It isn’t often that I have a laugh-out-loud moment readingPanbo…

Jeppesen Marine recently announced plans to unveil C-MAP 4D – a new electronic charting technology that, according to company officials, "will literally change the way boaters see the world." Oh yeah? Well, lay it on me!

Although I like to poke fun at marketing hyperbole, C-MAP 4D appears to include a lot of cool capabilities. We'll look at some of that here, but the availability of so much rich data raises an important question: is there such a thing as too much information?

I'm of two minds when it comes to the question of information overload. On the one hand, "data" is always better than "no data." On the other hand, undifferentiated information is, well, noise. Knowledge–not to be confused with information–is created when raw information is filtered intelligently. In other words, knowledge is something that occurs when we restrict or reduce the flow of information to that which is relevant to the task at hand.

[Navagear has made no secret of the fact that we’re impressed with the Torqeedo line; we’ve written about several Torqeedo products. So despite the fact that I know very, very little about fishing, I thought I would share this press release with our readers. —Tim]

I’ve written a lot recently about stereo systems. Mostly, I had been focusing on minimalist and bare-bones systems that could be used simply to amplify a line-level signal from an MP3 player.

“Smaller, Lighter and now with a Strobe Light and Multi-Use GPS Acquisition Testing!”

It’s a press release, of course, so I expect the hype, and the creative capitalization rules. But seriously, these things are getting better and cheaper by the year. Pretty soon, there won’t be a reason NOT to have one, even if you only head out beyond cell-phone coverage areas once or twice a year!

Let’s see what the press release says…

RLW over at BoatBits always has something interesting to say, and today is no exception. The fact that he’s recommending another one of my neighbors makes it noteworthy.

If you've spent any time around major commercial ports or vessel traffic lanes, you've probably wondered about all those big ships. What's in those enormous vessels? Where are they coming from? Where are they headed? How fast are they going?

It turns out that the big ships broadcast answers to all of those questions, all the time. To receive that data, you need an "Automatic Identification System," or AIS receiver. You can learn a bit about the technology over at the U.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Center site.

I've had AIS aboard my boat for two years now, in one form or another, and I'm here to say: I would not be without it. I navigate the sometimes crowded waters of Puget Sound, Admiralty Inlet, Rosario Strait, and the San Juan Islands, and it is extremely handy to have access to accurate data about the shipping traffic displayed right on the chartplotter.

Remember my recent survey of bare-bones stereo systems? It featured several interesting alternatives to conventional “car-stereo”-style head units.

I wrote earlier about the new C-series widescreens. Well, hold onto your hat, because now there are new widescreen E-series chartplotters as well. With touch screen!