But, then came along the iPhone app called Cyclemeter, from Abvio they also make Runmeter and Walkmeter. Really they are all the same app, so you can use Cyclemeter for other walking and running. Works with iPhone 3G/3GS/4.

I am very impressed with its features and it is only five bucks. My Garmin’s cost so much more. I am no longer using my Garmin’s when I ride. I just sold my Forerunner and I am keeping my 60CSX for hiking and will be removing the mount from my bike.

I have been using Cyclemeter since April. At the time, I was looking for a GPS-enabled iPhone app that would allow me to track and map my upcoming 200 mile ride to Reedley near Fresno. I used it every day when walking the dog, or if I ran. Testing proved it is a drain on the battery, because it is using the iPhone’s GPS and is always running, so I also invested and tested in a Imax Power module (gives me additional 12-16 hours when connected to my iPhone), which I place in my top tube bag, with the iPhone sync cable coming out and connecting to the bottom of the iPhone.  My phone is mounted on a Perfect Fit mount.

Cyclemeter utilizes GPS to track your ride route, your speed, your distance, average speed, etc. I love that it has a stopwatch screen with big giant dashboard numbers. They recently, added automatic stop detection which is cool. If I stop to drink or talk, it does not count against me.

Cyclemeter's stopwatch screen

I have ridden numerous times using dedicated Garmin GPS units. The total distance and average speed numbers are always consistent. My favorite feature is when I complete a ride and press “done”, it publishes my ride information to my Facebook Wall. You can change this to not post at all, post when you start, when you stop. Potential for posting overload, so I just choose to autopost when a ride is finished.

The app tracks each event and you assign it to a particular ride, then when you ride the same course, it can tell you in real time and after if you are improving or not. It continually records your time, location, distance, elevation, and speed.

Monitor your progress with up to 20 configurable announcements including distance, time, speed, elevation, climb, and more. I configured Cyclemeter to tell me distance each mile and speed. When I start a ride, it posts the start of the ride to Facebook, or Twitter, and/or email to share location on Google Maps, automatically updating every 5 minutes. You can have emails automatically sent as you ride to keep family and friends notified of your progress and location. I kid my wife, when the app does not keep updating my whereabouts, she can tell the police where to find the body.

Announcements is the coolest thing, out on a long hot ride and Cyclemeter sending the information to Facebook, my wife, for example, will comment on Facebook and the app will convert her text message to an audible announcement, so I become encouraged to hear comments on the ride that people actually take the time to comment to encourage me.

The latest feature is posting the finished ride and all the meta data to my fitness Google calendar on my blog. I love that I do not have to take the time to do it.

I requested a feature that I would love to see. If other riders are using Cyclemeter, I would like to see in real time their whereabouts. This came to mind, that my buddy Chris and I started this ride and he was gone. During the ride, I have no idea if I ever got close to catching him.

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Christmas came and went and I made a few calls during that time. There is no answering machine at the number on printed on my receipt. I called even more times and still no one picked up. I came by a few times and the shop was not open, I did not have a quote (verbal or written) and it has been over a week. On the window is a 24 hour call number, which I called and finally got him to answer. He told me he had a family emergency (he mentioned over and over that he would call me, if I was counting about dozen times and he never once called me back). The following day the 30th, I called and again no answer. I came into the store and to pick up the laptop, (I knew it was not repaired, since I still did not have a quote). He mentioned he would call me that night, …nope. The following day, New Year’s Eve, I called and again he told me he would call at 7:00pm. I called him at 8:00 and he told me he had a replacement mother board in stock (rev two, which is a correction to the overheating problem that my board experienced). He verbally quoted my $140 parts and $70 labor.

