-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Death by GPS
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 14:47:49 -0500 (EST)
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
All,
The desert story is tragic.
Another argument for having both a paper map with you and a GPS device.
However, if you're really headed to no man's land, an option might be a
personal locator device.
These devices work in areas where cell phones and the like do not.
One that I've known friends and family to use is the SPOT locator device.
This does send out signals and messages, assuming you're not so gravely
injured that you can use it.
Or the device isn't smashed with you in your fall.
I knew someone involved in the rescue of a photographer in Arkansas who
fell from the top of a waterfall into the icy cold water below.
He was seriously injured. The first rescuers to show up did not have the
extensive medical knowledge to treat his injuries.
Another thing to keep in mind on your wilderness trek. It took almost 20
hours and 75 people to rescue the guy.
http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php This is SPOT's web site with
information on how the device works.
http://www.squidoo.com/spot-satellite-messenger-misuse Article written
by search and rescue guy on the use and misuse of locator devices.
He includes information on how the devices compare to GPS units, and
somewhat humorous stories on people setting off their devices for complaints
as minor as funny tasting drinking water
or your guide is making funny noises in his sleep.
best,
Heather Kinsinger
Secretary, NY Map Society
www.nymapsociety.org <http://www.nymapsociety.org>
In a message dated 2/4/2011 12:21:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Death by GPS
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 10:27:16 -0600
From: Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
<[log in to unmask]>
I think the mistake a lot of people make (probably too many bad spy
movies) is that the GPS satellite "knows where you are." It
doesn't, any
more than the lighthouse knows where the ships at sea are. Only your
device "knows where you are," and if your device doesn't have a way to
communicate to the wider world, you are toast. I think smartphones have
made misunderstanding more prevalent: the smartphones do have a way of
communicating your location to the wider world... assuming you can
get a
signal...
Nat Case, Head of Production
*HEDBERG MAPS, INC.*
Creative Cartographic and Marketing Solutions
http://www.hedbergmaps.com
612-706-9686
1500 Jackson St NE, Suite 314
Minneapolis, MN 55413 USA
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: Death by GPS
> Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:07:46 -0500
> From: Paige Andrew <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
> <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
> True, but if nobody calls for help the GPS isn't going to do you
a bit
> of good! (and, not all GPS units are totally accurate either)
Plus, once
> the batteries run down, still no good...
>
> Paige
>
> On 2/4/2011 9:55 AM, Angie Cope wrote:
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: Death by GPS
>> Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:25:13 -0500
>> From: Stone, Howard <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>
>> I thought that a GPS tracks your location (privacy advocates often
>> complain about this), which would enable rescue and law-enforcement
>> personnel to find you in an emergency. Am I wrong about this?
>>
>> Howard Stone, Brown University
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 5:13 PM, Angie Cope <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>> Subject: Death by GPS
>>> Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 13:48:35 -0800
>>> From: Dyallen2 <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here is an interesting tidbit from the copied by the Bureau of
Land
>>> Management in California from the Sacramento Bee:
>>> lettering "Heat Kills" over a gravestonetwo hikers look over a
rocky
>>> desert landscape*"'Death by GPS' in the desert"*(Sacramento Bee,
>>> 1/30/11)
>>> "Danger has long stalked those who venture into California's
desert in
>>> the heat of summer." But as more people visit, "technology and
tragedy
>>> are mixing in new and unexpected ways." Said Death Valley
wilderness
>>> coordinator Charlie Callagan, "People are renting vehicles with
GPS and
>>> they have no idea how it works and they are willing to trust
the GPS to
>>> lead them into the middle of nowhere." Stories of deaths in the
desert
>>> are "reminders that even with a growing suite of digital
devices at our
>>> side, technology cannot guarantee survival i n the wild. Worse,
it is
>>> giving many a false sense of security and luring some into
danger and
>>> death."
>>>
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/30/3362727/death-by-gps-in-desert.html
>>>
>>> David Allen
>>> Encinitas, CA
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