TomTom map update shenanigans



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    The on-screen keyboard on my Nexus is big enough for use while driving, and it can talk (I turn it off)....snip...the phone does a slight vibration when I touch so I know I did not miss the button or skipped a letter....snip....What is even better with Google is that all my custom settings or locations follow me on all devices: I can plan a whole trip from home and it is all set in my phone automatically, no clumsy retyping or annoying city/state selection like the Garmin....snip....For me it was a few days, until I figured out all the features; I kept the Garmin in the glove compartment but never plugged it back.

    Thanks - that's quite helpful. Nice to know there are some useful people here ...

    @Speakerphone Dude said:

    For the music the bluetooth input on my radio is not like the FM broadcast thing; it works just like a CD or USB stick - the phone becomes only the storage device, I use the controls on the radio (which are connected to the buttons on the steering wheel and to the small screen on the dashboard). Usually I use my phone for the music and I leave a USB stick with lots of audiobooks plugged in the radio so I can switch easily and not lose my bookmarks...snip

    What model do you have? The one you've got sounds great!



  • @lettucemode said:

    @RobFreundlich said:
    When I search directly in Google Maps, I get flags on a map instead of a list of all my options. To get the list, I have to go into Google Places. Unless I'm missing something obvious, that is. If so, PLEASE educate me!

    This is what I meant earlier when I said you get a list of locations by distance - they are marked with letters A-Z based on distance, and you tap the one you want. Sorry for being misleading.

    But how is a list preferable to that? Distance is readily apparent and you can visually filter out locations in high-traffic areas.

    With the list, I can see several names at once and scroll/scan them, whereas with the flags I need to touch each one to see what it is. I find that too distracting.

    @lettucemode said:

    @RobFreundlich said:
    My point here is that when I compare in-phone GPS apps to GPS devices, the in-phone apps seem TO ME to be designed for handheld use while walking or sitting rather than dashboard-mounted use while driving.

    It's designed for handheld use because it's on a phone, I guess.

    Right. I think we're in agreement on this point.

    @lettucemode said:

    But I don't use mine while driving at all, I mount it when I start driving and take it down when I'm done. Certainly it's difficult to use an on-screen keyboard on a phone while driving, but if that's what your problem is then I'd say that's there on purpose to discourage you from typing while driving. It doesn't matter how big the buttons are.

    Turning the phone sideways will give you a bigger keyboard.

    I try to minimize my keyboard use while in the car (in spite of what others in this thread might think, I'm not a psychopath), but let's face it - voice control of devices is neither perfect nor complete, and so you have to use the keyboard and touch the screen a lot more than is ideal. It sounds from what you typed like you might do a lot of your trip planning before you get in the car. If that's true, you probably need to interact with your GPS/phone a lot less than I currently do, and maybe one way for me to adapt is to try things like that.

    @lettucemode said:

    @RobFreundlich said:
    I'll acknowledge that my views may be skewed by the fact that I started with a Garmin and therefore it is the yardstick I measure everything against, but I know that every time I try to use my phone's GPS and music player while driving, I find myself very very frustrated trying to do the same tasks that I do without thought or effort on the Garmin.

    It's always tough to switch from something. If a Garmin fits your preferences better that's fine. But the only substantive argument I think you've made is that a Garmin is easier to use (that is, type on) while driving. That shouldn't be a design goal.

    That's probably why the Android keyboard has a little microphone icon (mine does, anyway) which does speech-to-text when you press it - that way, you don't have to type anything at all.

    I love that microphone icon, and use it frequently for other things, but as I noted above, it's neither perfect not complete. We'll get there soon, though.



  • @RobFreundlich said:

    I try to minimize my keyboard use while in the car (in spite of what others in this thread might think, I'm not a psychopath), but let's face it - voice control of devices is neither perfect nor complete, and so you have to use the keyboard and touch the screen a lot more than is ideal.

    "I only drive drunk a few times a month. It's perfectly fine, I'm in control." You are full of shit. If you're typing while moving, you are a cocksucking psychopath. And the voice control on my phone is flawless; I've never had a problem with it understanding entire addresses. And I used it extensively in Massachusetts, where nothing is pronounced the way it is spelled (I even tried to trick it by pronouncing things the way a tourist might, but it worked regardless).



  •  I want one thing from a GPS unit.

