Sunday, March 18, 2012

News Feed Comments
You are here: Home / Archives for Internet applications

Google Maps: USA Hot Springs

October 14, 2005 By Leave a Comment

A new Google Maps "mashup" is out, this one focusing on USA Hot Springs. I don’t usually post Google Maps mashups; so many other blogs cover the subject quite well. But much of my focus is on maps and the great outdoors, so I just couldn’t resist this one. I’m not a hot spings nut, but I have enjoyed a few, and they bring back fond memories. Except the one in Big Bend National Park where the NPS ranger threatened to bust everyone and got his jollies by shining his flashlight on the ladies!

Via Google Maps Mania.


Filed Under: Internet applications

Converting Google Maps searches to GPS waypoints in Internet Explorer

October 3, 2005 By Leave a Comment

Yesterday I posted about how to convert Google Maps search results to GPS waypoints. I said then that "I couldn’t get it working in IE." The author sent me a note on how to do it, and this is such a cool tool that I decided to put it in a new post. Just right-click on the GMapToGPX button on his site and select "Add to Favorites." Then do your search at local.google.com and then click your GMapToGPX favorite.  The rest of the instructions should work fine.

UPDATE from Josh:

I’ve updated the bookmarklet code to handle searches on maps.google.com, too. I haven’t tested it in IE, but I know it works in Firefox. You shouldn’t need to do anything to get the new code; it should automatically use the latest version. I had to clear my browser cache to get the new version, though, so if you still can’t get a GPX file for maps.google.com search results, try that.


Filed Under: Internet applications

Garmin acquires MotionBased.com

October 3, 2005 By Leave a Comment

Garmin announced this morning that it is acquiring MotionBased Technologies. MotionBased is an online GPS mapping service that offers a number of unique features. I’ve actually been using MotionBased for awhile now and plan to post a review in the near future.

I suppose this move should come as no surprise following this story last week. It appears that Garmin and MotionBased have had a cozy relationship for some time now, even sharing a booth at Outdoor Retailer this year.

UPDATE: Here is the MotionBased take on it, courtesy of their weblog, MBlog.

Filed Under: Garmin, Internet applications

Converting Google Maps search results to GPS waypoints

October 2, 2005 By 12 Comments

A while back I was travelling quite a bit, and I wanted to figure out where I could find free wifi while on the road. So I went to Google Maps and clicked "Local Search." I entered wifi in the "what" field and a city name in the "where" field and, like magic, I had a map with lots of wifi hot spots. But now what? I had a GPS. There had to be a way to convert these search results to waypoints so my GPS could guide me there. I searched for a converter, and though I found a couple, I couldn’t get them to work. After a little sleuthing, I’ve discovered one that works, and the trick to get it to do so. Thanks to Josh of Communications From Elsewhere for this great tool.  Here are step-by-step instructions for you…

  1. Get the GMapToGPX converter and drag it to your browser’s bookmark toolbar. Now Josh says it works in Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE). There’s a bookmark toolbar in the Firefox, and it works fine there. I couldn’t get it working in IE though. UPDATE: In IE, just right-click on the GMapToGPX button on his site and select "Add to Favorites."
  2. Go to local.google.com and enter a query. This is where I had problems. It works with local.google.com but not with maps.google.com. I have no idea why. Maybe a more tech-savvy reader can enlighten us. Regardless, you end up in Google Maps.
  3. Once the local search loads, click the GMapToGPX button on your toolbar. Or if you’re using IE, click the GMapToGPX Favorite. This opens an xml/gpx file.
  4. Copy this file to a text editor and save it with a .gpx extension (e.g., Saratoga wifi.gpx)
  5. Open this in your favorite GPX compatible mapping software and send it to your GPS. One caveat here. I could not open this in MapSource. I was successful in transferring it to TopoFusion, ExpertGPS and USAPhotoMaps. I was also able to transfer from those, into my GPS, and then into MapSource.
  6. Now, hit the road!

