Good grief!!

---- Derek Drew <derekdrew@DEREKMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Often times when driving on the highway you will see another Vanagon
> go by that is interesting and you wonder if you know who this person
> is from the Internet or group events.
>
> There now seems to be a way, which is that if you have a smart phone
> you can download and install the excellent and interesting WAZE
> application that is a traffic and navigation application that you can
> put onto your phone.
>
> When people see a car stopped in the middle of a highway, for
> example, WAZE allows you to post a notification as to where the
> hazard is on the highway and everybody else behind you will then be
> warned. WAZE also notifies you of speeding cameras, hiding police,
> and traffic jams, amont other things.
>
> There is a new feature in the last update which makes it so that if
> one of your Facebook friends (or one of their friends) is near you on
> the road, Waze will show that person to you and their name. (You can
> turn this off or on as you wish.)
>
> So, if everybody on this list were to download WAZE to their
> smartphone and then indicate that they would be visible to all their
> facebook friends, they will always know when their friends are nearby
> as long as they are within 1 kilomoeter of each other.
>
> There are other ways, within the Waze application, to be notified of
> where your friends are when you are caravanning to an event, such as
> to a van meetup or going on expedition with other vans that look very
> useful because if you got lost from the group, you might be able to
> find your way back to them by looking on the map.
>
> This all assumes that you have a Facebook account and a smart phone.
>
> It further assumes that you have made Facebook friends (or friends of
> friends) of the other people on this list, which initially seems like
> a tall order. But you can more easily become friends of friends of
> everyone on this list if you join a few facebook group pages for
> Vanagon owners. I'll provide a list of these that I know of further
> below in this email.
>
> If this sounds like fun to you, do the following:
>
> 1. Install WAZE on your phone. If you have an Adroid phone, you would
> go to the Google Play store (it is free and search for Waze). If you
> have an apple device, then I am sure you already know what to do in
> the applie app store.
>
> 2. Consider making your WAZE name your real name (I did but nobody else does)
>
> 3. Click on SETTINGS > SOCIAL NETWORKS > Facebook and then CONNECT to
> facebook providing your login. Click the option MY FRIENDS AND THEIR
> FRIENDS TOO.
>
> 4. Within the facebook settings consider UNCHECKING the three boxes
> that say "Automatically Post To Facebook" the traffic reports, road
> summaries, and gaming reports. Otherwise, you will look like a dufus
> if every time you report a downed tree in the road it also appears on
> your facebook page.
>
> 5. From within *facebook* using your computer, consider joining or
> friending the following groups that may apply to you:
>
> VANAGON OWNERS >
> <http://www.facebook.com/groups/154433611260033/>http://www.facebook.com/groups/154433611260033/
>
> SYNCRO >
> <http://www.facebook.com/groups/36419276257/>http://www.facebook.com/groups/36419276257/
>
> LIMBOBUS >
> <http://www.facebook.com/groups/limbobus/>http://www.facebook.com/groups/limbobus/
>
> SYNCRO WESTFALIA >
> <http://www.facebook.com/syncro.westfalia>http://www.facebook.com/syncro.westfalia
>
>
> Another tactic might be to friend some of the vendors who are now on
> Facebook or anyone else who has a van that you know is on facebook
> because then friends of friends will be shown to you
>
> 6. You may also decide to accept friend requests on facebook from
> people who you know that have VW vans rather liberally (as I do) even
> if you are very restrictive for ordinary friend requests.
>
> After you are done with all of this, when you are within 1 Kilometer
> of another Vanagon on the road, Waze will notify you of that they are
> there and show their real name, and you can even send them a message
> through the WAZE system.
>
> I would imagine that this functionality would be the most fun in the
> pacific northwest where there are the most Vanagons on the road and
> you could reasonably expect to encounter them frequently while using Waze.
>
> What I don't know is if the same functionality is also available via
> another vendor, such as a mashup with Google Maps.  Also, it strikes
> me that my list of van-focused facebook pages must be incomplete. One
> could imagine that somebody will make a Facebook identity called WAZE
> Vanagons and then joining that one might be a means to seeing all the
> vans near you on the road for people who think this sort of thing is
> amusing or fun.
