Russell Kirkpatrick's Journal
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Locating Stuff
14-Dec-2007
I've yielded to my impulse for gagetry and bought a GPS receiver. This doodad allows me to locate stuff. Well, that is, it gives an accurate (within 5 metres) reading of where I am when using it. So I can build up a map of locations. My offsider, Paul, is going to Bahrain next month and will use it to locate obscure placenames and sites of archeological interest not currently on maps.
Handy tool. Bet you all want one now.
Comments
Nah, we've already got one!!! Hubby uses it on camping trips. He links the data with Google Earth and keeps a graphic record of all the trips we've taken. Did I mention he's an engineer???
So you're not going to use it to find Yackandandah?
BTW, do we need gourmet coffee?
BTW, do we need gourmet coffee?
Sorry, I'm in philosophical mode :).
It's always refreshign to kow that there are more obsessives out there ...
And that I can't type in a hurry ...
GPS is a truly great advance in navigation.
What worries me though is the reliance on technology that can fail.
I would be content if all professional navigators were competent in pre-GPS navigation. If their GPS device fails or the satellites malfunction then thay have the knowledge and skills to continue the journey.
What worries me though is the reliance on technology that can fail.
I would be content if all professional navigators were competent in pre-GPS navigation. If their GPS device fails or the satellites malfunction then thay have the knowledge and skills to continue the journey.
I have heard (always an indication that you should take what I say as gospel) that just before the NATO forces began bombing raids in Bosnia they altered all the GPS data from the satellites so that only NATO troops could use the data and that all civilian (and other military) users would get incorrect data. Now I don't know if this is true, but as the satellites are all owned by the military, it is plausible.
I've not heard the story, but the US military used 'selective availability' to introduce inaccuracies in non-military applications. The encryption to make the signal accurate was only available to the US military. This was undermined during the Gulf War as soldiers used their own civilian GPS receivers. In 2000 Bill Clinton removed selective availability, but I wouldn't bet against it still being available to the military.
I intensely dislike this sort of thing. Cartography (the specialty from which I earn my bread and butter) has long been guided - and misguided - by the military. Women struggle to read maps, for example, because in effect maps are a conversation between male military members, which women are trying to overhear. There are both gender and military barriers preventing women making best use of spatial information.
The notion of deliberate inaccuracies staggers me.
I intensely dislike this sort of thing. Cartography (the specialty from which I earn my bread and butter) has long been guided - and misguided - by the military. Women struggle to read maps, for example, because in effect maps are a conversation between male military members, which women are trying to overhear. There are both gender and military barriers preventing women making best use of spatial information.
The notion of deliberate inaccuracies staggers me.
It's the turning the world unreliable that fascinates me. I hate it, but it fascinates me. During WWII many parts of Britain took signs down to confuse invaders. This is the same misinformation on a local scale and with tacit community acceptance (and, more often than not, active community participation). It turns everyday activities in to a quagmire that excludes those not in the know. Very much the stuff of gender debate, Russell, I fully agree (sh, everyone, don't spread it round that I just agreed with him!)
It's all about reducing the number of signals we can call on to navigate our lives. Maps are the easy bit to spot. Crucial information that's webbed only (a lot of government stuff on accessing help for disabilities, for instance) or accessible to people with cerrtain types of langauge skills (eg the law) or other skills (the mapping stuff) can all reduce our capacity to navigate without help. They reduce human potenital, in a way, even though they were set up to help us navigate and to use systems effectively.
It's all about reducing the number of signals we can call on to navigate our lives. Maps are the easy bit to spot. Crucial information that's webbed only (a lot of government stuff on accessing help for disabilities, for instance) or accessible to people with cerrtain types of langauge skills (eg the law) or other skills (the mapping stuff) can all reduce our capacity to navigate without help. They reduce human potenital, in a way, even though they were set up to help us navigate and to use systems effectively.
Truly a disinformation age!
I'm currently arguing with a colleague who has accused me of unethical behaviour over my Atlas of Bahrain project. Bahrain will not allow military areas to be mapped, including an enormous airbase in the south clearly visible on Google Earth (go have a look, and admire the funny land reclamation nearby). My colleague chides the Bahrain authorities for hiding this information, (and me for agreeing to do the atlas) but refuses to recognise just how much western history has been dominated by informational silences. We all suffer as a result, but women, who are already kept out of this loop, suffer more.
The irony is, of course, these silences and disinformation tactics are part of an attempt to bring 'freedom' to the world.
I'm currently arguing with a colleague who has accused me of unethical behaviour over my Atlas of Bahrain project. Bahrain will not allow military areas to be mapped, including an enormous airbase in the south clearly visible on Google Earth (go have a look, and admire the funny land reclamation nearby). My colleague chides the Bahrain authorities for hiding this information, (and me for agreeing to do the atlas) but refuses to recognise just how much western history has been dominated by informational silences. We all suffer as a result, but women, who are already kept out of this loop, suffer more.
