Hi Folks,

This one is cool - I use it for planning my bike rides. - Chuck

Gpedometer

Attention all runners, cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers or anyone who routinely likes to take jaunts around the park or neighborhood and would like to get a little geeky about it! Now, by geeky, I mean streamline your excursions and suck all the data you can from the experience. In case you haven't figured it out yet, that's the way I roll and with this week's download, you can too!

This program, called Gpedometer, was written by a runner who wanted to get a better idea of the distance his various routes were, without lugging around a GPS or a pedometer. He did this by writing a route planner for the incredible Google Maps that allowed him to utilize its capabilities with a mix of other services, providing him with an incredibly useful application. Since Google Maps allows you to zoom in to roof level of almost any region (within the U.S.), you can easily pinpoint where your trek will take you, whether you're going two miles or 20 miles. Once you have the route laid out (which is easy to do with the recording feature Gpedometer has), you can then calculate the distance you've gone and even estimate how many calories you burned on the trip.

Gpedometer's Features:

Saving Routes - If you want to save your map, click the Save route link and all the current route information, including the location, distances and elevations will be saved. The other settings will then be saved in the database. When the route has been saved, a URL will appear below the link. This is the URL you'll want to use when accessing the route again later. It can be placed in a bookmark or an e-mail. (In Internet Explorer only, you will also be presented with a link that will allow you to automatically add this URL as a bookmark).

Units - Use the English/metric radio button beneath the distance boxes to choose your units.

Elevation - If you want to view a graph showing the elevation of each point plotted against distance, click the small or large link next to the Elevation heading. (Note: As far as I know, this will only work for U.S. maps, but some users have reported that it will work in Canada and the UK as well, so just give it a try!)

Mile Markers - By default, markers will be placed at the end of each mile or kilometer and at the beginning or end of your course. Use the Turn off markers and Turn on markers links to toggle whether the links should be shown or not.

There and Back Routes - If your course is a "there and back" type thing, click the Complete there and back route link once you reach the midpoint.

Calorie Counter - If you wish to calculate how many calories you've burned in the course of your run, click the Turn on calorie counter link and enter your weight in the Weight box.

Printing - Click the Print map link to temporarily reformat the screen and make it more suitable for printing.

You can also find resources on the Web site that will help you with every aspect of the service. These resources include a message board, FAQs and an instruction manual, among other things that should have you plotting courses like Magellan in no time!

So, as I always say, if this is something you're interested in, please give it a try. This is a wonderful little program and I'm sure a lot of you will find a great use for it!

You can check out the Gpedometer for yourself right here.

Note: This one doesn't actually include a download link, so all you have to do is click on the link above and you can start using the Gpedometer right away. Enjoy!

New Gmail: Coming Soon?

Have you heard the news yet? Yep, it looks as if Google has another big project up their sleeves and from what I can see so far, this one's going to be awesome! So, what's going on? Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, it looks like Google is working on a new version of Gmail to be released in the near future. No, you don't have to clean out your ears, you heard me right. A whole new Gmail is on the horizon! Keep reading for all the details.

In case you didn't know, Gmail was first launched in 2004 and ever since, its interface has stayed exactly the same. Google has not made any changes to it in the last three years, so I guess they thought it was time to mix things up a bit. Now, so far, there hasn't been a lot of information released about what the new version will hold, etc., so I don't have much to tell you right now, but I still wanted to let all of you know it is coming soon!

At the present time, it looks like a few select people are testing the new version, but beyond that, no information has been released about it. Those people are "trusted testers" and they're mainly employees of Google, along with a few other outside people who are close to the company. That's all I have for you right now, but I promise I will keep tabs on this project and I'll update you as it progresses along. So, tell me, if you're an avid Gmail user, what would you like to see in the new version? I'll leave you to ponder that. The possibilities are endless!

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