GPS Trailblazer

Reminders using Google Latitude with Calendar

I'm a big fan of keeping everything in the cloud and not on paper.  My Cloud provider of choice is Google so I stick with Android phones and Google's office applications for both personal and work...specifically Google Calendar for the purpose of this story.  GPS is my oxygen so I keep one running all the time on my Android phone and sticking with the Google theme I use Latitude to share my current location with others.  I always broadcast my current position on this blog in the upper right using their Badge feature.  Yeah, that's right...I know you are thinking you can rob my house now, but I want you to imagine the kind crazy gadgets a guy like me has set up to protect my house and family from jerks that want to take my stuff.

Anyway, I just created an appointment in my trusty Google Calendar and I added the location as I typically do because I am a location-based freak.  I mean there really is no reason to add the exact location of my appointment in the Calendar when I know the place is my local friendly bank just a few blocks away.  That's when I had an ah ha moment that I think is just the coolest idea, but one I'll never build.  

Calendar Reminders Fused with Google Latitude

My calendar typically reminds me 15 minutes before an appointment, but if I have to drive farther away then I typically set it for 30 minutes or even beyond.  Why do I have to be the one to pad the alert with the travel time when what I really want is 10 minutes to prepare for an appointment and the travel time it takes to get there.

Once an appointment is nearing it's time Google Calendar would look at my Latitude location and determine how far I am from the appointment location.  It would determine possible modes of transportation since I use public transportation, walking, biking and of course the family car.

In the case of my nearby bank appointment it would throw out any option for public transportation since it is too close, it would calculate the estimated walk, bike and drive times, pick the longest travel duration adding 10 minutes of prep time and alert me.  The first alert would be at the time it would take me to walk there at which time I could choose to accept that notification or choose a different mode of transportation.  If I chose another mode of transporation it would alert me at the right time it would take to travel there in addition to the preperation padding of course.

This alert system would need to be smart so it shouldn't alert me again if I am on the move heading towards the appointment.  Being the kind of guy that records everything I'd love it to keep track if I actually arrived at my appointment on time and keep track of how early or late I may have arrived.  Run some sort of report telling me my typical reliability of showing up to an appointment on time.

Other possible features that may make this reminder more useful:

• Remove transportation choices based on the rain, cold or night based on my typical avoidance of such things
• Encourage walking, biking or public transportation with some sort of Eco-Achievement telling me how many polar bears I will save if I take the bus or ferry
• Offer to send an email, text message or "Canned" voice call to the place that I may be late for arrival
• Of course consider traffic when choosing the reminder notification time...which is really useful because my manually set reminder only accounted for normal drive time.
• Track how long the appointment really lasted vs. how long I had scheduled.  Use that information to suggest future appointment durations (passively of course)

I did a quick search to see if anyone has made an Android App that will do this and I couldn't find anything.  Do you know of something?

Tracking Children with the Garmin Tracker

In my previous post I explained how we are now responsible for the well being of three little human beings.  Lucky for me my favorite GPS company has entered into the business of tracking precious cargo.  Garmin "recently" started to sell the Garmin GTU-10 GPS Locator so I picked one up right away and found a spot in Leo's backpack.

Overview

The GTU-10 is actually a small piece of hardware that has a few major components:

• GPS (locator)
• Mobile Data Connection (communicator)
• Battery (energy)
• CPU & Embedded Software (brains)

Many people have the misperception that the GPS can actually send information to the Internet, but the GPS is only a receiver of radio waves being sent from satellites.  The Mobile Data Connection (AT&T) is required to send the location and other information about your precious cargo.  GPS is free, but the AT&T subscription costs money (about $50 per year) with the first year included in the purchase of the GTU-10 (about $200). There are add-on features that may cost more money which I will explain later.

The GTU-10 is nothing without it's supporting software.  Together they make up a whole system:

• The GTU-10 Locator
• The Internet Connected Software used to find the children
  • The myGarmin Website
  • The Garmin Tracker iPhone/Android mobile phone/tablet application 

Naming

For the sake of making my blog easier to understand, I will name the system "Garmin Tracker™" since the mobile phone apps use that name.  There is no name for the web portion of the system and the device is the GTU-10 which is unimpressive and non-descriptive.  Branding is a huge criticism of this product, but it doesn't surprise me since Garmin's naming conventions and products have rarely been great.

Competitors named their products like the "Little Buddy" which I think is brilliant even if they have already end-of-lifed the product.  Either way, we won't dwell on the name and just call the whole system the Garmin Tracker.

Purpose

The Garmin Tracker does mostly one thing...finds where your important assets are located right now and shows them on a map. The best part of the GTU-10 is that it strives to be hassle free by allowing a parent to charge it, put it in the child's backpack and forget about it until you start to wonder where your kid is located.  The battery will last about 1 week which I consider to be hassle free and actually the most innovative aspect of the GTU-10.

The typical use of the Tracker is to make sure your kid made it to their scheduled appointment and assumed "safe".  Going to school is a good example and something that can be related to most kids...you send them out the door and hope for the best. You hope the bus picked them up, you hope they got dropped off at school and you hope they actually made it to their classroom.  The Garmin Tracker takes some of the hope out of it and actually provides some facts giving a little more confidence that your little one is at least in the right location at the right time.

Geo-fences

Geo-fences is a techi-term for an imaginary boundary which is considered to be safe within the boundary and not necessarily safe outside the boundary.  

Creating good geo-fences is the most important part of setting up your Garmin Tracker system.  Partially because it helps you understand if your child is within a known area, but mostly because accurate geo-fences are how the GTU-10's battery life can last for a whole week since the device will sleep knowing the child is in a safe zone. 

 The map shows a few of the geo-fences I've created for the children's various locations.  Common geo-fences are shared with both Mae's and Leo's devices while each can have their own. 