The irony is, of course, these silences and disinformation tactics are part of an attempt to bring 'freedom' to the world.
It's freedom in the Ancient Athenian sense of "Those of you who are not in the right niche of society and the right sex have the privilege of assisting those who are create civilisation. We particularly value assistance in menial tasks."
Insomnia makes me snarky and capable of the most egregious generalisations. Or are they? I've never seen an occupational map or a freeperson map or a "I have the vote" map for Ancient Athens. I think I need to, one day.
Insomnia makes me snarky and capable of the most egregious generalisations. Or are they? I've never seen an occupational map or a freeperson map or a "I have the vote" map for Ancient Athens. I think I need to, one day.
There are interesting examples of what I call 'maps of resistance', Gillian, though they are more contemporary than historical. Community maps of Toronto, for example, put together by groups opposed to the development of the lakeshore, pointing out the amenities they enjoy. Parish maps in the UK, with similar purposes. My own atlas of socio-economic deprivation, my 'fear on campus' map designed to alert university authorities to areas of danger and violence on campus, and my 'three city women' map, an attempt to highlight the limits of women's use of public space.
I've been using a GPS in my fieldwork for years, since 1997 or so. Although it is difficult to use the rainforest, it's not impossible. Just takes longer to get readings. I had a couple of genius friends who went into the vast mangroves of Perak in a boat, then on foot, confident they would find their way out again; after all they had a GPS. But they forgot to take a reading of where they left the boat...
They were found a day later after a massive police search, without food or water, perched high in mangrove trees with a whole lot of ants and snakes for company after the tide came in...
In Tirana, when I was there in the early 90s, there were few road signs and no street names. None. And no maps - not even a tourist map of the city, let alone the country. In case the wicked Soviets chose to invade, you see.
They were found a day later after a massive police search, without food or water, perched high in mangrove trees with a whole lot of ants and snakes for company after the tide came in...
In Tirana, when I was there in the early 90s, there were few road signs and no street names. None. And no maps - not even a tourist map of the city, let alone the country. In case the wicked Soviets chose to invade, you see.
You've been to Tirana? Don't s'pose you met Queen Geraldine, did you? I guess not. And the famous King Zog was long gone by then.
You have lived a fascinating life, Glenda.
You have lived a fascinating life, Glenda.
Glenda, I'm pretty sure that what Russell meant to say was that you *are living* a fascinating life. As a reader of your blog, I haven't seen any signs that you're slowing down *grin*.
Hmm. Nah, I've slowed. I do everything a lot more slowly. Sigh.
Glenda fascinating? I must pay more attention.
Definitely you need to do something about that attention span of yours...how many years did it take to write your first trilogy, hmmm?
Hey Russell, is your house still standing? Heard about the earthquake, wondered if you and your family are all OK. Of course, not knowing exactly where everything is in New Zealand, you could be miles away.
Hopefully he *is* miles away and all is well. The map they showed on the news tonight wasn't precisely helpful.
Please report in so we can stop worrying!
Please report in so we can stop worrying!
I needed a map (cos Russ is a bad influence) - you're way too close to Gisborne, Russell - I would love assurance that you're oK.
Earthquake?
There's been an earthquake and I didn't hear about it? Hold on a mo, I'll go check.
Goodness. Just watched the 8am news. We get this sort of trembler once a year, but mostly in the South Island. Given urban areas cover less than 1% of the country, it's unusual for a city to be affected. The damage looks impressive on tele, but there doesn't appear to be any fatalities - so far.
We're a couple of hundred km away and didn't feel a thing. Although - look! Our house is in the middle of a huge dark crack in the earth! Oh, that's right - we built it in a gully.
There's been an earthquake and I didn't hear about it? Hold on a mo, I'll go check.
Goodness. Just watched the 8am news. We get this sort of trembler once a year, but mostly in the South Island. Given urban areas cover less than 1% of the country, it's unusual for a city to be affected. The damage looks impressive on tele, but there doesn't appear to be any fatalities - so far.
We're a couple of hundred km away and didn't feel a thing. Although - look! Our house is in the middle of a huge dark crack in the earth! Oh, that's right - we built it in a gully.
Well apparently his sense of humour hasn't been affected... Still the same as normal!!
Russell, you are reassuringly evil.
Russell, this inquiring mind wants to sort out your notion of scale. If you live in a huge dark crack in the earth, then why do I live in flatlands?
It's all relative. Any hole seems deep when you're in it. Make what you like of that.
It means you've been digging yourself holes again. Is it the hobbit in you or stirrer-gone-one-step-too-far in you, though - I can't decide.
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