[LebanonUSA]

GPS!?! In Lebanon!?!?!?

We don't even have building numbers and street names, let alone a real address. How the hell would a GPS work!?

From: Building on the right opposite the Total gas station in Zouk Mosbeh
To: Bineyet Abou Salim, next to the Cellular Shop in Deek el Mehdi

Directions: Straight line from Zouk Mosbeh to Deek el Mehdi, ignoring such a thing like, for example, WADI NAHR EL KALB.

Anyways, GPS devices are going to become obsolete in 2012, so why bother creating a proper infrastructure in Lebanon. Save the money!

Ageing satellites to hit GPS accuracy DON'T take your satnav for granted. Existing satellites are ageing, and replacements are behind schedule and over budget, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). Satnavs and other GPS devices calculate their position by comparing time signals from at least four satellites. To keep that many within range at all times requires a fleet of at least 24. For now there are 31 operating, but 13 of them are more than four years past their design lifetime. The first replacement "block IIF" satellites are not due to launch till November, three years behind schedule, and the GAO predicts a 20 per cent chance that the fleet will drop below 24 at times in 2011 and 2012. That wouldn't cause GPS to shut down, but its accuracy would drop unpredictably. Plans by the US air force for the next generation of improved "block IIIA" satellites could also fall behind. The GAO calculates that if they slip by just two years, there is a 90 per cent chance that the fleet will drop below 24 in 2018. A terrestrial radio-navigation system called Loran could provide back-up for GPS, but a draft of the 2010 federal budget suggests shutting down Loran's US component.