Hmm, I’ll be on the road again next weekend, so what do I want to do? Here’s an idea. Just imagine the possibilities…


Filed Under: Internet applications

Topo overlays for Google Earth

August 15, 2005 By Leave a Comment

Following a sideband comment, I had resolved to review the differences between Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth.  I misread the email though. It wasn’t saying that Virtual Earth shows topos, merely that it will show both road maps and aerial photos, something Google Earth and Google Maps already manage to do quite well.

I thought it was worth a comparison of the programs though, but in researching the topic I stumbled across people using topo maps in Google Earth.  A search for "contour" and/or "topo" on the Google Earth Community message board should turn up some examples. Find a likely looking message and then click "Open this Placement" in the messsage header. You’ll have to have Google Earth installed to see the results of course.

Unfortunately, I have no time right now to check out how this is done. Maybe a reader already knows and will share?…


Filed Under: Internet applications, Software

Outdoor Retailer: GPS Mapping Software

August 13, 2005 By Leave a Comment

As I said in my last post, the mapping software companies have been much more willing to discuss forthcoming developments. So much so that I’m not sure where to begin. Delorme, National Geographic TOPO!, and Fugawi all indicated that improvements are coming. Outdoor Retailer is a chaotic environment and it wasn’t always clear what they were and were not willing to talk about, at least for publication. In order to avoid any journalistic faux pas, and ensure accurate reporting, I decided to do formal interviews with their staff. I’ll get those rolling early in the coming week. If you have any questions you would like to see included, please send a comment below. I’m hoping we develop a strong community here at gpstracklog.com. There is a lot of expertise out there and I can only look at so many programs.

I can go ahead and tell you a couple of things to watch for. I’m sure we’ll be seeing increased compatibility in terms of file formats, and look for software manufacturers to move even further into the hardware arena. I hope to be able to share more ASAP.

One other thing; I saw a Motion Based software demo that I was quite impressed with. I shied away from including them in my book, for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to see it actually published, and not become a perpetually expanding monster. Also, I have to admit a bias towards low-cost and free software that caused me to ignore a fee-based package like Motion Based, though I would be remiss at this point if I didn’t mention that their free mode carries only minor limitations. I must say, what I saw today was pretty impressive. This is the first software I’ve seen to integrate (and I hope I’m getting the details right) high resolution b/w USGS aerial photos, color aerial photos, topo maps, street maps, and even Google Earth! It was not clear if these could be layered, and I’m already in the Salt Lake City airport, so I can’t ask that question right now. Regardless, this could be the answer to my earlier post bemoaning the lack of topographical maps in Google Earth / Google Maps. A slight digression here – an astute reader commented on that post side-band, noting that MSN Virtual Earth integrates aerial photos and topo maps, which I hope to explore in an upcoming post. Anyway, back to Motion Based, I plan to test this software in the near future and file a report here. That will likely have to wait until next month, due to a crazy travel and work schedule. In the meantime, are there any comments from readers on their experience with Motion Based?

Filed Under: Hardware, Internet applications, Software

Google Maps and Google Earth – Where are the topos?

August 9, 2005 By 3 Comments

"Wow, Google Earth  is amazing!" Such hyperboly drips from blogs and discussion boards these days, yet for those of us who love topographic maps, Google Earth is more style than substance. Weak waypoint management and an inability to show contour lines make it close to useless for GPS / backcountry trip planning.

I am amazed at how many blogs (like Ogle Earth, via The Map Room ) are popping up, focused on Google Earth. They even have their own newsgroup! And Google Earth isn’t nearly as popular as Google Maps. Sheesh! What is driving this Google geomania? Well, the hacker crowd loves the fact that they can customize these applications. And there is a lot of potential there, but what about topo maps?

In researching this, I found a nice hack that allowed you to integrate Google Maps with Microsoft’s TerraServer. This lets you to toggle back and forth between Google’s map and satellite views, and TerraServer’s topo maps and more detailed b/w aerial photos. Despite my avowed antipathy to hacks  (granted this is primarily due to a lack of skills on my part), I decided to give it a shot. It really wasn’t that hard…

read more

Filed Under: Internet applications, Software
« Previous Page