Gribblenation

A number of years ago, the New York State Department of Transportation offered foldout Motorist Assistance Maps at rest areas along the Adirondack Northway section of Interstate 87. At the time, cellular phone service was quite sporadic, especially as you descended upon the Adirondacks north of Lake George, and then picked up again once you got out of the mountains near Plattsburgh. So what was the stranded motorist with vehicle issues to do? In Essex County, there were call boxes once every two miles. But there were also the motorist assistance maps which displayed "SEND HELP" in bold letters when folded out. But there were more to signs than just a means to convey that you needed help with the situation at hand. Sign from May 2007 from I-87 in northern Warren County, New York indicating that there were emergency phones every two miles for the next 64 miles. And yes, there were call boxes alongside the highway for emergency purposes. Cover of the Interstate 87 M...

About 3 years ago, I did an web page on my old site comparing PDA mapping software. Boy, have things changed in the short time since I wrote that page. The standalone PDA is pretty much extinct, as is the concept of mapping software for that particular platform(at least for now). The closest you get these days is laptop/GPS software. Delorme and Microsoft are the two players in that, and Delorme may be prettier, but Microsoft is by far the better software in accuracy and ease of use, and if the reviews are anything to go by, they actually listen to their users. Microsoft still has an option to export Streets and Trips maps to mobiles-though this may be limited to the Mobile Windows platform. I have a Windows machine, and S&T 2010 looks pretty good on the shelf, it may be worth the cash to have a look at. There are oodles of Car GPS's, but most aren't really handy for toting around. So if you want maps that you can actually tote around in a reasonably convenient format, you...