2012 – The Galactic Alignment

Pepperpotty · Post by **Pepperpotty** » Tue May 24, 2011 5:56 pm

Gargamel314 wrote:i powerdisked through it in a month. It was like a really intense survival-themed soap opera. It's fun to watch, but don't think i really took much from it. Music is good... a little repetitive. Show makes the gears in your head turn though.

I loved Lost. It gave me something to talk about with my mates at work. However I thought the ending was a bit of a let down. There were so many things that were left unanswered. Like, why was there a polar bear on the island? Lol Now that Lost has gone I just have Fringe to keep me happy. Love that show too but the latest series has just finished. Actually, Fringe is quite an apt show to discuss seeing as we're talking about the end of the world. 2 universes existing side by side, but only one can exist! So each universe is being torn apart! It's so exciting!

Gargamel314 · Post by **Gargamel314** » Tue May 24, 2011 10:54 pm

now you've done it. now i gotta watch the whole series again!

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Tue May 24, 2011 11:19 pm

xmlguy wrote:iPhones and cell phones don't use magnetic compasses. They use GPS, which isn't dependant on magnetic poles. They use atomic clocks to send out timing information, which allows receivers to determine a 3D location using triangulation from 4 or more satellites.

Location but not direction.

I think one of the big features that they went on about the 3Gs or the 4G was its 'magnetometer' which could be demonstated for example by a compass app.

I'm fairly familiar with how GPS works. It can't tell you which direciton you're facing unless you're moving - so no good for AR stuff.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:44 am

X-Trade wrote:
xmlguy wrote:iPhones and cell phones don't use magnetic compasses. They use GPS, which isn't dependant on magnetic poles. They use atomic clocks to send out timing information, which allows receivers to determine a 3D location using triangulation from 4 or more satellites.
Location but not direction.

I think one of the big features that they went on about the 3Gs or the 4G was its 'magnetometer' which could be demonstated for example by a compass app.

I'm fairly familiar with how GPS works. It can't tell you which direciton you're facing unless you're moving - so no good for AR stuff.

Actually once you have a GPS location with any single velocity point, then the gyro is much better for directional positioning precisely because it doesn't get messed up by stray magnetic fields, otherwise everyone using it will likely be sent in the wrong direction when they walk by a steel door or post. GPS and the gyro could be used to calibrate the readings from the magnetometer, if the software assumes that the magnetic pole is drifting/shifting. Software can workaround the pole shift.

Birds internal magnetic directional compass will probably be thrown off, so there will probably be much hilarity when flocks of birds start landing and nesting in unusual locations, at least until they have time to adapt to why everything seems misplaced. This might be an instance where birds of a feather can't find each other.