GPS | StaunchUSA

New Gaydar Honing Beacon instead of Grindr?

On July 20, 2010, in Life/Culture, by admin

The mobile cruising space is getting crowded. Although Grindr appears to lead the pack with user numbers in the high six-figures, they’re being tailed by apps like West Fourth and GayCities, which we mentioned in March. And while Manhunt.net has gone the mobile site (and not mobile app) route, we’ve also spotted two new entrants into the phone hook up space.

There’s Hardline Mobile [iTunes link; pictured left], which looks Grindr-y but has its own gimmick: “IVR,” or interactive voice response, which is just a fancy way of saying you can send audio and video messages to someone you’re interested in. Text messaging is sooo 2009.

Then we’ve got Bandana [iTunes link; pictured right], which attempts to take location-based cruising to the hyper-local level by skipping over GPS and instead using Bluetooth, the short-range radio technology that’s limited to about 100 feet. Bandana’s creators — who named the app after the hanky code, I’m guessing — say this “turns your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch into an actual ‘gaydar detector.’” And It just might work … if you’re in a crowded Starbucks or cubicle farm. Though I do like the idea of launching Bandana, forgetting about it, and then feeling a vibration in my pocket every time I walk by another person running the app. What better way to feel an instant connection? (*Groan*)

Honestly, the real success story among all these apps will be won by whichever developer is the first to make use of the iPhone 4′s FaceTime/phone-to-phone video chat feature. It’s going to revolutionize phone sex. It’s also going to get you in trouble with your spouse.
Thanks Queerty.

North Carolina Man Travels 50 Miles in Balloon Chair

On April 14, 2010, in Life/Culture, by admin

A North Carolina man traveled about 50 miles across the state during his trip in a chair attached to about 40 helium balloons.

Jonathan Trappe, a member of the Wings of Carolina Flying Club in Sanford, departed Saturday afternoon from the Sanford-Lee County airport in the specialized cluster balloon chair as part of an event for the club, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported Tuesday.

WRAL-TV, Raleigh, said Trappe, who reached a top altitude of 7,000 feet, landed shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday in Fremont, N.C.

“Flying a gas balloon is unlike any other experience. There is no sound. No propellers, no jet engines. No burner, no heart-thumping rotors of a helicopter. Not even the wind that gliders experience. This is true, silent flight,” Trappe wrote on ClusterBalloon.com.

Trappe complied with Federal Aviation Administration rules during his flight by bringing along two-way aircraft radios, an altitude encoding transponder that caused his craft to appear on radar, a GPS device, an emergency locator beacon and other safety equipment.

The Wings of Carolina Flying Club said Trappe is planning a cluster balloon flight above the English Channel during the summer months.

Thanks UPI.

Tagged with: balloon • chair • federal aviation administration • GPS • North Carolina • Raleigh • sanford • wings of carolina flying club

GPS Leads Couple the Wrong Way and they were Stranded for 3 Days in a Snow Drift

On December 29, 2009, in Life/Culture, by admin

A Nevada couple letting their SUV’s navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.

On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said.

“GPS almost did ‘em in and GPS saved ‘em,” Evinger said. “It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route.”

Evinger said the couple got stranded Christmas Day and a Lake County deputy found them in the Winema-Fremont National Forest outside the small town of Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon and pulled their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia out of the snow with a winch.

John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Nev.

“It will be (a Christmas) we remember the rest of our lives,” Starry Bush-Rhoads said in a telephone interview from her home. “They said if they didn’t find us ’til this time next spring, we wouldn’t be happy.”

The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.

“Their statement was, being prepared saved their life,” he said.

The couple had been in Portland and followed their GPS as it directed them south on U.S. Highway 97 to Oregon Highway 31, which goes through Silver Lake and Lakeview before connecting with U.S. Highway 395 to Reno, Evinger said.

In the town of Silver Lake, the unit told them to turn right on Forest Service Road 28, and they followed that and some spur roads nearly 35 miles before getting stuck in about 1 1/2 feet of snow near Thompson Reservoir, the sheriff said.

“For some reason, they finally got a weak signal after 2 1/2 days,” Evinger said. “They called in. They alternated between two different cell phone numbers.”

A GPS-enabled phone is able to send its coordinates to 911, and eventually one of the couple’s phones sent its location to the dispatcher’s console, the sheriff said.

Thanks Yahoo.

Tagged with: christmas • GPS • klamath • nevada • Oregon • reno • silver lake • us highway • Yahoo

Palm Pre June 6 Release Day For All You Phone Geeks

On May 19, 2009, in Life/Culture, by admin

For all you crazy kids out there obsessed with your phone. The new Palm Pre won’t will be out soon. The smartphone will be available June 6 for about $200 with a new two-year contract from Sprint. I have Sprint and they over charge with hidden taxes that I’ve noticed. I rather have AT&T… damn contracts.

Once the undisputed U.S. leader of the smartphone market, Palm has been thoroughly outpaced by the likes of Apple and Research In Motion. The Pre, which was introduced at January’s Consumer Electronics Show, was received positively by the press, and Palm is looking to use it for a comeback.

With a large capacitive touch screen, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, 8 GB of storage, and Bluetooth, the Pre stacks up well against rivals like the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry Storm, and the T-Mobile (Android) G1.

“The argument that you need one phone for work and another phone for play, or that you have to make compromises between business and lifestyle productivity, is over,” said Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, in a statement. “With Pre, compromises of the past are history.”

Sprint will be the exclusive provider of the handset, and users will have to purchase a monthly data plan to activate the Pre. Palm will also be launching the touchstone charging kit June 6. This puck-sized device can charge the handset wirelessly. The Touchstone charging kit will be sold for $69.99. See what I mean by extra fees? It’s insane.

Tagged with: 200 • 3G • 8GB • Android • Apple • AT&T • Blackberry Storm • Bluetooth • Comeback • Consumer Electronic Show • Contracts • Dan Hesse • Fees • G1 • GPS • iPhone • January's • June 6 • Obessed • Palm • Palm Pre • Pre • Research in Motion • Smartphone • Sprint • T-Mobile • Touchstone • US • Wi-Fi

New Gaydar Honing Beacon instead of Grindr?

North Carolina Man Travels 50 Miles in Balloon Chair

GPS Leads Couple the Wrong Way and they were Stranded for 3 Days in a Snow Drift

Palm Pre June 6 Release Day For All You Phone Geeks

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