google

Map Quest

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Over the past couple of decades I have acquired a lot of images and have failed to document them properly. Now I want to take on the enormous task of mapping my finds.

Just getting started

There are three categories I want to photograph, map and geotag for future reference:

  • Geocaches
  • Murals, wall art and sculptures
  • Neon signs

Geocaches

I’ve looked around a bit for an alternative to Google Maps and Google Earth but the fact remains- they have the best open-sourced mapping platform than anyone else. I can’t stand Google but damn, they make a good map system.

For plotting my found geocaches, I’ve downloaded all the .gpx files from geocaching.com and uploaded to Google Earth which can then convert to .kmz files for a map view of discovered caches. But, because importing and exporting data between two systems is hardly ever efficient as advertised, I am still doing some tweaking to format the data as I need to.

Murals, Street Art & Sculptures

I wish I was as organized as I want to be when out in the field. From here on out I promise myself to document names of the murals, artists, coordinates and any other bits of info to document. Because now I need to go in and add waymarkers to the map manually. This means going to Google My Maps, upload my image and plot it to the corresponding location.

36.16024, -95.99597

Neon Signs

Just like the street art images, I need to plot the waypoints of my neon images on to a map by hand. I have almost 500 images of neon so this may take awhile.

New Orleans, LA 29.95752 -90.06677

Goodbye Google

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Previously I mentioned I was in the process of dropping all products made by Google but it was half-hearted. The amount of data they have on me for the past thirteen is overwhelming. I recently requested my data delivered to me via their own data freedom tool called Google Takeout.

It took all day to archive and send me my request and I saw why. 124GB worth of data compressed into 56 downloads of 2GB each(!!). And this was for my main account. I haven’t even started on my backup account I created just this past year yet.

The reason behind all this effort to liberate myself? Security and privacy. Also, they are showing signs of controlling/manipulating data and interfering with users. Google’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil.” That motto disappeared sometime this past month. Hmm.

Ever since I made my decision to migrate I have been adapting myself to new software tools. Alternatives to the Google ecosystem that has been so pervasive.

iPhone > Android

Windows > Chromebook

Duck Duck Go > Google Search

Firefox browser > Google Chrome

Outlook, own domain email > Gmail

Youtube > Vimeo

MS Office > Google Docs

OneDrive, iCloud > Google Drive

Apple Notes, Bear > Google Keep

iOS Photos > Google Photos

iOS Maps > Google Maps

Namecheap domains > Google Domains

Adobe > Snapseed

Ever notice how ubiquitous Google is until you saw these examples? Truth be told, I LOVE most of Google’s products and it hurts to leave them behind.

I am still looking for alternatives to a few of their software offerings like Google Earth, Voice, Translate, Book Archives and more. If anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

The migration process is still just that. I am slowly setting up new spaces for old content. Once completed I will be pressing that oh so sweet “DELETE” button.

In The Bag

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Gear

I’ve seen a lot of people on the net share both their desktop workspaces and what is in their bags. Over the years I have whittled down and secured only the essentials needed for portable computing. I’ve waited for technology to give me what I needed.

Today I am sharing my minimalist setup in the bag.

The Chromebook- I’ve already documented what a simple and effortless device this is. It weighs next to nothing and syncs everything.

The Nexus 7 tablet- This is my portable library. I also stream music, videos. If the mood strikes I’ll play games on it and more.

Galaxy S3 Phone- Wake me up when the iPhone is ready to compete, will you?

Bluetooth Mouse- Operates all 3 devices if I desired.

Moleskine Notebook- In case my thoughts go analog instead of digital. This also doubles as my mousepad. Sharpie pen is thin and doesn’t bleed through the pages.

Timbuk2 Bag – Excellent size, light and very well padded. One compartment for the chromebook and another for the rest.

All together the contents are equal to a hardback book in weight, and all three device’s data are synchronized.

This blows me away

I|O 2013

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image

This year’s Google developer conference revealed quite a few more reasons for me to swoon over and enjoy. There were also a few items I wish were addressed but was disappointed.

Google+ 

Completely redesigned social network and hub for almost everything Google. Love the new “Google Now” cards interface. A lot cleaner and they brought in the Roboto font from Android in too. The photos section got some new tricks up it’s sleeve as well.

Hangouts

Code named “Babel” while in development this cross-platform app when done will unify the G+ video hangouts, the IM client formerly known as Talk, and Google Voice for phone. Even the iSheep can use it.

