bioneural.net » review

Get your GPS fix with RouteBuddy 2.2

Bruce — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:11:27 +0000

RouteBuddy is an application for Mac marketed as "iTunes for your GPS" in reflection of some interface similarities. It works with most GPS receivers to plot your live position on high-quality street maps, but can also import and export saved data to/ from some devices, applications, and online services. With full-featured and highly portable personal navigation devices increasingly affordable (e.g. TomTom, Garmin) and free tools available for direction-finding and location-sharing (e.g. Google Maps, Google Earth), you may be forgiven for wondering what gap in the market RouteBuddy aims to fill. This question set the brief for my review as I determined to assess its strengths and weakness against the tools you may use already. Disclosure: A single user license for RouteBuddy 2.1.1–2.2 with UK & Ireland maps was provided by RouteBuddy Ltd. for the purposes of this review. Tested using a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook with 2GB RAM. Skip to: Prelude The RouteBuddy interface in brief RouteBuddy and GPS device compatibility Have software, need map Tracking Planning Navigating Importing Exporting Sharing Analyzing Plotting Managing Finding Summary and conclusion Prelude I gave up on Route 66 (now defunct route-planning software) with the arrival of Google Maps, but still largely relied on a spiral-bound paper road atlas—until I hired a car with "sat nav". After a false start with Navman, I migrated to the more Mac-friendly TomTom platform, which led me to discover the sport of geocaching. Then it was back to Navman, and then TomTom again, by which time I had caught up with photo geotagging—and that has become something of a preoccupation. Why am I boring you with ...

Geotagging with the Mac-friendly GlobalSat BT-335

Bruce — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:37:06 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

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. Disclosure: A sample BT-335 unit was provided by USGlobalSat, Inc. for the purposes of this review. Those unfamiliar with the basic concepts of geotagging may wish to read this introduction first. What's in the box? BT-335 packaging and accessories BT-335 unit; CD-ROM (with PDF manual, Windows-only software); Set-up/ quick start card; 12V DC car charger; US-style 110/ 240V AC wall charger; US-to-Euro wall adapter. The BT-335 ($US120) is a compact 75g matchbox-style unit in silver plastic that includes anti-slip strips for horizontal placement (e.g. on a dashboard). Unlike the cylindrical M-241 (which has to be kept vertical) the BT-335 doesn't come with a lanyard, although use of one was obviously a consideration—the unit has a lanyard attachment. I do find myself using the lanyard with the M-241 around my neck, mainly so I can keep a close check on battery status. One of the LEDs on the BT-335 lights red when the battery needs charging, but with a claimed 25 hour capacity the unit could easily be turned on and "forgotten" in a pocket (e.g. jacket, camera bag). As well as ...

Mac geotagging software showdown

Bruce — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:38:21 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

You're in Prague for 6 days with your camera (shooting in raw format), packing your data logger for geotagging, and your MacBook. At the end of each day you plan to download your images and track logs to geotag them before processing via Adobe Bridge. Given this scenario how do GPSPhotoLinker and PhotoGPSEditor—two free Mac apps—stack up against two commercial alternatives, Geophoto and HoudahGeo? What features are important? Below are the main characteristics I would look for in geotagging software, bearing in mind the above scenario. My interest here is purely the "business end" of geotagging i.e. writing the data from my logger to my images. As such my ratings reflect fitness for this purpose and do not necessarily cover the full feature set of the individual applications. Load multiple GPX track logs simultaneously: If your logger is as energetically challenged as the Holux M-241 you won't be leaving it in your bag and forgetting about it until the end of your 9 hour sojourn through the Old Town. You'll want to switch off logging during meal breaks, or inside galleries when you won't be using your camera (for example). Thus each daily download of photos could be associated with several distinct track logs, each potentially covering different activities. While you may be able to download a combined log (as you can with the Holux and BT747) you might wish to retain the individual logs, a useful option if you intend to archive the log/ KML export directly with the relevant images (e.g. ...