    Napoleon Dynamite voice.

     

    "You Missed the Turn IDIOT!"



  • @Douglasac said:

    I saw a Brother laser printer at Dick Smith the other day..

    TRWTF is Aussies have a (tech) store named Dick Smith. Sounds like a medieval urologist to me.



  • @dubbreak said:

    @Douglasac said:
    I saw a Brother laser printer at Male Reproductive Organ Smith the other day..

    TRWTF is Aussies have a (tech) store named Male Reproductive Organ Smith. Sounds like a medieval urologist to me.

    Yeah, "Male Reproductive Organ Smith" is a really odd name.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Yeah, "Male Reproductive Organ Smith" is a really odd name.

    Better than Newovum or Really-big-ferocious-pussy Direct.. I guess.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    "You know, I don't think this steering is going to work for me when my blood alcohol level is over .3."
     

    Some people would have problems living if their BAC was over .3!

     


  • :belt_onion:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    "I only drive drunk a few times a month. It's perfectly fine, I'm in control." You are full of shit. If you're typing while moving, you are a cocksucking psychopath. And the voice control on my phone is flawless; I've never had a problem with it understanding entire addresses. And I used it extensively in Massachusetts, where nothing is pronounced the way it is spelled (I even tried to trick it by pronouncing things the way a tourist might, but it worked regardless).

    Oddly enough, I've had the same experience, that voice recognition of addresses is utterly flawless. I've just always assumed it's like a combination of Google Map's auto-complete and Soundex; it knows what suggestions it makes would actually be valid addresses and what the street names in your area are. On the other hand, I've found voice recognition of contacts, is always awfully, hilariously wrong. Except it's not that hilarious as it'll start calling the contact it divined without any confirmation. "Call Alison Lee." "Calling Tim Thompson. *ring*" "NO STOP *punch end punch end punch end*"

    Also, +1 on typing while driving. If you're typing while you're driving, on behalf of everyone in DC and the entire DC metropolitan area who has to drive on the highways where every asshole driver has a phone to his ear or at his fingers: FUCK YOU.



  • @dubbreak said:

    @Douglasac said:
    I saw a Brother laser printer at Dick Smith the other day..

    TRWTF is Aussies have a (tech) store named Dick Smith. Sounds like a medieval urologist to me.

    I've heard of a blacksmith.  I wonder what a dicksmith does.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @dubbreak said:

    @Douglasac said:
    I saw a Brother laser printer at Dick Smith the other day..
    TRWTF is Aussies have a (tech) store named Dick Smith. Sounds like a medieval urologist to me.
    I've heard of a blacksmith.  I wonder what a dicksmith does.

    Once he annoyed Arnotts with his similarly named biscuits.



  • @Douglasac said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    @dubbreak said:

    @Douglasac said:
    I saw a Brother laser printer at Dick Smith the other day..
    TRWTF is Aussies have a (tech) store named Dick Smith. Sounds like a medieval urologist to me.
    I've heard of a blacksmith.  I wonder what a dicksmith does.

    Once he annoyed Arnotts with his similarly named biscuits.

     

    Not to mention:

    Yes, one could actually buy these. No, Redheads didn't think it was funny.

     



  • @MeesterTurner said:

    I'd be scared to take a wrong turning with Brian belting out instructions!!! A colleague of mine has the obligatory Mr T satnav, and yes, it does go "whatcha doin' fool?!" if you get it wrong...
    I used to have the California Surfer Dude voice on my Nokia E72. When they updated their software and you could actually remove individual maps and voices instead of everything at once, I removed him, because frankly he's an irritating jerk. Interestingly enough, Nokia appear to have removed him from their line-up as well.

    Using a Nokia these days is a bit like using Pony Express for express delivery, but Nokia Maps is pretty cool – especially that you can download most of Europe on a 16 GB MicroSD card and still have plenty left. I grew up in a time where 64 KB main memory was considered frivolous, so 16 GB on a card smaller than a fingernail still leaves me somewhat in awe.



  • @Severity One said:

    I grew up in a time where 64 KB main memory was considered frivolous, so 16 GB on a card smaller than a fingernail still leaves me somewhat in awe.

    I about shit myself when I saw 32 GB micro SD cards for $20.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @Severity One said:
    I grew up in a time where 64 KB main memory was considered frivolous, so 16 GB on a card smaller than a fingernail still leaves me somewhat in awe.

