(I’m aware this is an “obvious-man” sort of post, but I think it’s interesting to consider the limits of the info-god as we rely increasingly on smartphones and ubiquitous data.)

I’ve been living in San Francisco for almost 8 months now. I’m starting to get a pretty good feel for the city, though I’ve spent most of my time on the east side. Google maps have been invaluable to me in this process, allowing me to wander without concern for getting back home, directing me to the nearest stores, in general giving me at least the base knowledge to explore the city. I can’t overstate the incredible feeling of just walking out the door in a totally foreign city with no real concern for when or how you’ll get back home.

Bobbi, the woman from whom I rent a room, has lived in the city for the better part of a couple decades now, and I’m beginning to suspect I should be asking her a lot more than I’m asking Google.

What drove this home most recently was a trip over to the Fillmore area. I was meeting a friend of mine in a coffee shop at Fillmore and Sacramento. Google recommended the 10 bus, but I missed that, so the next option was the 45, which stops at Union and Fillmore. Google suggested I walk from Union to Sacramento on Fillmore.

For those of you who don’t live in the city, this is only about a half-mile walk along Fillmore. For those of you who do live in the city, you might know why these are terrible, terrible, terrible directions.

See, Google Maps doesn’t take terrain into account with its walking directions. And San Francisco is a city for which Terrain is quite an important factor. Between Union and Broadway, a scant 3 blocks along Fillmore, there’s about a 100ft change in elevation. To put that in perspective – in the space of three blocks, you climb the equivalent of 10 stories. There are STAIRS CUT INTO THE HILL. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a beautiful view from the top – or so I hear. I was hallucinating by then. I mentioned this to Bobbi later and she just laughed, because this is just a blindly obviously a bad idea to anyone who’s lived in the area – You take the 10 or the 22. This is how you get to Fillmore, Period, because otherwise you have to hire a Sherpa or a cab.

To give a couple more examples:

Google’s sent me past Taylor and Ellis and sent me up 6th st., both at night. For non-SFers, this is the Tenderloin, also known as “Man, I am gonna get Stabbed if I don’t get out of here.” It’s told me to drive along the Embarcadero during the weekend (it’s quite insistent on this route. I’m beginning to suspect Google of having a stake in the Farmer’s market). It might as well tell me to drive into a parking lot. It’s recommended stores that have been closed so long there’s no sign there was ever anything other than a vacant building there. In general, it’s given me generally accurate, utterly context-free information.

Google’s been a great reference and safety net as I learn the city, but it’s a pale comparison for acquired knowledge, and incidents like this have made me increasingly cautious of my over-reliance on third-party or aggregated knowledge in lieu of personal experience.

I’ve heard the best way to keep up on your resolutions is to tell them to as many people as possible, and in that light, I’m making this public:

1. Read on average at least one book a week.
2. Write on average at least one blog post a week.
3. Start saving and investing, with a target of $1000/mo.
4. Improve my networking – reply to emails, etc.
5. Focus on my business skills, and how my technical skills can play in that direction.
6. Make a decision on an MBA program by the end of the year.
7. Eat Better – minimize fast food, cook more at home.
8. Take better care of myself in general – go for walks, floss, etc.
9. Finish what I start, or make a graceful exit – clean up after myself.
10. Clean up after myself in general.

Only the reading and the blog posts are really quantifiable on here, but hopefully my internal barometer is strong enough to be able to work with this.

Happy Oh Nine, folks!