proximitycast

How to get GPS coordinates from a location in Google Maps

2011-09-22T12:42:00.002-05:00

I put together a visual tutorial that makes it easy for anyone to determine latitude and longitude coordinates from any spot found in Google Maps. Check it out! Let me know what you think.

How to get GPS coordinates from a location in Google Maps

Google's "Places"

2011-02-23T21:36:00.001-06:00

Google Announces “Places” to Search Businesses and More

" I still expect there will be at least one viable attempt at an open place database this year. And it’s already competing with Google before it starts."

Really? It would be nice to rock and roll with Google's resources.

Circumnavigating the Globe like a tortoise

2011-01-12T19:36:00.004-06:00

I have been experiencing a large amount of clear headed days. It has been wonderful. All I want to do is code. Code ProximityCast.

Yet, I look at all that needs to be done and I feel like a tortoise attempting to circumnavigate the globe all on his own.
Daunting, yet I'm driven. So, I press on!

Solo Founder
David B Robert
ProximityCast.com

P.S. So I feel like Don Quixote attacking one huge windmill, but at least I enjoy my hobby. I also enjoy using what I have created. I only wish it had more data and improved features which will take time.

Founder's Message

2010-12-28T01:10:00.005-06:00

I wrote a founder's message and placed a link to it at the top of the "About" page in ProximityCast. You can also read it here.

My head seems to be clearing some. Maybe it is the new med the doc has me on. Maybe the Lord will decide to heal me. I know He is able, but I choose to be content in whatever circumstances He desires for me to experience. Even with a clear head I have much to do. I liken it to a turtle needing to circumnavigate the globe.

When my head is clear mostly all I want to do is work on ProximityCast. I am driven and I have a passion.

Things I need to do:
1). I will eventually need to improve my category system. If anyone knows of a good article on categories, please post a link in a comment.
2). I need to make submitting pictures easier.
a. Ideally I need to partner with a smart phone that can geotag photos and submit them directly to ProximityCast.com
3). I need to start making short educational videos for youtube that easily shows people all the intricacies of the site in such a way that they can appreciate it and start to use it more so that ProximityCast can gain traction.

That's the short of it. There is plenty of more I need to do also. Time will tell if I can move the ball down field.

Lord willing and the creek don't rise (or my head stays clear) I'll be able to continue to make progress.

Till later...

Ciao,

Founder out

Up and Running Once Again!

2010-12-26T00:55:00.002-06:00

Wow! What a great day. I suffer from some cognitive disorder where I often can not have the focus necessary to code as I like. My head was clear today and my focus remarkable good. I repaired the geocoding problem encountered when Google changed their geocoding routine so that ProximityCast can once again utilize Street Addresses. I tried to fix this several times in the past and just couldn't get it together. It was a wonderful gift I received today 25 December 2010. Thank You Jesus!

For some reason I feel like I have been undergoing a Nebuchadnezzar experience. I've lost my ability to fly and my ability to code was also taken away.

"Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws." Daniel 4:33

Lord willing my lost abilities won't persist. If they do and this is only a brief awakening, I'll continue to do my best to be content with my situation and always knowing I'm better than I deserve even on my worst days; helps.

Due to my situation, ProximityCast.com is only a hobby for the time being, but I still have a vision in spite of Google's amazing capabilities. Time will tell what may come.

It was fun today. Like flying a challenging mission. Even if this awakening was only for the moment, it is a gift I will always cherish.

Kind Regards,

David B. Robert
Founder of ProximityCast.com

Left in the Dust

2010-09-08T11:46:00.003-05:00

Pretty Cool Stuff! I wish they'd adopt the ProximityCast quality image of locations with Latitude and Longitude on the image as a certification that the location is correct.

Know when to hole em, fold em, walk away, and run

2010-08-30T22:25:00.002-05:00

Silicon Valley’s Dark Secret: It’s All About Age

"If you’re going to stay in programming, realize that the deck is stacked against you. Even though you may be highly experienced and wise, employers aren’t willing or able to pay an experienced worker twice or thrice what an entry-level worker earns. Save as much as you can when you’re in your 30s and 40s and be prepared to earn less as you gain experience."

I still have a dream. Gotta kick back and regroup on my terms.

Move to Silicon Valley to become a successful startup

2010-06-24T12:19:00.003-05:00

Jake’s posterous: Just Do It: Move to Silicon Valley

I'm 99.9% sure I'm not moving. The above link is an interesting post though.

Probably the biggest thing I miss by staying were I'm at is finding people that you can really discuss entrepreneurial issues with. I've only found one regarding ProximityCast. He knows who he is and I appreciate him. Thank you!

I can relate to this excerpt from the linked post:
Take, for instance, the challenge of finding a co-founder. While it is possible to meet a co-founder in Toronto, it's certainly not probable. For over three years, I would question almost everyone I came across who sounded like they were into tech: "Oh, so you code! Are you into startups?" and the answer was often be "Yes". But after some follow-up questions, I'd soon find out they don't even read TechCrunch (let alone Hacker News), they work for the government or one of the big banks (they might consider leaving, but not for a year or two), and when you ask about starting a company, and they'd say they would love to start a company, but "probably in a couple of years, when I'm ready" (yeah, like two kids and mortgage, ready?).

Even moving to Silicon Valley doesn't guarantee success, it just increases its probability.

I'm facing other obstacles now that even a move to Silicon Valley probably wouldn't help me clear. If I was younger and my situation was different, I'd probably go for it and make the move, so I guess I'm on both sides of the above excerpt; ouch.

Such is Life

Ciao

Facing some hard facts

2010-06-16T16:57:00.003-05:00

1). I had big dreams for ProximityCast being a very useful Location Based Tool. I did get to build what I think was a nice prototype, but it didn't gain the traction I had hoped for with my bootstrapping attempt to move forward.

2). My current physical health does not allow me to put the time and effort in that ProximityCast deserves.

3). I'd consider selling it to someone that has the ability to cause it to meet its full potential, but I'm a lousy salesman and the thing from my reading that most purchasers of websites are looking for is "how much traction does the site have?" While I believe ProximityCast is a real diamond in the rough with a lot of potential, it really has no traction.

4). Working by myself things have moved too slow. There is a lot of competition with Location Based Sites. I would love to be a player and compete, but I have to face my health issues, my lack of resources, and my inability to generate traction.

So what am I going to do?

Originally ProximityCast was designed for using Latitude and Longitude only. I added GeoCoding as a courtesy to those not yet totally comfortable and familiar with latitude and Longitude. For this service I relied on Google's GeoCoding API Service. When Google upgraded their GeoCoding Service, it crashed ProximityCast. I could do the coding necessary to update to Google's new guidelines, then ProximityCast would work until Google changed their code again. Also if ProximityCast by some freak miracle did gain traction, Google only allows so many geocoding requests a day which would shut ProximityCast down once the limit was reached. So, I'm going to return ProximityCast back to where ONLY latitude and longitude can be used as a Cast Initiation Point. And I think I will provide a link to someone else's geocoding site like GPS Visualizer: Quick Geocoder so that those who want or need to use a street address can use the linked site to produce Latitude and Longitude for a street address and then copy and paste the produced coordinates into ProximityCast's "Cast Initiation Point".