Battery Usage

The battery life, in addition to the small size, is the real innovation with the GTU-10 making the Garmin Tracker system useful without being yet another thing you have to charge every day.   Garmin figured out a way to use the battery by tracking location when the child is outside of a geo-fence, but going to sleep and conserving battery while located inside a geo-fence. 

Notice the settings available on the website or phone applications allow you to control the preferred battery life which balances the delay in updating to the actual location vs. how long the battery will last.  The GTU-10 will  go to sleep when it is located within a geo-fence checking to see if it's current location is outside of that geo-fence less frequently.  It will check at the frequency set in the battery setting, but once outside the geo-fence the GTU-10 will check at a higher rate which is when I find myself following along since they are outside of the "safety zone".  

In the picture above, you can see I have mine set to Moderate which claims 4 weeks of battery life inside a geo-fence and 5 days outside a geo-fence, although I have much less optimistic observations. I seem to get 5 days maximum even if the child is within a geo-fence 90% of the time.  Either way, I just charge the GTU-10 on the weekends (using a standard USB) and it falls within the "hassle free" arena.

Summary

There is actually a lot more to be discussed about the Garmin Tracker system.  I will tell you that I am not enthusiastically pleased with this system which I will bullet now and blog later:

• Can't share locations with other parents, Carol logs in as me
• Battery doesn't last near it's claim
• Delays getting the latest location can be frustrating
• Alert emails are annoying and opposite what I want
• The mobile phone app requires authentication every view!!!!!!!!

The above frustrations are very noteworthy, but even knowing these flaws testing it out on Leo I went out and bought another GTU-10 for Mae.  Maybe I'm a geek or maybe I just found something that allowed me to give these kids a little bit of freedom while preserving some peace of mind.  

I make no claims regarding children safety, but it is worth noting I likely take more risks (with everything I do) than the normal person and I tend to use statistics rather than extreme cases to guide my life decisions.  Our town of Sausalito is geographically compact enough to where children can get from place to place by walking through safe neighborhoods, but urban enough to where I can't just rely on neighbors or other residents to call me up when there is a lost kid roaming around.  I also have more patience and efficiency than most people when working through buggy systems to find the useful feature it provides.   Additionally, my job is to understand GPS systems so I have a little extra motivation to understand how the Garmin Tracker works.  Should you find yourself agreeing with this paragraph then perhaps I could recommend the Garmin Tracker + GTU-10 system to you.  

Final Thoughts

As I finish writing this article the children were faced with a new schedule change that they had never dealt with before.  We talked about the logistics this morning before they left and I was able to watch Leo and Ann (on the map) leave their after school activity, return to school to grab Mae and make it to the bus stop in time to catch their normal bus. I sat at my command center with the window open when I heard the bus that I knew they were on pull around the corner.  I watched to make sure the bus stopped so they could get off.  A few minutes later I heard their voices as I saw their dots on the map approach the house.  I yelled a greeting out the window and the first thing they yelled back  "we made the bus".  I said that I knew since I was watching and gave them their well-deserved kudos. The additional peace of mind and increased independence is well worth the $400 I spent on two GTU-10 devices.  There is a day these kids won't want to be tracked, but for now when I say peace of mind its a benefit for all of us. After all kids like to push their boundaries, but want to know that we are watching, that we care and that they are safe.

Tracking your Loved Ones

So it's been a while since I last blogged about anything.  To be perfectly honest I've had some life-changing events in the past year which I will leave the details up to the press to explain, but Carol and I are taking care of three elementary school age children now.  I suppose I could start writing about the whole experience much like Samantha Bee does on her Eating Over the Sink blog, but as with most things I will add a GPS flavor to the child raising experience.

Like every new parent we have been learning about the importance of giving children enough freedom so they can experience life while keeping them safe.  Additionally we, like most parents, desire that freedom we had before children entered our lives.  Technology can help achieve that balance of freedom for children and parents while providing comfort that everyone is where they are supposed to be.

I will be writing a series of blog posts investigating how GPS and mobile phone networks can be used in today's world to keep track of where your loved ones are located.  Some of the items I will be focused on to make such a product successful:

• Reasonable battery life
• Ease of use 
• Security & Privacy
• Cost
• Features useful for kids
• Reliability
• Collaboration with parents and caregivers
• Reliance on the child
• Notification strategy

Two products I am currently using and will be reviewing are:

• Garmin GTU 10
• Google Latitude

If you have a child tracker application you'd like me to review send me a quick note and I'll check it out.

Life is full of all kinds of unexpected changes, but with a little help from useful technology people like us can adapt and find a great balance of freedom and security. I hope you find this ongoing series useful if not entertaining.

 

 

Logitech Revue + Google TV is no Harmony!

A few months ago I wrote an article explaining how we cut the cord on cable TV and stream everything saving us high monthly subscriptions from Comcast cable.  The resulting setup was a bit overwhelming for some, but it has been making me happy since I know how it works.  

Google TV seems like it would be simpler to use than my Macbook Pro as a TV, but I still have too many remote controls required to run everything in the entertainment center.  The Logitech Revue has the promise of merging the Macbook Pro and the Remote Control into a single easy-to-use interface that will find what I want to watch and communicate with all the appliances necessary to watch the content.  

So yesterday I bought the Revue and started setting it up.  Unfortunately today I will be returning it with disappointment.  Although the Revue will control my TV and my Receiver, it will only provide controls to watch TV and will not provide controls to operate my many other devices (SONOS, PS3, etc) like my Logitech Harmony Remote currently does.  

The Harmony remote provides a feature called "Activities" which allows me to setup a series of commands that will turn on devices, change channels and put the remote into a mode where I can interact with all devices using a single Universal Remote.  

