Fun with the Navman

[vilakins]

I went down to Hamilton yesterday to see my sister. And man, it was hot and humid. We went on a river cruise which was very pleasant with the created breeze, but afterwards when we went to see a friend, I spent the whole visit mopping at my face and hands. I bloody hate the humidity. In Israel, where it was much hotter, I was never sweaty like that.

My sister moved since I saw her last so it was a great opportunity to use the new Navman, and I love it. It's so relaxing following clear directions and never making a wrong turn and getting lost. It also has some other unexpected good features: speed camera warnings, a (too loud) ding when your average speed goes to high, and traffic updates on your route, not that I've had to deal with avoiding a jam yet, but it's great knowing that I can. Not so good is it not being very accurate about speed limits; they don't always match reality.

The pronunciation of street names is a source of amusement. We first used an English woman who was fine (apart from her attempts to say Maori names) till we went down a dead-end street to look at the University wind tunnel and she kept saying "Make a U-turn now" in a voice that made Greg say, "I am the weakest driver". We're now using a laid-back Aussie guy, but he's no better at saying street names. Examples of weird emphasis: Macfarlane, Gordonton, Marshmeadow rhyming with "cow"
Examples of mangled Maori names: Ngahue becomes Ingahoo, Puketaha becomes Puhkeeta, Manukau is Manna-caw
My favourite so far: Anglesea as An-glay-see-ah.

Comments

[kerravonsen]

The poor computer can't cope with the complexities of the English language.

[vilakins]

Or Maori. I'm guessing the Italian speaker and algorithm will do much better with Maori, but Anglayseeah would be the tip pf the iceberg with English names.

[pebblerocker]

Ingahoo! Haha. Interesting that Puketaha dropped a syllable somehow.

I was just remembering today about how tourists used to mangle the Maori name of the place we used to live; pronouncing Maori e as ee (Maori i) is understandable but I don't know why tourists universally pronounced the wai in the name as "wah"!

[vilakins]

Especially when that's such a common syllable too.

I remember an American tourist who got so used to Maori name, he called Panmure Pan-murry. :-D

[viciousdisorder.livejournal.com]

The GPS here can't do australian aboriginal names either, as well as certain british-influences such as you've noticed.
I was complaining/commenting to my husband that you'd think if they had an Australian accent done by an Australian person then the person could have said the names correctly.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the person doesn't say all the names that exist. They say a certain number of syllables (who knows how they work that out) then an algorithm puts them together. Said algorithm, however should be taught to recognise Maori and Aboriginal names and say them accordingly. I noticed that the English woman and the Aussie guy had different algorithms which is odd. I thought they'd use the same system.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I've used a gps, known as TomTom here, for about 3 years now. I bought it to take me to Sue's place in Cambridgeshire and I wouldn't do without it now. It does pretty well with Welsh names so I can't complain about that. What does make me want to throw it out of the car is if I have not listened properly and end up on the wrong road. It is a little more safety concious than yours as it says 'Turn around when possible' but it says it over and over and over.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ours only does that if it's a dead-end road. Otherwise it accepts that we're going a different way and adjust the route to get us to the destination.

I do prefer the Aussie's accurate "speed camera" to the English woman's mealy-mouthed "safety camera".

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I don't know why she was programed to say that we call them speed cameras, or damned yellow spy boxes if we have been caught by one.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Greg said they should be called "revenue gathering devices".

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

BTW you should change your "name" to "Slave to Saffron".

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I've tried but I can't find the page to do it in.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It should be under Edit Profile (http://www.livejournal.com/manage/profile/).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

BTW TomTom is just the brand; we can get them here too. We mainly have Navman, Satnav, TomTom, and Garmin, but Greg got a huge discount through someone on a Navman.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

It is a brand here too but is rapidly becoming a generic like Biro.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah. I'm not sure what's generic or likely to be here, but I'd pick Satnav as most generic.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the card which has just arrived! And fortunately not Christmassy, so I can keep it up as long as I like.

I rather like Anglayseeah. I think it should be a planet in the B7verse.

Hope things cool down soon...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm keeping your one too, and the one with the Siamese sisters from my sister.

It looks a bit southern US spelled that way, but it was all I could think of to get the idea across to everyone. That would suit executrix for a Firefly world though. :-)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit shocked that my niece's birthday card only reached her today - I sent it by the last recommended UK posting date for Christmas as her birthday was on Boxing Day! I didn't know then that I'd be seeing her then, or I'd have saved the stamp.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that the Navman was so good! I love my satnav, too. It came with the car, and I'm not sure I'd have added it myself at the time, but I wouldn't be without it now.

The names made me smile. I was trying to think how mine handles the names, and I realised that it doesn't. It shows street names on the dashboard display, but doesn't try to pronounce them (except for things like 'the M6').

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've wanted one for ages, and the new ones offer so much. It will probably be superseded in a couple of years. I love how it warns me of turns 500m away, says whether it's traffic lights or a roundabout and in the latter case which exit to take. It also does photo-like simulations of motorway exits which can be a bit complex, but I usually just listen rather than look since I have it below dashboard level.

Oh and it also has bluetooth and acts as a hands-free for both our cell phones, but I haven't used that yet.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I think GPSs always sound like they're pissed off at you for interrupting their researches.

kalypso_v: may I borrow Anglayseeah for Firefly? It's exactly the kind of name a real estate developer might give a poor-quality planet, for that Earth-that-Was cachet. (Pronounced "catch-it".)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

If anyone's got the copyright, it's Navman, not me! But I'd be delighted to see it pop up somewhere.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

[sniggers] The English guy certainly sounded like a younger Orac, and rather a class-conscious one too. The Aussie is much more relaxed, but if that thing starts showing any desires to lighten the load, it'll be the first to go.

I said to kalypso_v that it looks rather southern US which would suit that 'verse better. :-)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Stegzy's sat nav can't do local names, and we laugh all the time.
I don't use that setting on mind, it simply tells me turn here, turn there etc, all in Stegzy's voice.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You can record your own voices? Huh! Not that I'd want to listen to mine, and Greg mumbles. I'd love to have Michael Keating but I'd get very distracted. Paul Darrow would be better in that respect. I heard there's a move to get Brian Blessed to do a shouty recording.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

yes, my one you can record on, but Stegzy's newer one you can't.

He strayed from the prescribed phrases a bit though, instead of 300 yards he says '300 parsnips' and bear left is 'bear left, mind it doesn't bite' and bear right goes 'bear right, aarrgghh!'. You have reached your destination is 'and you're there' in a very Yorkshire accent, and various other similar things. When it says 'take the motorway' it is us both singing it together. Very silly, but I like it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I like it!

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading your comments here. I am a very bad driver and never drive to distant places. So I have never used a navigation. However my son has that TomTom thing.
Do you think I would have problems with the Maori pronunciation? The words seem to have the same pronunciation and spelling? E.g. "pohutukawa" has a full "h"? :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The vowels are very like Italian ones except that "au" has more "o" in it. The consonants, including H, are straight-forward and what you'd expect except that most tribes say "wh" as a sort of soft "f". It's easy as most syllables are given the same weight.