That's the current game plan. Hopefully I can have ProximityCast back up and functional soon.

Good thing it is only a hobby and I took my wife's advice not to mortgage the house to have it built.

Ciao

Disabled Site's ProximityCasting Ability

2010-05-17T21:37:00.002-05:00

I disabled the ProximityCast search function until I am able to correct the GeoCoding problem.
You can still search through the Gallery and browse other stuff.
I'll make a post when I have my GeoCoding issue corrected.
If you are not already subscribed to email notifications on this blog, you may do so if you wish for convenient notification of when i have the GeoCoding issue corrected.

Until then, I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may present.

Regards,

Founder out!

Geocoding is Broke

2010-05-17T17:04:00.002-05:00

Google offers a service that turns Street Addresses into Lat/Long which is referred to as geocoding. They have recently made changes that breaks my code on ProximityCast until I can get around to fixing it.

Latitude and Longitude still works correctly.

Enter: New Orleans, LA and you will get error messages displayed.

Enter: 30 -91 and it will work properly.

You can easily find Lat/Long of a location from Google Maps. See this blog post for how to do it.

Until I can wade through the changes I need to make to get geocoding fixed I'm sorry for any inconvenience anyone may have.

This is a good point about being in hobby mode: no rush.

Regards,

Founder out!

Street View Recon

2010-05-05T21:13:00.002-05:00

Making a trip to the big city soon and have to make a stop at a place we've never been. Checked it out on Google Maps and Street View. I'm relatively confident that we have the location pegged, but we're not 100% sure. We'll find out soon.

Anyone else recon locations you've never been to before on Google Maps and StreetView?

Pretty Amazing! Way to go Google!

2010-05-01T19:53:00.003-05:00

Google calls it "Up close and personal".

Should You Be an Entrepreneur?

2010-04-25T18:53:00.005-05:00

I found this quiz here on the Finance Kid's Blog.

Try it for yourself and see where you stand. I said "yes" to twelve and "no" to eight. Some of my no's could have been yeses. Here is my personal analysis of my "no" answers and maybe some of my yes answers.

A. I don’t like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.
With my military background I'm perfectly comfortable sitting in the Pilot in Command seat or in the Copilot's seat. What I don't like is when the one who owns the responsibility tries to slough it off on someone else. And, well nuff said. No need to get long winded.

D. I like being my own boss.
I answered yes to this one, but I'm also comfortable having a boss. I like doing a good job! If as my own boss I'm doing a lousy job, I'd rather have a boss above me that is capable of doing better.

F. I like to question conventional wisdom.
I answered no, but that really depends. Does it need questioning? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

G. I like to get people together in order to get things done.
Depends... I don't know how good I am at this. If there is a need to rise to the challenge I think I'm capable, but I'm content to let other capable people have the spotlight and the glory. Also it depends on why I'm doing it... It's kind of like a man stopping and asking for directions. I'm quick to do so when I'm doing something that needs to get done for someone else, but if it is something solely for my benefit I'm usually loath to bother others.

H. People get excited by my ideas.
No matter how hard I work, I don't see too much excitement over ProximityCast my one idea I'm most committed to. There are a couple of exceptions whom I greatly appreciate. Anybody for "Farmville"? 70 million and growing...

I. I am rarely satisfied or complacent.
"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."Philippians 4:11 I don't really like being complacent, but I do cherish contentment. It is nice knowing satisfaction too.

J. I can’t sit still.
That depends on how you are defining that. I like to do things that I feel are worthwhile. It is nice to feel like I am moving forward and making progress, but I don't care to go insane because the hurdles and obstacles can't be cleared by the resources I have access to. I can sit still when I need to.

K. I can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.
I initially answered this no, but I changed it to yes. I'm in a new chapter of my life where due to a medical condition I find that even though I may have "the want to" I can't always come up with "the can do". This is new to me.

L. I would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else’s.
I don't mind helping others succeed. If I'm going to fail, I would rather it be my own failure and not affect others. Doing something is only worthwhile to the extent that it really helps others besides yourself in someway.

O. Members of my family run their own businesses.
I answered no which is not totally true. My dad and my grandfathers were all independent business men. I wish I could have learned more from them.

R. I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.
I think I can enjoy selling something that I really believe in and can really benefit someone. But, how helpful am I straddling someone with a new car they really don't need and a huge monthly payment to go with it? I want to be able to sleep at night knowing I truly helped someone and not harmed them even if it is their responsibility to make good choices.

T. (and here is what I would change .…)
I'd have put yes/no radio buttons beside each question and would have a submit button at the bottom to calculate the results easily and automatically. As far as the questions, I'm still just a student of entrepreneurship. I wish I new all the right questions to ask and the best answers for me.

Otherwise, I enjoyed taking this quiz and sharing with all of you.

That's how I shook out on this quiz today... How about you?

Ciao

Vis a vis

2010-04-15T23:50:00.002-05:00

Anyone ever want to talk about the possibilities of ProximityCast face to face over a beer, let me know through the ProximityCast contact form. Maybe we'll meet...

Founder out...ciao

the ProximityCast Advantage

2010-04-06T05:34:00.006-05:00

Google's "Street View" is an awesome internet website application, and one of my favorites. Yet, "Street View" does not always deliver the goods.

The Five Guys Burgers and Fries website shows its Mystic, CT street address as:
12 Coogan Blvd
Mystic, CT 06355

If you click the above link and look at their website location map there is a location pin at the corner of Coogan Blvd and Maritime Dr.

The street address pasted into Google Maps shows the same intersection location as the Five Guys website location map:

View Larger Map

Unfortunately the Google Street View Camera Car (GSVCC) did not travel down Coogan Blvd or Maritime Dr. If you click on the little Street View Man icon in the upper left of the Google Map and drag it slightly away from its in situ location all the streets traveled by the GSVCC will show up in blue. If the GSVCC had traveled the road where Five Guys is located we could verify the location before traveling there and possibly being disappointed by not finding the establishment.

Next you decide to ProximityCast the street address:

The yellow #1 shows the street address as the entered Cast Initiation Point.
The yellow #2 shows the distance the street address is from the actual photographer certified coordinate location of the picture view for Five Guys.
The yellow #3 shows the three geographic coordinate formats for this location.

You can easily copy any one of the three formats to paste into Google Maps and check the photographer's certified location.

You can also simply click the "Map View" button right on the Cast Results page to easily see a Google Map mashup right on ProximityCast.com

View Larger Map

The green arrowhead shows the exact location the photographer indicates the picture was taken from. The satellite view indicates a shopping complex that is more likely to house Five Guys as opposed to the inaccurate street address location.

If the GSVCC had driven down Coogan Blvd you could get farther confirmation that this is indeed the correct location. However as ProximityCast grows in popularity and use the individual photographer's accuracy rating can give you a high amount of confidence that if you arrive at the indicated coordinates you will indeed see what the photographer shows in his/her picture.

N41 22.325 W071 57.349

And, there you have the ProximityCast Advantage!

