OT: Waze

ndzied1

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ndzied1
Join Date
Aug 2002
Location
Chicago, Illinois
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Some probably know about this already but I have recently loaded a new navigation ap on my phone that seems pretty helpful/useful. It is called Waze (https://www.waze.com).

It collects real time data from everyone currently using it to provide the fastest route to your destination taking the trafic into consideration.

I decided to get it after being late to a customer site due to a traffic stoppage but my colleague with the ap was routed around the mess and made it on time.

You might want to check it out.
 
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That looks pretty neat.

My Garmin GPS receives FM band broadcasts on road conditions, construction, accidents, traffic... It's a real time saver, even locally. A couple weeks ago someone lost a fork truck on the drawbridge in Grand Haven. Needless to say, traffic was backed up for miles in all directions. It re-routed me about 20 miles (nearest place to cross the Grand River) and get back to the shop. Loosing a load on the road is a pretty stiff fine around here. It sucked to be that guy!

Had to buzz down around Peoria last year. It routed me around everything, so I could keep trucking.

Only thing I don't like about it is, it will loose Sat. once in a while, then you have to reboot, which could take a while. I should look into a newer model, this one is 4 years old now, but overall pretty decent.
 
waze prob works great in urban areas, but a road trip recently made from buffalo ny to OBX was 2 hours longer via waze than nokia here drive+.
 
When you start it up it tells you how many other users are nearby. I'm in the Chicago metro area. At rush hour, I have seen it say over 5000 users nearby (although I don't know what "nearby" means).

Made a trip up to the upper tip of Wisconsin and the guy driving had it but it didn't mention the cop who stopped him and gave him a ticket.

I guess the best advice is: YMMV
 
Luke_Mages said:
waze prob works great in urban areas, but a road trip recently made from buffalo ny to OBX was 2 hours longer via waze than nokia here drive+.
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Big fan of Nokia HERE. I use it exclusively. I used WAZE some time ago but not a fan lately and now they are part of Google. I avoid Google as much as possible.

I love having maps available offline and HERE is great at that.

OG
 
waze is definitely becoming more useful, as far as speeding goes, with more and more vehicles and 18 wheelers using some type of collision avoidance system. the new tahoe's set off my radar detector like crazy.
 
diat150 said:
waze is definitely becoming more useful, as far as speeding goes, with more and more vehicles and 18 wheelers using some type of collision avoidance system. the new tahoe's set off my radar detector like crazy.
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kia optimas are the worst.....

Valentine 1 is still the best out there imo. the numerical display and strength meter just make it a very great tool. actually paying attention to the cars ahead of you braking for the cop they see also helps....
 
Norm,
Waze alerted me to speed trap on I-90 this morning.

I'm kicking myself for not having taken a cell phone photo of us in the restaurant last week. Duh. Next time.

Dan
 
Watch out! Waze can be addicting. I finally had to remove it from my phone because I was constantly reporting road conditions :)
 
They actually have it set up so if you wave at the phone twice, the camera picks it up and a Siri-like system lets you add alerts via voice input. If you try to type something in while you are driving it doesn't let you unless you say you are a passenger. That is partially their CYA mode but also serves as a deterrent to typing while driving.
 
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