Hello My Fellow Drive-Time Direction-Finding Draftees,

Before I discuss a very handy useful feature of Code Factory’s Mobile Geo, a software GPS navigation solution for the blind and low vision, embrace the following piece and always remember.

The following was recently discovered in an old abandoned cavern over two kilometers beneath the earth’s surface.  It has been translated into English by a team of linguistic experts who readily admit that they had to improvise some of the words due to a lack of understanding of the author’s now extinct dialect. 

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CHAPTER ONE
In a land not far away, a tall dark brown man dressed in formal attire, with a white stick with a red tip pointed downward from his left hand, slowly makes his way into a rural village bustling with noonday activities.  As the villagers spy his approach, they cease their endeavors and stare at the strangely clothed stranger.

In a matter of mere moments, all are silent; nothing can be heard but the sound of the man’s stick tapping the dry tightly packed dirt as he makes his way forward. 

For no discernable reason, the man stops walking and listens to the silence.  Calmly he says, “Is there no one among you who will welcome a stranger?”

CHAPTER TWO
“And that is why I use this stick to forge my path.”  The speaker’s audience collectively replies, “Ah.”

A middle-aged woman dressed in simple summer clothes stands and walks toward the man who is seated in the center of a large circle of villagers.  She cautiously touches the man’s shoulder.  He turns towards her and waits. 

“How doeth Thou know to which corner of the land Thou walk if Thou possess only inner vision?”  With this, she returns to her place in the circle and awaits the man’s response.

“In the land from which I roam, we have many devices created by those who are greater than great and wiser than wise; and with this wisdom, they have forged a tool that describeth to me, and those like me, that with which you spy with your glimpses.”

His astonished audience exclaims, in unison, “Magic!” 

The man quickly retorts, “No!  This is not magic.  It is merely the application of navigational constructs and universal sensory-rotational constants.”

Clearly impressed by his words, though understanding not what they mean, the gathered gazers lower their heads in humble respect.

CHAPTER THREE
The sun has risen 33 times since the mysterious stranger first entered the village.  Since then, he has imparted much knowledge to the villagers.  He has taught them how to better care for the sick and how better to store their seeds for the next planting season.  For these things and much, much more, they are grateful.

CHAPTER FOUR
One day, the stranger, whose name the villagers do not know, is asked to join a hunting party as a symbol of good fortune.  The man complies. 

Two sunrises into the hunt, the youngest of them, the son of she who had posed the first question to the stranger, is wounded.

“Leaveth me,” the brave young soul demands of his comrades.  “You must continue the hunt and provideth that, which we seek, for our mothers, sisters, and elders who await our return.” 

The man, whose name is unknown, says to the wounded warrior for all to hear, “We will leaveth you for only a short time in order to provideth that which we seek for your mothers, sisters, and elders.  We will return to you carrying medicines to heal your wounds. 

A member of the hunting party replies to the stranger’s words saying, “Return to him?  This cannot be done.  Do not speaketh a falsehood to our brother.  Once left, we will never findeth his likeness hence.  We have no way to retrace the path we forge with our glimpses.” 

CHAPTER FIVE
Upon arriving at the village carrying that which was hunted, stories of the stranger’s promise to the wounded son of she who had posed the first question, was whispered from ear to ear.  No one believed the stranger’s words.  No one believed in he who walked with a white stick with a red tip; no one except she who had posed the first question.

CHAPTER SIX
“Who among you will footfall beside me to the place where he who is wounded lies?”  None step forward.  “No matter,” the stranger continues, “provideth Thou medicine with which to heal and I will footfall alone and bring he who is the son of she who posed the first question, back to you.”

With medicine and his white stick with a red tip in hand, the mysterious stranger prepares to exit the village.

The brother of she who posed the first question steps in front of the unnamed man and says, “If Thy footfall beside Thee, will Thou share Thy knowledge?”

With almost no hesitation, the stranger replies, “Thou hast already been given the knowledge.” 

The two men depart from the village. 

CHAPTER SEVEN
Seven sunrises after the unnamed man and the brother of she who had posed the first question left the village, both the son and brother of she who had posed the first question return to the village appearing to be well fed and well rested. 

CHAPTER EIGHT
Sitting in the center of the village circle, the brother of she who had posed the first question says, in response to an inquiry, “He shared his knowledge with me.  He taught me to think beyond thought and to glimpse the unknown.  He demonstrated that those who glimpse with their minds and spirits can glimpse greater glory than we with our bilateral orbs.”

Excited, those seated in the circle demand that he, the brother of she who had posed the first question, share the stranger’s knowledge with them. 

“I cannot.  The knowledge  given to me, forever more, can only be distilled by the passage of time and effort.  He said this is to protect us from Thine own selves.”

Stepping forward towards her brother, she who had posed the first question asks, “Diddeth Thou glean his name?” 

“No. I know not his name, for he has none as he gave his to me before departing.” 

“Brother, what are Yee now called?” 

Speaking slowly and deliberately, the brother of she who had posed the first question says, “From this moment hence, I am called Technology.”

I set this down in my own hand:  Mark Marcus
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Well, there you have it.  I tell you, every time I use Mobile Geo, I wonder, I really do.

Question:  How often do you, as mobile Geo users, find yourselves standing or walking beside someone who is desperately trying to remember where he/she parked the car?  Don’t you find it funny when they say something like, “Did we park over there?” as if you can see where they’re pointing. 

The next time you find yourself traveling with a driver who is automobile-parking-location challenged, do the following:

1.
Make sure Mobile Geo is active on your wireless device.

2.
Just as the driver parks the car, in Mobile Geo, tap the Left-Soft key to display the Functions Menu. 

3.
Select Set Position.

4.
Select Use GPS Position.  (Meaning your current GPS location.)

5.
Finally, select, “As Destination”.  Mobile Geo will triangulate your current GPS position and play the “You Have Arrived at Your Destination” indicator.

NOTE 1:
At this point, you may close Mobile Geo secure in the knowledge that when Geo is once again launched, your most recently set destination location will be retained. 

NOTE 2:
To clear the currently set destination:
A.
From the Functions Menu, select Route Functions.
B.
Select Clear Current Destination.  Upon making this selection, you will be returned to the Mobile Geo Main Screen with a message indicating that the Destination was successfully cleared.

Now you may exit the vehicle, eat, drink and be merry for in a little while you will, as did the hunting parties of old:
“Return to that which Thou seek bearing that which Thine tribe requires.”
[Translation:  You will have to find your car in a parking lot nearly the size of Los Angeles while carrying a bunch of expensive junk intended to be gifts for those idiot boobs you call friends.]

Not to worry, should you be faced with this challenge, remove Mobile Geo from your tunic and do one of the following: 

A.
Tap the number 2 on the integrated QWERTY keyboard.  The distance and direction to the currently set Destination will be spoken.

B.
Tap quadrant 2 on the Pocket PC Touch-Screen.  The distance and direction to the currently set Destination will be spoken.

C.
1.
From the Functions Menu, select Route Functions.

2.
Select Create Automatic Route.

3.
Select “Calculate Route Based on Known Origin and Destination”.

4.
Select “Create Pedestrian Route to …”.  A pedestrian route will be created for you.

As was spoken by the First Ones, many, many moons ago, “May the ice-cream of your life be melted only by the sunshine of your joy.” 

Mark