My Current Setup

Here are some examples of common Activities with my current setup:

Watch TV

1. Make sure my Monitor is powered on to display video
2. Make sure the Receiver is powered on for sound
3. Make sure my cable box or TV tuner set-top box is on
4. Make sure my Receiver is set to the correct "input" and "output" for the set-top box

Now that everything is enabled, my remote behaves appropriately for necessary commands:

• Volume control talks to the Receiver and changes the volume
• Channel changing talks to the Set Top Box (including Guides, etc)

Watch Computer TV

1. Make sure my Monitor is powered on to display video
2. Make sure the Receiver is powered on for sound
3. Make sure my Macbook Pro computer is powered on
4. Make sure my Receiver is set to the correct "input" and "output" for the computer

My remote behaves appropriately for necessary commands:

• Volume control talks to the Receiver and changes the volume
• Arrow keys help control simple user interfaces on applications
• Keyboard and/or iPad Rowmote Control controls the Macbook Pro

Watch a DVD

Similar to watching TV, but the PS3 is replaces the Set Top Box.

• Volume control talks to the Receiver and changes the volume
• Play controls will affect the DVD/Blu Ray player on the PS3

Listen to SONOS Music

1. Make sure TV is off
2. Make sure Receiver is set to SONOS

• Volume control talks to the Receiver and changes the volume
• SONOS controller or iPad controls SONOS receiver

Proposed Logitech Revue Setup

The Google TV component would replace the need for my Macbook pro Laptop with a more intentional User Interface for controlling television.  The Logitech Revue and IR Blaster would replace the Harmony Remote since the Revue can control all the appliances directly.

(click image for larger view)

This design exists only in my head and reality failed when trying to hook up.  The Revue has the capabilities and Logitech has all the content required to control all the systems above, but they didn't put the two together.

Full Disclosure: I haven't seen any literature explaining that what I wanted was possible, I just hoped Logitech wouldn't do it any other way.  

 

 

(image copied from Logitech) 

The Revue only satisfies two Activities I described in my current system:

• Watch TV
• Watch Computer TV

The other Activities are unfortunately not supported...not because it isn't possible, but because it isn't implemented with the current software user interface.

Watching DVD

Specifically for the Watching DVD Activity the Revue already talks to the Receiver and could tell it to change inputs, but there is no user interface support for that Activity.  

Listening to SONOS Music

Listening to SONOS has even greater potential because the Revue uses Android which already has a SONOS application in the marketplace for my phone that controls the SONOS.   In the future when Google TV Marketplace exists I could use the SONOS application, however, until Logitech allows me to control the Receiver to switch inputs I won't be able to control the digital music system from a single place.  

Option for Advanced Users

I realize I might be considered a more advanced user and to satisfy my needs would ruin an easy experience for a mass market, but Logitech should consider adding an advanced setup for us existing Harmony Remote users.  Ideally, I would just connect to my current Harmony account where I have already setup all of my Devices and Activities that my Harmony Remote uses.  I write enough software to understand the advantage of not trying to do too much at launch, but I also believe in Re-Use.  They have completely ignored my current Harmony settings on their website and they require me to educate this new appliance about the home entertainment system they already know about.  Ironically when setting up Google TV it asked me for my model number of the Panasonic Monitor and Pioneer Receiver and I logged into Logitech to gather the details.  Quite a shame really.

What I Really Wanted

Google is the master of Search and Logitech is the master of controlling my entertainment system.  Combining the two got me to think I could do the following:

Searching Talks to Apps and Leads into Activities

1. Search for "Lost"
2. Google displays "Lost" Series (currently supported)
3. Each Episode provides options for where to watch it (currently supported)
4. Amazon: Google Searches the web and finds it on Amazon for purchase
   1. I click to watch it on Amazon and it streams it (currently supported)
5. Cable TV: Google uses my cable TV Guide to find that it is playing soon
   1. I click on it and the Revue uses my "Watch TV" Activity to change channels, etc (currently supported)
6. Broadcast TV: Google searches my local TV Guide and offers it for over-the-air broadcast
   1. I click on it and Logitech uses my "Watch Broadcast TV" activity to setup the system
   2. Revue talks directly to my TV (that already has a tuner) and changes the channel to the correct station (Not Supported)
7. Netflix Streaming: Google asks the Neflix App for results and Neflix and offers it to stream
   1. I click on it and Neflix streams (Not Supported)
8. Netflix DVD: Google asks the Neflix App and Netflix offers it as a DVD and I currently have the DVD at home
   1. I click on it and Revue uses the "Watch DVD" Activity (Not Supported)
   2. Turns on the DVD player, sets up the Receiver for DVD, etc
   3. Pushing the Play button starts the DVD
9. Pandora Music: Google asks the Pandora App and Pandora offers a "Station" based on the Lost Soundtrack (if there is such a thing)
   1. I click on it and Revue uses the "Listen to Music" Activity (Not Supported)
   2. Revue setups up the Receiver for music
   3. Revue turns off the monitor
   4. SONOS app is told that music is available
   5. SONOS app sets SONOS to receive Input (from my receiver)
   6. I use my iPad and/or Droid phone's Harmony App and SONOS app to control my sound system

A little far fetched there towards the end, but its a wish list so I was dreaming.

Conclusion

Google TV looks promising and having it on an "Appliance" that controls other "Appliances" is the smartest way to go (not in the TV nor on a DVD player).  Unfortunately Logitech's first attempt to make it happen has fallen short.  Logitech is currently the only company that has this enormous database of appliance controls so they have a unique opportunity to dominate this sector, but its not worth adding the Revue to my cabinet yet.  

I hope the Product Managers at Logitech read this and make it happen and/or tell me I'm wrong and it is already capable, but this forum post makes me think otherwise. In the meantime I will find Harmony in my current system and remain hopeful.

Actually we don't really watch very much TV (The Daily Show and Dexter) and mostly listen to SONOS music so perhaps this was more of an exercise than a need.  I will get back to writing creative GPS apps and leave the digital entertainment battle up to the pros at Google, Logitech, Sony and Apple.

