[gps-talkusers] Re: feeling free to wander
- From: tbrowngriffin@xxxxxxx
- To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:20:59 -0500
Hi Mike
great story, what is a KNFB?
thanks
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: alice dampman <alicedh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 5:01 pm
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: feeling free to wander
Hi, Mike,
What a great story!
Do you use the cell phone that the KNFB reader is on? What is the
provider?
Thanks.
Alice
alicedh@xxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael May" <MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "GPS-talkusers-freelists.org" <GPS-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 10:45 AM
Subject: [gps-talkusers] feeling free to wander
>I have often espoused that the real value of GPS is not its ability
> to provide a route to a destination but the fact that it allows you
> to "get unlost." This means that you can comfortably become lost
> because you have the tool to find your way back.
>
> I am reminded of this tremendous benefit when I am in a completely
> unfamiliar situation and wish to explore. To make the challenge even
> greater, put yourself in another country where a different language is
> spoken.
>
> I am in Barcelona Spain, staying in a hotel on a major avenue called
> La Rambla. It is fun to stroll up and down but if you want to find
> local food for reasonable prices, you need to explore away from La
0A> Rambla. It only takes a few blocks before you leave the wide streets
> and find yourself in narrow alleys. It feels like some sort of
> Halloween Maize as you meander further and further into the heart of
> the old city.
>
> Thank goodness the new high sensitivity GPS receivers pick up signals
> in these narrow places. You do have to pay attention to the data to
> make sure the little streets, which are close to each other, don't
> get misreported. By double checking the announcement of the street
> you are on constantly, you can figure this out.
>
> It is amazing that these very small restaurants, shops and bars are
> in the GPS database. The system reports them to you as you go along
> including which side of the street they are on. Be ready to duck into
> a doorway if a car comes along. There isn't much clearance on some of
> these streets.
>
> Besides using my GPS information on my search for a lunch place, I
> was sniffing and listening, occasionally ducking into a door only to
> decide it didn't sound right, didn't have a good feel. Wonderfully,
> smoking laws in Spain have gotten much stricter so you don't have to
> worry about that as much as you did a few years ago.
>
> I heard a couple of British ladies mentioning that they were looking
> for a certain restaurant and I offered to he
lp them out. I got them
> to the correct street and we found their restaurant. It was too loud
> for me so I kept exploring and picked one called Quo Vadis. It is
> that last 20 to 50 feet to the destination that is difficult. I knew
> I was close and I even knew which side of the street the restaurant
> was on. I asked for sighted assistance to find the actual door. They
> didn't see it at first but when I insisted that it was close by, they
> kept looking and finally found it.
>
> The waiter was pretty blown away when I used the KNFB Reader to read
> the menu. I was trying to get him to read it to me but he kept asking
> what I wanted and he was too busy to take the time to read me the
> choices. There was an English and a Spanish section of the menu. If
> there had been a WiFi connection, I could have used the KNFB Reader's
> ability to translate but there wasn't and I was afraid of the
> possible cost of using the Internet through my phone provider.
>
> When I was finished with a leisurely lunch, I set my hotel as my
> destination and followed the pedestrian route created on my GPS to
> take me back, quite easy. This was a far cry from the first time I
> came to Barcelona in the 80s.
> The cool thing is that you don't have to be a super traveler to enjoy
> this kind of ind
ependence. It is the combination of tools, which
> makes this all come together.
>
> Now I just have to wait for the late Spanish dinner hour tonight to
> go out again for another adventure before heading home tomorrow.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael G. May
>
> CEO Sendero Group
>
> "The GPS company:" Featuring Sendero GPS on the BrailleNote as well
> as Sense Nav and the new Mobile Geo for Windows Mobile devices. Also
> distributing Trekker, Victor Stream, KNFB Mobile Reader, Talks,
> Mobile Speak, Tiger embossers, Miniguide and ID Mate
>
> Crashing Through, a book about Mike May, by Robert Kurson, available
> at http://www.CrashingThrough.com ;
>
> MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.SenderoGroup.com ;
>
> 1-888-757-6810, Fax (530) 757-6830, Mobile (530) 304-0007
> Sendero Group, LLC
> 429 F Street, Davis, CA 95616, USA
>
>
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