Location: 43.76??°N, -79.41??°W; Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 18 December, 2004
	ISO: 400
	Aperture/Shutter: F/3.2, 1/30
	Focal Length: 6mm
	Camera: Fuji S5000
Category: Miscellaneous Pics

The first thing that must be said for GPS Tuner is that it is very pretty. The GUI controls, icons and interface use cartoonish, but nice looking and conspicous graphics.
The programme itself goes beyond the usual map display with overlays and pop-ups, but actually has a number of different pages, each with it's own display style.
The default is naturally the map, complete with collapsible display menus. I'll spare the tedium of listing all the regular features found in most decent map progs (they're on the retailers website if you must) and skip to the novel bits.
The map header bar will show LAT/LONG, waypoint details, current heading/altitude/speed, distance/bearing/eta of next waypoint or simply remove itself from the map. Very unobtrusive all in all but I find I'm getting used to having these details at a glance. Especially since my GPS unit is usually bouncing about in a pocket out of sight.
Another really nice touch, is the on screen map calibration. Obviously the PDA and stylus are not my first choice of calibration tools, but the ability of taking a picture of a map (say a hiking trail, or a map of the local area bought at a ranger station), swaping the card from camera to PDA, poking up a couple of quickie calib. points and setting off into the woods/jungle with more then a slightly vague idea of where you are going is very appealing. Not to mention D/L's from other mobile users you might run into, or even Google, if you happen to be fortunate enough to snag a bit of net time on the go.
Next up is the trip computer. It contains all of the usual trip/destination/current location details that one would ever want in a grid format (no map, but clear and easy to read details about max speed, average speed and distance, etc.), capable of displaying in 2, 4 or 6 blocks per page and every block can be customized to meet your needs. It will also produce a speed or altitude graph for the trip as well. Good for cyclists and runners, but only mildly interesting for my purposes.
Lastly is the Compass. This neat little tool is a legitimate compass, however has space for up to 7 data sets to be super-imposed over it. In addition to that, the system has quick-drop templates for driving, hiking, etc making switching between car and foot travel only one click away. Each template also has 3 independant sheets for current information, waypoint details and 'travel to...' displays. Keep in mind, all 7 of the data sets can be customized to your preferred types and locations and this is key for maximum functionality, IMO.
It will even tell you where the sun is, in case you missed it.
This system also has a voice prompt system for following routes. This programme will not auto-plot a route, but can at least guide you down your own, or downloadable ones in standard GPX, KML, etc. formats.
Why so much attention paid to waypoints and getting to/from locations?
It seems that the designer is also an active Geocacher, hopefully meaning there will be enhanced geocache capabilities included in later versions.

Although the interface is slick, streamlined and remarkably small (only a few KB for the install), there are some glaring issues that will keep this programme from becoming my only, or even #1 GPS tool.
First and foremost, there is no GeoTIFF support ... or any TIFF support for that matter. Making all of the USGS and (free) NRCAN topo/CANMATRIX maps utterly useless. A major downfall for any serious North American competitor.
This programme will only use JPG images for the map. The website indicates that this is to speed up processing and allow the use of wider area, higher resolution images. A bi-product advantage is that commonly available image editing software can do wonders with all the JPG maps. Photoshop has been king in my quest for Costa Rica maps.
The next glaring issue is the lack of customization of the icons. True, you can replace the files with different icons to get a unique look and feel, but you are seemingly stuck with the categories of waypoints provided. Documentation is a bit fragmented, so admittedly, there may be a way to change these that I have yet to stuble upon.
Finally, the calibration data is stored in a proprietary format that is not easily converted into a World File or other industry standards. A semingly epidemic habit that has infected every map system on the market that I've seen. Thankfully it is plain text, making it somewhat workable for the particularly industrious and easier to convert then many others (Garmin, Ozi-Explorer, Memory-Map, I'm looking straight at you here)
Altogether, the significant lack of maps will be the downfall of this programme. The free Map Calibrator programme will snag pre-calibrated tiles from Google (sat. and road maps only), Terra-server. All you need to do is copy them to your PDA for instant usability, but this can get tedious if you are looking at a large area and want high resolution. Still, an excellent step in the right direction to make up for the loss of GeoTIFFs.
As a final judgement, I'd rank this as an excellent companion tool to a more powerful system or as a great entry tool into the pocket GPS and Geocaching world. The price is unbeatable and the range of tools will cover most needs.
As I mentioned earlier, it's cheap enough (both in dollar and memory terms) to round out a second programme that will support vector and Geotiff maps.
The purpose I may end up using it for after exhausting the demo. It's only $30 after all.

