Mateusz Loskot

Recently, I’ve been playing with Sanoodi - activity-based social networking website for participants in sports and leisure activities. The idea of Sanoodi is very similar to Sports Tracker by Nokia.

The Sanoodi version 1.1.0.0 is based on Google Maps API. It works well, rarely reporting errors. Today, I migrated my account to Sanoodi Beta available for mysterious Friday the 13th (month unspecified :-)). Besides new & ugly user interface, I’ve encountered that mapping capabilities in Beta are based on OpenLayers engine. Great choice, if my vote counts. The core of Sanoodi application is based on Django framework. Another good choice :-)

If you are doing any outdoor activities, Sanoodi is a nice gadget and worth to try. I recommend to use version 1.1.0.0 for regular diary. In my opinion, the Beta version is still unusable. It is throwing errors while saving preferences or uploading GPX file, Save button for new route sees to be not even linked, etc. BTW, I’ve reported all my problems to the Sanoodi Team. Hopefully, they will fix it soon.

A week ago, LinuxDevices.com announced that Garmin opens source code of software used on their Nuvi 8xx and Nuvi 5xxx devices.

Now, it’s confirmed that Garmin uses Linux and GNOME software, more precisely, they use GNOME Mobile platform All packages are published on dedicated webiste http://developer.garmin.com/linux/

It may be surprising, but some people still believe it is. Here is an interesting debate the Al-Fayhaa TV aired in 2007, during which astronomy researcher is arguing with physicist on this subject:

It’s been nearly 500 years since Nicolaus Copernicus and afterward Galileo Galilei proved with their researches that we do not leave on a plate but on a potato. Not to mention what we’ve learned from a number of space missions and explorations made with satellites. By the way of digression, how would the Global Navigation Satellite Systems work if the Earth was flat? Hmm…

Yesterday, the CodeProject announced new articles. One of them is a small tutorial about how to write simple map calibration tool in .NET - Geo-referencing {Map Calibration} by Mohammad Riazi and H.Riazi.

Besides map calibration technique, this article explains rudiments of coordinates transformation between Geographic coordinates (latitude and longtitude) to Cartesian coordiantes (X, Y) on plane. Along clear explanation a set of simple equations is also provided. In my opinion this article is a good start for beginners of GIS and GPS applications.

Going on with searching new videos I walked through polish Academic Internet Television Network. There I found another interesting program titled Geoida, in english - geoid. Unfortunately, it’s only available in polish language.

In modern geodesy and cartography scientists use satellites to do accurate and permanent observations of the Earth’s globe. Thanks to those new techniques we are able to verify geodetic and cartographic data we already have as well as collect new data about movement of the continents, measure strain in the Earth’s crust, and much more. Most of all, satellite based observations help to define accurate shape of the earth - geoid.

Here you can find the Geoida video. RealPlayer is required.

In the middle of 2005 Microsoft introduced new Windows Mobile 5.0.
This is the next generation of Windows CE platform. It was prepared to provide access to new features of latest mobile devices such as better multimedia support, better screen with 2D & 3D drawing capabilities, integration with cameras as well as integration with Global Positioning System. More and more mobile devices appearing on the market are equipped with GPS receiver, built-in or as an attachment.

Update: Today, I published this article on Pocket PC Developer Network. Thanks to Joao Paulo Figueira for encouraging me to do it.

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