Go cars/ Open mapping

The field trip that we took in the Go Cars on Thursday, February 12th, was a really good way to see the commercial appeal of locative media. I've used gps devices in cars and I've been on mapped tours, and I'd have to say this combines the best of both. Although there was no visual reference for the directions played over the speakers, they were often simple enough that they could be remembered until the next set of directions were recieved. Only once did we vere off course, and even then we were able to make it back to the designated path. The way the diretions were delievered were also pretty awesome, because they had alternate routes and stuff which allowed you to go do something like go to a senic view, and then return to the path. I wish I had brought several more layers and that my pants hadn't ripped, but other then that it was fantastic. I had fun and was humiliated simultaiounsly.

the open mapping tutorial video was pretty well done, however its a little long and included some things I don't think I'm ever gonna use. I was really interested in the open map software by Cloud Made, specifically the way to custmize the way the map looks. I really hope we get to use some of this stuff.

geolocation technologies

I found these articles to be really interesting because they showed me exactly how GPS works down to the slightest detail, but more importantly they gave me a logical connection between certain inventions and practices I already knew about. specifically, the relationship between GPS and the practice of measuring speed at sea using a small hourglass and rope.
Something else I found really to be almost jaw dropping is the amound of junk that is shot into space. I wonder how many of these satelites can be used for GPS and other spacial mapping programs to deliver more accurate data and even real time scanning

Beyond locative media

I found this article to be very insightful as to directing me towards what locative media actually is. Since this is my first encounter with locative media, and conceptual art in general, I thought this article contained many key ideas to both unfamiliar subjects. Two of the most important points of this article were the key differences between Net art and locative media, and the description the invisible and often imperceptible network that locative media is based in. These two points were important because they outlined both what locative media is and how it works.
One point that came to mind as I read the article concerned the complaints concerning boundaries, since the most (if not all) locative media pieces are based in the cartesian coordinate system many critics argue against the legitmacy of locative meida as an art, stating that "art as autonomous from the circuits of mass communication technologies". Critics also argue that locative meida does nothing more than create a "hyper-rationalist grid of Imperial infrastructure.", however I feel that these ideas, as the article also stated, are incorrect. I feel that with the onset of mass communication and networking sparked by locative meida, it will shift the control of such systems from the larger power structure to the general populus. Locative media is less of a cage and more of a means to deeper understand human connections and expierences across geographic boundries both natural and man-made.