>
> It seems like you might want to sometimes click
>
> ===============
> WAZE HELP NOTES
> ===============
>
> To view Facebook friends who are currently connected to Waze, select
> the main menu, then "My Waze":
>
> And then "My friends":
>
> In this window, see all friends currently connected (as indicated by
> a green dot), and the status of those connected recently.
>
> What exactly can they see?
>
> 1. Friends see you on the map when you're close to each other. We'll
> show you on the map, along with your Facebook picture, to your
> friends when you both within 1 kilometer of each other. Your exact
> location will be offset.
>
> Friends who aren't physically close to you can never see you on the
> map, or find out where you are. It's impossible zoom out or scan the
> map to find your friends.
>
> 2. Friends see when you're driving to the same destination, along
> with your ETA. We show your destination to the people who you're
> likely to run into when you get there: friends headed there right now
> too. If you drop a parking pin when you arrive, arriving friends will
> see where you've parked.
>
> While they know where you're headed, there's no way for them to see
> where you are, or the route you're driving to get there.
>
> 3. Your connection status. Whether you're currently online, driving,
> recently parked, or when you last connected to Waze. These are
> visible through the 'Friends' screen which you can access from the
> main menu, or while navigating by tapping your ETA. A recent report
> may be shown here as well.
>
> ==========
> PR
> ==========
>
> Oct 31, 2012 -- Waze, the world's social driving app, is once again
> improving everyday driving for its community of 28 million drivers
> with its newest release. A pioneer of crowdsourced maps, traffic, and
> road info, Waze now unveils the easiest way to meet up with friends
> and family on the go.
>
> Only a small part of regular driving involves navigating to unknown
> destinations. By contrast, the majority of everyday driving entails
> countless social commitments. An Omnibus survey of 1000 American
> drivers, commissioned by Waze, found that over 50% of drivers
> regularly pick up friends and family:
>     * 52% of drivers polled indicated giving rides to other people at
> least 1 to 5 times per month, and 20% do so daily.
>     * 28% of all drivers polled indicated regular pick-ups of
> children; 23% of drivers regularly pick up a spouse.
>
> The new features released in Waze 3.5 are designed to make everyday
> driving experiences like these simple and fun:
>     * Driving to a restaurant with friends: See everyone on the way,
> with their real-time ETAs. When you arrive, you'll see where friends
> have parked, and know who's still on the way.
>     * Picking up your spouse: No more painstakingly explaining where
> they are. Send a Waze pick up request to instantly grab their
> location and navigate directly to them. They'll get a live map of
> your route and ETA, and watch as you approach -- even if they don't have Waze.
>     * Let the kids know you'll be home for dinner: The days of "Mom,
> when are you coming home?" are over. Share your drive by sending a
> weblink to a live map of your location and route, and let them see
> exactly where you are and when you'll be there.
> "We may be alone in the car, but most of the time it's only because
> we're on our way to meet others at work or at home, or out to join up
> with friends. It's only natural to be better informed about the
> location and timing of those you are about to meet or pick up, and be
> able to share the same info back with them. With this version Waze
> takes drivers out of the dark, re-imagining everyday driving as a
> much smoother experience," said Yael Elish, VP Product & Marketing.
>
> Along with new social features are built in privacy protections
> throughout, letting users control which features to interact with on
> Waze, and letting them "go invisible" to hide from the map anytime.
>
> Waze 3.5 also reveals newly designed maps, moods, and interface,
> giving Waze a slick graphic overhaul throughout.
>
> New Features for iOS & Android:
>     * Social: See friends driving to your destination, share your
> drive, pick up, meet up and communicate your status from the road.
> Check in at destinations without having to exit the app.
>     * Facebook Single Sign-On: Drivers can now log into Waze with
> their Facebook account.
>     * Nearing destination quick links: Convenient shortcuts to stop
> navigation, mute, drop a parking pin and see friends on their way.
>     * * Features for everyday convenience: Indication of toll road
> usage in routing, private messaging, save your parking location.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Derek Drew
> Washington DC / New York
> derekdrew@derekmail.com
> Email is best normally but...
> PHONE: 202-966-7907 (Call the number at left normally)
> (alt/cell for diligent calling only): 703-408-1532

--
David McNeely