 

 

Skydiver's Beware of Forerunner 110 Elevation

My recent post recommending the Forerunner 110 for all kinds of activities stills holds strong, but this watch is not for skydivers.  The GPS provided elevation is as good as the Forerunner 405 (shown in detail in a previous post) or others, but GARMIN has added a smoothing algorithm that makes the actual elevation path inaccurate for rapid changes experienced during skydiving.  

Forerunner 110 Elevation vs. Time

 

Notice how smooth the graph looks, but I can guarantee my elevation experience was anything but smooth.  

Forerunner 405 Elevation vs. Time

 
Notice this elevation is more accurate of reality (minus the small blip where I defied gravity and climbed back up a couple hundred meters).  The Forerunner 405 simply doesn't have as agressive of a smoothing algorithm so the rapid decrease in altitude as the steep descent.  The gradual descent is my canopy ride and the flat line is on the ground.

Investigation

Only three jumps in one day.

Skydive #16 with Forerunner 110

Skydive #17 with Forerunner 110

Skydive #18 with Forerunner 110 (Completely incorrect GPS)

I can't even explain what happened with #18.  I jumped out of the plan over the runway and pretty much flew over it the whole time, but the GPS would indicate I landed in the vineyard to the south (obviously not the target of choice).

 

Which Device Then?

Yeah, still figuring that out.  You just can't beat the form factor of the Forerunner 405 or 110, but the elevation graphs are less than satisfactory for different reasons.  This same elevation FR 110 smoothing algorithm is likely to be found in the Forerunner 310XT (although I have no empirical data to back that up).   The Edge 305 produces good elevation because of it's barometer, but the form factor requires recording the entire plane ride since I have to put it in my front pocket.  Maybe it's time to pull the Forerunner 305 out of retirement?

I still think the Forerunner 405 should be discontinued because of its complexity for first-time users.  I loaned my Forerunner 405 to my friend for a base jump off an antenna and he calls me on the ground before the climb up asking "How do I start this thing anyway?".  He is definitely tech savvy, but the watch is not intuitive and he didn't take the tutorial.  The last thing he should be worrying about no doubt. 

GPS-only elevation by itself is good enough to track skydiving without a barometer as seen by accurate "absolute" measurements.  Yeah, GPS-only elevation is accurate to +/- 30 meters (100 feet), but when falling at 50 meters per second the circle of error is relatively small and skydiving has a very clear view of the sky so the accuracy is increased greatly.

Stay tuned as I do a bit more investigation and continue to learn skydiving at the same time.

GARMIN Forerunner 110 Should Be On Your Wrist

  Since I am no longer a GARMIN employee this is the first time I am allowed to do an uncensored public  
  review of a GARMIN GPS.  Lucky for them the Forerunner 110 just crushes it so no censorship needed.  Perhaps I am skewed because I wasn't involved in the beta testing for this product so I didn't get to see how well it didn't work for months up until the release or perhaps I have to love it because it is the first GARMIN GPS since 2004 in which I had to pay full MSRP.  Regardless I'll do my best to explain who should be buying this and why... 

Target Customer

GARMIN will tell you this is a "runner's only" watch and if you are a runner then you will love this watch.  I will take it beyond and say if you love to have a GPS with you at all times then you will love this watch.  I am not a runner, but I do like to trail run and I love to have a GPS with me at all times!  I use GPS for all kinds of things like tourism, boot camp, recording human-powered transportation, walking and an eclectic set of other activities.  The Forerunner 110 will work well in all situations and because it is a comfortable watch that is small it is not embarrassing to where around all the time.

The major difference between this watch and it's predecessors (Forerunner 405, 310, 305, 301, 201) is it's simplicity.  This watch is just easy to use.  As a side-effect it does not have all the wiz-bang features traditional GARMIN geeks are used to so that should translate to a good thing if you are a technophobe or are typically happy with the "default" settings that comes with your electronics (i.e. if your VCR clock is still flashing). 

In summary, this is a GPS Watch for the Masses!

Comfort and Size

The Forerunner 110 is the smallest watch we've ever seen from GARMIN.  The Forerunner 405 series was remarkably small, but the touch bezel made the face stick out un-necessarily and the GPS antenna was part of the watch band resulting in a stiff uncomfortable fit (especially for small wrists).

The Forerunner 110 is the right size for any wrist and GARMIN found a way to reduce the antenna size without hurting GPS quality.  There is even a pink women's version although I don't believe the watch has any size difference from the other colors.  

Usability

Usability is probably the biggest advantage of the Forerunner 110 for most people that have found GARMIN products to be a challenge out of the box.  The restriction of having only four standard buttons made the engineers and product designers scale back the features to match the restriction.  As a result this watch behaves just like most of the simple training watches in which people are accustomed.  

The setup of the watch is super simple because there is less customization.  I can totally imagine the meetings the GARMIN engineers and product managers had trying to figure out what people "needed".  Overall I think they nailed it and even though I am a power user I get most everything I want out of this watch for the majority of my activities.

        

The screenshots above show the only training pages available.  They are really the same page, but the main digits change from displaying Time, Time of Day and optionally Heart Rate (only if it currently detects a HR Strap).  These values are easily changed by clicking on the Page/Menu button and notice that each are visually different which is important when you only have a split second to look at the watch while in full stride.

The top measurement is always Distance and the bottom metric is always Average Page (or Speed).  These are two valuable measurements that really cater to the runner and just about anything else you are doing. Also noteworthy is the ease of access to Time of Day which has been difficult to access in most GARMIN devices.

Versatility

One could say the Forerunner 110 lacks versatility, but as discussed in the Usability section the lack of versatility is what makes this watch super simple.  I will attempt to identify what is missing so if these items matter to you then perhaps you should consider the Forerunner 310 XT. 