Businesses can take advantage of getListed.org to improve their online visibility. Five Guys has claimed their listing on Google, but they still need to edit the location of their Mystic, CT franchise.

Once that is edited the Street Address will display more accurately and if Google sends their GSVCC down Coogan Blvd you may be able to see Five Guys on Street View rendering this post obsolete like this previous post has been.

Founder out...ciao

Entering an Establishment's Official Website Link

2010-04-03T12:24:00.007-05:00

Any registered and logged in user can now add an establishment's official website link. Whether you are logged in or not the link to an establishment's official website appears at the top right hand corner of the Establishment Details Page if it exists and has been added.

A button that allows you to add an establishment's official website link appears on the Establishment Details page when you are logged in and a link has not yet been submitted:

Adding a link is pretty straight forward and easy. How to do it is detailed below and can also be found on the Submit a Website link HELP page.

These links make ProximityCast more useful for all of us that use the site.

Adding an Establishment Link

Search for the Business on Google
- By entering an obvious business name associated with the Picture: Like this

Scan the list of results for the main website belonging to the Business
- The top result: Frenier Landing with url: www.frenierlanding.com/ appears to be the official site for Frenier's Landing
- Click the link to confirm this is the Establishment's Official Site.

If the site is the establishment's official site, click in your browser's URL address box to highlight and copy the complete link: http://www.frenierlanding.com/

Paste the link into the Enter URL for Establishment BOX

Complete the "Please prove you're human (span blocker) and submit then test link.

NOTE:

If you do not find an obviously OFFICIAL website for the establishment, please DO NOT submit any link.

Hopefully you will find this information helpful. Please consider helping ProximityCast build its database, if you are not already a contributor.

You can leave comments with questions on this blog or use the ProximityCast Contact page to leave comments or questions.

Founder out...ciao

the Beginning

2010-04-02T23:48:00.003-05:00

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
by: Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
British prime minister.

PickEvac

PickEvac was the program that got ProximityCast started on its journey.

I took my first computer science course in the mid 80's. It was an introductory programming course using PASCAL. I really enjoyed the course and made an “A”. I considered computer science as a major, but my crystal ball was busted. I figured the job would never amount to more than $25K a year and being stuck in some drab office somewhere.

In the Fall of 1990 I took a job as an EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Helicopter Pilot for a small outfit in the Midwest. There I saw a real need and caught a vision for a program that would solve that need: Pick~E~vac.

The dispatchers for this small outfit sat in a room about the size of a large walk-in closet. They had a large map on the wall covering their service area. Whenever a request for a flight would come in they took a small book that contained the Latitude and Longitude coordinates of all the communities in the company's service area. The dispatcher would determine the coordinates of the nearest community to the scene and plot the location on the large wall map. The the dispatcher would visually determine which base was the closest to the scene and launch them.

Anyone who has manually plotted Latitude and Longitude coordinates knows it is not a simple task. I said, “There has got to be an easier way!” The vision for PickEvac was conceived.

I had a C compiler but had never coded in C. My attempts to learn this language was like hitting a brick wall. (I can now code in C since I found a book that helped me make the hurdle.) So I broke-down and purchased a PASCAL compiler.

PickEvac was soon born. The dispatchers loved it! The scene coordinates were entered into the program which did a ProximityCast of the companies three bases. The closest base was displayed with a green seventy nautical mile circle drawn around it and a green course line drawn to the scene showing distance and heading. The next closest base was displayed in yellow the same way, and the farthest base was displayed in red.

This program was donated to the company and actively used by the dispatchers until the company expanded to more than three bases.

...and the journey just continues.

A ProximityCast Restaurant Rendezvous

2010-03-29T23:50:00.009-05:00

Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating - as possibility?
by: Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55)
Danish philosopher

So you find that special restaurant that you would like to take that special person out to eat at... You want to build the anticipation for the special moment and give that special person a sense of the ambiance you two will enjoy at the chosen place...

Now you search ProximityCast.com and find some kind user has already submitted a nice picture of the current favored restaurant. So you go to the Establishment Details page to get some goodies to email your special someone...

Click Pic to see a Larger Image

In the Top Right Hand Corner you click the "Authorized for Social Sharing" button so you can easily copy a link to the picture to email to that special someone...
http://www.proximitycast.com/aGem/contributor/dave/photos/pce1807.jpg

Next you click the "Establishment Website" link just under the "Authorized for Social Sharing" button to find a menu...
http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/cafepontalba/menu.html

Cool! The Establishment Website has a menu...
No surprises! You have an idea of what to order and what it will cost so both you and that special someone can experience Deja Vu upon Arrival all thanks to ProximityCast.com

And you thought Google's Street View was cool... Well, it is... Enter the coordinates from the ProximityCast picture N29°57.44' W090°3.82' into Google Maps and compare the two...

Yep, this is the one! Enter the coordinates into your GPS so you know you will arrive at the correct spot and not some bogus street address mislocated spot...

Your special someone responds back after sending the email with all the appropriate data for making a good decision...

The rendezvous is set...

SHUCKS...
The restaurant of your dreams cannot be found in ProximityCast...
What to do, what to do?
Wow! Anyone can register and enter a location picture into ProximityCast.com/register

The best part, geographic coordinates work the same way anywhere in the world...
Street addresses vary from country to country and are often wrongly located on Google Maps and others...
What kind of useful, exotic, or interesting restaurants can you submit?

Founder out...ciao

Ideas are useless unless used

2010-03-27T23:57:00.010-05:00

Ideas are useless unless used.
by: Theodore Levitt (b. 1925)
U.S. management theorist, writer, and editor.

ProximityCast.com was born as only an idea. A remarkable set of events caused it to be birthed into a reality. It is still only an infant, but it has seen the light of day.

I personally use ProximityCast. I also use and enjoy Google Maps and Street View. ProximityCast can get you there quick if you know how to Navigate the Site. I'll get to that toward the end of this post, but now I'll share a small story.

I love GPS and the navigational possibilities it provides. As a helicopter pilot I cut my teeth on navigating before GPS became a reality. A fact of life back then was that it didn't matter how smooth and talented a pilot was at manipulating the controls, if he couldn't navigate he was worthless. Successfully getting to where you need to go is more important than a smooth ride. A pilot who could do both was "Top Shelf".

GPS changed all of that. Now it doesn't matter if a pilot has no navigational skills. As long as he can plug in the correct numbers into his/her GPS he/she is good to go! Any dummy can do it. GPS was the solution to prevent DMZ overflights into North Korea. GPS drives EMS. I loved navigating without GPS. Dropping into an LZ (landing zone) for the first time just by reading a topo map from tree top height is quite a thrill! But now all that is obsolete thanks to GPS. I still love GPS and what it allows us to do. Simply Awesome!

Have you ever had a street address fail you on Google Maps? I have. GPS coordinates are ten times better especially when they are certified correct. ProximityCast gives you that. Submitters will receive an accuracy rating as soon as we get a plethora of users making a photographic contribution. With a submitter accuracy rating you can know who to trust and who to be skeptical of.

Expect "deja vu upon arrival" and NOT the disappointment upon arrival a street address sometimes gives you.

