NorthStarNerd.Org

Cycling Off The Grid!

Are you a serious cyclist? If so, without geeking out too much there are some tools you MUST add to your toolkit. These services are even more important if you often cycle "off the grid" like my recent rides in northern Minnesota and the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. While I'll admit that the Channel Islands have cell phone coverage, your American smartphone might not connect (or be too expensive dur to roaming charges).

Here are the tools I recommend (reviews included below):

• Google Maps Android Download
• Wikihood (iPad)
• Garmin software

The first requirement is Google Maps for Android. Users may now download up to ten regional maps (10 square miles) to your smartphone. Even if you lack a 3G connection, your GPS will work. While both cycling this month on the Isle of Jersey, and in northern Minnesota, this combination helped avoid getting lost, and adjust bike rides on the fly! See my screenshots (click to view full sized). Here are two screenshots from Google Maps and my Android smartphone. Even though there is no cell phone service in the area of Northern Minnesota where I was cycling, via these maps and GPS I always knew where I was, and even changed my route twice on the fly! Underneath is a photo taken of Turtle Lake on Sunday's ride using my smartphone (another good reason for bringing it along!). The black outlines show the area maps I have downloaded.

and the Tour de Turtle!

Showing myself to be an equal opportunity operating system user, before taking off on a ride, try out Wikihood for the iPad. It is really cool how you can explore Wikipedia entries for stuff located near your present location. With this data you can plan cool rides that visit locations you learned of via Wikipedia. Here is an iPad Wikihood screenshot I took just prior to a ride in Rothley, England.

Finally, at the end of my ride I like to see where I've really biked ... what roads? what elevation changes? etc? Enter my trust Garmin in combination with SportTracks Software. You'll find a video tutorial I created a while back which shows SportTracks in use while I cross-country ski. Here are just two screenshots from my recent Tour de Turtle!

I would love to hear other folks favorite cycling apps. Ping me, or leave a comment. In closing here are a few photos from our cycling holiday on the Isle of Jersey. Click to maximize.

 

 

Library 2.0 (or Phone Booth 2.0)

What is to become of the library in the internet age? As a youth in the 1960's one of my proudest moments was when I was given my first library card, and could check out books on my own. An entire world was opened to me!

Fast forward many, many years and I am now a senior technologist working for a large Fortune 100 company. A major share of my job involves leveraging web resources for collaboration. Two weeks ago while on vacation I had an "a-ha" moment. You see, I learned how a small town in England chose to use their dying symbol of a prior age ... an English phone box (a phone booth for we colonials) . Understand that like many people, my wife and I no longer have a "land line". Our connection to the world is via our smartphones. Phone booths, and hopefully not libraries, are the dinosaurs of the information age. 

In Timsbury ... near Bath, England ... I met a true "smartphone", or should I say smart "phone box"! Take a look at their new public library. You can visit the world via their phone booth; just don't try and make a phone call!

Click to expand and view either image at full resolution.

  

Living in the Northland

A few minutes ago a couple hundred pound black bear walked by my home office ... not more than 15 feet away from me. The bear was majestic, and definitely woke me up from having any afternoon work let down. Here are three other photos I took yesterday afternoon and this morning.

The first photo is of a baby eagle on Northstar Lake. It had just taken its first flight and crash landed into the pine tree. The second two photos were taken this morning around 5:30 a.m. ... first the pre-dawn light on Northstar Lake and then dawn over Pughole Lake. I enjoyed my morning commute to Duluth!

Click upon any image to view at full size. This is also why I am the "Northstar" Nerd!

Nerd Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who navigated here in response to my research requests. 

Many of you may have arrived via this shortened BudURL

• http://Ez.com/GAnerd

Now that you're here, please click and read some of the latest posts / research. You'll find blog entries ranging from a neat wedding video / musical recording I took last week at Oxford University to Google Search research.

Here's what I'm testing. Thanks very much in advance. Your visting via the link given triggered the following:

• A link to my blog
• Capturing of statistics via the BudURL (prior post) url shortening service
• Capturing of statistics via Google Analytics and Campaign URL Builder

Enhancing Analytics

Most of us know that url shorteners are valuable. Some of the leading services are bit.ly, Google and BudURL. While the temptation is to use a free service, consider an inexpensive premium service. Linking your url's to your web analytics service can really enhance your knowledge of what is truly generating your traffic.

For instance, for this post I could use this url, or the direct link given at the bottom of the post. The premium service from Bud also allows me to use my own sub-domain, and even QR Qodes (think smartphones).

Here is one day's worth of reports for the url which I have linked in the previous paragraph. Please note than much of the information is "clickable" and allows me to drill down for greater understanding of my results!

And a service can be easily invoked!