Month: December 2008

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Google Maps Adds Route Images

Image of Google Maps showing an intersection photo.
Image of Google Maps showing an intersection photo.

Well, Google Maps have outdone themselves this time. First, their maps were so accurate and useful and now they even have on-site pictures of any turn’s you think you might miss.

The images are perfect and allow you to get a clear picture of the turns that are key in your route with interactive arrows. Also the map has an interactive 360 degree rotator cam. You just click on the compass and move the arrow around to see all angles of the turn. So if you need to look for the turn that has a BP gas station now you’ll know before you even get in your car!

I am a very visual person, so being able to see the surrounding of an important turn in my route helps me to find the location better. I have no idea how Google is getting these pictures, because when you rotate the picture you realize it’s in the middle of the street. There are no traffic cameras in the street that Google could possible use.

Now you have to wonder, is a Google Maps “spy van” driving around your neighborhood taking pictures of your roads. Hmm I’m not sure, but whatever they are doing I like it. It is very useful and it helped us get from our home to Post Home of Marjorie Merriweather in Washington DC.

If you would like to take a look I’ve added the two locations at the end if you would like to take a look at the directions yourself.
2254 Ravenna Ct Waldorf MD 20603
To
4155 Linnean Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 (Hillwood Museum & Gardens) (202) 686-5807

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On Vacation

Wishing You a Happy New Year!
Wishing You a Happy New Year!

I’m taking a vacation next week and Chris Harper will be posting for me all next week on my blog. Chris is my college aged son who is home for the holidays from Frostburg State University.

Be gentle with him as he is a new blogger, but I’ve helped him to choose the topics that he will be writing on this next week. I think that you will like them.

If you can think of a topic also that you think he would find interesting, just click comments below and leave a note and I’ll pass the topics on to him.

I hope that you’ve had a wonderful family holiday, shared gifts with family and friends, and eaten enough to blow your diet.

As I will be back online after the New Year, I want to take this time to thank each one of you for reading my blog this year and pass on my wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

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Why You Should Consider iTunes

If you are thinking why should I use iTunes I don’t have an iPod or a Mac. Well think again, I happen to love iTunes. It is a great way to keep track of your music and have it perfectly organized. iTunes also gives you a way to buy music straight from the iTunes menu and the songs from iTunes are cheap; only about 99 cents each.

Not only does iTunes allow you to store your music, but it also stores your videos and TV shows, if you have any. If not, you can buy them through the iTunes store.

I never use Windows Media Player anymore since I downloaded iTunes. I like the ability to create libraries from my main music page. I don’t have to go find my music folder and pick the songs out of the folder. This is good, since I name the songs differently on iTunes. For me, I put the artist in front of the song title. I do this because not all songs I find have the artist’s name encoded into the mp3. This just helps with categorizing for organization of my music.

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WordPress 2.7 Code Named Coltrane

Loving WordPress 2.7!
Loving WordPress 2.7!

I’ve heard from a few interested parties asking for more information about WordPress 2.7 and is it worth the upgrade. I have to say wholeheartedly YES it is worth the upgrade!

WordPress is free, but the time and effort to install it is not. The first time I installed it, it took under 2 hours. So, why is it worth the under around two hour time investment?

  1. Once you upgrade to WordPress 2.7 you will never need to do a manual upgrade again. WordPress will upgrade the application itself. That alone is well worth the trouble.
  2. With WordPress 2.7 your plugins can be upgraded automatically with one click. Wow, that’s another good reason to make the installation worth the trouble.
  3. The site navigation, has moved from the top to the left and offers drop down options. No more poking around trying to find where to update settings for a plugin.
  4. Improved image upload. For me this is one of the biggest new features. My Flash based upload function stopped working when I upgraded to Flash Player 10. Installing WordPress 2.7 fixed this plus gave me some nice new options for images such as adding a caption and very simply image upload interface. I know that my blog writers will now easily be able to add a photo to a blog when they want from the 2.7 platform unlike some earlier versions of WordPress that really need someone who understands source code to go in to to view source and remove broken code that keeps an image from showing up.

All in all, I think that WordPress 2.7 is an excellent upgrade even to version 2.6.1 or 2.6.2. Once you’ve installed it, I think that you’ll agree it is well worth the several hours it takes to install it.