• No Auto-Pause (must manually press start/stop)
• No Elevation Displayed (although it is recorded)
• No Barometric Altimeter (providing less accurate elevation recordings)
• No Biking Mode (although you may view speed instead of pace)
• Average Pace/Speed is shown (not the current Pace/Speed)
• Not compatible with Foot Pod (no running cadence or treadmill distance)
• Not compatible with Bike Cadence sensor
• No Navigation or Waypoints
• No following Courses
• No Virtual Partner
• USB Uploads (not automatic wireless ANT uploads)

That is not a complete list, but it may help identify something that is close to your heart. If so then there are plenty of other alternatives that I would recommend:

• Forerunner 310 XT for Triathletes or other fitness-focused athletes
• Edge 500 for road cyclists
• Edge 705 for mountain bikers

Notice I do not recommend the Forerunner 405.  Even though it does do a lot of the items in the list that the Forerunner 110 does not, it really doesn't do them well.  Most people will find the thing they really want is to track their activities and upload it to Garmin Connect.  The touch bezel looked good on paper, but in practice it is a pain so I think the Forerunner 405 product line should be terminated.

GPS Quality

I've done limited testing, but take these two similar activities in the Marin Headlands and you'll see the 110 appears to out-perform the 405. 

 

 Here you'll see the Forerunner 110 (blue) is almost right on the trail and each direction almost falls right on top of each other.  The Forerunner 405 (red) waivers around a bit more in this section. You can view this for yourself in  Google Earth. 
 

 

This image shows the performance in a dense forest of Eucalyptus trees. Each of the devices don't look great, but the Forerunner 110 does look better.

DISCLAIMER: These runs were not performed on the same day so conditions can vary based on satellite position and weather to some extent.  Mostly it shows that the Forerunner 110 is fairly reliable and is not intended to show the Forerunner 405 is unreliable. 

Heart Rate and Other Sensors

The heart rate setup is super simple and as accurate as any other Garmin device.  On my trail run above you'll see the heart rate spiked up past my max HR, but that was due to a brand new soft-strap that I didn't properly wet before exercising.

Additionally the calorie counter is likely more accurate because it uses the first-beat algorithm based on heart rate and other metrics.  My Forerunner 405 does not use this (however Forerunner 405CX models do).  

The Forerunner 110 lacks connectivity to the foot pod so someone can't use it to track distance when running on a treadmill.  It seems this device would be useful indoors for many people and it is a shame to not give the ability to track distance without GPS.  

Good news is that I see the faint icon of the footpod on the left side of the screen (where the HR pulses).  This is used as an indicator if the watch is paired with a Footpod and ready for indoor tracking. Perhaps they've considered adding the Footpod as an accessory and may be available in future Software Upgrades.  I really don't have any inside knowledge anymore so take this paragraph as pure speculation.

The lack of a barometer means Elevation will be more jumpy and unreliable to a high degree.  GARMIN has never put a barometer in a Forerunner so this problem is throughout the entire Forerunner line and is easily corrected using GARMIN Connect's elevation corrections (aka Gravity).

Battery

The specs claim 8 hours of battery life and although I haven't exercised for 8 hours lately I did do a 4+ hour MTB the other day in Sedona and there was half of the battery remaining.  Really impressive considering the small size of the GPS watch.

Also improved is the power saver mode.  The Forerunner 405 has a power saver mode too, but the 110 makes it more obvious when your watch is in and out of power saver.  The GPS will give you a 30 second warning letting you know it is about to cease tracking satellites (only if your timer is currently stopped).  This power saver means your watch can be a watch for several weeks if you don't use the GPS so you don't have to charge it all of the time.

Connect-ivity

Do you understand the dash?  A hint to use GARMIN Connect to track your Activities.  The Communicator Browser Plugin makes it super simple to upload via the USB and the device will charge when Connected to your computer.  

Sure, it is nice having ANT-based wireless uploads automatically transfer once you walk into the room where the computer is running with the necessary ANT Stick, but that process is far from simple to hook up.  Most consumers understand USB technology so having a USB mass storage was a smart thing to do.  

 

Nerd Alert: Only read the following paragraph if you laugh out-loud while sucking in air...

The Activity files are stored in the Activities folder of the mass-storage mounted Garmin directory.  Notice these files are now .FIT format which is yet another Garmin proprietary format and binary so debugging this file is not as easy as the predecessor TCX XML files.  I'll go on record that I always support using open standards and greatly prefer using text-based data files for readability, but the .FIT format is really important to making Garmin data flexible and small in size.  

As a result the Forerunner 110 uploads are very fast when compared to the Edge 705 for example.

Software Update

I clicked on the Software link from the Forerunner 110 page which resulted in a Page Not Found error.  I subsequently went to register my watch at myGarmin and the Dashboard successfully found a software update transferred by the Communicator Plugin.  

Where to Buy

This is also a cool thing that GARMIN has finally caught onto.  They are limiting the sales to only some retailers allowing small bike and running shops to sell the device without the cut-throat prices provided by Internet retailers.  This will be very important to get small retailers behind the GARMIN products because they will be able to make some money.  I bought mine at REI since there were no discounts anywhere else and REI has their dividend (not to mention they are awesome). 

You can buy just the watch and use your existing GARMIN HR strap (not the Forerunner 301 strap), but I would recommend buying the soft strap for comfort.  I wanted the watch with a red stripe, but that comes with its own HR so I had to buy the watch with a Gray stripe.  The pink watch also comes with a HR strap.  I find this kind of bundling confusing and restrictive so I really wish color was independent of bundling accessories.

Amazon has it for the same price so if I've convinced you and you simply can't wait then buy it there.  

In a Nutshell

This GPS is for the masses and will make almost anyone doing outdoor activities happy.  It is completely portable and easy to use so if you've been waiting to get into GPS tracking now is a great time to start.  

DISCLAIMER:  I have sold all my GRMN stock so there is no monetary incentive for me to tell you to buy a watch.  Many people ask me which GPS to buy and this happens to be an area of expertise for me so I wanted to share publicly.  Of course Garmin Connect recommendations perhaps are skewed by my ego for the time being.