Okay, here's the easy way to get from ProximityCast to Google StreetView of your Establishment of Choice!

Like "Norm's Diner" in Groton, CT:

Click the MAP VIEW button at the top of the 6 pack of Cast Results:

Once in the MAP VIEW click on the Establishment Picture you wish to view in Street View and then click "Directions" on the PopUp to go into the actual Google Maps Site:

From there if you are familiar with Street View you can see if the area is covered and click on the "B" marker then "Street View" to see how the two compare.
Norm's Diner looks pretty good. What do you think?

I didn't create ProximityCast just for me, but for all of us. Check it out, try it out, and let me know what you think. I am interested in making it a site you like to use!

Thanks,

Founder out...ciao

Considering Something Ideal

2010-03-24T22:02:00.009-05:00

When you consider something "ideal", you lose the opportunity to improve it.
by: Shoji Shiba (b. 1933)
Japanese academic and author.

ProximityCast is not "ideal" yet. If you know of a location based service that is, please leave a comment of how I can look at it and why you think it is ideal.

ProximityCast does meet its basic goals even at this stage:

Location based service where users can add content and correct content for everyone's benefit.
- Try doing that with the Points of Interest in your GPS

Provide a quality picture so you know what your destination looks like before you get there.
- Deja Vu upon arrival! Only with ProximityCast.com

Provide location's Latitude and Longitude on the picture.
- Once again, this acts as the Photographer's certification that if you arrive at the coordinate location you will see what is in the picture. Try doing that with a Street Address in a Location Based Service; sometimes they get you there, sometimes they don't.

ProximityCast is following the Wikipedia model now as in relying on user's input. Anyone have any tips for me as to how to get more users to input pictures?

On the Menu: The "Tour" item

2010-03-22T19:07:00.004-05:00

The "tour" item is the first menu item on the bottom horizontal menu on the Main Page!

This is some of what you'll see there:

How to do a ProximityCast Search!

Enter Cast Initiation Point
- Enter a location to search from.
  - Your home town.
  - A Street Address
  - A Latitude and Longitude
- Click help for details.

Select Desired Category
- The top box uses autosuggest to help you find what you want fast.
- The bottom drop down box lets you browse all available categories when you are unsure of what you want.

Click "Perform ProximityCast"
- This will take you to your CastNet Results

Understanding the Search Results Page!

Always shows what you entered into the Cast Initiation Point box.

Clicking the ProximityCast.com logo image always returns you to the search page.

Shows the Latitude and Longitude of your Cast Initiation Point.

Shows the "straight line" distance from the Cast Initiation Point to the Establishment that has the focus.

The Cynosure Image!
- Initially this is the closest establishment to your Cast Initiation Point.
- Clicking this picture will take you to the Details Page for the shown establishment.

Shows the database coordinates in all three formats for easy comparison with the coordinates shown on the cynosure image.
- This is IMPORTANT because it lets you discover errors before traveling to a chosen destination.
  - Coordinates on the image serve as the photographer's certification that the location is correct.
  - A discrepancy usually indicates an error was made during coordinate entry into the database.

Allows you to perform another search using the the cynosure image as the Cast Initiation Point.

Allows registered users to flag data that has changed or is in error.

Thumbnail of all establishments returned in the ProximityCast. Clicking any thumbnail makes it the cynosure image.

Takes you to a Google Map mashup where you can visually see where all establishments are in reference to the Cast Initiation Point.
- Get Driving Directions from the Cast Initiation Point to any selected establishment.

Now you can Quickly Master ProximityCast.com!

ProximityCast on the iPhone

2010-03-20T22:17:00.006-05:00

The Safari Lite Browser on the iPhone and the iTouch is pretty nice. This is a picture of ProximityCast's home screen.

I find I prefer sites on the Safari Lite Browser that have not been optimized for mobile devices due to the ability to zoom in and out which is lost with mobile device optimization.

Making a ProximityCast is as EASY as 1. 2. 3....

Enter your Cast Initiation Point ~ the place from where you wish to search.
- ProximityCast takes Lat/Long or Street Addresses

Enter your desired search category
- Simply start typing what you want. e.g. cof...ProximityCast will complete your selection cofFEE
- or use the Category Selector to browse all available Categories

Click or touch: Perform Proximity Cast

Then view your results!

ProximityCast is loaded with features which require a little time for familiarization, but once that is done... It is super easy to use.

Compare a ProximityCast Establishment Picture with a picture from Google's StreetView. I really like street view, but the pictures are not always the greatest.

ProximityCast is in BETA and can use input so we can plan the best improvements to meet your needs.

Till next time,

Founder out!...ciao

Aiming for the "B" Quadrant ~ Rich Dad/Poor Dad

2010-03-19T19:59:00.005-05:00

In Robert Kiyosaki's book he describes the four quadrants income can come from. E/S/B/I...

ProximityCast is currently in the "H" quadrant. The "H" quadrant doesn't produce any income and it is called a Hobby. Even though it is only a Hobby at this point in time being developed on a bootstrapper's budget, I have my sights on the "B" quadrant.
I have been in the "E" quadrant all of my working life. This is the employee where you derive your wage by working for someone else. It is hard to really get ahead as an employee. Not impossible, just difficult. Then there is the "S" quadrant which is for the self employed. The self employed is mostly just a glorified employee. The biggest benefit for the self employed is that they don't have a boss they have to answer to because they are the boss. The biggest drawback to the "S" quadrant besides having to work twice as hard and wear multiple hats than the typical employee is that once your time on this earth is all said and done, so is the business you worked so hard to create. Basically you are the business. When you cease to exist, so does the business. Currently ProximityCast would be in this quadrant if it was making any money.
Then there is the "I" quadrant. I could use some people that are players in the "I" quadrant to help move ProximityCast into the "B" quadrant. I've had an interest in the "I" quadrant which is all about investing. To get into the game you have to have marbles in your bag.
Now the "B" quadrant is the business quadrant. Many in the "S" quadrant may feel they are players in the "B" quadrant, but there is a BIG difference. The "S" quadrant always requires the main player's presence where the "B" quadrant does not once the system is set up. I know ProximityCast has all the raw ingredients to become a system that can exist long after I'm gone. Whether or not I will be successful getting it there is another story. But, I press on.

Here are my weak links that impede progress as I see it.

I am a solo founder.

For my family's sake I choose to live in the Ozarks.

I'm working on a bootstrap budget.

#1 just fell out like that. My buddy in school whom I invited couldn't grasp the vision. I'd rather fly alone than have someone on-board that is not a true believer. I'm not opposed to having another one or others come on-board if they can be true believers and bring something to the table worthwhile. That something does not have to be technical skills. Those can be hired. Business savvy, a vision, able to be a team player with a focus on developing the system that can enter and be a real player in the "B" quadrant, are things I'd consider as valuable and would welcome to the team, if they are out there.

#2 kinda just worked out like that too. It's where I found myself when the idea began to come together. From what I've learned there are better places to be in the USA if you want to establish a "B" quadrant entity. I'm not opposed to moving, but the cards have to be ready to be played. I'd even consider Singapore or Hong Kong if that proved to be the true home for ProximityCast which is viable world wide.

