Oct 14 2008

More On The Car

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 2:58 am

So, as I previously mentioned, we are now the proud owners of a car, and John very kindly took a couple of shots so we could tell what it looked like exactly.

Mondeo

Mondeo


Interior of the car

Interior of the car


I still have to figure out how I want to mount my TyTn II for GPS and music purposts, and what sort of audio connection to try and setup. The car still has the original Ford 5000 RDS EON tape unit installed, so I need to figure out whether a simple Extended USB > 3.5mm > Tape adaptor will work without overflowing wires everywhere, if I can hardwire in a lead to the existing CD Changer interface on the back of the tape unit, try and setup a bluetooth based system, or whether a short range FM broadcasting adaptor would work well. Any recommendations from readers? I need to remember that I’ll probably need two cigarette lighter sockets, one for charging the phone (using GPS sucks the batteries quite quickly), and one for the audio adaptor I use (in some cases).

Tags: , , ,

Oct 07 2008

Criminal Caught In Covert Capture Car Catastrophe!

Category: In The Media — ChrisM @ 9:42 pm

Whilst your average car thief might not consider a full-on balaclava or fancy dress mask necessary, if they had a tattoo detailing their name and date of birth, you would assume some sort of cover-up, even if just a turtle neck sweater, was a smart move. Apparently not, at least for Aarron Evans, as you can see from the video here! He received a twenty eight weeks custodial sentence for stealing a GPS device from the police honey pot car, after having asked for ten other offences to be taken into consideration.
Aarron Evans Bristol Car Theft
The image above it from a Daily Mail article, where they’ve obviously highlighted the tattoo’s details to clarify how the officers managed to find him so quickly.

Tags: , , ,

May 28 2008

GPS Equals $$$ ?

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 3:46 am

As readers will know from past posts, I got a new phone this Christmas to replace my old PDA, phone and bluetooth GPS unit. It has already been pretty useful for the obvious things like getting directions with route finding software, finding out where I was with Google maps, and marking places of interest for future visits. However, what about those people who don’t want a full on multi-system like the Kaiser? Miniaturized GPS units, like those that GTX Corp are producing could well be catalyst in a huge consumer boom in purchases. Whether it be a small belt clip for athletes, a discrete vehicle tracking unit, or simply anything with such a small GPS Tracking Device integrated into it, the potential uses are only just starting to be realised. The fact that the technology has improved so much means that size constraints no longer apply to what sort of existing objects can easily be redesigned by manufacturers to integrate location tracking, and with the increasing availability of the internet whilst on the move, you don’t even need to be in a centralized office to co-ordinate the data coming in. All this means that many people see GPS-based companies as the next wise move for investors looking to get in relatively early to a blossoming sector. Do I have enough money to invest in companies? Not yet sadly, but if someone asked me which areas were worth considering, it would have to be in my top 5.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Apr 14 2008

424320 Seconds To Go!

Category: Amsterdam — ChrisM @ 5:08 pm

Well it is now just 118 hours until Irina and I leave for Amsterdam 🙂
I still have quite a lot to do work to do before we leave, not least is working out what to take with us for both the Netherlands and our subsequent trip to Britain. In terms of lightweight equipment, I am trying to minimize on the gadgets and accompanying power supplies etc., and also working out the minimum amount of clothes we can take, considering we’re not likely to be using a laundry in Holland. So what am I taking? Well my HTC TyTn II is definitely coming along, as it serves as my phone, a PDA (for gaming in between flights, internet browsing whenever I can find a WiFi signal) and it also has a built in GPS device, so there’ll be no excuse for getting lost whilst stumbling from one coffeeshop tourist destination to the next.

(Yes, I know 118 hours does not equal 424320 seconds, but by the time I wrote out this post, a few more minutes had past 🙂 )

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Dec 19 2007

Left A Bit, Down A Bit

Category: Kazakhstan — ChrisM @ 2:30 am

I need to find someone with an A3 scanner here in Astana, as I intend to try out the GPS feature of my HTC TyTnII next year, here in Kazakhstan’s capital. As I could not find any decent digital maps, or even just scans of road maps, I tried scanning in a fairly recent poster a while ago. As it was a lot larger than A4, I tried to scan it in segments, then stitch them together. Unfortunately the task was not exactly completed well, and although it is usable by human eyes and standards, I know that using it a basis for navigating using Lat/Long will result in a lot of inaccuracies. Anyway, if anyone hears of a friendly company willing to do a high res scan of the map for me, I’d be very grateful.

