Interruptions

We lost our Internet connection this morning, something that happens with annoying frequency here.
I did the routine troubleshooting and found I'm getting a good strong Wifi signal from our wireless router and repeater. So I stopped short of rebooting the modem and router - something that requires disconnecting the repeater and re-synching it with the router at the other end of the house - and called the cable company to see if the problem might be on their end.
Their tech support guy opined it probably was and offered to send a guy out to work on it. After some discussion, I determined the guy can also go into our attic and connect the two cable outlets in our upstairs office, which will make it possible to hard-wire our two desktop computers to the router and free the repeater for use elsewhere in the house in support of any roving laptops we may want to use.
And he'll only charge $20 to do it. What a relief.
The guy is coming tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, the Internet connection is up, however shaky it may be.
We also got the final printed albums for our last wedding clients and they look fabulous. I had them sent to us first, in case they had any defects. I'll mail them to the clients in Atlanta this afternoon and at long last be done with that job. We shot the wedding on my 62nd birthday last July 14. The obligation caused me to miss the BMW MOA national rally, which I considered a major sacrifice.

Dash

The Dash Express GPS navigation system has the potential to transform the way we get from point A to point B, make our highway infrastructure more efficient and let government spend our road-building dollars more wisely.
This unit takes GPS to the next step beyond being just a "yuppie compass."
You can get all of the pertinent poop from the Dash website at www.dash.net, but here are the salient points:
The Dash Express is a GPS unit that incorporates internet access through WiFi and cell phone communications. As you drive, it gathers data about your location and speed (or lack of it) and passes that information up to the main server. The server is also getting traffic data from every other Dash unit in the area, as well as from commercial carriers, road sensors and other sources. The result is an accurate traffic picture in real time, constantly changing to reflect changing conditions.
The Dash Express also uses its internet link to access constantly updated information about restaurants, gas stations (including where the lowest gas prices can be found), lodging, businesses, attractions, etc.
Check out the video for a demonstration of how it works.
This is a brand new product, just released this year, so it can only get better. The company promises periodic software updates via the WiFi connection.
The implications of this kind of GPS device are profound. It prompted the moderator of gpspassion.com to write:
I have been writing about GPS for a little over 5 years and have worked for a GPS software company for a year. The reason I mention this is that in all that time I have never made a statement like the one I'm making now: the Dash Express by Dash is, in my opinion, a paradigm changing machine. Automotive GPS will never be the same after the release of this unit. It takes GPS from a "get me from here to there" paradigm, to a paradigm in which GPS is integrated into one's daily life and becomes just another tool to make all sorts of travel and non-travel related stuff easier and more convenient.
In fact, it may be more cost-effective for governmental units to give these things to their residents, either free or subsidized, as a way to make their streets and highways more efficient and to avoid having to spend money on unnecessary road-building.
My only problem with the Dash Express is that it appears to be just for four-wheeled vehicles. When they come out with a weather-proof model that can be operated with a motorcycle-gloved hand, I'll be all over it.