VOA标准英语2011--Geography Meets Social Media on ‘Geoso

Geography Meets Social Media on ‘Geosocial’ Sites

There’s a well-worn phrase in real estate: “location, location, location,” meaning that where a property is located, alone, means more than anything else when it comes to assessing its value.
But “location” is getting new meanings in these days of smartphones and other hand-held devices.
When satellite-based global positioning and tracking became commonly available on computers and smartphones, sales of maps and requests for directions from strangers took a nosedive. We know of people who hardly go out of the house without first checking for GPS directions.
Some apps, or phone applications, even provide real-time alerts about traffic jams, accidents, and detours¹.
A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that 28 percent of adults use what it calls mobile and social-media “location services” every day. And not just to plan trips and get directions.
“Smartphone owners are using their phones to get fast access to location-relevant information on-the-go," said Kathryn Zickuhr, co-author of the Pew report.
What does that mean? Lots of smartphone owners get recommendations for restaurants, museums and theaters based on where they happen to be at the time. Young adults use so-called “geosocial” check-in services such as Foursquare and Gowalla, to keep track of friends’ whereabouts and pick places to meet and eat.
Foursquare users can play a game in which rivals compete to become what they call the “mayor” of a place - even an office building or a post office - just by sending out a signal that they’re in that particular location.
We’re told that a security guard here, for instance, was the “mayor” of the Voice of America for a time, reviewing our visitors’ tour and even the quality of our cafeteria food. We’re scrolling² our smartphones frantically³ to read that.

1 detours   

绕行的路( detour的名词复数 )； 绕道，兜圈子

参考例句：

• Local wars and bandits often blocked their travel, making countless detours necessary. 内战和盗匪也常阻挡他们前进，迫使他们绕了无数弯路。
• Could it be that all these detours had brought them to Moshi Pass? 难道绕来绕去，绕到磨石口来了吗？ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

2 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。