CDFinder in the Mac geotagging workflow

Bruce — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:22:38 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Like many Mac users I archive my pictures in iPhoto, largely because I enjoy the tight integration this affords with Apple and third-party apps that might want to use them. Having entered the world of geotagging I was disappointed to discover that iPhoto can fail to show coordinates in EXIF (and when shown, oddly lists them under Exposure), does not recognise location data in IPTC headers, and does not provide any "show on map" facility (even Preview does this). Norbert Doerner of West-Forest-Systems then pointed out that I'd completely neglected archive and retrieval of geotagged images in my "ABC" article. This Mac software critique goes some way to redress that omission by considering the role of CDFinder in a Mac user's geotagging workflow. CDFinder is essentially an asset manager that catalogues any file on any volume (CD-ROM, DVD, USB drive, etc). But media metadata are its speciality, and this indexing powerhouse has recently been extended to handle geotags and provide related functionality. Disclosure: A single user license for CDFinder 5.1 was provided by West-Forest-Systems for the purposes of this review. I have a personal interest in the success of the Geotag Icon. Critique context The review machine was an Intel Mac mini running Mac OS X 10.5.2 (Leopard) with iLife '08. I shoot in NEF format (Nikon raw) with a D70 and JPEG with an Olympus C-70Z. My current media organization is I expect fairly typical: Most of my music is in iTunes; Most of my photos are in iPhoto; the rest are mainly in ...

Kawhia tides, Taranaki pathways (review)

Bruce — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:30:06 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Tides of Kawhia and Pathways of Taranaki are novels by New Zealand author Tom O'Conner. According to the author's profile, these two books form part of a trilogy. Although nominally about "the life and times of Te Rauparaha", this historical Ngati Toa leader is not the focus. The third-person narrative is more concerned with the fictional contemporary character of Te Rou Rou, the slave who becomes a warrior (the antithesis of Maximus in Ridley's Gladiator). The first book, Tides of Kawhia (Reed 2004, ISBN 0-7900-0978-1, 356 pages), starts before Te Rou Rou (or just "Rou") is born as the result of a fleeting encounter between his slave mother and a visiting warrior (who is subsequently slain). Tribal agreement ensures that Rou is trained in the art of war to avenge his father given a background of constant inter-tribal bickering. It is well into the book before Rou begins to play a role, by which time the reader has been presented with a grim picture of life in pre-European Maori society. Rou is born into a world where, if you buy into the story, life is a cocktail of violence; class struggle; hardship from being tapu; cannibalism; rape; hunger; and petty vengeance. I found the writing too repetitive at times, getting the impression that when there was nothing else to write about another fight was called for. But it did leave me with the kind of insight you don't get from reading history books. For example, how would it feel to live ...

Blogging with ecto: big on features

Bruce — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:16:24 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

This blog is published using the iBlog client, an easy-to-use OS X application that makes uploading static pages to the .Mac server simple. iBlog version 1.x has been around for a few years now and despite a number of updates its basic feature set has remained relatively static. However, version 2.x is now in development and promises to add some of the features requested by users in the small but friendly community Forum. Mac fans can now choose from an increasing range of blogging software, and here I take a quick look at ecto, a seemingly popular and well-regarded client. This article refers to iBlog (version 1.x), a Mac blogging client that was formerly used to publish this site. It may refer to design elements and other features that have since been replaced. Ecto is described as: a feature-rich desktop blogging client for MacOSX and Windows, supporting a wide range of weblog systems, such as Blogger, Blojsom, Drupal, MovableType, Nucleus, TypePad, WordPress, and more. This software is far from a gooy mess (as in ectoplasm... sorry) but not perfect, and in some ways overly complex. I was unable to get iPhoto or iTunes integration working (I tried version 2.4.1 with a Blogger account). I want to highlight some of the things that work well from the point-of-view of an iBlog user with a "version 2.x wish list" in mind! Do you prefer plain or RTF? iBlog 1.x uses and RTF editor which is responsible for introducing spurious code that has thus far prevented this blog from ...