Gmaps Pedometer

My newest time waster.

I used to jog but now I walk because my knees give out otherwise. Being the obsessive compulsive computer geek that I am, I was delighted to find a website that would calculate the number of miles I walked by using a hack to Google Maps. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but once I got started it was pretty easy. I chose the hybrid option so I could see the street names along with an aerial view of the route I usually take on my Saturday walks (click here to see an example). I was delighted to see that I walked about 4.3679 miles.

The cool thing is that you can save the URL and send it to someone else or keep in in a spreadsheet.

Here is the what it says in the FAQ section:

What is this?

This is a little hack that uses Google's superb mapping application to help record distances traveled during a running or walking workout.

Why?

As a runner training for a marathon for the first time, I found myself wishing I had an easy way to know the exact distance a certain course is, without having to drag a GPS or pedometer around on my runs. Looking at Google Maps, and knowing there was a vibrant community of geeks hacking it, I knew there had to be a way. So here it is.
Note that there's a reason this is called a pedometer. Considering that you have to choose all the points in your route individually yourself, it's probably not suitable for driving trips and the like. But I've found it suits my purposes pretty well for getting running distances.

Something I hadn't thought of either but makes a lot of sense.
What McClellan's revelations tells us about McCain's judgment

At first blush, Scott McClellan's criticism of the Bush White House wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with the 2008 presidential race. McClellan hasn't had anything to do with John McCain, and most of the people McClellan calls out are not part of McCain's campaign.

But perhaps that's an unimaginative approach. McClellan's book apparently has quite a bit to say about the war in Iraq - clearly, a key campaign issue this year - including charges that Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war. The former White House press secretary added that the president failed to be "open and forthright on Iraq" and worse, "rushed to war" with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath.

What does this have to do with McCain? Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod knows:

"What does all his experience get us?" asked Obama's strategic guru. "What do all those visits [to Iraq] get us?"

He continued: "The fact that he goes to Iraq and gets a tour apparently does little to provoke the kinds of questions that should be asked, and what Sen. Obama has been asking since the beginning. So it is not a question of longevity in government. It is a question of judgment, it is a question of a willingness to challenge policies that have failed. And he seems just dug in." […]

"We are talking on a day where the president's press secretary released a book where they frankly acknowledged that they engaged in deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war. Senator Obama saw through that and raised the appropriate questions. Sen. McCain didn't," he said.

In this sense, the timing of the McClellan book is pretty helpful - it offers the Obama campaign a chance to reinforce the fact that when the White House was making a bogus argument, McCain bought it and Obama didn't. McClellan was, to borrow a phrase, catapulting the propaganda. McCain embraced it from the outset, and never let go.

McClellan helps put all of this on the front page, right where McCain doesn't want it.

Garrison Keillor, Mutterings over the graves of soldiers | Salon

Great quote.

"The Current Occupant tossed Nazis into a speech last week, something he rarely does since it only reminds people of Dick Cheney."

Here is another from the same piece. Less humorous though more true.

"On Memorial Day we'll hear about men who gave their lives for their country, but many lives were not given, they were taken, and taken stupidly and carelessly. And there has been great public piety about those men and their "sacrifice" on the part of politicians who blithely sacrificed them."

Great Cartoon

One of those things that make me realize I am getting older, I am just not into text messaging, especially with a cell phone. I guess my fingers are too fat.

And Rachel did not reference any text messages when she spoke at her graduation last month.

Rachel gets a job

Way to go Rachel!

Click on the link above to get to Rachel's blog and read all the details.

One of the nice things that I hadn't thought of before is that James, Rachel and Russell can all network information about opportunities that they may not have otherwise known about. Russell found out about the Presidential Management Fellowship at UT where he goes to school, and passed that information along to Rachel.

Recently someone at work told me (and I hope he was joking) that some of my co-workers hate me because all of my children have turned out so well. I took that as a great compliment to my wonderful children.

Slate V- How To Spend Your Tax Rebate

Finally, a test I answered correctly.

1 in 5 US Households Never Used Email - I4U

Fox51

1 in 5 US Households Never Used Email I4U - 3 hours ago According to a new study from Parks Associates 1 in 5 US households have never used email. That is pretty hard to fathom for technophiles out there. Survey: 20% in US have never sent an e-mail Computerworld Digital divide in US closing slowly but still 'significant' Bizjournals.com VNUNet.com - WebProNews - TG Daily - TMCnet all 68 news articles

Interesting article that points out what is the same and what is different between Mormons and born-agains.
Who's that knocking on the door? Research examines Mormons and ... - Church Executive Magazine

Who's that knocking on the door? Research examines Mormons and ... Church Executive Magazine, AZ - 2 hours ago The Mormon faith perspective parallels the prevailing born again view in various ways. For instance, more than nine out of ten Mormons have made a personal ...

What a horrible nightmare for the family. A parent's worst fear is to lose their child. When Russell was two, I took him to the mall with Rachel and he decided it would be great fun to hide in a rack of skirts. I was not as amused as he was.
Forgotten tot left behind at Vancouver airport
(AP)



AP - An immigrant family left a 23-month-old boy in the Vancouver airport and learned he was missing only when contacted during the next leg of the trip.

Colbert imitates O'Reilly's vintage meltdown

Instead of sending this to everyone....

Not for the easily offended: Rev. Grampa Simpson