[www.zdnet.com]

If you rely on GPS then make a note of 6 April 2019 in your calendar because it's the date that the GPS Week Rollover occurs, and it could cause some GPS receivers to malfunction...

April sees the GPS network go through a mini "millennium bug" of its own because the week number will roll back to a zero. While this is a known issue arising from the way the system works, it's recommended that those in charge of critical infrastructure which make use of GPS, along with other businesses and users who believe a malfunction would result in problems, to prepare for the event.

While most modern GPS receivers shouldn't be affected by this (devices that conform to IS-GPS-200 and provides UTC will be fine), testing carried out by the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) showed that there is a possibility that some will interpret this rollover as the date shifting back to January 6, 1980, or possibly some other incorrect date.

This is where the headaches begin. Not only will the GPS receiver start reporting the incorrect date, but since accurate timings is critical to precise location data (an error of only a nanosecond in GPS time can equate to one foot of position error), an incorrect interpretation of this rollover can have big consequences...

It's notable that some cellular and Internet services rely upon GPS, so if there are outages on April 6th, now you know why.

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I have an old Garmin, but I have been using my phone instead. Now I'll have to fire up the Garmin on April 6 and see how it fares. Glad it is not mission critical (it sure was the day I bought it, though!).

I just bought a new Garmin that has voice commands and traffic. I had gotten used to just using Waze, but we've shifted to Google Fi and it turns out that Waze was using a pretty substantial amount of data. Previously I had been on a plan with 2GB of data and had no problem with it. But that 2GB would cost $20 a month on Google Fi. I also started only playing podcasts that I had already downloaded. With the new GPS and the podcast change, I've used 400 mb of data this month and my plan rolls over in 3 days. So, I'll save $15 a month with these changes. I also like the voice command on the Garmin--it works very well.

I do turn on Waze when we get close to Atlanta, although last weekend Waze told me there was going to be substantial slowdown on I75 NB north of 285 and the Garmin did not. I took the new express lane and found that there was no traffic slowdown on I75 as I drove on the express lane. There must have been something slowing traffic for a while for Waze to pick it up, but overall that was a wasted $2!

....so GPS....Y2K.......???

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

ARGH. I hope that the MTA’s system’s are not going to be affected. Without the BusTime app, I would be a very unhappy camper.

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

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My life goes smoothly and in regular intervals

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Michael
I had gotten used to just using Waze, but we've shifted to Google Fi and it turns out that Waze was using a pretty substantial amount of data.

Part of Waze's system is to have all the devices using Waze reporting in the background, even if you are not actually using the app. This is how they get accurate speed data on so many roads. You can turn this off in Settings.


Good luck.

- Winston

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Be seeing you.

Quote
Winston

Quote
Michael
I had gotten used to just using Waze, but we've shifted to Google Fi and it turns out that Waze was using a pretty substantial amount of data.

Part of Waze's system is to have all the devices using Waze reporting in the background, even if you are not actually using the app. This is how they get accurate speed data on so many roads. You can turn this off in Settings.

And force-quit the app when done using it because even with the phone set to only allow it to access the GPS while the app is running, Apple lets the developer continue to drain your battery and data and track you for 5 minutes after you switch out of the app.

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