Category: Articles

Trapster is Shutting down after 7 years

I’ve been a user of Trapster since August 26, 2009. I started using Trapster when I move to Raleigh, NC, because I was unfamiliar with the area and the app helped me make efficient use of my commute. When I joined Trapster, they had just eclipse 1 million users in July of 2009. Almost as long as I’ve been a user, I’ve been a moderator for the Raleigh/Durham region through a private group on Facebook. I felt like I had a voice in the app. We beta tested on numerous occasions, held contests, and shared thing with each other. I am a safe driver and was even before using Trapster. Yeah I speed, everyone does at some point, but I have not gotten a ticket or been in an accident in almost 7 years, which is pretty good considering my record prior to that.

At the time Trapster was very exciting to me, because I was helping other motorists be safe while they were helping me be safe. I used Trapster every time I was in my truck, so much so that it annoyed my wife. I really enjoyed feeling like a part of something. While driving the user would mark a “trap”. A trap could be anything from a pothole to a red light camera to a school zone to a Known Enforcement Point (KEP). One of the most controversial traps was the Checkpoint Trap, although this trap personally never saved me, I did mark several. Checkpoint was designed to inform Trapster users of a possible Police Checkpoint ahead. The controversy comes from the fact that if a driver under the influence were able to avoid such an environment, that they could possibly injure themselves or someone else. So this trap type was pulled.

When traveling out of town I found that KEPs and School Zone traps were more helpful. My job in 2009 – 2012 had me driving all over the East Coast. I was in areas I was not familiar with and would often be speeding and not even know it. Being notified of a KEP ahead would cause me to be on my toes and slow down, when prior to using the app, I wouldn’t have known. This saved me on numerous occasions. I recall one time while driving to Orlando, for Disney World, that I had Trapster set to notify me of traps a mile ahead. Yeah I was possibly going 85 on I-95, but I’m not sure 😉 I got a KEP notice and slowed down to a more reasonable speed, less than 7 over. About that time a guy comes flying by me in the middle lane, since I was already slowing down I moved over to the right. About 3/4 mile later I noticed a Florida state trooper down in the median turning on his lights and flying up the embankment onto the highway. Well everyone slammed on their breaks and the Trooper took off. About a mile later, there was the trooper and the car previously mentioned sitting on the side of the road. Trapster saved me what I can only imagine would have been a possible $500 ticket. Priceless for a free app!

I began to become annoyed at the lack of functionality that I felt Trapster was missing. With the onslaught of Social Networking apps and other ways to communicate with my friends, I was starting to feel disconnected from them when using Trapster. You know, because I really want my buddies to see me when I’m driving, just kidding. Even though by January of 2011 Trapster had surged to over 10 Million users worldwide and I actually communicated with other North Carolina Moderators, I still felt lonely.

On to greener pastures I went. At the time Trapster did not have a navigation service, so I went in search of a new tool or a supplemental tool. With the passing of the Texting-while-driving ban in NC that went into effect December 1, 2009, I had to really start taking the use of my cell phone seriously. I didn’t want to use Google’s navigation app and the free app from Sprint was all but useless. One evening I stumbled onto Waze. “Waze is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app. Join other drivers in your area who share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone time and gas money on their daily commute. ~ Waze

For while I had 2 cell phones and I would run Trapster and Waze at the same time. However, I began to very quickly gravitate more towards Waze. It was fun and neat to use. The Social aspect that I was missing with Trapster was very apparent in Waze and easy to use. I begged with Trapster to add more social features into their app, many other moderators did as well. All we really got out of it was a Blue line. If another user had recently driven on the same direction on the road that your on, the blue would show. I found it to be highly inaccurate and very unreliable. In comparison, I can use Waze and literally see other Waze users on the highway and determine which direction they are going. What does this really mean? Well for me it meant that I could be assured that another Waze user may have seen any police, accidents, stalled vehicles, road debris, animals, etc. It makes me feel very safe.

