My latest Inside iPhone post is called How an iPhone Can Help You Be More Productive When Commuting Via Mass Transit. One of the things I talk about in that post is the power of using location-based contexts within the OmniFocus for iPhone application.

I realized while writing the Inside iPhone piece that setting locations for contexts within OmniFocus for iPhone 1.0.1 is not straightforward. So I thought I would expand upon that issue here in this post.

The Fundimentals of Context Location

Each context within OmniFocus for iPhone can have a location associated with it. The location can be:

• the iPhone's current location,
• a street address,
• an address associated with a contact in the Address Book, or
• a business name retrieved from a search conducted using Google.

The location of contexts is set on a hierarchical basis, so I set the location of my home at the "Home" level of the context tree rather than at each sub-context.

Errands Context: Set locations of the contexts in the
Errands list by tapping "Edit" on this screen.

Establishing a Context Location

I set the location of a context by tapping on the "Contexts" choice on the OmniFocus home screen. OmniFocus presents the top level of my context hierarchy. I descend through the context hierarchy by tapping until I reach the list of contexts containing the context whose location I want to set.

I'm talking about my "Errands" contexts in this article. These are stores and service providers that I do business with often. Most of them have definite physical locations that I go to on a regular basis.

In this article, we're talking about my "Target" context. This is where I put my shopping list of products I buy at a Target Store.

If I want to set the location of the "Target" context, I need to stay on this screen and tap the "Edit" button. Once I tap "Edit", I can tap the "Target" element in the list and go to the screen where I set the location of the Target context.

Continue reading "Assigning Locations to OmniFocus iPhone Contexts" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Before I hit the hay on Friday night, I want to point out Jonathan Greene's blog article Nokia N78 - Feature Pack 2 and plenty to love. This is a great first look at the newest N-Series phone and includes a nearly 20 minute long video of him putting the N78 through its paces.

He has a lot deeper knowledge of the Nokia N-Series handset line than I do. I can tell this because he talks in depth about the new features in the N78 that stem from Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2. He explains that the software is more user-friendly than that which has been included on phones like the N95. He's right.

He also points out correctly that the N95 is intended for a technology-savvy person, while the N78 is aimed at someone who wants many of the same features but with fewer controls and complex options.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning I received a Nokia N78 as part of my participation in the Nokia Blogger Relations Program. I just posted a bunch of photos of unboxing the N78 to Flickr.

See more of my Nokia N78 Unboxing Photos on Flickr.
[ Photo: Dave Aiello. ]

Some of the Nokia N78's big features are a 3.2-megapixel main camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, 2 Gigabytes of microSD memory, and a free three-month subscription to Nokia's voice-guided GPS navigation system.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

• For the Phinney Family, a Dream and a Challenge on NYTimes.com: This story came out last week, right before Taylor Phinney raced in the Individual Pursuits at the Track Cycling World Championships. Taylor finished eighth. His father, Davis, is a legendary U.S. cycling champ who has struggled with Parkinson's Disease in recent years. This article summarizes their recent struggles and successes.
• ScreenFlow: The Killer Screencasting App on MacTips: "ScreenFlow is the application I've been waiting for on the Mac. I've been using it recently for the MacTips Videos and I love it! It's saves me so much time because I'm able to focus on creating valuable content rather than editing videos."
• Dash’s Car Navigator Gives Smart Directions, if Others Participate, Walt Mossberg on AllThingsD: "As smart as in-car navigation devices are, they could be smarter. They could talk to each other via the Internet and share information on how fast traffic is moving on the roads they have just traveled.... Starting this week, just such a smarter navigation box is hitting the market. Called the Dash Express, this $400 product looks a lot like units from better-known firms... But, unlike any other in-car navigation device I’ve seen, each Dash Express... becomes part of a network, connected to the company via the Internet. "
• Windows XP: Going, going ... gone? on Computerworld: "The approaching death of Windows XP may upset you, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. Microsoft Corp.'s product life-cycle guidelines have foretold the fate of XP since 2001. In fact, Microsoft has been killing off one version of a product as it is replaced with another for years now. But this time around, the approaching demise of XP is getting more attention than, say, the final passing of Windows 2000."
• Coming Soon to a Phone Near You on WSJ.com: This article summarizes forthcoming developments in mobile phone voice control, improved web browsers, enhanced storage, and video sharing. [ Subscription may be required to read this article. ]
• How To Use Nokia’s Sports Tracker as a Photo Tracker on The Gadgets Page: "Ms. Jen was part of Nokia’s Urbanista Diaries Relay, which means they sent her to India to promote the Nokia N82 in all its glory. While on the trip, she realized how well the Sports Tracker (a typically exercise related feature) could be used to track the geo-locations of your photos"
• Note to readers: Today would be my grandfather James M. Lynch, Jr.'s 95th birthday. He died in 1982. He is one of the inspirations for this site, since he bought and tried every important electronic gadget that existed in the 1970s. He owned the first digital watch, desktop calculator, and personal computers I ever saw.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I had an iPhone experience tonight like the ones that make users of other mobile phones jealous. Kathleen, Jimmy, and I decided to go to Friendly's for ice cream after dinner. We showed up at the Langhorne location only to find a standing-room-only crowd waiting for tables. We were quoted a 20-minute wait.

