Data Hacking

190 Part III — Data Hacking
The other great thing that G7toWin enables you to do is create dummy routes (see Figure 8-37).
To create a dummy route, click Routes ➪ Create Dummy Route.
FIGURE 8-37: Creating a dummy route
After you have created the dummy route, you can then populate it with data. Double-click
on the newly created route to bring up the Route Editing dialog box. This now allows you to
add the waypoints you have downloaded to the route before uploading it to the GPS. This can
be really handy because it allows you to experiment with the GPS by creating routes that use
fake data. You can then experiment with your GPS interface and gain experience on how it
functions.
Creative Uses of GPS Data
Data is data is data, as they say, so let’s now move away from looking at the raw data and take
a look at some creative uses of GPS data, such as how to add it to digital images, how to plot
WiFi signals, and how to write your own code to use GPS data.
Sharing Waypoints
After you have collected waypoints, you might feel that you want to share them. There are a
variety of ways that you can do this:
Store them on a floppy disk or CD and pass them around
Distribute them on paper
Make them available on the Internet
If you choose the Internet route, then you can either make the waypoints available on your
own personal homepage (the TopoGrafix format is a good format to choose for this) or you
can upload them to a website dedicated to waypoints. One such website is www.waypoint.
org. This is a waypoint registry where you can find waypoints for many countries around the
world. To make navigation easier, these waypoints are categorized. Other such sites include the
following: