bioneural.net » routebuddy

Geo Mashup implementation guide

Bruce — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:06:46 +0000

Geo Mashup is one of my favourite WordPress plug-ins (and no, that's not just because it adopted the Geotag Icon). It neatly integrates geographically-relevant blog posts with a custom Google Map displayed within your own site. The Maps API in turn allows those willing to dirty their hands with a little JavaScript the option to pull in geotagged content from external sources, including photos (e.g. from Flickr, Panoramio, Picasa Web Albums), content from other blogs (via GeoRSS feeds), and placemarks from Google Earth (uploaded KML/ KMZ files, even with network links). What follows is an implementation guide, sharing some usage tips and the code used on bioneural.net. The code given here applies to Geo Mashup 1.1.1 and WordPress 2.6.2. Installing the plugin Download Geo Mashup here, expand the ZIP archive and upload the geo-mashup directory to /wp-content/plugins/ on your web server. Log in to WordPress as Administrator and activate Geo Mashup from the Plugins tab. Once active there will be a new Geo Mashup tab under Settings, and you'll need to visit this to enter your Google Maps API key (if you don't yet have one, click the Get yours here link). Don't worry about the other options at this stage. Creating a map page The tag reference gives you the choice of two types of tag to use with Geo Mashup. Shortcode tags are added to posts or pages on a case-by-case basis. Template tags on the other hand involve adding the tag once to your theme templates, and having the same result output automatically ...

The Scottish Highlands in eleven days

Bruce — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:48:59 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Scotland. Even the name of the country causes something to stir in my McKenzie blood. The last time I was there in 1994 we didn't get to the North Western Highlands and so in early September, between the high season/ school holidays and autumn proper, we drove 2845km (1768 miles) in our tiny 698cc car to scratch that itch. Here is our admittedly full but rewarding route and accommodation plan, complete with downloadable maps, KML files for Google Earth, and itinerary/ POI files for TomTom navigation devices. For more photographs, see here. Day 1: Home to Glasgow Although not itself in the Highlands (as demarcated roughly by the Highland Boundary Fault), Glasgow served as the staging point for our expedition. We arrived mid-afternoon after a long drive so had several hours in which to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the overrated SECC beside the black waters of the Clyde (not comparable to the Sydney Opera House as suggested), and the civic centre. We stayed centrally at the Thistle, a tired hotel not deserving of four stars (the window sill in our room had been used as an ashtray; we were flabbergasted to see a smoker puffing away in the corridor beneath a smoke alarm; housekeeping fit pillow cases inside-out, etc.). There's free WiFi for patrons at the Kama Sutra Indian restaurant—if you find yourself in the, err... position without it (excellent food with excellent service too). Day 2: Glasgow to Kilchoan Click thumbnail to enlarge imageRoute and points of interest for Day 2 Not far from ...

Know your waypoints from your track points

Bruce — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:23:05 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

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. It's not merely a question of semantics Contiguous track points illustrate a very clear path on a map: you can see exactly where you went and, at a pinch, use a pre-recorded track to follow in someone else's footsteps. What you can't do is readily identify particular locations, because when plotted on a map track points are indistinguishable from one another. Specific locations (waypoints) have a variety of uses, including manual geotagging of photos, mapping points-of-interest, indicating landmarks for direction-finding, or marking cache locations in geocaching. If you're looking to providing instructions you want others to be able to follow, an ordered set of waypoints (describing a route) is what you need. Lets look at some simple examples with ...

Get your GPS fix with RouteBuddy 2.2

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

From http://www.bioneural.net :

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 ...