JIRA Studio's Elastic Bamboo Customization Made Easy

I'll be writing up in subsequent posts about how much I love using JIRA Studio, but for now I want to share an improvement I have made to the maintenance of Elastic Bamboo from which any JIRA Studio user can benefit. Elastic Bamboo is the terminology for JIRA Studio's Bamboo delegation of building to an Amazon Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2) providing developers to choose the appropriate sized servers for their builds.  

I haven't been using Amazon EC2 for very long, but it doesn't take long to realize that EBS root-device-types are sooooo much better than instance-store.  Backups are super easy, creating new AMIs from custom configurations and you don't lose everything if the instance shuts down.  Apparently EBS is only a few months old so it is understandable that not everyone has converted yet.

Bamboo is creating instance-store EC2 instances for the Elastic Bamboo resources by default. Every now and again my Elastic Bamboo server disappears and I am left with having to re-create and re-configure my custom Bamboo machines (I need an updated Maven and security credentials to reach my private Nexus server).  Instance-store devices are not persistent so I lose everything and have to re-configure.  

I looked around the web and found a load of blogs talking about the converting instance-store to EBS images.  I am really surprised Amazon doesn't provide an easy conversion, but they don't (that I am aware of).  So I spent some time converting the default instance-store AMI (ami-5926cb30 us-east) provided by JIRA Studio into an EBS root-device type.  The result is persistent configurations allowing me to manage my Elastic Bamboo without ever opening up the Amazon AWS Management Console.

How I Did It

First I converted the instance-store ami into an EBS AMI and made it public (after this preferred script failed to make the conversion).  This works exactly as the default from Bamboo's perspective.  I made the image publicly available in US-East (ami-133bd27a).

 

 I happen to need Maven 2.2.1 which doesn't come installed on the default image so I installed maven 2.2.1 into the /opt directory where the other mavens live and created another public AMI available in US-East (ami-7f3ad316).

Maven 2.2.1 provides enhanced security which I use to access my protected Nexus Maven Repository Manager.  These configurations require me to copy the settings.xml and settings-security.xml into the .m2 directory of the Elastic Bamboo instance.  So I created yet another AMI after running a successful build which is now setup for my build environment. 

 
 

 Since this configuration has my security credentials I obviously don't share it publicly, but a private AMI still works with the Bamboo configurations.  

Now when Bamboo needs another instance it will create my own custom instance identified by the AMI number.   

Conclusion

The casual user will not need to use these AMIs and can stick with JIRA Studio's default AMI, but anyone requiring customization of their build server should start with one of the EBS Public AMIs I described above, customize as necessary and create their own AMIs.  The biggest advantage is the ease of using the AWS Management Console to simply right-click and create an AMI from an existing instance (only for EBS instances).

I've been programming for a while now, but my head hasn't been in the "Clouds" very long.  There are still a few idiosyncrasies about cloud computing to work through, but I am enjoying my new world of "Right-Click" -> create a computer rather than the traditional way I previously bought and configured servers.  I will be sharing more about my experience in the clouds as I continue to graduate my development practices from the Aughts to theTwenty-Tens.

Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

Because the door was open.  I can happily say that now that I've completed my Accelerated Freefall program at NorCal Skydiving last week.  Going with the theme that people think I have a death wish I would like to correct them and say that I have a life wish.  The rush that I get from skydiving is difficult to explain to anyone that has not jumped out of a plane before.  I see it in the eyes of the first-time tandem jumpers when they land and you hear it in their voice when they announce that they just had the best experience of their life!  

The AFF program has taken away a little bit of that rush because the dive-flow requires I practice techniques that help me learn my altitude awareness, stability and of course the ability to open my parachute.  You'll see later that even though I am concentrating the adrenaline is pumping strong!

Watch the end of this video closely.  You can see me reaching back one more time because my chute was slow to open.  You can bet my heart rate spiked at that moment!  

On May 7th, 2010 I successfully completed my AFF program and was granted the right to jump on my own without any instructor.  It took me 6 skydives to complete the course starting November 22nd 2009.  Yeah, a really long time due mostly to weather, scheduling challenges, big powder days and I even got my eyes fixed.  The additional time between jumps definitely didn't help, but I was able to pass with one less jump than standard.  

GPS & Skydiving

The GPS tracking is a good way to keep a digital log of my jumps, however, the detailed analysis is a bit limited right now.  So much of the web is built for activities on the ground and very few activities involve people falling at terminal velocity.  Garmin Connect doesn't have a way to categorize Skydiving so I categorize everything as Flying.  Since Garmin Connect added Elevation Corrections (I still call it Gravity) the entire activity is flattened to the ground (because I am using a Forerunner 405 which doesn't have great elevation data).  I disable the corrections so I can see the true elevation charts and metrics.

The ideal way to view a skydive right now is in Google Earth which is available on any Garmin Connect activity by Viewing the Details and clicking on the Earth Icon.  Unfortunately, Garmin Connect isn't smart enough to tell Google Earth to use the "Absolute" elevation instead of "Clamped to Ground" similar to the Elevation Corrections on Garmin Connect.  This can be done in the Properties dialog of the Track log in the Google Earth side "Places" explorer.

Now that's more like it!  If the videos didn't make it clear, this Google Earth snapshot should help you realize Cloverdale is a beautiful drop zone.  Yeah, I don't always notice when I am plummeting to the earth at 200kph (120 mph) so it is nice to check it out post-dive in Google Earth.  

Device Selection

My first jump I was all set up to track the entire trip.  I decided to use my Edge 705 because it had a barometric altimeter and heart rate capability in addition to a key lock allowing me to put it in my pocket and forget about it.  My instructor Jimmy saw that bulging out of my jump suit and told me to forget about it.  So the first jump is actually his entire trip...of which I shared the freefall part of it.  He didn't know at that time how important GPS tracking is to me, but I tried not to hold it against him and focused on the more important task for the moment.