#3 There are several ways I can see where that could change. I looked over a "Loan Package Development for New Business" for the U.S. Small Business Administration recently. I don't believe that is going to happen. I'm a free man right now where working on ProximityCast is a labor of love. I'm free to do it or not do it. I'd shift gears, but only with a deal that will squarely put ProximityCast into the "B" quadrant as quick as possible where it could continue on with or without me. I may be wrong, but I don't think a SBA loan would do that. So, I'll be content to creep along until something else takes ProximityCast into the "B" quadrant. Or not...

ProximityCast and Flying Helicopters

2010-03-16T22:24:00.006-05:00

I have a passion for ProximityCast and I have a vision.

I don't know how far down the rabbit hole I will be able to take the vision, but I plan on having fun along the way.

Somethings are meant to be. The pieces just seem to fall in place and things seem to happen as they ought.

I became a helicopter pilot much like this. It just seemed to be my destiny.

I wish my journey to entrepreneurial success would be the same. The ProximityCast denouement is not yet written, so I'll try to enjoy my journey whether it remains a hobby or gets wings and takes off.

The making of a helicopter pilot...

I guess it is time to get off track just a bit and tell this story.
My dad would have paid for me to go to college upon completion of high school. I could see the writing on the wall though. With my attitude back then it would have been a waste of time and money.

I wish I could have known back then that I had a potential to love math. I made a D in 9th grade algebra. I think I probably deserved an F, but my other grades were okay and the teacher didn't want to be the one that flunked me. When I finally got around to going to college I learned how to make all "A"s in my math classes all the way through Calculus III. But I did it as an older man, so it took a lot of hard work and has not become as natural as flying helicopters (something I learned in my youth).

Anyhow, I have a bit of a pragmatic streak in me and I wanted to do something worthwhile and practicable. I never ever dreamed I'd be a pilot. Flying was for rich people. I grew up in a comfortable home, but we were a long way from being uber rich. But I was a certified SCUBA diver, and I thought the military could teach me to be a commercial diver. So, I set up an appointment to talk to a Navy Recruiter.

I told this man I was interested in commercial diving. He told me that the Navy has more combat divers than commercial divers. And he said if I was really interested in commercial diving I should talk to the Army.

Well that got me talking to an Army recruiter.

Back in those days the Vietnam War was going hot and heavy. Most people I encountered were pretty negative on the war and tried to dissuade me from going into the military.

I met an Army diver. He told me, "I scrubbed more toilet bowls than I got to dive." It didn't sound too promising.

Then I met a man that said, "If you really have to go in then you should go in as an officer. Cause they have it a lot better than enlisted men."

That comment caused me to ask my recruiter what it took to be an officer. He said, "Normally it takes a college degree, but we just happen to have this high school to flight school warrant officer program. If you successfully complete it the Army will make you a warrant officer."

That sounded like the ticket to me. Not so much that I would get to fly, I didn't know anything about that and whether or not I'd like it, but I could become an officer.

Many wannabe helicopter pilots have approached Army recruiters asking about helicopter school only to be told that it is a tough program to get and they'd have a better chance if they became a crewchief (helicopter mechanic)first. Actually, the truth be know, it was probably easier paperwork for the recruiter.

I happened, just by luck of the draw, to have bumped into a straight shooting recruiter. When I told him I'd be interested in that program he got the gears rolling.

There is more to this story. I passed my FAST test (Flight Aptitude Selection Test) with only two points of gravy. I remember halfway through a sequence of questions where you had to determine the attitude and direction an aircraft was going by a picture of an attitude indicator that I was looking at it wrong. It was a timed test. I didn't have time to go back and correct my error, so I just started answering the remainder correctly. But I made the grade and was set to have my chance at Army Flight School.

I had a written guarantee that they would send me to Flight School. That didn't mean I was guaranteed to pass. That part would be up to me. But if I did pass, I would become an Army Warrant Officer with an Aviation badge.

I ended up getting set back during instrument training. It was a pretty precarious position from which I could have easily been eliminated. That is a story in itself, but I passed my final check ride by some small miracle and was on my way. I spent six years on active duty flying two of them in the Republic of South Korea where I became a Buffer Zone pilot and then a Buffer Zone check pilot as well as being chosen to be flight lead on most of the Air Mobile training missions we flew. Then I finished up my tour of duty as an Army Instructor Pilot back at the home of Army Aviation teaching Contact, Tactics, NOE, Night Hawk, and Night Vision Goggles. It was quite an adventure. I often wonder how life would have went if I elected to stay in.

I did well in Aviation. But it wasn't all because of me. There were tons of resources and people that aided in my success. The Vietnam Vets in my unit in Korea took this young kid under their wings and groomed him. Those were and are some remarkable men.

I find the entrepreneurial journey quite different. It is a pretty lonely place. You may find a few books, some blogs, and forums. But, for the most part you are on your own. No body cares if you make it or crash. It depends on your product. Are you developing something people really want? Or, are you missing the mark? There is not much feedback. Some people, Wikipedia, Farmville, Hot or Not, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Geocaching, and others seem to just hit success like I did with flying. At this point and time, that is not happening with ProximityCast. Maybe it is not meant to be, but I have a passion burning and a vision calling that won't let me let go. Perhaps I'm like Don Quixote chasing windmills. Time will tell.

Consider talking about ProximityCast with your friends. Ask them what is wrong with it. Ask them what it really needs. Ask them what they would like. A Chinese friend of mine told me my name was wrong. I explored ProximityCast in the Chinese language. He may be right. I should have used something like Nearby. He had other objections, but my passion won't let me let go. Spread the buzz and share the awful news with me. Play devil's advocate and tell me why ProximityCast will never be like any of those mentioned above... Let me know.

Thanks,

Founder out...ciao

Wideangle photography for Proximitycasting

2010-03-15T05:51:00.005-05:00

Here is a link to a photography blog that belongs to a friend of mine: ScottEversPhotography.blogspot.com Scott's post for today makes me really ready to try some wideangle proximitycast shots. All I can say is WOW! And, what wideangle lens should I get for a start?

ProximityCast allows a lot of room for artistic license. ProximityCast also appreciates the "plain Jane" shots taken with a just a cell phone. Anyone who registers is allowed to submit photos. ProximityCast.com is in Beta, so all is not perfect yet. But, with your help and feedback, ProximityCast aims to become the ultimate location based service application on the Internet worldwide.

Latitude and longitude is a bit strange to those who are not hard core geocaching enthusiast, but lat/long works anywhere and everywhere in the world regardless of street addressing systems which vary from country to country.

Paste a latitude and longitude coordinate pair into Google Maps and you are immediately and accurately taken to the location designated by the coordinates. You can't do that with street addresses. Sometimes street addresses work great, but many time they miss the mark by a long shot.

Welcome to the world of ProximityCast and proximitycasting! Please consider being a user and contributor if you're not already. It is only our users and contributors that can truly make this a great internet web application for our time!

Consider getting a ProximityCast buttion for your blog or website to help spread the word.

Thank you for your help,

Founder of ProximityCast

is ProximityCasting something like GeoCaching?

