DougVining.net
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Tracks4Africa now on iPhone and Android As a Land Rover fan and owner, I’m pretty keen on exploring the bush and going to places that are generally not accessible in a BMW. Living in Johannesburg, most of those places are in neighbouring countries, like Botswana, Mozambique and Angola.
The problem is, most navigation gadgets and tools don’t support off-road very well, even when those are the primary routes to get to these places. Tracks4Africa fills that gap, providing routable gravel roads and tracks with waypoints for camping and other leisure activities. If you have a Garmin GPS, you can download the maps you need for a trip, and you can also browse the online Africa map, or consult Google Earth with the Tracks4Africa layer enabled.
But my biggest issue was no app for the iPad, a great device to take with you an a trip, with built in GPS and camera. Now T4A is available from the app store for iPad and iPhone, and also Android devices. It’s different from the Garmin experience, but the key feature is the whole map set is installed on the device, so you don’t need a cell connection to use the maps or get navigation to your favourite spot in the bundu.
Unfortunately, you can’t download your previously saved waypoints from your laptop or other people, but you can find any point in the T4A Padkos list, and save it as a favourite for easy reference, or manually enter the co-ordinates.
But the best feature by far, is the fact that you can use pictures (with location data) to search for places on the map. So if you have a picture of Chilojo Cliffs or Leba Pass taken with your phone or iPad, just tap on it and T4A will find it for you on the map, then take you there!
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by Tracks4Africa for this review, just enjoying the fact that I can finally use my iPad as a decent off-road navigation tool.
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Will 'flammable ice' solve the energy crisis? | FuturesForum | Neil Jacobsohn Could this be the next energy Black Swan?
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Some insights from the attached chart:
- Innovation has become global: all regions show potential as hubs of innovation (the two upper quadrants show the countries leading in the GII ranking).
- There seems to be a positive relationship between population size and efficiency: six countries among the most densely populated, including three BRICs, are in the top 10 on the efficiency index: Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Brazil, India and Bangladesh (countries to the right of the chart; the chart shows the full name for the 30 most populated countries, except for USA and the UK).
ViaINSEAD eLab
(via greenfuturist)
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News from the Future via MindBullets
Celebrities outraged at pirate body features, demand royalties for their DNA
Dateline: 21 March 2026
Remember the recording industry outrage at pirated music and the file-sharing sub-culture? It was soon eclipsed by wide-scale copying of movies and TV series, easily spread by torrents and mega downloads.
Then came the 3D printing revolution, and it wasn’t long before geeks were pirating real things - simply scan them and print out a replica. And if you had one of the fancier machines, you could clone fully-functional electronic gadgets, once you had downloaded the ‘maker’ file.
But pirating gadgets and fashion labels is one thing; stealing someone’s eyes, ears or nose is another matter entirely! Movie stars and models are demanding royalties on their facial features, now that 3D manufacture of human organs is mainstream.
For medical reasons, many celebs have had their complete genome sequenced and stored in the cloud. It was only a matter of time, before Asian hackers unlocked the secrets to beautiful hair, stunning eyes and rugged good looks. Now you can just order your new features on the internet, and they’ll be ready for your next surgical safari to Vietnam or Cambodia.
“It’s just DNA,” says one ‘body sculptor’ in Shanghai. “You can’t copyright that!” But agents for the stars disagree: “Your genetic heritage is unique and belongs to you alone. You can’t get more personal than that!”
The lawyers are having a field day. Complicating matters is the fact that these cloned features often have a subtle variation to make them technically different from the original model, and unique in their own right. ‘Look and feel’ lawsuits are taking on a whole new meaning!
Published 7 March 2013
Despite appearances to the contrary, FutureWorld cannot and does not predict the future. Our MindBullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, challenge and stimulate strategic thinking. Use these at your own risk. Any reference to actual people, entities or events is entirely allegorical. Copyright FutureWorld International Limited. Reproduction or distribution permitted only with recognition of Copyright and the inclusion of this disclaimer. Public domain image.
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The Toyota iRoad. Safer than a Vespa, cooler than an iPhone?
http://www.gizmag.com/toyota-i-road-full-enclosed-tilting-electric-three-wheeler/26498/
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New energy from the sun | FuturesForum | Doug Vining A radical idea for capturing solar energy, but will it work?
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Astronaut Guide: How to Train Your Dragon
SpaceX is becoming the space success story of the decade!
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Fire in the sky: Another magnificent African sunset in Jozi
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New video: FutureTalk - Conversation on Naked Leadership (by FuturesForum) with Futurist Neil Jacobson, Anton Musgrave, Doug Vining and Gerd Leonhard.
MUST WATCH:)
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New home for DougVining.net
Now that Posterous is closing down, I’ve decided to move my personal blog to Tumblr.
Pity I can’t import all my old content, but al least I’ve got a home.
