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.
Continue reading 'Geotagging with the Mac-friendly GlobalSat BT-335'
Tag archive for 'software'
The developer of CDFinder has released GPS-Info CMM, a free contextual menu plug-in for the OS X Finder. Images with coordinates in EXIF can be plotted directly using several online mapping services or in Google Earth. Meanwhile the iCab browser b49 delivers extended geotagging support, such as recognition of EXIF-GPS data within images displayed inline on a web page: auto-detection activates the geotag icon.
Be Unlimited provide ADSL2+ services in the UK, supplying a Be-branded Thompson SpeedTouch wireless router called the BeBox. The Member Forum is full of complaints about router instability and errant behaviour. My 780WL had been doing well for around 6 months, then started resetting itself sometimes several times within a short period, but at least daily. Sometimes after a reset I was left with no Internet connectivity. Eventually Be sent me a replacement router, which came with replacement problems. So how do you turn a flaky BeBox into a rock-solid Internet router? Just take the "Be" out of your BeBox.
Continue reading 'Resolving router issues with Be Unlimited'
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?
Continue reading 'Mac geotagging software showdown'
Installation of software you didn't actively choose to install is malware. I'm referring to Apple's recent decision to force Safari 3.1 on hapless Windows users via Software Update. How can you "update" a product that isn't installed? Wife: Have you got anything without Safari? This is bad form Apple. At least Ars consider this browser a much-improved and stable "true competitor".
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.
Continue reading 'CDFinder in the Mac geotagging workflow'