2010-03-12T21:09:00.008-06:00

Geocaching has long been popular since affordable GPS has made it possible.

"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices." You can read more about it at the official Geocaching Website.

Geocaching has gained tremendous traction and has spread across the world.

But not ProximityCasting...(a lonely tear slowly drips down the cheek)

ProximityCasting is a growing treasure hunting game of a different type. Like geocaching you can search for treasure and like geocaching you can provide treasure for others. Search for treasure??? Where is the closest Oyster Bar? What does it look like? Are their any reviews? Can I find it's website?

Copy and paste this Lat/Long into Google Maps: N 30°6'24.6" W 90°25'22.2"
All right! I see where it is at, but street view didn't make it to the end of Peavine Road, so what does it look like?

Ask and receive:
Wow man! Glad some fellow ProximityCaster took the time to upload that image. That place looks like it's worth a side trip.

Let me check the reviews before I make the jaunt: Reviews are found at the bottom of the ProximityCast Establishment Details Page
Cool! Sounds like a place worth stopping at.

But what about the businesses website? Found on the Details Page Establishment 1501 Website
Just what I needed. Their site has a posted menu too. That closed the deal for me. I'm on my way. I sure appreciate that ProximityCaster that posted this treasure.

So ProximityCasting is both searching for treasure and posting treasure for others.

Now if ProximityCast.com can only gain a little traction so more treasures can be found. Is there an Oyster Bar in your Town?

What do you think? Any resemblance to Geocaching?

Get yourself a ProximityCast button

2010-03-11T22:08:00.011-06:00

Help spread the word about ProximityCast! Display a button on your website or blog.

Select the button you want
Copy the Red Code
Paste the code where you want it on your blog or website

Website
original button!

<a href="http://proximitycast.com/"><img src="http://www.proximitycast.com/proximitycast.jpg" alt="ProximityCast.com" title="take me to ProximityCast" /></a>

Blog button

<a href="http://ProximityCast.blogspot.com"><img src="http://www.proximitycast.com/PCblog_sm.jpg" alt="ProximityCastBlog" title="help Spread ProximityCast Across the Globe" /></a>

Website button

<a href="http://ProximityCast.com"><img src="http://www.proximitycast.com/SpreadProximityCast.jpg" alt="ProximityCast.com" title="help Spread ProximityCast Across the Globe" /></a>

Blog button

<a href="http://ProximityCast.blogspot.com"><img src="http://www.proximitycast.com/PCblog.jpg" alt="ProximityCastBlog" title="help Spread ProximityCast Across the Globe" /></a>

ProximityCast needs BETA testers!!! Please help spread the word with a button, explore the site, and even attempt to upload your own Points of Interest pictures.

Use the ProximityCast Contact Form to provide feedback.

Feedback helps motivate me to improve ProximityCast.com

Latitude and Longitude FORMATS

2010-03-09T17:17:00.005-06:00

Note: You should see this image tiled as a background for this blog. If you don't, please let me know in a comment. Thanks...

Typical Latitude and Longitude Formats are DMS, DM, or D

1. DMS: Degrees, Minutes, Seconds
N45°13'3" W123°58'34.2"
2. DM: Degrees, Minutes
N45°13.0500' W123°58.5700'
3. D: Degrees also called DecimalDegrees
45.21750 -123.97617

Some people choose to follow the coordinate number with the hemisphere designator like this:

1. DMS: Degrees, Minutes, Seconds
45°13'3"N 123°58'34.2"W
2. DM: Degrees, Minutes
45°13.0500'N 123°58.5700'W

My personal preference is to precede the coordinate number with the hemisphere designator.

Note that the decimal degree example did not use alphabetical hemisphere designators:

D: Degrees also called DecimalDegrees
45.21750 -123.97617

Latitudes North of the equator are positive +
Latitudes South of the equator are negative -
The above latitude would be north of the equator.

Longitudes East of the Prime Meridian are positive +
Longitudes West of the Prime Meridian are negative -

Note: in the absence of a symbol implies positive +.

The Degree Symbol ° is not found on the keyboard. Most programs that let you enter coordinates usually allow you to skip entering the degree symbol e.g. N45 13'3" will be interpreted as N45°13'3"

The minute symbol is a single quote: ' Since it is found on the keyboard you should always use it to indicate minutes when minutes are used in your coordinate format.
The second symbol is a double quote: " Since it is found on the keyboard you should always use it to indicate seconds when seconds are used in your coordinate format.

If you absolutely want to or need to include the degree symbol you have several options.
1. You can simply copy it from a another place that uses it and paste it where you want it. This ° degree symbol was copied and pasted. Problem here is you have to know a place where you can copy it from.
2. On a PC: Open your Character Map, find the symbol, select it, and copy it then paste it like this: °
This is what your Character Map looks like:

The Character Map can be found in: All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Character map

3. If the document you are editing allows html markup you can use the special entity for the degree symbol:
Name Code: °
Number Code: °
Either the name code or the number code will work. The name code is usually easier to remember.

To understand more about how the earth is divided by hemispheres see the Earth's Hemisphere Dividers educational pages and click "next" to go from one to the other.

Hope you find this post helpful.

Getting Coordinates from Google Maps Revisited

2010-03-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

Google Maps continually evolves. I've covered getting Latitude and Longitude coordinates before, but here is the latest info as of this date: 6 March 2010

As you read this blog post open Google Maps in another tab or window and follow along as you duplicate the steps that follow.

Scenario: You are on vacation in Mountain View, AR and have lunch at the local Pizza Hut. You notice this Pizza Hut is not in the ProximityCast database and decide to add it, so you snap a picture. You forgot your GPS at the hotel so you decide to get the coordinates off of Google Maps later for your picture.

1. Okay your are back at your hotel ready to process your picture for uploading. To find the coordinates you go to http://maps.google.com/

2. You enter Mountain View, AR into the Search Maps text box and click the "Search Maps" button to get you in the neighborhood.

3. You see the "A" marker over Mountain View and click it use the "Search nearby" feature on the pop up to narrow your search.

4. You enter "Pizza Hut" into the Search nearby text box and click "Search" hoping that will drop you in closer to the Pizza Hut.

5. Numerous Pizza Hut markers show up for surrounding towns as well as the new "A" marker over Mountain View. The map is zoomed way too far out, so you proceed to step number 6.

6. You click the "A" marker on the map and cause the pop up info box to appear. Then you click the zoom scale found on the left side of the map close to the "+" sign to zoom way in hoping to see the Pizza Hut red roof on Satellite view.

7. Shucks, the "A" marker is in some farmer's field and looks like it is in the middle of no where. This is why you like ProximityCast so much. Google Maps are great, but so often you don't find things in their correct spot.

Well, the pop up info box did say, "Placement on map is approximate" Another reason you like ProximityCast because the picture is taken by a real person who places the coordinates on the picture as their certification that the location is correct. No more navigating to a location that is not correct.

8. You click the "-" minus button on the bottom of the zoom scale several times to zoomout hoping to see something recognizable.

9. Alright, were in luck, there is the intersections of 5 9 & 14 just north of the "Days Inn Mountain View" that the popup info box told you about.