    I about shit myself when I saw 32 GB micro SD cards for $20.

     

    It isn't quite $1.60/GB, but get your adult diaper / neighbor's face ready anyways:

    [url="http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62423&vpn=PSF64GSDXC10&manufacture=Patriot&promoid=1360"]64GB for $60! [/url]



  • @heterodox said:

    Also, +1 on typing while driving. If you're typing while you're driving, on behalf of everyone in DC and the entire DC metropolitan area who has to drive on the highways where every asshole driver has a phone to his ear or at his fingers: FUCK YOU.

     

    I saw a new high (low) on this front Saturday evening on the B-W Parkway:  it was after dusk, and his lights weren't on; he was driving aggressively, weaving between lanes and tailgating people who dared to be only doing 75 mph on the Parkway (55 MPH speed limit); moving fast - I was doing 70 and he passed me in a flash, so I'm guessing he was doing at least 90; and he was holding his phone to his ear.  I flicked my lights hoping to get him to at least turn on his headlights so others would be able to see him coming and maybe avoid him, but he was too engrossed with the other things going on to care, apparently.  I'm kind of surprised I didn't see him in an accident farther up the road, honestly - he was doing almost everything he could to cause one.

    Do the phone GPS apps work without a data connection?  It's not often we run into this, but my wife and I go camping and will sometimes be on the Edge network, which is slow, or have no data service at all (rare, but it does happen).  I was under the impression phone GPSs required a data connection, and I've seen enough times where we didn't have it that I would hesitate to rely on it.  We have a Magellan GPS that we use - it works fine, and we can leave it in the vehicle when we stop on trips, rather than having to disconnect the phone and get it out of the holder every time.  But now the data on it is 2 years old...

     



  • Just a quick update: The support found a solution which actually enabled a "partial map" feature for the original map I bought. Which means that, while I don't have a map of the whole of Europe, I now can switch between the parts of Europe I need to go to without redownloading stuff (but will still need to sync the map parts to the device from my PC).
    As my parents don't drive from Poland to Spain spontaneously, that solution works.

    As to why the stand-alone GPS:

    • As I already stated, my parents are not technologically savvy. For some reason, such a standalone unit is psychologically less daunting than starting an app on a smartphone - don't ask me why, it's just that way.
    • You don't need a data connection - yes, I know, it is possible to pre-download tiles for Google Maps. However, the interface for doing so is less than stellar.
    • Most important though: Google Maps navigation has NO "drive to XYZ via ABC" - it always gives you the fastest/shortest route. Which means that if you know that there's a traffic jam at a particular point on your route, you'll drive Google Navigation nuts when you deviate from said route.



  • @rmarquet said:

    I saw a new high (low) on this front Saturday evening on the B-W Parkway:  it was after dusk, and his lights weren't on; he was driving aggressively, weaving between lanes and tailgating people who dared to be only doing 75 mph on the Parkway (55 MPH speed limit); moving fast - I was doing 70 and he passed me in a flash, so I'm guessing he was doing at least 90; and he was holding his phone to his ear.  I flicked my lights hoping to get him to at least turn on his headlights so others would be able to see him coming and maybe avoid him, but he was too engrossed with the other things going on to care, apparently.  I'm kind of surprised I didn't see him in an accident farther up the road, honestly - he was doing almost everything he could to cause one.

    ...

    The DC area is its own WTF on countless levels driving just being one of them.  I have too many driving stories from the DC area to list every case here.  The two biggest categories I have seen is illegal passing in the right shoulder and treating red lights like stop signs.  But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.



  • @Rhywden said:

    Most important though: Google Maps navigation has NO "drive to XYZ via ABC" - it always gives you the fastest/shortest route. Which means that if you know that there's a traffic jam at a particular point on your route, you'll drive Google Navigation nuts when you deviate from said route.
    I love messing with Google's Navigation app.  It is like: "U turn at the next intersection... why aren't you U-turning, Why are you trying to avoid the red blob on the route I recommend... [several minutes later of saying U turn] Ok fine keep on your current road for 2 more miles."


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Anketam said:

    The DC area is its own WTF on countless levels driving just being one of them.  I have too many driving stories from the DC area to list every case here.  The two biggest categories I have seen is illegal passing in the right shoulder and treating red lights like stop signs.  But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.

