HMdb Goes Mobile - The Historical Marker Database

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HMdb.org Goes Mobile
You’re standing in front of a marker and don’t know if it is already in the database. Should you take multiple photos and write down the location and map coordinates and chase down the subject for more photos? Or should you move on? Or, you’re out and about and simply want to know what markers are near you. HMdb.org can help. If you can obtain the latitude and longitude of your location (from your hand-held or dashboard GPS device), and have a cell phone or PDA (personal digital assistant) with Internet browsing capability, you can find out. Go to hmdb.org/a, enter your location, and you’ll get a list of up to 20 of the nearest markers (those within 10-15 miles) and how far they are from you. It’s that simple. Then click on a marker’s name to get its location and the marker’s text. You may be wondering why you have to enter your location. Doesn’t the phone know where it is? Yes, your phone knows its latitude and longitude (so it can transmit it on a 911 emergency call), but it won’t give them up to a web site without a fight. To automate the process, we would have to provide cell-phone-company-approved model-specific downloads for each type of phone and you would have to download it and install it on your phone. That’s not going to happen. So, you’ve got to go the trouble to key in the latitude and longitude to use this HMdb service. The reason for the cryptic page name, the “a” in “hmdb.org/a”, is to make it faster to key it into the phone. For even faster access, take the time to put the link into your phone’s “My Links” list so you can go to it with just a few clicks. Don’t know your latitude and longitude? Scroll down and key in a partial name of a marker into your phone. The system will show you any matches and their locations.