10. Right click on the intersection and click "What's here?" on the pop up menu to place a green marker closer to hopefully the correct location. Now click the "+" plus button on the scale adjuster several time to zoom in.

11. GREAT! Now you see the red roof for what you think is the Pizza Hut where you ate. Right click on the map once again where you took your picture. In this case right click just to the left of the Hwy 5 symbol in the parking lot outside the Pizza Hut and once again click "What's here?" on the popup menu. A new green marker will be placed where you supposedly took your picture.

12. Click the green marker to see another popup info box. This box has latitude and longitude coordinates in both Decimal Degrees and Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds format. Drag across to highlight the format you prefer for your pictures, then right click and copy for pasting on your picture in your photo editor.

I got 35.865380, -92.108185 for Decimal Degrees and +35° 51' 55.37", -92° 6' 29.47" for Degrees, Minutes, Seconds. I would edit +35° 51' 55.37", -92° 6' 29.47" like this: N35° 51' 55.37" W092° 6' 29.47" and place them on my picture as I like.

Finally, click "Street view" on the popup info box to confirm you are at the right place before saving your edits on your picture and uploading to ProximityCast. As ProximityCast grows users who submit pictures will get an accuracy rating to give fellow users the proper amount of deserved confidence in their submissions.

Wow! This street view picture of the Pizza Hut looks really good, but not as good as the picture you took which is another reason you like ProximityCast so much. And there you have it. Leave your comments with how you thought this tutorial worked out for you.

Thanks,

Dave

ProximityCast on iTouch

2010-02-16T13:06:00.000-06:00

I recently purchased an iTouch so I could view and improve ProximityCast.com for viewing and using on small devices.
The Safari browser on the iTouch is pretty amazing in its ability to allow the user to browse full size web pages. Without making any changes I am able to navigate and use ProximityCast. Com which is pretty cool to me.

Familiarity with a site makes it easier to navigate on a small device. Anyone that uses a blackberry or other small device besides an iPhone or iTouch let me know by leaving a comment or using the contact page how well ProximityCast worked along with any improvements you would like to see.

Also, as well as Safari does on small devices, why would a site also create an iPhone app?

Post created on my iTouch

Google's Street View Updated

2010-01-19T10:57:00.000-06:00

Since my last post Google has corrected the address for Colton's Steakhouse restaurant in Mountain Home, AR and has sent their street view vehicle back around so that now you can see the restaurant with street view. Good job Google!

Google Maps and Street View verses ProximityCast

2008-12-29T14:32:00.000-06:00

The ProximityCast Advantage

Google's street view is an amazing and useful program, however ProximityCast has advantages over street view that will be exposed in this post.
Google's street view has recently gotten to Mountain Home, Arkansas. Colton's Steakhouse Restaurant has also recently opened in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

At the time of the creation of this post, if you type into Google Maps search maps: "Colton's Steakhouse Mountain Home, AR" you will be taken to an obviously wrong address. Using Street View will reveal no Colton's Steakhouse. Google Maps took me to these coordinates: 36.29030141495939, -92.32628524303436 and said it was this address: 2390 Highway 62 E, Mountain Home, AR‎
Pasting the street address into Google Maps took me to the same wrong coordinate location. A check of Colton's website shows the Mountain Home address as: 22370 Highway 62 E

Pasting in the correct street address (2370 instead of 2390) still produced the same wrong location.

ProximityCast.com requires the Latitude and Longitude coordinates of where the picture was taken to be placed on all establishment pictures submitted. The Mountain Home, Arkansas Colton's Steakhouse coordinates are: N 36°21.45'W 92°20.75' If these coordinates are pasted into Google Maps search maps box you will be taken to the correct location for Colton's Steakhouse Restaurant in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Wrong coordinates can be placed on a photo or erroneously entered into the database, but ProximityCast.com allows users to flag inaccurate coordinates and photo submitters will be given an accuracy rating that alerts you to locations with inaccurate coordinates. Google Maps also has a means to correct inaccurate locations, so the bogus location for Colton's may be corrected by the time you are reading this. It is not hard to find wrong locations in Google Maps.

The placement of a location's coordinates on ProximityCast Establishment Images may seem unnecessary and a lot of trouble, BUT it is a photographer's means of certifying that the location is correct at the time the photo was taken. (Businesses do go out of business or move).

Now back to Street View comparisons... If you paste the coordinates from the ProximityCast Colton's Steakhouse image, N 36°21.45'W 92°20.75' into Google Maps search maps box you will arrive at the correct location. BUT, when you explore street view you will only find an empty lot with a Colton's construction sign indicating the restaurant will be built on this site.

Street view is a remarkable means of adding and showing a lot of visual data quickly. Its weakness three fold: 1) as in Colton's Steakhouse for the Mountain Home, AR location the restaurant actually exists now but did not exist at the time the street view camera rolled through the area. By contrast anyone can contribute a current picture of any place to ProximityCast.com at any time. You the user have control. For street view we have to wait for the Google car to cruise an area again. 2). Businesses go out of business or move. When will street view indicate that condition? ProximityCast once again provides the user with the control necessary to flag either condition. 3). The quality of the street view picture is sometimes found wanting. ProximityCast.com provides a photographer with the means to control the quality of an image. ProximityCast also allows multiple images of the same location showing different perspectives or night and day shots.

Okay, so I did a lot of trashing of Google Maps and Street View with this post. Actually I love their technology and think they are both a great product. I could point out some weaknesses with ProximityCast also. When the two are combined the total capabilities are simply amazing. You can get to Google Maps and Street View (when it exists) quite easily from ProximityCast.com. Google Maps difinitely complements and enhances ProximityCast.com. Likewise ProximityCast.com complements and enhances Google Maps and Street View giving all end users control over location data.

Now all we need is a little bit of traction and users to start utilizing and submitting ProximityCast Establishment photos so all of us will have a better location technology experience.

Big News

2008-11-19T08:13:00.000-06:00

"Anything that relates to where a person is, saves a user time, and makes the web more relevant — especially geographically — is big news." source
Way to go ProximityCast!

Getting Coordinates of of Google Maps revisited

2008-08-17T20:31:00.000-05:00

Open Google Maps

Right Click on the spot where you want to know the Latitude and Longitude coordinates.

Select ~~"Directions to here" or "Directions from here"~~
"What's here?" on the pop-up menu

The coordinates appear in the "Get Directions" box top left side of the map.

The coordinates are in "decimal degree" format. You can copy and past them into the Google Search Maps text box and click "Search Maps" to have a marker appear on that spot and also see the coordinates displayed in Degrees, Minutes, Seconds.

understanding of coordinate formats

The decimal degree format can be pasted directly into the ProximityCast Antipode Tool to see what is on the opposite side of the world.

One Picture with Multiple Establishments

2008-08-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

ProximityCast.com continues to improve!

You don't need a GPS to contribute pictures!
Get coordinates off of Google Maps

Strip Mall with Six Establishments

One Picture with Multiple Establishments is now complete!
You can use Morrilton, AR as a cast initiation point to check out this strip mall with “6” establishments.
Now pictures with up to “9” establishments can be loaded with each individual Establishment uniquely identified.

