Lies, Damn lies and Statistics

Here's a first for me..

Creating a KMZ Polyline using Google Earth Pro

Brief: To download a GPS Track from a Garmin E-Trex GPS unit and create a Google Earth Polyline/Encoded Polyline KMZ.

Equipment:
Garmin EtreX GPS unit.
Serial port adapter.
Google Earth Pro.

• Download Google Earth Pro - 7 Day free trial
  
  
• Install/boot
  


• TOOLS/GPS - Select your unit; In my case the GPS GARMIN.
  


• IMPORT options. In my case I'm only interested in the polyline or TRACK information. You have options to import each placemark, also to annul altitude readings etc.
  


• Plug in the GPS and turn it on.
  


• A message appears - Importing data from COM1. When you're done, a message appears 207 Active logs imported.
  


• TRACK is displayed in the Temporary Places folder.
  


• In the top left corner there's a little marker with a CLOCK alongside.
  In the CLOCK, select the timerange you're interested in presenting data from. In my case 1st Sept to 21st Sept.
  


• Once the CLOCK is set the software will begin displaying the TRACK that lies within that timeframe.
  


• This next part is manual. Select TRACK parts, (google calls them ACTIVE LOGS), which are not part of your timeframe and DELETE them.
  


• When you've pared off the bogus ACTIVE LOG points and you're happy with your track, you're ready to save: TRACK/SAVE AS/KMZ.
  

IF YOU DON'T DELETE bogus active logs the software becomes confused when you try to do any kind of visualisation. So be sure to do that smartening up yourself.

Welcome to my world..
This is now your very own track you can open in any Google Earth pro, Google Maps or otherwise.
You can view it save it to your places and e-mail it to your friends.

google maps polyline creator

I spent about 20 searches today trying to re-locate, the Google Maps polyline creator tool.

As well as letting you create a polyline realtime and on the fly, it is the only resource on the net which is able to give the polyco-ords interracticveley, in a hh.mm.ss.mm format, Geo RSS format.
> googlemaps polyline creator.

This facility will allow you to grab www compliant co-ordinates from anywhere world-wide.

Effect of Google Map on Site Metrics

Just out of interest, I've taken a comparison of the key indicators from before and after Googlemap's addition into the header of my blog for the New Zealand blog.

The effects highlighted on the scan.


The main indicators are Time and length of session, also, depth of session, all of which are showing good increases.

The main entry point for the site is the Netherlands blog. From Amsterdam, mostly, it's popularity stemming from the drugs and sex references in blogs and pictures such as the sex museum and the Hash museum etc.

Also another popular entry point was the Nessie blog complete with picture of Nessie which used to come up 1 or two on googleimages.

Considering the header is only present on the main blog, and I have these blogs, and another 3 blog main pages on this site for which it is not included, these stats have further to go..

Press Release >> New GeoBlog Unleashes the Use of GPS, the Potential Future for Travel Blogs

New GeoBlog Unleashes the Use of GPS, the Potential Future for Travel Blogs

Michael Tyler employs the use of GPS is his newly launched blog, http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/. Geoblogging may well be the wave of the future for travel blogs.

Location (PRWeb) March __, 2007 – A new kind of travel blog, dubbed the GeoBlog, has been launched by creator Michael Tyler. The GeoBlog, at http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/, harnesses the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to direct viewers to exact geographical locations. This interactive element is a real leap forward in developing and maintaining all important user interest, a factor that’s difficult to attract in the overcrowded, increasingly generic blogosphere.

“In the UK these days, it seems everyone has GPS in their car, hand-held, or mounted on their bike or wristwatch,” says Michael Tyler. “It occurred to me why not use GPS for a travel blog.”

Having exact GPS locations, times, dates and altitudes has given rise to the ideal platform for passing on more detailed, more accurate and more precise information -- and nowhere is this new clarity of communication more evident and necessary than in the ever-expanding realm of travel.

Michael Tyler employs this new application is his travel blog, dubbed GeoBlog, http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/. The GeoBlog lets visitors know exactly where specific tourism features are, as well as dining and accommodation locations. Some of the great random views and general wildlife spotting opportunities are to be found in the first GeoBlog series on New Zealand.

Michael Tyler explains, “Relaying information through an easy-to-use, interactive interface has increased the session lengths of visitors by 300 percent. Since the Google Map mod was added to the header, visit times have gone up from an average of 20 seconds to over 3 minutes. Some visitors stay on the site for hours, browsing through all the pictures from the various places I’ve visited. The technology is out there; with sites like GPS Visualizer, Google Maps and Yahoo’s Flickr and with digital cameras and mobile phones with cameras, plus Google’s recent announcement of the inclusion of GeoRSS standard feeds, anyone can log, create simple maps let visitors know what they’ve being doing and where they’ve been doing it.”

To see Michael Tyler's GeoBlog, complete with GPS enhanced visualized locations, please visit http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/.

Contact:
Michael Tyler
Wolverhampton
England
(44) 0190256237
(44) 07864967630

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