    The traffic system is right on the edge on a daily basis, so nearly anything can cause it to seize up. An accident on the Virginia side of the beltway regularly paralyzes the entire Tyson's Corner area (let's not even talk about Christmas shopping traffic). I remember many instances of sitting on local roads for a couple of hours, and is one of the big reasons why I've maximized my telecommuting.

    Still, it's better than having to drive in Maryland. Seriously, the northern segment of the Beltway feels like a slalom course. Well, mostly it seems like a parking lot. But in the middle of the night, when you can actually drive at double digit speeds...



  • @hymie said:

    @Douglasac said:

    @Anketam said:
    I once bought an ink jet printer on sale along with replacement black and color cartridge for it.  I noticed that if I subtracted the ink from the cost of the printer, I was actually only spending $20 on the printer the rest was all on ink,
    Similarly, a set of Philips razors for my electric razor are $80 from the shop I got it from... the guy I talked to about it told me that I could get a new Philips electric razor for $39. Alternately, I can buy the blades from the US for $35-$40 delivered.
     

    I had a set of 4 cordless phones that needed some new batteries.  I could have paid $80 for a set of new batteries, or $60 for a set of new phones.

     

     

     

    Last year I added up it is more cost effective to pop in to the sperm bank and make a donation then to hire a street walker to do essentially the same job.

     



  • @Anketam said:

    The DC area is its own WTF on countless levels driving just being one of them.  I have too many driving stories from the DC area to list every case here.  The two biggest categories I have seen is illegal passing in the right shoulder and treating red lights like stop signs.  But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.

    Try driving in Paris, where people behind you will honk the horn if you are waiting for a green light when there is no car coming in the other way. Or Portugal where people will leave their car in the middle of a 1-lane street to go run some errands, expecting people who want to pass to honk the horn. Or South Korea where many taxi drivers are watching a DVD player on the dashboard while they drive.



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @Severity One said:
    I grew up in a time where 64 KB main memory was considered frivolous, so 16 GB on a card smaller than a fingernail still leaves me somewhat in awe.

    I about shit myself when I saw 32 GB micro SD cards for $20.

     

    It isn't quite $1.60/GB, but get your adult diaper / neighbor's face ready anyways:

    64GB for $60!

    And with a name like "Patriot" you know they're giving you the high-quality stuff. If it was cheap crap they would have named it "Terrorist" or "Liberal".



  • @Rhywden said:

    Most important though: Google Maps navigation has NO "drive to XYZ via ABC" - it always gives you the fastest/shortest route. Which means that if you know that there's a traffic jam at a particular point on your route, you'll drive Google Navigation nuts when you deviate from said route.

    On my phone it has alternative routes and traffic. Also, it calculates based on shortest time (considering traffic) not shortest distance (although I think that's an option).

    The thing that doesn't work (or, at least, I never figured out how) is to say "This road is completely closed, DO NOT USE IT". You can tell the GPS to avoid a certain route, but then it just says "LOL, drive 5 miles further on the current road, then take this connecting road which drops you back to the SAME FUCKING ROAD YOU JUST SAID WAS CLOSED."



  • @Helix said:

    Last year I added up it is more cost effective to pop in to the sperm bank and make a donation then to hire a street walker to do essentially the same job.

    Yeah, but sperm banks have standards..



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    @Anketam said:
    The DC area is its own WTF on countless levels driving just being one of them.  I have too many driving stories from the DC area to list every case here.  The two biggest categories I have seen is illegal passing in the right shoulder and treating red lights like stop signs.  But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.

    Try driving in Paris, where people behind you will honk the horn if you are waiting for a green light when there is no car coming in the other way. Or Portugal where people will leave their car in the middle of a 1-lane street to go run some errands, expecting people who want to pass to honk the horn. Or South Korea where many taxi drivers are watching a DVD player on the dashboard while they drive.


    Or Naples, Italy where traffic law is a mere sugestion


  • :belt_onion:

    @rmarquet said:

    I'm kind of surprised I didn't see him in an accident farther up the road, honestly - he was doing almost everything he could to cause one.

    Too bad he wasn't pulled over. Jail time does a fairly excellent job of correcting the impulse for such reckless driving (if you're teachable at all, which is dubious in such cases).

