iPhone trails
89 days ago
I’ve been having a bit of fun with my new iPhone and three applications from the Health and Fitness category of the iTunes store, so a very quick resumé –
RunKeeper
At a cost of £5.99, this app does the least of the three here, but it does it well and there is more promised in the pipeline.
The interface is simple and logs of your trails are represented equally simply:
You can’t export any kml/xml files, therefore the only way of viewing your efforts is within the RunKeeper site Dasboard, but it does show elevation, speed and distance below the map:
Plus, you can interrogate the graph further:
Trailguru
Goes a bit further in the iPhone interface and a lot further on the official site, which takes the form of a wiki (with ads).
You can export files and choose to keep some uploaded routes private and plot to GoogleMaps, there is a forum and you can easily buddy with people, along with adding photographs. There are separate graphs for elevation and speed – ignore the fact that my dog Rufus appears to be cycling like the clappers here – it was a Subaru! (I have incorporated one into a test trails map, honestly labelled Subaru! – the camera markers are output from GeoTag photos of Friars Head using the Holux logger)
iTrail
iTrail comes with an accompanying desktop downloader, use of which will simply enable you to extract the tracks and use them on your own maps or Google’s. The iPhone’s interface is the best and most comprehensive of the lot – icons courtesy of Bruce 
But the real no-brainer here is the incorporation into TrailRunner – a donationware offering of fantastic abilities – which offers more in the pipeline still. The little desktop app has been incorporated into TrailRunner:
So, importing from your iPhone is a synch and you can then do more with the data than I have, so far, explored (or even care to try and explain) here. However, it is ridiculously easy to export a weblog to a MobileMe account – my first dog walk is recorded in a screen shot here which in turn automatically outputs a map (with link) to GPSies and provides GPX and KML download links.
What’s more, the GPSies map has tools to overlay other nearby tracks, associated Panoramio photos, Wikipedia entries and the weather! Plus, a neat little inset control that illustrates the elevation and correspondingly scrolls along your route.
Stunning package 
and well worth a decent donation.
Comment [4] 
3G Test
92 days ago
OK, so I relented and upgraded to a 3G GPS iPhone and this is the first pix, via Flickr initially, which stripped the geo-data here, but is OK on Flickr.
This new one has been downloaded from the iPhone and replaces the Flickr-fed one, and retains the geo-data.
GGeoXml RSS Map Overlay
105 days ago
Prompted by Bruce’s comments and his mapping article, I initiated another step in the evolution of my map 
There is a very clear example on GoogleMaps, which slots in nicely, only requiring slight modification if you want to run more than one set of feed imported markers.
The following is the code I used to import my Scottish Isles flight photographs from Picasa – using the kml feed (see screenshot below), so that I get the images on my map – subsequently moved over to the other place – more apt over there
var geoXml;
geoXmlPicasa = new GGeoXml("http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/spotthehall/albumid/5206552168586205041?alt=kml&kind=photo&hl=en_GB");
map.addOverlay(geoXmlPicasa);
Now, having given it a little thought as to what I would like to actually have cluttering my map up with, I decided that as I intend to use Flickr mainly for any geotagged photos emailed directly from my iPhone, they should take precedence. Also having one eye on the future – with the new generation iPhone having built in GPS and exif data. Flickr may be set to detect and automatically map the uploaded photos, which then in turn will appear, not only on the Flickr map, but here as well.
I think that is about as far as external overlaying of markers I can see myself stretching to, but you never know, so the code is set up cater for more than one set of feeds.
This is the starting point from the Google example:
geoXml = new GGeoXml("http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/geo/?g=322338@N20&lang=en-us&format=feed-georss");
map.addOverlay(geoXml);
and this is my Flickr import, using markers rather than thumnail-markers:
var geoXml;
geoXmlFlickr = new GGeoXml("http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/geo/?id=40178719@N00&lang=en-us&format=rss_200");
map.addOverlay(geoXmlFlickr);
from here:
along with the toggling code (added at the end of the script):
function toggleMyKml() {
if (toggleState == 1) {
map.removeOverlay(geoXmlFlickr);
toggleState = 0;
} else {
map.addOverlay(geoXmlFlickr);
toggleState = 1;
}
}
and the html from the body of the map page to show a checkbox (this runs similarly with the previously written checkboxes that govern the internal markers):
<input type="checkbox" id="iphoneCheckbox" onClick="toggleMyKml(geoXmlFlickr);" checked="checked"/><label for="iphoneCheckbox"><img src="images/470.png" alt="" title="Flickr-iPhone" /></label>
Alternatively, you may use buttons to toggle on and off the markers (although this does not indicate the on or off state on the button) using this from the Picasa installation:
<input type="button" value="Isles Flight" onClick="toggleMyKml(geoXmlPicasa);"/>
resulting in these buttons:
Map linking
114 days ago
Further to the revival of my map, here is a further revision of map linking.