By the second jump I realized my Forerunner 405 would have a form factor that would not cause Jimmy concern and it would be accessible to start the recording closer to the exit (since the plane ride isn't really that interesting). I've also recorded with the Edge 305 which works well because it is small and has a barometric altimeter, but being shoved into the pocket causes the entire plane ride to be tracked.  The iPhone and Droid have shown high hopes, but I am still working on the proper body position to get a strong enough GPS signal.

Heart Rate 

Tracking my heart rate has been really interesting during the whole process.  I look at my watch on the way up to monitor how nervous I am.  I try to stay below zone 1 (50% of max) to help me stay relaxed, but the moment the door opens up my heart rate jumps well into zone 3 (similar to a reasonable-paced run).  The HR stays high until, you guessed it, my chute successfully opens.  The majority of the canopy ride down I am relaxed until the ground approaches where my heart rate jumps up high into zone 2.   

 

The image shows Elevation (green) and  Heart Rate (red) over time.  Notice the plane is steady and so is my HR really low.  When the elevation drops quickly my HR goes high and remains high until the chute opens.  The steady loss of elevation is while under canopy and is really mellow until the ground comes near.  My heart rate eventually goes back to normal.  Notice some elevation gain after I pull my chute.  That is clearly the Forerunner 405 trying to correct itself after an extreme situation.

Finally a Skydiver

I am really happy to have finally been certified skydiving after desiring for so many years.  I did my first tandem skydive at age 18 or so and the most recent tandem on January 1st, 1999 on Carol's birthday.  Yeah, that happens to be the day we went beyond friendship.  Some guys wine and dine their women and get them drunk and some take them skydiving:)  

 

It's time to dump cable TV and start streaming

Carol and I don't really watch a lot of TV, but it is nice to be able to veg out on the couch and relax so we'll turn on the tube. The only series we watch is Lost, the only "news" source is the Daily Show and most other programs we find of value are provided by PBS.  All it took was a cable/phone/internet bill of $170 to motivate me to see what I can get for free.  

The Hardware

I took my old MacBook Pro and and replaced our AppleTV as the main content provider.  The MacBook can get the same content as the AppleTV, but also anything else that is available on the internet.  The problem with the AppleTV is that it only allows content available through iTunes which makes sense for Apple to make lots of money, but we found it to be too restrictive and unplugged it.  Going with a full computer gives the most flexibility, but it is difficult to use for the non-techie...until I got my iPad yesterday.  Here is a good recipe for dropping cable/satellite and start streaming:

• Mac Mini (I have a MacBook Pro, but the Mini would be better)
• Stereo Receiver 
• HDTV Monitor 
• HDTV Digital Antenna
• EyeTV Hybrid USB TV Tuner
• iPad or iPod Touch or iPhone
• Logitech Harmony Remote (optional)

 

Pictured is my actual setup which has a few extra components in there like the Playstation 3 which provides a Blu-Ray player and fun games.  The Sonos music system is really great, but expensive and not necessary for most systems because the Mac will provide all the digital music needed via iTunes.

Content is King

Over-the-air broadcast of HDTV provides all the local channels and live TV that is otherwise missed with Internet-only.  I don't like to watch a lot of live TV, but when I have guests over that want to watch a sporting event then the Internet is not a great place for live broadcasts.  The super-bowl is a good example.  

Elgato EyeTV provides the TV Tuner and the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) so I can record and playback at a later time. It works just like the DVR on cable boxes so you can pause live TV, etc.  The DVR is the main reason to use the TV Tuner on the computer rather than the TV, but for cleanliness I prefer to use a monitor display on the wall that doesn't have a TV tuner built in nor speakers.  The monitor is only used for video and the stereo receiver provides all the sound. 

The Internet provides almost all the content you are accustomed to via Hulu or other websites directly, but dealing with a browser on your home system is a big pain.  There are a few Mac applications that makes finding and controlling shows super easy.  

• Hulu Desktop provides easy access to Hulu
• Plex uses plugins that provide access to specialized content
• Apple Front Row provides easy access to music and other iTunes content
• EyeTV 3 provides access to live TV and recorded live TV

All applications work well with the simple Apple remote control which can be limiting, but is appropriate when trying to control a computer from the couch. Plex is the swiss army knife for making popular content available. Boxee and XMBC are similar to Plex, but I have not tried them out yet.  Here are my favorite Plex plugins:

• Netflix
• The Daily Show
• PBS (No Commercials)
• Hulu (although replaced by Hulu desktop)

Along comes the iPad

I've been using these programs for a few months now, but the biggest problem is switching between the applications.  I bought a wireless keyboard and was able to control the computer, but switching between apps was difficult since the computer desktop is too small to be managed from the distance away while sitting on the couch.  The applications then had to go into and out of Full Screen Mode making operations more difficult.  Yesterday, I bought the iPad because I had hoped it would simplify the use of my home entertainment system and I am very pleased at the results. 

The Rowmote Application for the iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone makes it super easy to control all the applications described in the content.  The remote is set up out of the box to work with each program I use to manage my content. When I select the program it goes right into full screen mode.  If I need a keyboard (useful for searching) the Rowmote program provides a keyboard and touchpad for mouse control.  I added the SONOS Controller Application to my iPad so I can control my SONOS with ease from the same controller as the rest of my content.

The iPad is probably overkill as a remote, but using it as my "couch computer" allows me to not plug my laptop in while sitting at the television.  I like to browse and look up information while watching TV so I am able to easily switch between my remote control and a browser, my email, finance management software or whatever else I may find useful.  