    @Anketam said:

    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.

    Hell, when it rains, everyone drives like they're missing a chromosome.

     



  • @Anketam said:

    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever.  A musician friend from Ohio once told me about playing at a club somewhere in Texas, and it snowed that day,  just a very small amount    When the band went on stage the place was empty and there was exactly one person in the audience.  And he was from Ohio.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Anketam said:

    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever.  A musician friend from Ohio once told me about playing at a club somewhere in Texas, and it snowed that day,  just a very small amount    When the band went on stage the place was empty and there was exactly one person in the audience.  And he was from Ohio.

    The inverse is also true: when New England gets a day in the high 90s it's like the world is coming to an end. "Ohh, it's a wikkid scowcha today!"



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    People still buy standalone GPS units?
    IProbably for boats, which is where GPS first became popular (because the earliest units didn't work around buildings and trees).


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @El_Heffe said:

    @Anketam said:
    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever. 
    Sounds a bit like London.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Anketam said:
    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever.  A musician friend from Ohio once told me about playing at a club somewhere in Texas, and it snowed that day,  just a very small amount    When the band went on stage the place was empty and there was exactly one person in the audience.  And he was from Ohio.
    DC area should shut down, but it is the fact they don't shut down which is why it is so horrible.  The last major snow storm came through during the afternoon and everyone had gone to work like normal that morning and did not bother to leave work early, you can imagine the hilarity that ensued.  I used to live in the southern part of Virginia where one time they closed the schools because of the threat of it snowing, we got 0 inches of any percipitation that day.



  • @PJH said:

    @El_Heffe said:
    @Anketam said:
    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever. 
    Sounds a bit like London.

    Or Toronto, where they call the army when there is an inch of snow (or too much garbage). They also close the airport. Meanwhile in Montreal (5h drive north-east of Toronto) they are almost putting chains on airplanes tires to make sure air traffic does not stop because of a storm.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    Or Toronto, where they call the army when there is an inch of snow (or too much garbage).

    I always knew Canada was secretly a police state.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    @PJH said:
    @El_Heffe said:
    @Anketam said:
    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever. 
    Sounds a bit like London.

    Or Toronto, where they call the army when there is an inch several feet of snow out of nowhere after a thus-far mild winter (or too much garbage). They also close the airport because you don't fly planes in a blizzard. Meanwhile in Montreal (5h drive north-east of Toronto) they are almost putting chains on airplanes tires to make sure air traffic does not stop because of a storm even though this is both dangerous and not true because the person replying to me has gotten stuck in Montreal due to icing on a plane.

    FTFY.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    Toronto, where they call the army when

    Yeah, but that is the canadian army, isn't garbage picking and snow shoveling what it is for?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @serguey123 said:

    @Speakerphone Dude said:
    Toronto, where they call the army when

    Yeah, but that is the canadian army, isn't garbage picking and snow shoveling what it is for?

    Plus snipers. Or a sniper, anyways.



  • @serguey123 said:

    @Speakerphone Dude said:
    Toronto, where they call the army when

    Yeah, but that is the canadian army, isn't garbage picking and snow shoveling what it is for?

    The Canadian Army does other things!

    Like closing down roads so a baby caribou can find its mother, or appearing at the opening of a new shopping mall, or lending a helping hand at elementary school bake sales..


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @pkmnfrk said:

    @Speakerphone Dude said:
    @PJH said:
    @El_Heffe said:
    @Anketam said:
    But it is even more fun when it snows in the DC area.
    It's even more fun when it snows somewhere like Texas, where the tiniest bit of snow causes everything to shut down  as if it's the worst natual disater ever. 
    Sounds a bit like London.
    Or Toronto, where they call the army when there is an inch several feet of snow out of nowhere after a thus-far mild winter (or too much garbage). They also close the airport because you don't fly planes in a blizzard. Meanwhile in Montreal (5h drive north-east of Toronto) they are almost putting chains on airplanes tires to make sure air traffic does not stop because of a storm even though this is both dangerous and not true because the person replying to me has gotten stuck in Montreal due to icing on a plane.
    FTFY.
    So not like London. Where 1mm of snow is enough for the BBC to make it headline news.



    When the rest of the country has already had loads of snow and is either (1) functioning despite the snow or (2) snowed in - neither of which made the news.


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