I called on the 2nd of January and it would not be ready, more family issues, this seems to be a theme. It is interesting, that when I am in the store he would be working on other laptops, but not mine. I would have to wait, to be patient during all of the family emergencies, (am I the only one who waits?). I returned to work on the 5th of January and called that afternoon. I called and was told he would call me back. He never did, did I mentioned he never called me? I called on the 6th, 7th 8th, he mentioned he would call me, I asked him, you promise?, he said yes. When I arrived at the store, he mentioned it was not the motherboard, it was the CPU. What was that cost? I asked, no answer from him, but he assured me it was being shipped over night and would be in the store in the Friday morning. I still have no written quote. I called and nope the overnight did not arrive, being that he has lied to me so many times, I suspect, a) he did not order it, or b) he did not pay for overnight. I called on Monday early, and he told Tuesday the 13th at 8:00 am in the morning the laptop would be ready. I told him I would out of town until Thursday the 15th. I come into the store on the 16th (day 27), it was still not ready. He told me his wife had been in the hospital, while he sitting there working on someone’s laptop. Again, another lie about when it would be ready? Once again he told me it would be ready, Saturday the 17th at 8:00am. Do I believe him, NO. Recapping, I believe I have been at the store when he was their about 5-6 times, and about the 3-4 times when it was closed.

I arrive Saturday morning a little before 8:00 am, he was not there (the store posted time was it opened that would be at 10am). I went next door to Denny’s to get something to eat (grand slam for $3.99). I eat my breakfast and he wandered in to get a cup of coffee. I finished my breakfast and he was smoking outside his store. He told me, it was not ready (yet, another family emergency), but he had it with him today. I told him to have it ready by 10 am, he committed (or lied) that he would have it ready at 11:00am. I told him, I would return at 11 and if it was not ready, that I would call the Sheriff. In my opinion he has stole my laptop. He has promised to have it, but fails and fails, I assume that he is able to give me back my laptop, but refuse to give it back. I told him, not to disappoint me or I will call the Sheriff. When I arrived at 11am, he handed back to me. It was not repaired. I believe he does not how to repair laptops, or since he mentioned he replaced the mother board and CPU. He mumbled that the new mother board was still inside or something, I did not care, I ignored him and left the store (figuring it was another lie) with my still broken laptop.

He wasted an entire month of my time. Am I surprised he is in business, yes. I cannot believe he would treat people like this during these hard times, how can he stay in business?

An update: My daughter Hannah just looked at the laptop and it is severely scratched. She is very upset! It is apparent that this business has no ideal how to treat or fix equipment.

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Yesterday in one of my RSS feeds, there was a mention of a documentary called, Helvetica. This font is used every day on our computers, we see it on street signs — and we take it for granted. The producer, Gary Hustwit’s unique documentary introduces Helvetica, whose readability has made it the most popular font in the world it is just over 50 years old.

I ran over over to netflicks to see if it was available, yep. Not only was it in the catalog, it was an “instant watch”. I loaded it in my instant watch queue and when I got home, I started to watch it. I have the RUKU box, so the instant watch is streamed to my HD TV. How cool is that.

It’s Helvetica night in America, the 53-minute TV version of the film airs on PBS 1/6/9 (in some cities it’s on this weekend, check your local listings for Independent Lens, the series that it’s part of).

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My experiences are based on the tools that I use. Below is a list, but they are the only the current list. I have experiences that go back in time, but I will not bore you with that trip down memory lane of old tools. Today, I work with:

• PTC’s Arbortext Editor (SGML/XML editor) [work and home]
• PTC’s IsoDraw (graphics editor) [work]
• Adobe’s Illustrator 10 (graphics editor) [work and home]
• Adobe’s Photoshop CS3 (photo/graphics editor) [work and home]
• Adobe’s DreamWeaver CS3 (website editor) [work and home]
• Adobe’s Lightroom 2 (photo workflow manager) [home]

Languages

• Perl
• Javascript
• ACL (Arbortext)
• Some Shell both Windows and Unix
• HTML/XML/SGML

I plan to talk about my skills (or even the lack there of). I am 49 years old and been doing technology for a long time, but found that my skill are a bit aged. I decided to improve my skill set by doing blogs, working with web 2.0 technologies and sharing data with people like you. To be honest in my day job, I spend most of the my day mitigating defects, I do not get to spend much time coding. I have to leave the “heavy lifting” to my co-worker, Joe. He and I make up the software engineers in the department. Together, we do a lot of production. We have to spend more time than I like working on the “content”, but our jobs really about creating the “container”, or tool sets (DTDs, FOSIs, Scripts, Etc.). I use those two terms to describe how publications work. We build the “container” and the writers, fill it with “content”. I am not a technical writer, but I do work with them.

Most of the tools mentioned are about my day job, but I am not limiting it to that. Anything I like or dislike I will mention. I will share my tool-chains on how I organize my day or how I find cool stuff.

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