Conclusion

The home entertainment center is pretty much opposite of what the GPS Trailblazer blog is usually prescribing for daily consumption of time, but I've had a few people ask me how to get it setup and I think it is an interesting validation of the power of the Internet.  Broadcast TV has a short lifespan because people are becoming accustomed to making their entertainment fit with their schedule, not making their schedule fit with entertainment which is TV of the past.  The commercials are much less painful and the quality is good enough to enjoy on a big Plasma TV.  I suppose the entire setup is still a bit too difficult for the mass market, but enough of us are making these complex systems happen so some company will figure out how to make Internet content super easy...perhaps embedded directly into the TV or as a dedicated appliance?  

Analyzing the Death Slide

Most of my life I have been willing to take a few risks in exchange for a shot of adrenaline.  Some people would accuse me of having a death wish, but I can guarantee death was not what I was wishing for as I found myself sliding headfirst down a steep slope of ice at Alpine Meadows today.  

Aaron and I had been anxiously watching the snow dump for over 24 hours.  I woke up shortly after daylight and found that Alpine was scheduled to be opened after being closed for an entire day.  They reported 38" at the top and the snow was still dumping.  I woke Aaron up with the smell of a fresh brew and the sound of MIA's Paper Planes playing on the stereo.  We hit the road early and arrived at Alpine before they closed the access road for Avalanche control blasting.  The day started out perfect.

The early morning rush put us towards the front of the line at Summit 6 where we waited for over an hour until they finally opened it at 10:00.  Waiting in line with a bunch of powder hounds on a powder day is an interesting look into the primal behavior of skiers and snowboarders.  The crowd was getting a bit rowdy yelling at the lift attendants while we watched all the other lifts on the mountain satisfy the others that bet on Rounhouse and Scott.  We got on the second chair of the day so we quickly forgot about the long wait and looked towards enjoying the fresh new snow.  The first run was amazing as we dropped down D7 and got first tracks.  Nygren was even heard saying "That was too much powder".  A rare moment indeed.

Even though the snow was amazing, the conditions were interesting because it almost looked like summer in Truckee a couple of days ago and it rained in the mountains recently.  So below the 3 feet of powder was a solid slick plate of ice that we hit occasionally when the board would nosedive into the white fluff.  The ice was helpful because it kept us from getting caught in the deep snow while riding the flats avoiding the infamous powder swimming trying to get moving again.  The ice, however, is the cause of the incident that is the purpose of the story. 

We headed over to Scott chair and noticed there weren't many people over there.  We figure it had just been tracked out, but Scott Chute actually didn't have many tracks.   Very suspicious indeed.  We noticed the blue sheets of ice at the top of the chute which likely claimed a few victims before our arrival.  We headed over to the Promise Land because we have a favorite run that is difficult to get resulting in a secret stash of powder.  

I dropped into this favorite run scraping sideways on the ice between some rocks.  Somehow the ice got the better of me and I lost my edge and fell to my butt.  I started to slide and I was not able to grab an edge with my snowboard.  The speed increased, but I knew there was bound to be a stash of snow that I could grab onto.  I got a glimpse of some rocks far below so I was getting really motivated to stop.  The stash came, but instead of saving me I found myself flipped around sliding down this very steep hill head first.  

This is the point I acknowledged that bad things were likely to happen.  The rocks came too quickly for me to flip over and get my board downhill so I slid into the rock pile head first on my back.  Keep in mind I figured there was a cliff over these rocks so I was almost welcoming the possibility the rocks would stop me solid.  At this point I figured it was gonna be a broken neck, but somehow I made it through the rocks with only seeing stars and luckily no cliff was on the other side of the pile.  Thank goodness for wearing the brain bucket!

The death slide continued down the hill and I reached my max speed of 35 kph (22 mph) until I found my next obstacle a big tree that I went into shoulder first.  So I was willing to donate a broken clavicle to this tragic mistake, but somehow I was able to bounce off the tree hitting only my shoulder and continue down the hill. 

Eventually I stopped sliding due to no credit of my skills.  The steepness eventually subsided and all the snow that didn't stick to the ice above was piled up at the bottom of the hill.  Once I stopped completely I stood up and raised my hands indicating I was o.k. so that anyone witnessing this mess wouldn't call ski patrol to come pick up the pieces.  I talked to another skier that saw the whole thing and he said he just experienced a similar slide.  We both acknowledged I was lucky to be alive.  

Of course I recorded the whole day's events with my Edge 705 and sent the activity to Garmin Connect and also on Mountain Dynamic's Snow Days. I will provide a break-down of the event with the tools available to best show the incident details.

Statistics

Slide Distance       100-110 meters
Vertical Descent    60-90 meters
Slope                    45-55 degrees
Max Speed             35 kph
Avg Speed              16 kph
Duration                10-20 seconds

The statistics have a wide range to them because it is difficult to tell exactly where I started to slide.  The finish of the slide is real obvious because I stopped for a minute or so and counted my blessings.  There were also some discrepancies in the GPS statistics likely caused by the extreme terrain and position of the GPS device in my arm sleeve. 

Google Earth

  

The red line is my GPS path and the white line is the length of the slide (using the ruler tool in GE).  I started at the green dot and finished at the red dot which GE reports as 110 meters and an elevation start at 2357m finishing at 2267m.  Calculating the 90 meter vertical descent against the 110 meter hypotenuse yields a 54 degree slope which seems a little too steep to me, but I did slide uncontrollably after all so perhaps it is correct.  

Garmin Connect Player

Of course I am partial to using Garmin Connect tools, but the player doesn't show complete resolution.  It actually reduces large activities to a smaller resolution because of the data transfer size.

Garmin Base Camp

Exporting the GPX and importing into Base Camp I was able to inspect every trackpoint and see the details of the slide.  

 

Highlighting the trackpoints in the trackpoint viewer we can see that the slide started out relatively slow and within a few seconds accelerated to 35kph.  The fastest part of the slide only took about 10 seconds and the remainder was on the fringes.  

 Conclusion

I'm not sure how I will exit this life, but there is a good chance that when I do I will have a GPS and/or heart rate monitor on while it happens.  I'm just glad this activity was not my last and feel pretty lucky that I was spared any major injuries.