OpenStreetMap compatible GPS?

[Seth Cohn]

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 1:19 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio <ken at jots.org> wrote:
> On Wed, April 28, 2010 12:07 pm, Jon 'maddog' Hall wrote:
>
>> It is the same thing as learning how to add, subtract, multiply and
>> divide before you start using a calculator.
>
> In '76, my grandfather -- a mathematician -- bought me my first
> calculator.  (A 7-digit red LED Commodore, no less.  And, yes, that's the
> same Commodore.)  My next-door-neighbor predicted the demise of all
> abilities to compute when our brains went soft because of calculators.
> Fast-forward to high-school physics, and our teacher decided to force logs
> on us... by way of a sliderule.  I was the fastest in my class -- but it
> still made me wonder if similarly-dire Luddite-esque predictions hadn't
> been made when they'd come along.

The day they allowed SAT test takers to use calculators, I knew that
they'd hit rock bottom, and the tests no longer were meaningful
(compared to when I took them and avg scores were dropping faster and
faster).  If you can't do the math yourself, how do you know the
answer the calc gave is wrong?  Sliderules are merely shortcuts, you
still had to do some thinking about the answers.

Frankly, these computers are leading us down a dangerous path... next
thing you know, we'll all grow soft from sitting in front of them all
day.  Oh my GOD, it's happening to me.... OH MY GOD! (gurgle)