RouteBuddy To Go for your iPhone

Bruce — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:48:43 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

I've been spending a lot of time lately using RouteBuddy (more on that soon), and also too much time playing with various apps from the App Store for iPhone/ iPod touch. Among other functions RouteBuddy allows you to create high-quality road maps upon which you can plot custom points-of-interest (waypoints), or display track logs and route plans. While these maps may look stunning on a 23" Cinema Display as you zoom in and out, that's not hardware you can tuck under your arm as you explore unfamiliar streets on foot. True, you could just print the maps, but Apple's iPhone offers a high resolution yet compact viewport—so why not go paper free? There are several native apps for iPhone that make this prospect enticing; here's how to fake your own RouteBuddy To Go and how to create waypoints in RouteBuddy using your iPhone's location awareness. Take your RouteBuddy maps mobile Firstly, this method assumes that you have purchased RouteBuddy and have licensed suitable mapping (you can of course use other map data e.g. Google Maps) and that you have purchased FileMagnet from Magnetism (or, pending release, an alternative file sync solution and viewer for iPhone). Open RouteBuddy and maximize the map view to encompass the area you are interested in. You can capture this map in one of two FileMagnet-compatible ways: Enter Command-Shift-4 on the keyboard to bring up the crosshair tool and drag it across the dimensions of the map view then release to make a screen capture. Rename the Picture 1.png file ...

Address Book to Google Maps to RouteBuddy

Bruce — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:37:16 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

A while back it was necessary to use an Address Book plugin to look up contacts using Google Maps, but Apple changed to make plotting addresses using Google Maps the default behaviour. It turns out with a bit of JavaScript you can grab the coordinates via the Google Maps API and include these in a special URL that will create a waypoint in RouteBuddy. No Address Book plugins or custom AppleScripts required. Credits: Aburt gave me the idea to challenge myself to do it, having discovered this starting point with a strong hint from here. Tested and compatible with Safari 3.1.2 and Firefox 3.0.1 using RouteBuddy 2.1.1. Installation Just select and drag the JavaScript below into Safari's Bookmarks Bar (or your browser's equivalent) for easy access, creating a so-called "bookmarklet", and give it a short name (I used LL2RB but anything will do): javascript:void(prompt('Drag%20the%20selection%20below%20onto%20RouteBuddy\'s%20Dock%20icon:',['rbud://view?&lat='+gApplication.getMap().getCenter().lat()+'&lon='+gApplication.getMap().getCenter().lng()+'&zoom=4'])); Usage Select a contact in Address Book and control or right-click on the address label to reveal the Map of option: This should open a Google Map centred on the address for that contact, with an open info window. If that location looks correct just click on the bookmarklet and you should see something like the following: All you need do now is follow the instruction to drag the selected URL onto RouteBuddy's icon in the Dock. Example URL: rbud://view?&lat=53.371075&lon=-1.477572&zoom=4 This will launch RouteBuddy and create a new waypoint at these same coordinates, which you can then edit as appropriate: But what happens if Google Maps botches the address look-up, or you want to add a location from ...

Geo Mashup for WordPress adopts Geotag Icon

Bruce — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:55:17 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Geo Mashup by Dylan Kuhn uses the Google Maps API to search for locations and geocode WordPress posts for plotting on a customized map. Features include display by category, inclusion of post excerpts in pop-up info windows, automatic generation of GeoRSS feeds (example), importation of KML files, and flexible template tag options (e.g. you can write code to create waypoints in RouteBuddy). The Geotag Icon was added to v1.1b3 and illustrates "Show on map" links.

Restore itinerary planning to TomTom ONE v6

Bruce — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:02:46 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

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. Lost in translation If you had read this you'll know that TomTom aren't too proficient at communicating ("a free download" to TomTom means one time only, whereas "AVG is a free download" means what we all think it means). I guess that's why "update" means "removal of pre-existing functions" in TomTomese. Consider the following sequence: Sequence Event One TomTom's NavCore 7.x software for the ONE (v6) includes itinerary planning code, but no menu option Two A procedure for activating itineraries using SDK custom menus is documented by users Three TomTom "update" NavCore to 8.x on the ONE v6, covertly the removing itinerary planning code Four TomTom release a new ONE with the same version of 8.x software, which does include itinerary planning You may draw your own conclusions as to their motivation and level of commitment to existing customers. Not all change is good With a custom menu the "old" NavCore software afforded easy access to point-of-interest (POI) management and Itinerary planning: Custom main menus using NavCore 7.166 software After "updating" to NavCore 8.010 such customization no longer works, and the ONE's Main ...

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 ...