Month: March 2007

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, https://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 https://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, https://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 https://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/.

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

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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.