666 the number of the beast.

as iron maiden used to sing.
My fave was the ace of spades 'gamblin's for fools, but that's the way i like it honey..'

Without a spade in sight or an ace. Here's 6 stories from 6 authors in 6 weeks. It's called 'we tell stories'.

It uses a map to illustrate how a story progresses, the narrative being provided by 6 successful UK authors.

* Charles Cumming
* Toby Litt
* Kevin Brooks
* Nicci French
* Matt Mason
* Mohsin Hamid

Each week you can tune in and read a little. The stories are quite long, longer than a coffee break, so if social networking is getting you down, this may be the ideal distraction.

Visit the site here and click through each story until the devil arrives to reprimand your computer and sack you for wasting office time.

Angelina Jolie - Locations of chidren

Using this photograph of Angelina Jolie's tattoo, I've geolocated each of her spawn.

And this map shows the location of each of Angelina Jolie's children from the latitude and longitude tattoo's on her arm.

Bearing in mind one of her children was born in a pond, we can only assume GPS was not experiencing the leaps forward of modern days.
Unless she wants to get them lazered out and corrected, here they are.

View larger

Creating Google Maps Icon/Marker/Pushpin

Simple steps to create your own Google Maps pushpins.

Step 1) Create your image:

• Ideally width to 32px.
• PNG-24 fomat.
• Transparent.
• Non-aliased.

Step 2) Visit Shadowmaker.

• Select the icon from your desktop. The program creates a 2D outline of your image.
• Save the shadow.

If you like it you're ready to go.

If you don't like, you can try these stock Icons/Markers/Pushpins.


Google Labs: Google Maps Push Pins
Google Stock Pushpins: Google Maps Stock Icons

Google Earth Travel Guide - Serbia & Montenegro

To download this free travel guide to Serbia & Montenegro.

Google Earth - Download

• Visit link http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/kml/serbia_montenegro.kml
• When the page displays save as - save to your desktop.
• Install Google Earth
• Double click serbia_montenegro.kml. The file will open automatically.

Browse and visit the main sites and attraction of the world's newest country.

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 LatLong: Googlemaps mash ups to your desktop

Google's released this gadget which sends the latest googlemaps mash-ups to your i google page.

Put your slippers on and warm the coco. Flick through the worthy collections.

The widget accepts KML format.

Doesn't have any information on submitting maps.

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

###

Convert Garmin GPS track to Google map Polyline

Brief: To download a GPS Track and points from a Garmin GPS unit and create a Googlemaps Polyline/Encoded Polyline.

The process is straightforward if you follow the following steps:

1) Download from GPS.
2) Convert files to csv format.
2) Convert csv to Polyline.

Equipment:
Garmin EtreX GPS unit.
Serial port adapter.
OziExplorer.


1) Download from GPS.
Software: OziExplorer.

Visit and download OziExplorer software.

Connect GPS unit to desktops' serial port. Ensure GPS Setup/Interface is set GARMIN.

From the OziExplorer Trial version.

• File/Load from File/Load Map File/World.map


• Garmin/Get Track from GPS

Once the waypoints are downloaded.

• Save/Save to File/Save Track to File

2) Convert to CSV
Software: GPS BABEL

Set the following:

• Type of GPS data you want to convert: TRACK


• Input file format: OziExplorer[W][T][R]


• Output format: Comma seperated values [W]

Upload your file.

The conversion will display as a web page. You will need to save this as a csv.

• Open Notepad


• View source - CTRL+A/CTRL+C/CTRL+V from Webpage to Notepad.


• File/Save As

3) Create Polyline
Software: GPS Visualiser

• Make a Map: Google Map
  
• File #1: Select the file you have just converted.


• Force points to be this type: Trackpoints

Draw the Map.