As a proud owner of an iPhone, I have given a little thought to linking geotagged articles so that they activate the map application within the iPhone. The usual Google Map links
http://www.google.com/maps?q=54.013739239298395,-2.1051156520843506
or
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=54.013739239298395,-2.1051156520843506
both will activate GMaps and the iPhone map, but using the lat and long co-ordinates will not locate a point on the iPhone.
The official developer connection site directs you to use a destination name
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=cupertino">Cupertino</a>
but the more accurate method is to use degrees, minutes and seconds
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=+54° 0' 49.46”, -2° 6' 18.42”
It’s easy to convert the string (and encode it to prevent conflicts with two right double quotation marks without resorting to writing from the Character Palette): Enter your usual lat/long co-ordinates into GMaps to find your point, then copy the resultant degrees… back into the search box, I take out any white space to save code and possible conflicts (this finds the same point):
Clink on the Link and copy the email/IM link, which is like this:
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%2B54%C2%B00'49.46%22,-2%C2%B06'18.42%22&ie=UTF8&ll=54.012636,-2.099397&spn=0.007691,0.017595&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr
and take out the co-ordinates bit, as the rest isn’t required (as my page is already UTF-8 encoded) which gets entered into my custom field
%2B54%C2%B00'49.46%22,-2%C2%B06'18.42%22
to produce the iPhone friendly GoogleMap link, which of course works for desktop browsers as well.
Comment [3]
Map revival
127 days ago
My map has made a comeback after a spell of absence. Initially, this 
indicated a link to a point my map, then I changed it to linking out to GoogleMaps. However, I want my cake and eat it as well.
Now, when an article has said icon in the side column, it will link to my map and the bottom-left Google logo in my map (of course) links to that area in Google Maps, but it is joined by a new iPhone icon 
which links to the same point on an iPhone. I’ve done this because the usual Google maps don’t function in iPhones like they do here, so there are a new set of co-ordinates that direct the iPhone’s inbuilt GMap to that point. 
But that’s not all! Welcome another icon 
this will be seen primarily in the Photos section, where it signifies a link to a Picasa map which has photographs geolocated on it. I may also use this to signify a general overview link to my map, such as this rather than introduce a fourth colour (but I could change my mind on this).
As you will see (if you click on the second green icon) I have introduced polylines into my map. These will be used to follow routes, with or without markers, this one is centred on the flight I took in Namibia, from Swakopmund over the Sand Sea.
Comment [2]
Friars Head
167 days ago
I was having so much fun with Bruce’s logger (!) that I took it on one of my daily Rufus walks around Friars Head land.
The photos are all taken on my iPhone and here is a screenshot of the route as provided by the Holux logger output:
When matched with the photos using GeoTag again and uploaded to Picasa – the photos are plotted on Google Maps. (The side thumbnail link launches the slideshow viewer, but from there you can go to the map overview and there is a ink for the Google Earth kml file.)
Think I’ll keep the logger for the weekend – off to Glyndebourne (Carmen) – promise I’ll send it back after that Bruce, honest
Comment [2]
Holux
169 days ago
Bruce appeared from the internet, along with his better half Simone, and equipped me with a Holux M-241 logger for our little jaunt around Malham Cove on Sunday.
Up till now my GeoTagging has been by finding positions on Google Maps by either MapMaker or dragging images onto a Google map within Picasa, which also gives you the chance to save a kml file for Google Earth, but the chance to automatically log the positions of my photos was not to be missed.
Bruce has left the Holux with me for a short while and so for the purposes of having a bit of fun, I also set out on my daily Rufus walk yesterday, with logger on-board and my iPhone.
To get all this logged data actually embedded in the photos, I will be using an open source Java application called GeoTag by Andreas Schneider, which runs on a Mac, but only if you have 64-bit Intel Mac with Mac OS X 10.5 – it needs Java SE 6 runtime. (Following on from our GeoTagIcon exploits, Bruce, Frank and I were asked to come up with an icon for this.)
Note: This GeoTag application is launched (in Mac OSX) usually from the geotag.jnlp file, which resides within the GeoTag folder – being a java application you don’t get the normally compiled application – and you will see com.sun.javaws.Main in the Menu Bar, instead of the more usual application title. In some of my screen shots, you may see GeoTag in the menu bar – this is because I’m running it as an application proper from a test file that Andreas sent me – this method of building the application has so far not been able to be replicated with the downloads you get from the GeoTag site.
