[aprssig] aprs.fi bookmarks video, and web location sharing

[Heikki Hannikainen]

On Sunday I made a video demonstrating the new bookmarks feature on 
aprs.fi, and uploaded it to Youtube. Feedback appreciated (maybe off-line 
using direct email instead of this mailing list). Should I invest time in 
making more of these for other features? Is it progressing too fast or too 
slow? Is the language understandable? Waste of time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UA77fnIok

This might also be news to some: The aprs.fi site also allows you to 
upload your position to the site directly from a web browser, if the web 
browser somehow knows where you are. This works great on mobile phones 
with GPS, such as the iPhone and many new Android phones from multiple 
vendors (HTC, Motorola, Samsung, LG...). Some browsers figure their 
position pretty accurately based on nearby WLAN hotspots using a wifi 
hotspot coordinate database provided by Google. No application 
installation or purchase necessary!

The position is not transmitted to the APRS-IS, so it can be used by 
non-amateurs too without risking the licensing of transmitting igates (and 
without me having to worry about how to possibly identify licensed 
amateurs from non-hams). The web station names can also be longer and they 
are not restricted to ASCII characters - international characters are just 
fine. Some 400 users have already successfully used this feature on 
various devices.

Instructions here:

http://blog.aprs.fi/2010/08/web-location-uploads-better-iphone.html

   - Hessu