fields wrote:
> Ah! You mean me!
> Add a "uhlds" to the end and you will have it.  Fee-uhlds. ;)
> 
> Why yes - I can.
> Sorry, I had been caught up in Software Freedom Day (was Saturday), starting a business, etc. :)
> 
  I had too busy a day to get to the Software Freedom Day event.  How
did it go?

> So manning a table, or a projector type demo?
> Open streetmap on a tablet is kinda nice too.
 An OSM demo of any kind would be great for the software fair.  I have
used OSM based programs a bit.  I know I would like to talk to someone
about the pluses and minuses I saw.  It seemed to me that OSM was
getting better and has good long term prospects.  It needs volunteers to
keep its data up to date and I suppose the real important thing is to
gauge if it is catching on.  I look forward to seeing you there.

> I find the UI on phones more compelling for just that reaon, and aside from the phone company knowing where my cell (generally) is 
> and giving me on demand data, it makes for a better mapping experience. You can always turn off the cellular radio when you go 
> exploring.  A second hand android phone with no SIM/account but with WiFi would be just the ticket I think.  Or a China cheap 7" 
> tablet (daylight issue).  Resistive display works better with gloves on too.
> 
> But if you are sold on a dedicated GPS unit, then you get into an interesting world of specialization. I'll try and dig up a link to 
> an OSM centric GPS review wiki.
> John Fields
> 
  I have been thinking about getting some hackable, used Android to use
as a wifi phone.  So, adding OSM mapping to it might be my best
solution.  I have seen that there were a couple of Android apps that use
OSM data, but I would like to see what you come up with.

  The stand alone device would seem to have a couple of big advantages
for cap navigation.  The UIs I have seen are less demanding of fiddling
and when I are driving, I don't want to have to pay much attention to
the UI of my map.  The standalone device draws a lot less power.  Phones
all seem to shut off their displays after a couple of minutes.  I
suspect I could address those downsides of a phone by getting one that
is suitably hackable and by plugging it in.

 I'd really like a phone for this where I can completely control all the
software(compiled from source).  Maybe it is possible, if I don't have
to worry about the gsm or other phone chip, since that is the most
tightly controlled driver, as far as I can tell.

Good day,
Ralph