On the other hand, it's a little easier to accept errors when you can fix the error yourself, and get the changes on your GPS in a few hours, rather than writing to the cartography company about the error, waiting for them to verify the problem, and having to pay out $80+ every three months for the updates so that maybe you see the changes you told them about three months ago.
Why not also your dishwasher? or the whole fucking car for that matter? Is there something special about something that contains technology and electronics that means hat it must be hackable and at the mercy and preserve of idiots like you? I suppose you'll decline all responsibility and run for cover when your amateur hacking causes a car crash? and would be the first to start bleating when someone else hacked your set, no?
Get a life and apply your talents (if you really have any) to something useful, for pity's sake
The GPS doesn't drive the car, the driver does. Unless you're guilty of driving while Californian, using a GPS isn't going to cause an accident. The state of satnav today is crap, and if someone is motivated to fix the problem, why shit on him for it? Perhaps the original author comes up with a marketable product for people who aren't interested in building their own GPS to solve a problem commercial solutions consider an edge case now. Consider taking your own advice: Bitching on Slashdot about someone else's creativity is not a solution to the lack of your own creativity.
It's also the basis for the US data in OpenStreetMap and TeleAtlas as well; though OSM has done a LOT more with that data than the commercial sources have. For example, Navteq and TeleAtlas generally have limited, sponsored POIs, and no cycleway data, but OSM gets the cycleways, and has pretty much every POI that at least one person finds useful.
I have a Navigon 2100, which runs WinCE but it is quite hackable. The whole OS and related data is stored on an SD card; you can simply plug it into an SD reader, replace the files, maps, everything.
Interesting... so if you can replace the maps, any idea what program would convert OpenStreetMap data to the appropriate format for the Navigon? I have one of these useless doorstops (thanks to the absolute crap map data that it ships with) and i'm trying to rehabilitate it, since Navigon's support told me to go fuck myself (in those words).
Seriously, the OpenStreetMap folks have this one figured out already. See their GPS reviews wiki entry on their site for your guide to what GPSs are hackable.
If you are looking at Canada, the west coast's climat is VERY different from the East.
Here is lower B.C. we barely even have a Winter. In fact, we've only had a white Christmas twice in the last 5 of 6 years!
Western Oregon barely has a winter, too... but most locations haven't had a white Christmas more than maybe twice in the last 20 years. That doesn't stop Vancouver from having a warmer, dryer climate than Portland, or Vancouver from having more snowy days in winter. And by "barely a winter," that's still by Canadian standards; you don't want to forget your jacket on the Amtrak Cascades like I did in January! You don't see Eugene hosting the winter olympics after all, and it's only as far south as Toronto is.
For that matter, if you're a programmer, consider getting an education (again) in something else. Screw IT, I'm becoming a civil engineer mid-career before emigrating to Canada.
You and yours just wrecked 1/5th of the the economy. But I suppose you think your state will be so much better once the schools shut down and Prudential is buying ad space on El Capitan.
Given California today, they'll never make that back, either. Better jettison them from the union now while they're already down.
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On the other hand, it's a little easier to accept errors when you can fix the error yourself, and get the changes on your GPS in a few hours, rather than writing to the cartography company about the error, waiting for them to verify the problem, and having to pay out $80+ every three months for the updates so that maybe you see the changes you told them about three months ago.
Why not also your dishwasher? or the whole fucking car for that matter? Is there something special about something that contains technology and electronics that means hat it must be hackable and at the mercy and preserve of idiots like you? I suppose you'll decline all responsibility and run for cover when your amateur hacking causes a car crash? and would be the first to start bleating when someone else hacked your set, no? Get a life and apply your talents (if you really have any) to something useful, for pity's sake
The GPS doesn't drive the car, the driver does. Unless you're guilty of driving while Californian, using a GPS isn't going to cause an accident. The state of satnav today is crap, and if someone is motivated to fix the problem, why shit on him for it? Perhaps the original author comes up with a marketable product for people who aren't interested in building their own GPS to solve a problem commercial solutions consider an edge case now. Consider taking your own advice: Bitching on Slashdot about someone else's creativity is not a solution to the lack of your own creativity.
The US Government Tiger road maps are free (and the basis for much of NavTeq's data I believe in the US).
It's also the basis for the US data in OpenStreetMap and TeleAtlas as well; though OSM has done a LOT more with that data than the commercial sources have. For example, Navteq and TeleAtlas generally have limited, sponsored POIs, and no cycleway data, but OSM gets the cycleways, and has pretty much every POI that at least one person finds useful.
I have a Navigon 2100, which runs WinCE but it is quite hackable. The whole OS and related data is stored on an SD card; you can simply plug it into an SD reader, replace the files, maps, everything.
Interesting... so if you can replace the maps, any idea what program would convert OpenStreetMap data to the appropriate format for the Navigon? I have one of these useless doorstops (thanks to the absolute crap map data that it ships with) and i'm trying to rehabilitate it, since Navigon's support told me to go fuck myself (in those words).
Seriously, the OpenStreetMap folks have this one figured out already. See their GPS reviews wiki entry on their site for your guide to what GPSs are hackable.
If you are looking at Canada, the west coast's climat is VERY different from the East. Here is lower B.C. we barely even have a Winter. In fact, we've only had a white Christmas twice in the last 5 of 6 years!
Western Oregon barely has a winter, too... but most locations haven't had a white Christmas more than maybe twice in the last 20 years. That doesn't stop Vancouver from having a warmer, dryer climate than Portland, or Vancouver from having more snowy days in winter. And by "barely a winter," that's still by Canadian standards; you don't want to forget your jacket on the Amtrak Cascades like I did in January! You don't see Eugene hosting the winter olympics after all, and it's only as far south as Toronto is.
For that matter, if you're a programmer, consider getting an education (again) in something else. Screw IT, I'm becoming a civil engineer mid-career before emigrating to Canada.
You and yours just wrecked 1/5th of the the economy. But I suppose you think your state will be so much better once the schools shut down and Prudential is buying ad space on El Capitan.
Given California today, they'll never make that back, either. Better jettison them from the union now while they're already down.