Surprisingly, I still found a lot of my friends have no idea what is a GPS about.

From Wikipedia (ENG / 中),

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed, direction, and time.

Nah… I think most of us do know this “definition” from Wikipedia. In short, it is a navigation system that allows you to track and find out where you are.

Most of my friends, they thought GPS is a paid service. No, it is free. In general, if you only need to pinpoint where is your currently location, then it is absolutely free. For extra information such as traffic, tourist attraction, voice nagivation and so on, you might need to subscribe with certain amount fees from service provider, provided there is one.

To use, you only need a GPS receiver and a mapping device (e.g. laptop or PDA). Last year, I bought myself a Holux brand GPS receiver, GPSlim 236. I pair my laptop or PDA with the receiver through Bluetooth.

Install the map software (e.g. MapKing), off course, some of the software needed to be paid like the Microsoft Windows or Office you using. Then load the map of city or country that you desired and you are ready to go.