Tags: , , ,

Dec 10 2007

GPS Alternative

Category: In The Media — ChrisM @ 2:27 am

As you may remember from my previous posts re. the HTC TyTn II, I already use a Global Positioning System device when I am in Britain. Although there are of course the usual horror stories of little old grannies mindlessly following instructions and driving their Nissan Sunny into a pond, or of being taken on 250 mile detours, I find the ability to chill out about exactly which junction I need to exit from on the motorway, or the location of speed cameras very useful. According to an article over at BBC News, Europe is planning the launch of a system to offer an alternative to America’s GPS. The table at the end of the article is the sort of thing I really like from the BBC – a neat summary of exactly what is on the table, and in this case at least, who each section will be aimed at.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Dec 03 2007

My Main Christmas Present

Category: Personal,WiFi,Windows Mobile — ChrisM @ 3:01 pm

I just wanted to show my readers a demonstration of my next toy 🙂
It is called a HTC TyTn II and will be replacing some of my current equipment…

My current phone (an Orange C550 (a rebadged HTC Hurricane) which crashes and some buttons no longer work all the time.
My current PDA (a HP iPAQ 2210) with a non-functioning directional pad, faulty USB socket, a snapped battery cover and it also crashes.
GPS unit – my current one no longer gets a fix on satellites.
The TyTn II also has a built-in camera, which should be an improvement over my current phone’s. Though without a flash, I don’t think it will be completely replacing our current digital camera.
Anyway, have a play with the demo below, you can spin the model around, slide open the keyboard and tilt the screen.
Continue reading “My Main Christmas Present”

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Sep 13 2007

GPS With Speedcamera POI

Category: Amsterdam — ChrisM @ 5:01 am

Now that I have my GPS systems sorted for Amsterdam (we will have TomTom Navigator on the PDA, GPS Tuner also on the PDA, and TomTom Mobile and a couple of basic GPS apps on the Smartphone), one positive side effect will be having a navigation system ready to use in Britain, should I end up hiring a car for any of the long journeys. (If it costs the same to hire one as a coach or train ticket, I may well do this, as I have not driven in 9 months, and sort of miss driving, especially in a country where people have at least a semblance of lane discipline 😉 ). What with the speed camera database installed on the PDA, the only other item I could do with is a radar detector to ensure I am aware of any mobile speed detection units on the road I am travelling on at the time. Obviously this would be for interest only, as I never go above 70mph on Britain’s motorways.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Sep 07 2007

Two Weeks Today!

Category: Amsterdam,Friends,Personal,Windows Mobile — ChrisM @ 2:10 am

Yep, 14 and a half days, and I’ll be waiting to board the plane from Kaliningrad to Amsterdam. I have checked with the hotel about their luggage storage facilities, and all is OK there. (I can not check into the apartment they own until 5pm, and Alex & ChrisD arrive 4 hours after me anyway.) I have tried updating a couple of GPS related PDA programs, with varying success. As I do not want to risk losing the use of the older versions, I will leave trying to fix the problems (related to .NET Framework issues) until I am back in Kazakhstan, in five and a bit weeks. I am sort of itching to sort the problem now, but I know from experience that if something works, it is best to leave until the need is not there before attempting un-necessary upgrades. Anyway, I need to double check on a few forums that I have made fair and accurate summaries of what, where and how much to spend in Amsterdam, and then make sure the data is replicated across the PDA, Smartphone and real world paper and ink 🙂 No flat battery is going to throw this break into a mess for me 🙂 I discovered that there was no point in checking for Java based GPS applets to install on my Sony Ericsson K700 (my backup phone that will have my UK SIM card in it) does not allow access to bluetooth services through JARs, unfortunately. Given that Alex is bringing her (newer) Smartphone as well, and the installation files I need are on my mini-SD mem card, I guess I’ll just have to survive somehow 😉

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Sep 03 2007

TomTom Mobile Sorted

Category: Amsterdam,Windows Mobile — ChrisM @ 1:41 am

I finally got around to installing TomTom on to my Smartphone, and making sure the Netherlands map was activated and looking OK. Next I need to double check the research I’ve carried out, make sure I have not missed any places worth visiting, and export them to KML files. Those files can be imported straight into GPSTuner on my PDA, though my PDA’s and SmartPhone’s TomTom application will require the data to converted into OV2 etc. files.
I now have two separate sources for satellite navigation, in case either the phone or the PDA’s battery runs out, and with two different applications, should one turn out not to be working as well as planned. I’ll post results once I know how well things went.

Tags: , , , ,

« Previous Page — Next Page »