Finally, all the pieces have fallen in place! Vacation is approved, tickets are purchased and in my possession, waivers are signed and I even know where my luggage is!
I'm set to head down to Costa Rica at the end of May.
Scope out a few volcanoes.
Hike through Tropical and Dry Rainforests.
Experiment with unusual looking foods and of course, consume my bodyweight in food and alcohol daily at an all inclusive resort.
Let's see if I can breech the 1000 pic mark this time, I think I actually have enough card space for that now.
Unfortunately, I've discovered that there really hasn't been an abundance of reliable geodetic surveys of Costa Rica. This makes tracking down a Geotiff map apparently impossible for less then $80 and finding topo-maps nearly as difficult. This does seem to make my usual programme (Memory-Map Explorer; previously reviewed and still my fave) somewhat useless for the trip.
I could upgrade to MM Pro and hand calibrate ($100, just to upgrade), buy a great looking cartographic programme called Didger ($389 USD) that will do everything I will ever want with GIS and map data, or I can try out something new ... and cheaper.

Hunting around (a lot), there seems to be a new(ish) contender on the PDA map market by the name of GPS Tuner. It has a free on line map calibration programme that works very well and intuitively, a free trial demo and can be bought for as little as $24 USD.
Now that's closer to what I'm looking to pay for the novelty of knowing where I am.
Check us tomorrow for a review of this neat little prog with it's pros and cons.

... and by the way, happy May Day!

Location: 44.91??°N, -78.06??°W; Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 25 June, 2005
	ISO: 200
	Aperture/Shutter: F/7, 1/120
	Focal Length: 15mm
	Camera: Fuji S5000
Category: City / Landscapes

Also from Silent Lake, this is the view from (I think) site 43. I was impressed with the overall green tones throughout the view and the surprising lack of mosquitos ... possibly due to the abundance of frogs and the opening created in the trees to allow a light breeze in.

Location: 44.91??°N, -78.06??°W; Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 27 June, 2005
	ISO: 200
	Aperture/Shutter: F/3.2, 1/1600
	Focal Length: 42mm
	Camera: Fuji S5000
Category: City / Landscapes

Trying to keep with the Earth Day theme (even if it is late by a day), I thought I'd give something a little more environmental then plastic and city.
This is an island in Silent Lake. A physical lake and a Provincial Park near Bancroft, Ontario (The co-ords are rough estimates to the lake, not the island itself. This was still shot pre-GPS days).
Taken in late June , the humidity was getting quite high. Especially that summer. This posed some serious issues with many of my pics that week as any shot of significant distance tended to become quite hazy ... well that and the fact it would periodically rain on us.

The lake really is quite spectacular. It's a semi-closed lake (access to other waterways only via swamp; not really passable, even by canoe) and is completely contained within the park. It's non-motorized and has limited gas or detergent pollution allow for an abundance of undisturbed wildlife. There is also no fear of being swamped by the asshole in a speedboat twice the size the lake can handle while taking your photos.
Jackass ...

Watch out for the snapping turtle that lives in the rocks near the surface though, he (or she) looks about 100 years old and entirely unfriendly. Certainly not impressed when I parked the canoe on it to take some pictures (sorry, sorry ...).
The camping section is also limited to a very small portion of the lake, so the majority of the forest around the lake is also undisturbed. A great camping ground, but be cautious of bears.
Remember, being close to nature also comes with significant responsibility for both it and yourself (ah, Earth Day content!). It would be a shame to have the bear shot by a ranger for your own stupidity as it flings you around like a rag-doll.

Location: ??.????°N, ??.????°W; Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 21 January, 2005
	ISO: 800
	Aperture/Shutter: F/5.6, 1/160
	Focal Length: 42mm
	Camera: Fuji S5000
Category: Miscellaneous Pics

I paid a shitload for the car, so I'm presuming that comes with the right to photograph and display it as much as I like! (anything over $100 is technically, in my eyes, a 'shitload'. Frankly I wouldn't pay a dime for a shitload, but I guess it has it's purposes in both prank and agricultural circles as well as use as a colourful expression; next week: rats and how their asses became currency to be given and taken at will).
DIGRESSING!
Needless to say, this is the dashboard from my car. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, I abhor sitting idle. While waiting outside a store one day, I started taking shots of anything in eye-shot (camera-shot?).
My car was hit hardest.

Behind the Lens Details
Image was actually taken intending to be a B&W shot and as such managed to get a bit of in camera preparatioin. ISO was set quite high (800) to give the image a bit of that grit that looks so nice with B&W or Sepia. Light is natural, shaped from the side window (overcast sky), nice mid size aperture to keep all things in focus and a (very) light sepia applied to the B&W image to make things a little moody.
Oh, and cropped of course!

I wish my car was still that clean though ...

I know I'm a little behind on this particular story, but apparently the world's first vegan strip club has opened in Portland, Oregon.
The menu apparently is entirely entirely vegan and therefore environmentally, biologically and ethically sound (ok, that last one is more on an 'animal rights' sort of ethic). Personally, I'm impressed that a business can actually pull off an all vegan meal and stay ... well, in business. Now, you might think that a strip club may have a better chance then any other, and you might be right, but remember that Portland, Or. has more strip clubs per capita then any other American city.



It will cost you less then $500 to get from Toronto to Portland, anybody up for a weekend trip?