BT747
Before you begin with GeoTag however, you will have to get the log out of the Holux; for this see Bruce’s work-through and this How-To don’t forget to use the latest BT747 (I initially ran into trouble by using an older version). The transfer worked just fine over Bluetooth and the Holux’s single AA battery did both outings and data transfers.
GeoTag
Using the GeoTag application is actually very straightforward and there is a very useful and pertinent What next? under the Help menu:
- First import your photographs
- load your tracks: File > Load tracks from file… (which is the gpx file)
You will now have a panel full of image data which displays the selected image below and a hover-over image.
- then to link the two: Find locations > for this image/for selected images/for all images – you may as well select all images at once, they can be individually deleted later if you want. (Theses links are now found by a contextual-click on a selected line of data, not from the menu bar)
- Show on map
Map
I dumped the whole lot across to the map (which comes-up in your default browser) and now we see the general accuracy, and the fact that due to my lack-of-knowledge in using the Holux, both days tracks are displayed with a time link between the two.
Now, I have (I think) a time related problem with the iPhones’s photographs, so they’re all stacked just before I set out. I have tried to alter the photographs time setting in GeoTag, but I can’t seem to be able to alter that – the time-offset yes – but not the photos time. So, it’s been a manual reposition here.
There seemed to be quite a variance of positional error, one of the largest was this example (before and after correction):
However, it is easy to move markers and easy to identify them (see popup image window shot below) – within your default browser window – once moved by click hold and drop, they are automatically updated within GeoTag.
Direction
There is a nice feature whereby you can show the direction that your photo was taken in. I was hoping to see this materialise in some way within Google Earth after export as a kml file, but that export seems to be a little disappointing in that none of the images actually show automatically in GE, they have to be selected form the side list and only display individually.
and on the map you drag the Camera icon to show direction:
Saving
When you are happy with the positions – but, be careful, once saved, they cannot be undone – you have to delete that entry and import the original image again and load the track for it. (Slightly annoying that the finder is more Windows orientated and does not have an image preview to identify it by – especially if your images are fresh from the camera and just a number string.)
- select from the contextual menu: Save new locations: This image/Selected images/All images
- the save progress is shown at the foot of the application:
- a line of saved Data is signified by being grey rather than bold text:
- the original is added to file name in Finder:
To check the images have taken the geo data, open in Preview and show the Inspector from Tools menu, or simply open in iCab – if you have it.
KML
I couldn’t get the Google Earth > Show in Google Earth link to work and as I said before, I was disappointed with the output of the saved kml file;
so, I’ve prepared the same using Picasa and saved that kml file for comparison. Interestingly, the Winterburn Wood photos automatically got attached to the Google Map in uploading to Picasa, whereas the Malham Cove ones didn’t – must have inadvertently altered a setting somehow(?)
Malham Cove
Malham Cove.kml Malham Cove Picasa.kml
Winterburn Wood
Winterburn Wood.kml Winteburn Wood Picasa.kml
It’s very useful being able to log your photos and have them geotagged so easily and I will be acquiring some kind of logger/GPS device soon, but I think with my up and coming requirements – I’ll be going for something like the Garmin GPSMAP 495 – thanks for the loan of the Holux Bruce, I promise to return it soon!
Comment [2]
Map Inspecting
326 days ago
I have long thought I’d like a Google Map section to geo-tag photographs to, in a similar manner as I’ve done in Flickr and Panoramio. I like the Flickr implementation, but the quality of mapping isn’t as good as Googles’. Well now it’s landed – let’s say in beta form.
From the map points there are commonly links to slideshows of photographs such as those presently run off Lightbox, or these on Flickr. Although Flickr seems to be the popular one, Picasa has the advantage of being viewable on the iPhone as well and is very suitable for this purpose.
The new page is built on the Google AJAX API loader, the tutorials seem to use the old code, but they’re not too bad to follow and the new is backward compatible, so mashing the two together was OK.
Having been through the Google Concepts and examples, I found the best way of learning and getting the page to work, was the long established method of unashamedly picking-over other site’s code. Having enabled the debug menu in Safari a while ago, I’ve actually found myself using the Javascript console, a whole new language to me.
One thing I have noticed in this though, is that the webkit Inspect Element sometimes messes-up the code – the View Source gets it right, as does Opera’s Console.
Hopefully as the new page grows I will learn how to implement the zoom zones to reveal more specific map points within groups (trips) as the magnification (and requirement) grows.
Comment [4]