Google Music, Books

The redesigned Google Music beat Apple to the music streaming game. I signed up for the $7.99 a month service (called All Access) for unlimited music that compliments the music I already own and interfaces with each other.

The Books offering allows me to upload my own content such as PDF documents, share them, etc. I’ve accumulated tons of self-published books and can now enjoy them in location.

Google TV

My Google TV player will be enjoying more frequent updates and is scheduled to upgrade to version 4.2 Jelly bean soon. w00t.

Disappointed In…

After it was announced that everyone’s favorite RSS feed reader was killed off, we had all hoped there would be a much improved alternative. Not so. At least we would have a more robust and user-friendly Google Currents, right? No.

Blogger. Google bought this company years ago and it has been a bastard ever since. Unloved and unwanted. If they ever focused on this service I would be all over it right now.

More

There is of course so much more announced at IO but these are the highlights for me. Redesigned Maps, developer tools, Google Glass etc. are all coming soon so there is plenty to look forward to soon.

Feed Me

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With Google shuttering the wildly popular Reader, I’ve looked at some alternatives such as Flipboard, Feedly and even the other Google product, Currents.

I am also trying to create a feed reader on my server using the TinyTiny RSS schema. Having issues with the PHP and mySQL files. Really don’t want to rely on a third party service anymore.

Also comes with an Android app. w00t.

Top 10 Android Apps

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I have two Android devices that are heavily used. The Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone and the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

A few friends have asked which are the best Android apps out there. Well, that is subjective to opinion. I can share which apps I use constantly and why. Everyone is passionate about their own platform and apps and there will be heated discussions.

Keep in mind, this is not a top 10 list that is to spark a debate. In no order of importance, here I go…

  1. Snapseed- Simply the best mobile photo editor out there.
  2. Vignette- This camera app has so many shooting options and filters it would take another blog post to list.
  3. EyeEm- As soon as Facebook bought Instagram, I looked elsewhere. Social photography is excellent.
  4. Google+ Again, the Anti-Facebook social experience.
  5. Drive- Sync my documents between my computer and phone? Yes please.
  6. Any.DO- My to-do list goes with me and sends me timely reminders too
  7. Currents- A great too to catch up on news, blogs for my tablet.
  8. Pocket- Want to read it later? Right click and put it in your web pocket
  9. Google Now- Instant information no matter where I am at.
  10. Spotify- web-based music and radio. I will never buy music again

What is in your list?

Chromebook: For Me

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The Samsung Chromebook is a fantastic browser with a keyboard. It weighs less than  3 pounds with an 11.6” screen. The 16GB solid state drive is quiet and fast. Boot time is exactly 8 seconds to power on and go. True, 16GB is not much but it does come with an integrated 100 GB of free storage space in Google Drive!

Google documents and mobile photos do not count against your free storage space. So how in the hell would you be able to use it all? Wait, how will I even fill up my 16 GB of hard drive space? Music files? Please. Google Music gives me up to 20,000 song space, again, free.

Speaking of integrated and Google, it gives me immediate access to it’s ecosystem of apps. Apps like Docs, Gmail, Reader, G+, Picasa, webcam, Music and more.

Wifi, HDMI, 3 USB ports, Bluetooth (for my mouse) and SD card slot round out the features. No, it doesn’t have an optical drive.

Inexpensive at $249, lighter, faster, portable and entirely cloud-based. Welcome to the future.

image

You Will Get Wet On This Ride (Google Wave)

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Florida wave study #1

I’ve mentioned Google’s newest communication tool, Google Wave here before and wanted to elaborate on it a bit more. Now that the initial thrill of waving has passed for me, it is time to start thinking of practical uses for it. For tips on how to surf these Waves, check out the big kahuna herself, Gina Trapani and her Complete Guide To Google Wave

Find That Killer Wave-

Now that you secured an invite and hit the beach come on in. Perform a search of Waves publically available by typing in with:public . I hope you can swim well because pretty soon, you will be in over your head. I would try to find a few select waves, or discussions of interest by expanding your search, i.e. with:public Texas photography . This will help stem the tide and help you get on the board and ride.

Smooth Ride-

Once you’ve established yourself, grab your contacts & colleagues to join you on your own wave. This is where the benefits are. Share, discuss, collaborate. Think of a Wave as glorified chat room, email and instant messenger barrel-rolled into one. The possibilities are almost as limitless as the tide. Create, edit documents in real time. Hold a meeting, cover a live event, whatever you need.

