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Logitech V20 Notebook Speakers

I recently bought an M-Audio Keystation 88es MIDI keyboard (I’ve wanted to learn to play piano for years, but strangely have always been drawn to strings – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, violin, and, for a short while, cello).

It works brilliantly with Garage Band, but the speakers in the Macbook are small and tinny.  So I plugged it through the hi-fi.  It sounds fantastic.  However, I really wanted to leave the keyboard set up in the spare room, where there’s no hi-fi.  So I started to think about getting some computer speakers…

Continue reading “Logitech V20 Notebook Speakers”

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Latest Development Release

The latest “beta beta” can be found at http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map/development.html

The new features are fairly minor: there are options (under Tools) to change your units (miles/Kms) preference, and to quickly go “home”. The “Help” box now contains a link to the GPL, and there’s a nice “Paypal donate” button unobtrusively placed in the top righthand side of the screen (I can’t believe, considering the interest this has sparked, that no-one’s bought me a beer yet…)

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The Outage – and a Rant

We’ve had record heatwaves here in London, apparently even beating the droughted summer of ’76. This sparked some pretty ferocious thunderstorms on Thursday evening, which caused me to get soaked to the skin on my 26km ride home from work (I was also worried about getting hit by lightning in Richmond Park). When I got home there were house alarms going off all over, and in my house half the circuits were blown. And worst of all my ADSL modem was fried. No internet! Continue reading “The Outage – and a Rant”

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Opera Browser

For the two of you out there who use Opera, I just gave it a cursory test :)

It seems to work fine, the only weird thing is that the Google Maps markers seem to appear a little to the right and down of where you think you are clicking. Once you realise this is happening it’s fairly easy to account for this when you click. Also, of course, as you can drag markers, you can always drop them roughly and then drag them to the exact position (this seems to work fine).

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Getting it Working on a Mac

As a victim of the iPod “Halo Effect” (see previous post regarding Nano), I just had to go out and buy a shiny, jangly new Macbook. Ostensibly, of course, so I could test the Route Planner on Safari and figure out how it all works on a Mac. While there’s no way you are going to pry my Linux machine away from me, I am very pleased with the Apple.

So, how do you get it working with your Garmin Edge (or other) and the Route Planner? Continue reading “Getting it Working on a Mac”

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Route Planner – New Features

The feedback for the Route Planner has been very, very positive.  I’ve also had a few suggestions for additional functionality.  Here’s what will be on the cards once I get the time for the next release:

  • User selectable miles/kilometers main display (although did you know if you hover over the miles figure with your mouse, you get a metric “tool tip”?)
  • Configurable waypoint name length
  • Ability to save the route to the web server’s database – this would give you the ability to save a route and share it with other people via a simple URL

Does anybody have any other ideas?  Please let me know here if you do.

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The Marengo GPS Route Planner

I recently built a Javascript application, based around Google Maps, which enables a user to plot a cycle route online, and then upload it to their GPS unit to allow them to be directed en route. I designed a 72-mile route on it when I first built it, and then rode it. I wasn’t familiar with the route, but at each junction the GPS told me which way to turn. Fantastic. No stopping to consult the map, just a good training ride.

Continue reading “The Marengo GPS Route Planner”

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Rockbox

I’ve got to say it, I love my new iPod Nano. I would normally avoid such a gadget like the plague – limited Linux support, DRM-infested music, vendor lock-in, and so on. However, when I read about Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org), a free, open-source firmware replacement for several music players, I just had to buy a shiny, jangly little black Nano.

Continue reading “Rockbox”