Man uses GPS to set up high tech wedding proposal

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Dan Deeble took a technology designed for military use in the Cold War and put it in the service of love.Deeble - an Antelope, Calif. resident with a tricky, techie streak - used a simple GPS-based iPhone application to propose to his girlfriend last week.Crystal Gardner said yes, the old-fashioned way, with tears, but their story is yet another example of how people are incorporating modern technology into their lives - sometimes bending it to unpredicted, and unpredictable purposes. The story has its beginning when the couple went to see the movie "P.S. I Love You" early in their romantic relationship.In the film, a widow gets letters from her husband, seemingly sent from beyond the grave."I wanted to use that same premise," Deeble said.Without dying, of course.When the latest version of Apple's iPhone came out this summer, he bought one for himself and another for Gardner and began searching for a way to send notes.He found Scribular.Scribular (scribular.com) is one of a multitude of free or cheap downloads that can be used on the iPhone.People use applications such as Urbanspoon to find restaurants, Shazam to find the name of a song they hear or any number of other "apps."In essence, Scribular allows users to "leave" notes at specific locations using GPS coordinates or addresses linked to GPS.Rob Hunter, Scribular's San Francisco creator, envisioned it as a way to share information about locations.Recent Scribular posts include "Nice place to go to college," at the College of DuPage in Illinois, and a margarita review - "Not bad for $3" - at the Madrone Bar in San Francisco.Users can write notes for a particular location, or check to see if there are anywhere they are.It's based on Global Positioning System, the same system some cars now use to give you directions by receiving satellite coordinates that pinpoint your location.The technology was limited to military uses until a few years ago.Deeble loaded Scribular into Gardner's new iPhone, along with lots of other applications she didn't understand."I have seven pages of apps," she said.Then he planted love notes around the Sacramento area that Gardner would find Tuesday."I sat up all night" writing the notes, he said.He left a Post-it on her car telling her to check Scribular on her way to work.Friends, family and colleagues - cued by Deeble - prompted her to check again at different times throughout the day, in different locations.Each note ended, "p.s. I love you."It culminated at the Delta King restaurant, where they were having dinner."That's when I did the final Scribular at 7 p.m.," said Jennifer Kinman, Gardner's sister.Deeble had Kinman call her sister and tell her to check for another note. Gardner said she had no idea what was coming.The final Scribular post said, among other things:"Almost one year ago, I found you - and I found love. ... I ask if you will grant me the greatest privilege of my life and marry me. Forever yours, Dan."And, of course, "p.s. I love you.""Of course I will," she responded.Hunter never envisioned his software would be used the way Deeble used it."Users can sometimes surprise you," he said.Users always surprise you, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.Even Alexander Graham Bell's telephone came to represent things he didn't intend. It's said he didn't even allow one in his office."(The telephone) had nothing to do with what he conceived it for," Rainie said.Of course, Bell's phone was later used for romance, intended or not.Jessica Dolcourt, an editor with CNET, said iPhones get used for romance in many ways, intended or not.One application allows you to do one-touch dialing of that special someone, without going into a directory.A couple that Dolcourt knows bonds by playing air hockey on an iPhone, and another friend feels the love when her partner spends hours finding and downloading applications that she'll enjoy.In the end, experts said, it's not that the technology is changing people.It's people bending technology to their needs. They break up by e-mail, as 9 percent of singles said they had done in a Pew survey.Or they use GPS to become engaged, like Deeble."It's pretty brilliant," Dolcourt said.E-mail Carlos Alcala at calcala(at)sacbee.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)