We're already out, so where do we go for a similar ice cream parlor experience? I get out my iPhone and tell the Maps application, "Friendly's, Langhorne, PA". I find that there is a Friendly's in Morrisville, only seven miles away. I get directions because I am not familiar with the address. We decide to go there instead, figuring we can be seated, order, and be served faster if the other Friendly's is less crowded.

The other Friendly's was a lot less crowded, the ice cream was just as good, and our waitress was very nice. She gave Jimmy a balloon and a small stuffed animal at no extra cost to us.

The total additional cost of going to the other Friendly's was 12 minutes travel time between the two locations.

The reason I'm telling this story is because my wife was completely happy with the outcome of this trip, and my 22-month old son came home happy and went off to bed quickly and quietly.

If we had stood in the vestibule of the first Friendly's for 20 minutes, then ordered ice cream in a very full restaurant, I'm sure that Jimmy would have been bouncing off the walls and would have needed time to wind down when we got home.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MacRumors reports that Garmin released a new beta version of their Bobcat GPS management tool for MacOS X. This beta of version 2.0 of the software includes the following features:

• transfer waypoints, tracks, and routes between a Mac and Garmin GPS device,
• manage maps and DRM keys for transfer to a Garmin GPS, and
• search for points of interest on the Mac and transfer the locations to your Garmin GPS.

It wasn't too long ago that Mac users would have to keep a PC around the house or spin up a PC emulator or virtual machine to take advantage of Garmin software. Bobcat looks like a serious product that can help you get the most out of your GPS or heart-rate monitor.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an interesting review of the Garmin Forerunner 305 and the MotionLingo Adeo. The author, Mark Schoofs took these fitness gadgets with him on trips to Kenya and Spain to help assess his level of exertion while running on widely varying terrain and conditions. This is a perfect way to use a fitness monitoring gadget.

I've owned a Garmin Forerunner 201 since 2004. This is a sturdy, well-designed unit that I think is made to be mounted to the handlebars of a bicycle. (See Dave's Cycling Dashboard.) Of the two gadgets that Schoofs reviewed, I would have expected that he'd prefer the Forerunner, which turned out to be the case.

The MotionLingo Adeo is a truly off-beat device. You wear it around your waist, and it plugs into your iPod so it can announce over your headphones how far and fast you've run. Think of it as a GPS device that plays a similar role to the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. Comparing the Adeo to the Forerunner, Schoofs said, "... {The} Garmin seems simpler {than the Adeo}. Adeo's belt clip wasn't always secure, and the device occasionally bounced out and fell. With the Garmin, I can see my pace whenever I want, not only when the preprogrammed voice decides to chime in. And I'm free from the earphone wire."

I've had a couple of devices like the MotionLingo Adeo, and I applaud MotionLingo for producing a ground-breaking product. But I'm not sure to whom I'd recommend the Adeo at this point. But the Garmin Forerunner 305 is a worthy training companion to the runner, cyclist, or multisport athlete.

I prefer a non-GPS device as my primary fitness monitor, but that's because so much of my exercise activity is inside of ice arenas where GPS is useless. If you are more of a year-round outdoor exerciser than I am, I'd strongly recommend the Forerunner 305

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day, my brother Scott Aiello tipped me off to a device that can be used as a convenient one-stop place to charge all of your handheld devices. It's called the Personal Electronics Power Station and it's available from several vendors on Amazon.com.

The Personal Electronics Power Station is an outlet strip with a special housing that allows you to clamp your handheld devices to its body using adjustible dividers. The body has an internal space where the plug ends of your handhelds' charging cables go. When not in use, the Personal Electronics Powerstation sits on top of a table or a bookshelf with your charging cables neatly organized.

Some of the comments I've read about this unit say that the internal plugs for the charging cables are two-pronged only and that adapters won't fit inside. That's a fair point, so watch out for that. Another common complaint is that the Personal Electronics Power Station doesn't support USB. How many of your handhelds charge only through USB connections? I can't think of any of my devices that have this problem.

