Category archive for ‘Gadgets’ at bioneural.net

Archive for the 'Gadgets' category

Know your waypoints from your track points

Published by Bruce on August 26, 2008 in Gadgets. 1 response

Geotagging photos can be done manually or automatically. When using a GPS data logger in automatic mode your position at each point in time (intervals vary) is recorded as a track point. The collection of track points recorded during a logging session is called a track log. Some devices (e.g. GlobalSat DG-100, Holux M-241) feature a button for manual entry of a specific GPS location as a waypoint, which you can match to the corresponding photo(s) by hand. That all sounds pretty straight forward doesn't it? Well it's not, because some GPS devices can't tell their waypoints from their track points. Thankfully the aptly-named GPSBabel can translate us a way out of this misunderstanding for the DG-100, and an update to BT747 means you can now download waypoints from the M-241 to your Mac.
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Restore itinerary planning to TomTom ONE v6

Published by Bruce on June 27, 2008 in Gadgets. 29 responses

Hot on the heels of the "latest" map debacle, I've another bone to pick with TomTom. My TomTom ONE 3rd Edition (v6) came with customizable menus which permitted use of the itinerary planning functions. Did you know RouteBuddy could upload, download, modify, and re-upload TomTom Itineraries (routes)? Great—except that TomTom HOME didn't tell me it would remove the itinerary code when "updating" the ONE's software. I was, however, able to roll back from NavCore 8.010 to 7.166 and regain that lost itinerary planning functionality.
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Geotagging with the Mac-friendly GlobalSat BT-335

Published by Bruce on June 24, 2008 in Gadgets. 24 responses

GlobalSat's BT-335 functions as both a Bluetooth-equiped GPS receiver (compatible with most NMEA-compliant mapping/ navigation software on Bluetooth SPP-compliant PDAs, smartphones, and computers) and as a stand-alone data logger. It can perform both functions simultaneously, saving coordinates, time stamps, altitude, and speed to a log which can be wirelessly downloaded for use in geotagging photos or in other location-related applications. This review compares the BT-335 to my previously purchased and evaluated Holux M-241, focussing on Mac compatibility and geotagging utility.
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Evaluating the Holux M-241 data logger

Published by Bruce on April 8, 2008 in Gadgets. 34 responses

After David rekindled my interest in geotagging blog posts with Google Map integration, and Dave's photo tracking experiences convinced me to revisit geotagging photos, I posted An ABC of geotagging photos on the Mac. In that article I considered questions relevant to selecting an automatic geo-location system, naming most of the few Mac-compatible devices available. I recently purchased a data logger to overcome the pain of manual photo geotagging and dispense with the hassle of a DIY solution.
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In-car GPS + Palm = DIY photo tracker

Published by Bruce on March 11, 2008 in Gadgets. 16 responses

If I told you I was using a GPS photo tracking system for geotagging photos from my Nikon D70 that stored track logs and waypoints to 1GB of memory, exported in GPX format, and connected to my Mac via USB or Bluetooth—you'd be right to wonder if I was making it up. It's not fiction, and nor is it new tech either. It's a "make do" solution I put together from gear I'd already been using for several years and with £0 new investment. Given poor Mac support in the data logger market, such a system is surely a good way to experiment on the cheap before shelling out on yet more battery-operated gadgetry.
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Google Maps on your PDA

Published by Bruce on February 10, 2007 in Gadgets. 6 responses

Google maps have gone mobile, meaning anyone with a data-capable mobile phone is now bereft of excuses for not finding their way home from the pub. If don't have a bling phone with excesses of screen real estate, your old phone should do just fine if your pair it with your Palm (.prc here) or Pocket PC (.cab here) and Google's PDA software. It's like "GPS Lite" for those who already know where they are!
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