On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 2:44 PM, PeterO <rebyl_kayak_at_energysustained.com>wrote: > > > Unfortunately Google Earth 5 doesn't label beacons and lighthouses - I > wonder if that's a legal constraint? > I don't think it's a legal constraint... at least not in the USA where even the charts are not copyrighted. It would be relatively easy to pick off the navigational aids and put them onto Google Earth. I think it might be a "clutter" thing. But it wouldn't surprise me of Google didn't come up with something in the near future. It looks like the Android ('Droid) celll phone operating systems may well take the lead in hand-held navigational devices if Google does begin to plot nav aids. For what it's worth, it pays to be cautious about place names in areas and locations where you have no local knowledge. I found that it is not unknown to have islands mixed up as far as names go. At least, with modern mapping techniques, the locations are getting better; where the charts are updated. One issue with Google Earth that I'm discovering as a person actively searching out desert trails to ride with my mountain bike is that there may be no indication of how long ago the photographs were taken. Trails which were perfectly clear on Google Earth were so overgrown that we lost them (or missed them) completely at times. Still fun though. Riding a bicycle in the desert is a lot like kayaking... it helps to have a good compass for both. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig wrote: >It looks like the Android ('Droid) celll phone operating systems may well >take the lead in hand-held navigational devices if Google does begin to plot >nav aids. G'day, Must be time to upgrade. The only thing my el-cheapo cell phone has is a really nice LED torch. Remember the Radio-Fax discussion we had last year? As of the latest telephone network iteration in Oz its almost impossible not to be able to get the internet everywhere - even Deal Island in the middle of Bass Strait! Still really enjoy using that wireless fax system though, but its getting impossible to advocate it as a major technical advance. Suppose its time to upgrade and throw away my trusty 'kamal', it never gets place names wrong! :~) All the best, PeterO (Who remembers with great affection the soft warm glow from an EF50 pentode valve in his short wave receiver circa 1957) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig wrote: >It looks like the Android ('Droid) celll phone operating systems may well >take the lead in hand-held navigational devices if Google does begin to plot >nav aids. G'day, Must be time to upgrade. The only thing my el-cheapo cell phone has is a really nice LED torch. Remember the Radio-Fax discussion we had last year? As of the latest telephone network iteration in Oz its almost impossible not to be able to get the internet everywhere - even Deal Island in the middle of Bass Strait! Still really enjoy using that wireless fax system though, but its getting impossible to advocate it as a major technical advance. Suppose its time to upgrade and throw away my trusty 'kamal', it never gets place names wrong! :~) All the best, PeterO (Who remembers with great affection the soft warm glow from an EF50 pentode valve in his short wave receiver circa 1957) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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