It’s not surprising that algorithms for bicycle directions are more complex than those for cars. Our transportation system has been developed over the last 85 exclusively for cars, so the best route for someone riding a bicycle is almost entirely chosen using locally specific knowledge of traffic volume, transportation restrictions or regulations, road conditions, short cuts, paths, etc. This information is so haphazard that it must be nearly impossible to write a program that can accurately give the best bicycle route from point A to point B.

Additionally complicating the process are vast differences in cycling ability. While I feel perfectly comfortable riding with traffic on nearly any road in Goshen, many others find even the tranquil conditions of South 8th Street intimidating.

However, Google anticipated these “road bumps” (if you will) and has included the ability for users to give feedback. So if, for instance, their directions tell me to take Madison Street from Goshen High School to downtown, I can suggest to Google that in the future they offer 10th Street to Jefferson as a better alternative.

Listen to the NPR review of Google Maps for bicycles at the link below.

A Bumpy Test Ride With Googles Bike Map
by JACOB FENSTON

Listen to the Story
NPR Morning Edition [3 min 21 sec]

To help with this transition, my 200G purchase included a free 4G SDHC Eye-Fi card. When I use the card in my camera, it automatically uploads the photos I take to Picasa.

Here are two photos I took and auto-uploaded to Picasa of some granola I made this afternoon:

View at Picasa 31-Jan-2010 16:15, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 2.7, 6.0mm, 0.025 sec

View at Picasa 31-Jan-2010 16:14, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 2.7, 6.0mm, 0.017 sec

So far the card has worked. There are settings to automatically upload to one of many online picture sites (including Flikr, Photobucket, etc) and/or to a personal computer.  You can also turn of the auto-upload and manually control when pictures are uploaded.

I was disappointed to find out that you can’t just use any wi-fi spot to upload, you have to setup each wireless network through your online Eye-Fi account before it will work. However, I think as long as you have some way of connecting to your account on the network you want to use (and you can connect your eye-fi card to the device you’re using to access the network) you can upload via any network. I will try it out at my sister’s house this evening.