Data Hacking

294 Part IV — Playtime
Using an application such as RoboGEO (www.robogeo.com) to incorporate GPS positional
data into your digital photographs makes recording and documenting points of confluence easier.
Benchmarking/Trigpointing
We now move on to finding not points on the globe, but real things. Benchmarks and trigpoints
are points used by mapmakers when surveying. They are known points of the Earth’s surface
that have been accurately marked. The benchmark is a physical object — usually a concrete pillar
or a metal disc, as shown in Figure 12-4.
FIGURE 12-4: A trigpoint
Trigpoint — short for triangulation point — is the term commonly used in the U.K., but it is
included here because it is now used in the U.S., too.
On these pillars or discs will be information that is used for logging. Sometimes it is just an
ID for the marker, while other times it may be more. There is nothing inherently exciting
about the actual marker or the places where they are located. It simply goes to show that if
people are made aware of a given point somewhere, some of those people will want to seek
it out.