Technorati Tags: Personal Electronics Power Station, electronic gadgets.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

VeloNews Ticker: This is the latest
advancement in live coverage of pro
cycling events, brought to us by
VeloNews.

Earlier today I spoke to Jeff Henderson from One Million Revolutions who developed the VeloNews Ticker that's being used for the first time at the 2006 Tour de Georgia cycling race.

VeloNews has provided running commentary on each stage of many international cycling races for several years. That commentary was presented on a static web page that contained an HTML meta tag that instructed visitors' web browsers to refresh (reload the same page) every few minutes. That periodic client refresh directive was the extent of the interactivity of their previous live system.

When VeloNews editors saw the gorgeous Tour Tracker that Adobe sponsored for the 2006 Tour of California, they decided that they needed a more sophisticated live results page to retain their share of the Internet audience for major cycling races. That's when they spoke to Jeff.

Henderson, who is also the Interactive Editor of Inside Triathlon Magazine (a sister publication to VeloNews), pulled the VeloNews Ticker together in the weekend before the Tour de Georgia began. The core features of the VeloNews Ticker are:

• Stage Results and Current General Classification Standings
• Live Race Commentary
• Live Course Map, implemented using the Google Maps API
• Stage Elevation Profile
• Latest Photos

The Live Race Commentary pane is pretty similar to the commentary that was previously provided by VeloNews. The rest of the features of the ticker are new.

Read on for Jeff's comments on how reorganization of VeloNews' on-line databases helped facilitate the implementation of the ticker, information on how the photo stream and race commentary are created during the stage, little known features of the Ticker, and prospects for future use.

Technorati Tags: Tour de Georgia, pro cycling, VeloNews Ticker.

Continue reading "How VeloNews Built their Cycling Race Ticker" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Todd Fryburger reports that he will be at Woody's Gap again this year to watch Stage 4 of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. Stage 4 of the 2006 Tour de Georgia will take place on Friday, April 21, 2006.

Last year Todd provided some great on-the-spot information from Woody's Gap, including the MPEG movie clip that we published in How Bad Was the Weather on Woody's Gap? which shows an intense hail storm.

Todd wrote:

{Many of us} in the Atlanta cycling community plan on sitting atop Woody Gap on Friday to watch / listen as TdG Stage 4 unfolds.

We will be using Cingular EDGE / GPRS service via my cellphone attached to my laptop to receive the web-based updates from http://www.velonews.com/ and http://www.cyclingnews.com/. In addition, we will be monitoring Nexrad weather radar via http://www.wunderground.com/radar/map.asp as well as a few
other sites - do not want to repeat the hailstorm experience of last year. We are using Cingular service as we understand the Verizon does not have broadband coverage that far North. We will use a Wilson omnidirectional
external "trucker" antenna to ensure we have the best bandwidth performance via Cingular - it won't be broadband, but should be sufficient for the text-based race updates provided by these websites.

Read on for additional resources that Todd and his friends will have to follow Stage 4, radio frequencies that Todd thinks will be useful, information about how to get to Woody's Gap, and when to arrive....

Technorati Tags: Tour de Georgia, pro cycling, race radio.

Continue reading "How Pro Cycling Fans Will Watch the 2006 Tour de Georgia at Woody's Gap on April 21" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I always had difficulty identifying stars in the night sky when I went star-gazing as a kid, so I was intrigued when I heard about the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium-- a handheld device that lets you identify 6,000 stars, planets, and constellations as they appear overhead. It has the ability to display text and play audio descriptions, including the history, mythology, and other fun facts for the most popular objects in the sky.

The SkyScout works in several different ways:

• Aim it at a celestial body, and the SkyScout will identify it.
• Choose a body by name from the SkyScout's built-in-database, and blinking arrows in the viewfinder will guide you to the location.
• Run the "Tonight's Highlights" program for a customized list of the 20 best objects to view in the sky from your exact location on this time and date.
• Insert an SD card preprogrammed with a tour of the night sky.

Updates to the database can be loaded via USB connection to a computer.

The SkyScout should be available about May 29, 2006, but can be pre-ordered before then from Amazon.com. For more information, check out the manufacturer's website at http://www.celestron.com/skyscout/.

Technorati Tags: SkyScout, gadgets, telescopes, GPS gadgets.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For years I've been a big Polar heart rate monitor fan. My Polar S-725x rides on the handlebars of my Trek 1500 everyday. But, recently, I've been looking at the Garmin Edge 305HR+ and I really think that it has a lot of potential as an alternative to pure cycling computers like the Polar CS200cad.

