[Newsbot]

Title: Family stranded after following GPS misdirection rescued by Mounties
Category: Tech
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2016-12-23 15:49:14
Canadian

[Hyack]

It seems too many people blindly follow their GPS systems while letting common sense just fly out the window.....

[raydan]

I guess they were taking the scenic route.

[housewife]

Common sense died. No one has to think or worry about consequences and best yet you get a prize no matter what you do. Or someone saves you. They are very lucky that they were able to get a cell call out

[2Cdo]

Hyack Hyack:

It seems too many people blindly follow their GPS systems while letting common sense just fly out the window.....

"Common sense" is just not that common anymore.

[Alta_redneck]

I listen to an online police scanner out of red deer, there are lots of incidents of people calling 911 and them giving their locations and their a way off. Not sure if it's operator error or if it's the GPS but the last one I heard the left me smh was out about 23kms.

[herbie]

I remember trying to position our store on Google Earth. Insisted it was about 4 miles south of town in the middle of the Stuart River... could never fix it.

[raydan]

I was trying to find another road out of a small town north of here when I went biking. Map Quest showed me a road but Google maps insisted there wasn't one. Finally found a rocky road even a 4 by 4 would have problems getting through, closed off with a chain.

[Hyack]

herbie herbie:

I remember trying to position our store on Google Earth. Insisted it was about 4 miles south of town in the middle of the Stuart River... could never fix it.

It really amazes me how these GPS systems show so many large cities as being situated in different bodies of water......

**edit**

Make that GPS, along with Google Maps, USGS, NRC and all other mapping systems including Wikipedia!

[Strutz]

Translink has that automated voice that announces "the next stop is blah blah" based on GPS on buses and it's funny when it's several stops off.

Definitely not a perfect system and people should do research ahead as a backup.

[Hyack]

Strutz Strutz:

Translink has that automated voice that announces "the next stop is blah blah" based on GPS on buses and it's funny when it's several stops off.

Definitely not a perfect system and people should do research ahead as a backup.

People actually having to think while riding public transport.....

[andyt]

Strutz Strutz:

Translink has that automated voice that announces "the next stop is blah blah" based on GPS on buses and it's funny when it's several stops off.

Definitely not a perfect system and people should do research ahead as a backup.

Well, think about you taking transit in an unfamiliar city. You don't know the landmarks, the stops aren't announced, or you get that "next stop (&(*^&*^^$%^%$#%# " that you can't understand. Street signs aren't clear enough or hard to read from transit. So your research may not do that much for you. You know you want to get off at blah blah street that comes after whatsits street. I know Vancouver quite well, but if I"m taking a new bus route, I might not know what my stop is either. I usually stick close to the driver to give me a heads up - if s/he feels like being human and helping you out.

[herbie]

Oh Jeez it's Vancouver. Always dim, overcast or pissing rain. Had a hard time seeing street signs in my 20s now forget it especially at night. I was a courier there for years, now I visit and don't have a clue without the landmarks I remember.
BowMac sign, the White Lunch, A&B Sound, Pacific GMC, the breweries...
Went to a seminar last fall in Richmond, didn't have a clue where the old Douglas College campus was - it was within a block of the hotel I stayed at but I couldn't find it. Looked up restaurants on the maps thing - a handful had been closed for years or the address didn't exist anymore. But those ads and reviews were still online.

[Strutz]

Tell me about it!

I lived in Richmond for many years then spent by far the most of the past 3-1/2 years up on the central coast where everything between home and work was within a 5min walk. I came back here every 3-6 months for a few days to a week but didn't go many places mostly because I didn't need to. Living back here for the past month I'm having to re-familiarize myself again. Whole blocks are gone. New buildings up. I even have to look at street signs to confirm where I am sometimes. New streets too! It is comforting to see certain landmarks are still around though. Funny how when you are familiar with a place you relate where certain things are based on proximity to other places without really realizing what street they are on.

[Strutz]

herbie herbie:

Oh Jeez it's Vancouver. Always dim, overcast or pissing rain. Had a hard time seeing street signs in my 20s now forget it especially at night. I was a courier there for years, now I visit and don't have a clue without the landmarks I remember.
BowMac sign, the White Lunch, A&B Sound, Pacific GMC, the breweries...
Went to a seminar last fall in Richmond, didn't have a clue where the old Douglas College campus was - it was within a block of the hotel I stayed at but I couldn't find it. Looked up restaurants on the maps thing - a handful had been closed for years or the address didn't exist anymore. But those ads and reviews were still online.

Do you mean Kwantlen College? I remember the old campus as I took courses there as well as in the new one they built many years ago.