On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:10:36 +0000 (GMT)
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:

On Fri, 27 Dec 2013 18:21:53 +0000, robert wrote:

With smart phones accessing such information has become feasible as
long as the local Mobile network is not down.

Which in the event of a wide area power outage the mobile networks
are very likely to be down. Very few cells have much, if any, backup
power.

The more we rely on technology and get used to resilient
services ...

The mobile networks are anything but resilient. If they were
resilient they would stay working short of the aerials/masts failing.
A simple loss of mains power should not be a problem for *any* half
decent resilient system.

... the more we are unprepared and suffer when they do occasionally
fail.

Agreed, I wonder how many people have a reliable, non-tech, backup
for their satnav, in the car where they are most likely to need it?
And of those how many would know how to use that backup?


You mean: a Map? Now there's a thought! It also requires the knowledge
of how to read it, of course.
I usually keep both a set of local maps and a National Atlas in my car.

Back in my days in the American Mid-West, standard in-car stuff in
winter was:
Space Blanket
Cups/Mugs
Matches
Newspaper
Chocolate bars/nut bars
Shovel
Bits of old carpet

And they were kept in the cabin, not in the boot.

I needed the space blanket once, when the Kentucky Freeway I was on was
snowed to a standstill. In eight hours, the traffic moved half a mile.

--
Davey.