I will soon be getting a nifty tiny GPS receiver to hook up via Bluetooth to my phone. I’m going to be doing some deep testing and reviewing of an app (and if I get permission, will post it here) that … well, you’ll have to wait for that.
In the process of reading about GPS devices, I remembered Geocaching*. I then did the usual, googling around, and found Geocaching, the site, which seems to be the grandmama of all geocaching groups.
The cool thing is that they have a live link (a KML file) that you can put into Google Earth that will show you the approximate locations and link to the detailed Geocaching cache page. That means that you can rapidly and graphically find caches in an area (there are a few within a kilometer or two of my home – you bet I’m going to look for them).
Sure beats search forms and lists, right? Heck, it’s a damn good link between the physical world and virtual information. That’s a great fusion between a mobile device and Web and PC tools. Now if we could do something about a viewer for the phone, the fusion would be complete.
Read the article below for a light take on the subject of Google Earth being used to help people explore the real Earth.
Link: Future Boy: Google moves into virtual worlds – May. 12, 2006.
You can already download user-generated layers that sit on top of Google’s 3-D Earth and show you, for example, the location of celebrity houses or hiking trails or famous landmarks. One dating service has even started showing people looking for partners as a Google Earth layer.
Real estate companies have started showing off virtual versions of their buildings (for sale in the real world) on Google Earth. SketchUp allows them to build entire models of their apartments, right down to the microwave oven.
*[from Wikipedia] Geocaching, is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which participants (called "geocachers") use a Global Positioning System
receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers
(called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache
(pronounced /kæʃ/ like the English word cash)
is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure"
(usually toys or trinkets of little monetary value). Some variations of
the game include a point system to enhance game play.
Hmmm… I am still waiting for Nokia and Lifeblog to give me the GPS coordinates in my EXIF data…. Am I dreaming?
Given that the phone has to know where it is in the network, can’t it give us our coordinates, too?
;o)
It’s in the qode
http://www.qode.com