In the end, even with an Est 12 million users, Trapster just failed to meet my needs. Sadly, at the end of 2014 Trapster will be offline for good. They’ve already disabled their blog, Facebook, Twiiter, Facebook Group, and a few other features. It really does make me sad that it’s gone. I feel sorry for all the employees and all the die hard Trapster fans out there. You might not like Waze a whole lot, but for now it’s the best there is.

To all the Trapster employees like Stefanie and Dave Finlay, THANK YOU!

Minecraft in a Minute – E02 – HOW TO Make Sticks

Minecraft in a Minute – E02 – HOW TO Make Sticks

httpv://youtu.be/Sl5OKH2EdUI

FrostFire Minecraft – S02E20 – Finding Horses with RedskyFire

FrostFire Minecraft – S02E20 – Finding Horses with RedskyFire

httpv://youtu.be/jVD7VH1vQ0M

First 1,000+ View Video!! FTB How to Make: Basic Circuit Board

I finally had a video go over 1,000 Views! Feed The Beast (FTB) – S01E33 – How to Make: Basic Circuit Board

httpv://youtu.be/8G_EGZhvAEk

New FTY Episodes

I’m going to be recording a bunch of new Episodes tonight. FTY on FTB starts over with tonight with a new map. The server got corrupt, so they rebuilt it and add the Mo’ Creatures mod. I played a little last night… Ogres and Werewolves are not messing around! I’m looking forward to getting back into SimCity and Rome Total War. I’m also looking forward to play NFS (Need For Speed), that I got for free from EA. Big things coming and I hope you guys enjoy!

Blue Yeti vs. Corsair Vengance 1500

Blue Yeti vs. Corsair Vengance 1500

Blue YetiJust picked a Blue Yeti from Guitar Center…This should be fun…

I had to get rid of my Corsair Vengeance 1500. There’s an issue with the drivers that causes a Humming/White Noise sound. I did ton of research about the Corsair Vengeance 1500 and I don’t know how I missed this issue. There’s several well written threads on the Corsair Forum about numerous individuals having the same issues for well over a year. In my opinion, Corsair should have at least made a stab at trying to fix the software/driver issues.

Corsair Vengeance 1500The problem can almost be resolved by switching the Driver in Device Manager, in Windows7 and Windows 8, too the Microsoft USB Audio driver. Then you have to go into the Playback Devices / Corsair Vengeance 1500 / Properties / Levels and mute the Line-In and Microphone. However, as mentioned by several others in the thread with sensitive hearing, the noise is still audible, but at a much lower level. To hear what the Corsair Vengeance 1500 sounds like, go to Recording Devices / Corsair Vengeance 1500 / Properties / Listen and select Listen to this Device. You’ll hear it.

Seriously, it’s almost like the speakers them selves were being treated like an Audio Source in addition to the actual Microphone on the headset. I did read that some people RMA’d their Corsair Vengeance 1500 and got a replacement Corsair Vengeance 1300. I had considered getting a Corsair Vengeance 2000 initially, but decided against the wireless Connection due to some general issues around audio quality on wireless vs wired devices. I have no experience with the Corsair Vengeance 2000, but it was almost the same price point as the Blue Yeti, so…

Hopefully this Yeti will clear up that issue. As far as the 7.1 Surround sound feature on the Corsair Vengeance 1500…OMG I was playing Minecraft last night while testing the drivers and I could literally hear the Creepers hoping down from 10 blocks away. And the directional sensitivity of Skeleton and Zombie sounds was unreal! It wasn’t like, “Oh there’s a noise to my left or right. It was like there’s a Zombie 6 blocks away through that wall.” I almost would have preferred to keep the Corsair, but it just be overpriced headphones at that point. I already own a pair those LOL

The Yeti comes in with such a high regard for quality, but then again the Corsair Vengeance 1500 did too.

For now I’m going to do some testing and see how well it works…

Hopefully you guys will notice the difference in quality, or I’ll be getting a refund.

FTY!

Sourcec: Corsair Thread