The Garmin Edge 305 is a feature-packed device with a large display. It includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver that's supposed to be a huge improvement over the early Garmin Forerunner fitness gadgets, a chest strap-based heart rate monitor, and speed and cadence sensors that you mount on your bike frame.

Garmin Training Center Software, which is their training journal product continues to improve. It's looking more and more like Polar Precision Performance Software plus basic GPS routing. My Garmin fitness gadget is a Forerunner 201, so I didn't get this version of Garmin Training Center with it, but I think I'm going to upgrade so I can do a head-to-head comparison of it with PPP.

I prefer wrist-mountable fitness gadgets because I participate in duathlons and officiate a lot of hockey, but if I were a bike-only athlete, I'd absolutely compare the Garmin Edge products to the Polar CS cycling computers.

Product Options: The Edge 305 is also available in an HRM-only model, the Garmin Edge 305HR, and a speed and cadence-only model, the Garmin Edge 305CAD.

Technorati Tags: Garmin Edge 305, Polar CS200, Garmin Training Center, Polar Precision Performance, fitness gadgets, cycling computers

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Garmin is about to release the Garmin Forerunner 305, one of it's third-generation GPS-enabled fitness computers. The 305 differs from the Garmin Forerunner 205 in that the 305 includes heart rate monitor functions.

I haven't recommended the Forerunner 300 series in the past because I thought the Forerunner 301 (the predecessor to the 305) was less functional than fitness computers like the Polar S625x which can be used as a running or cycling computer with the proper accessories. The Polar S625x doesn't have GPS capabilities, but it does have a footpod for running speed and distance, and can use speed, cadence, and power sensors attached to a bicycle.

The major new feature of the Forerunner 305 is, in my opinion, the ability to interface with the Garmin GSC 10 wireless cycling speed and cadence sensor. This brings the Forerunner 305 into the same league as many of the Polar S-Series Heart Rate Monitors. Now the Forerunner 305 is a viable alternative to these Polar computers, if you do not already own a heart rate monitor.

Improvements in the 305 in comparison to the Forerunner 301 are the same as those discussed in the Forerunner 205 preview article on Operation Gadget:

• More compact, watch-like design,
• More sensitive GPS receiver,
• USB interface,
• Customizable screens.

The big issue with the 305 in my opinion is the current price. Is it worth a list price of $376 (which is already discounted somewhat by Amazon.com and others)? I can't be sure until I use one. I want to use it the way I use my Polar S625x, and log my workouts into Garmin's Training Center Software. Until I see how it stacks up against my favorite fitness gadget, the jury is still out.

Technorati Tags: Garmin Forerunner 305, Garmin Forerunner 301, Polar S625x, gadgets, fitness gadgets, heart rate monitors, GPS

[ via Machine Culture ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

If you are a regular radio listener in major cities in the USA, you've probably heard several ads for TomTom Go portable navigation systems. TomTom has a different strategy in France. They are running a two team road rally called TomTom Raid. The teams were given no food, no money, no credit cards, just a TomTom GO 700 and a Smart car to travel across France. The teams left Paris on Monday and the race will continue until December 8.

You can follow the progress of the race daily at the website TomTomRaid.com. The site is entirely in French, so it may make more sense to our readers in Quebec and people who studied French in school than it does to me.

My father asked me what a TomTom was the other day. For those of you who haven't seen one yet, they are portable navigation systems that can be moved from car to car. They are simple in that you plug them into your car's electrical system, mount them to your car windshield, turn them on, and go. There are two models of the TomTom GO that are being marketed in the United States:

• TomTom GO 300, a turnkey GPS device that gives door-to-door directions between any two addresses in the United States, maps included on a secure digital card. The system includes spoken turn-by-turn guidance.
• TomTom GO 700, including all of the features of the 300 plus faster CPU, more memory, a hard disk for larger map and route storage, and bluetooth for handsfree phone integration.

[ via Operation Gadget reader Alexander Baarde and Alt-Buzz ]

Technorati Tags: Tom Tom, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was talking to Ed Anuff earlier today and I mentioned that TomTom is running a lot of radio ads on the major AM-band stations in New York for its portable GPS navigation systems like the TomTom Go 700.

He said he's hearing a lot of ads in the Bay Area as well.

I'm really intrigued by TomTom navigation systems because they appear to be more user-friendly than many of the factory-installed systems I've seen. The radio ads are also the first major effort to sell navigation systems to anyone other than new car buyers.

Technorati Tags: Tom Tom

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)