Make use of the tools available too. Save your desired searches, waves, contacts. It will not be so easy to locate them again due to too many waves. You’ll get lost in the surf.

Wipeout-

Keep in mind that Google Wave is in the early stages of development and trials. It may slow you down, you might experience a gnarly wipeout but you’ll do what everyone else does and hop back on. Google Wave will work on all browsers but those will flatten out too. I’d suggest running it on Google Chrome due to it’s increased stability and speed.

Making Waves-

I am in the process of building and hosting my own wave here on this website. As soon as I get work out the coding, I’ll post it here.

Want to hang 10 with me on Google Wave? Look for me there: chrisdenbow@googlewave.com

Coming Soon

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Don't worry, you are not alone

As promised, the Mojo deconstruction project is coming along nicely. I’m in the process of dropping that brand into one that reflects myself and whatever projects I choose to endure. The new website is waiting on me to back up the WordPress database, switch over the servers and reinstall. I imagine I will add a few more bells & whistles this time around too. If you come to the Mojo address after the conversion, it will redirect you to the new address. As for now, I want to alert everyone to some contact information changes.

Website: http://chrisdenbow.website (coming soon)

Email: chrisdenbow@gmail.com or chris@chrisdenbow.website

Skype: chrisdenbow

GTalk IM: chrisdenbow  Yahoo: chris.denbow

Twitter: @chrisdenbow (coming soon)

GVoice: New number! 281.206.4253

I am still considering what to do with my photography business, Photo Mojo and that re-branding effort. I am heavily invested there and to change that now would take some extra time and revenue. If you have any suggestions for a new name, I’d love to review it. I’ve already killed any notion of using “Chris Denbow Photography” due to it’s boring, uninspired, de-creative, full-of-suck title.  I need creative, anti-suck branding here!

Thank You!

PS: you people are the anti-suck

The Communications Toolbox

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ListeningI shared with you some of the software tools in my digital toolbox recently and today I will share how you and I can communicate with each other.

I’ll go over some tools that you may or may not ever heard of yet as well as a new twist on some you have been using.

Google Wave is a communications tool that it is being distributed very slowly while being tested. Wave is a way to communicate & collaborate  that makes real-time interactions more seamless. You can share waves using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is a conversation with multiple participants added to a wave to discuss and collaborate on its content. Participants can reply any time and anywhere within a wave, and they can edit content and add more participants as a wave develops. It’s also possible to rewind waves with the playback functionality, to see what happened, and when.

However, because of it’s new release, we’re all trying to figure out just how this works effectively. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with waves, and new contacts while attempting to figure out how to respond properly. More to come as I work this out.

Think you can work it out? Add a comment with your best use scenario and I’ll send you an invitation to join the Wave. I only have 5 invites so  them good, people! Wave

Google Voice gives you a separate phone number which you can give out as if it is your regular phone number. You can then change your settings to have calls forward to any of your phones. My number is 281.769.2809

You can forward to one group of phones during the day and another at night. You can have calls from certain numbers forward differently than calls to other numbers. You can block spamming callers and send some calls straight to voice mail.

You can send yourself an SMS message or an email whenever you get a voice mail message, and you can check your voice mail from the Web or from your phone. GVoice will even transcribe voice mail into written text in your inbox. Neato. I have two invitations for Google Voice. Again, leave a comment describing your best use scenario! Gvoice

pidginInstant Messenger clients have been around forever. Which one do you use? Like many of us you have multiple accounts. MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc. Like many of us you probably have their software downloaded too. Why not combine them all so you don’t have to have them open at the same time and not miss an IM? I use a desktop application called Pidgin that does just that. I have multiple accounts but only one software to use. Now I have no excuse for missing your IM. Not that I’d want to! The only drawback to this is there is no video chat available like the others use.

Skype has a lot of features like video conferencing, SMS, voicemail, call forwarding, contact list, integration with MS Outlook, public chats, business control panel, sketch pad, desktop sharing and many others. I can even make calls anywhere in the world with the Skype app on my iPod Touch. skype shot

E-mail is an obvious one. I’ve been using Gmail for five years because it is flawless, expandable and easy to use. I have it connected to MS Outlook as well. Email me mojodenbow AT gmail.com

Mobile is another obvious tool that has increased it’s functionality over the past two years. Now if only we can stop the wireless carriers from ripping us off and offer more choices!

As always, I’d appreciate your feedback as to what tools work for you and how you use them. Don’t forget to add your comments for those invitations!