Dual Establishments Under One Roof

It is common to find dual establishments coexisting like this Taco Bell and KFC all under one roof but clearly two separate establishments.
Now the multiple establishment routine makes it easy.

Baskin Robbins inside an Exxon Station

This Baskin Robbins inside an Exxon is not as clearly divided as the Taco Bell and KFC, but still lends itself to One Picture with Multiple Establishments to help users find just what they need. As always, if you have any questions or suggestions use the contact form to pass them along.

Now: check your data after upload
Also, there is now a page that lets you check the database coordinates against the coordinates on the picture after upload. There is a button that will also allow you to check the location on the map. If you find you have an error use the contact form to let me know. Eventually I’ll enable an editing routine where you will be able to fix them yourselves.

Till next time my friends, thanks for all your photo submissions!

ciao

Google Street View

2008-07-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

Wow! Google does so many things well. Street View is such an awesome application that it is almost enough to cause me to see ProximityCast as unnecessary, however I think the two applications are quite complementary in many ways.
In this blog entry I'll show how easy it is to go to street view from ProximityCast when desired or necessary.

On the CastNet page shown in the image:
1. Copy the establishments coordinates for pasting into Google Maps.
2. Click on MAP VIEW for easy access to Google Maps.
3. Click on the Google Map logo found on the lower left of the Map View to go to Google's full map services.
4. Paste the coordinates copied from step one into Google's Search the map box and select Street View for a better look around!

For the user's convenience ProximityCast displays the database coordinates in all three commonly used formats:
Decimal Degrees: D 34.75098 -92.30665
Degrees Minutes: DM N 34°45.06' W 92°18.40'
Degrees Minutes Seconds: DMS N 34°45'3.6" W 92°18'24"
Any of the three formats should work great in Google Maps. Copy the one of your choice. The coordinates shown will take you to a street view covered area and let you see the Oyster Bar restaurant which had a great oyster Po Boy on the day we ate there. Use your left or right arrow keys to rotate the view around until you see the Oyster Bar.

Contact Page added

2008-04-25T19:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a nudge from a good friend I got busy and added a Contact page to ProximityCast.com
Feed back is useful, motivating, and appreciated.
As a solo act things don't always go as fast as I might like, but I take all constructive criticism seriously and try to get to things as fast as I can. There is still a lot to do to make ProximityCast all it can be. I still need a means to encourage users to submit their "Location Pictures". If everyone contributes just a little the site will become a whole lot more useful for all of us.
I'd be happy simply taking and contributing pictures, but there is so much to do and I can't capture the world by myself.
It is fun though doing what I can as I can.

Till next time my friends,

ciao

Embracing Rejection

2008-04-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

yCombinator for ProximityCast.com was a fluke and a long shot, however so was it a good exercise. How do they say, “learn to embrace the rejection?” This whole journey into entrepreneurship has been quite an experience. Only conjecture and speculation can presume as to why yCombinator chose to reject ProximityCast.com. There were some hard hurdles I anticipated: solo founder, old founder more than twice as old as the average chosen. Location; Although I wasn't born nor raised here, I’ve been enjoying my camp in the Ozarks for a long time now. Good for family and good for me. Good for my business? Well, as long as I could keep my camp and the pieces came together where my wife could understand and it was workable, a move is not impossible. Then there is an already launched web app with no traction… Yeah, how do you achieve that mystical traction?

"It has no God-given right to succeed if...
... it does not give customers what they want."
Roger Holmes~British Business Executive.

But then, do customers really know what they want or need. Then again, it could be presumptuous to decide for them. However the power of a vision is truly an amazing force. There are some who really get it, then others who don’t even come close to venturing below the surface. yCombinator was one that didn’t look deep as evidenced by the tracking logs, but I reckon their hands were full and it is easy to see on the surface if an application fits a mold they prefer. We all have our preferences and yCombinator was good enough to state some of theirs. So be it. You play the cards you’re dealt.

Is that it? Or is there something else at work? I’ve found launching a start-up is very much like raising a new born baby. An acorn doesn’t turn into a full grown oak overnight, even if we want it too. But then there are the auctomatics of the world. If it wasn’t overnight, it sure was quick. Must be nice, hey boys? Then when you are a parent you sure hope your children will grow up, amount to something worthwhile, and have a good life.

I didn’t want to tackle this project solo and even made overtures to a very small select few. M y failure to procure a co-founder could reflect on my leadership abilities or my unwillingness to be pushy. ProximityCast® has been a dream for long time that was once released and then brought back to life. There have been good parts to running solo. I’ve had to do things that I probably would have loved to pass off to others, but have grown by having to do them myself.

yCombinator’s rejection doesn’t hurt near as much as the knowledge of what I’m missing out on. I’ve tasted in another life what I can imagine yCombinator is able to supply to young, enthusiastic, and energetic entrepreneurs: a support network that are all gunning for your success! My other life was spent flying helicopters. I consider myself a talented and excellent pilot with the hours and experience to back that up. But, I know that is all a result of the support network that helped me to become a success. High School to Army Flight School followed by two years in South Korea where the man in the next seat was more often than not an experienced and talented Vietnam Vet. Hey kid, have you seen this? Let me show you how it is done. Yes I believe I truly love coding as much as I love flying, but I miss having that experienced next seat showing me the ropes before I have to take something on, on my own. To try to land a helicopter on the top of a five thousand foot pinnacle without someone ever showing you how is crazy. So does it seem trying to tackle the many aspects of entrepreneurship. But then I guess you go until you either crash, run out of gas or succeed especially if they let you hop in that baby and fly. We all gotta die someday; it is just a matter of when and how. Even so, it would be nice to have a pair of steady hands already familiar with the territory to help guide a young entrepreneur along. (Ok, so I’m an old codger, but a very young entrepreneur.) Having missed out on that is the painful part.

However, stumbling on yCombinator has definitely been my gain. My wife really related to Paul’s musing on the traits of a hacker. I wish I would have saved the link to that speech. Maybe someone will be good enough to post it. It was the one talking about having a work area with a couch to take a nap when you felt the need instead of a cubical where you have to continue to sit and gaze at the screen like you’re accomplishing something although in reality just a zombie. So much info and so little time… I pick up pieces I can really identify with and then there are the warning sign posts that say, “You’ve got a long haul up hill boy!” The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups But they are balanced against the sage advice that might make a difference: How Not to Die Paul, where do you find all that energy? Where ever it comes from it is appreciated. It is almost as good as having that next seat of talented ability.

The vision continues to drive me on. Sometimes I wish I could move faster than I’m able, but a quote I got out of “The Essence of Leadership” by Mac Anderson continues to carry me forward: “By the yard life is hard, but by the inch it’s a cinch!” And so has been the development of my project: ProximityCast.com I always look forward to coding and adding parts. I found I enjoy the coding more than the promoting. Both are important, and both show me the wisdom of Paul’s preference for more than one founder. This is a cool journey entrepreneurs are on; even cooler than flying in my book. I wish I could have stumbled on it at a more youthful age. You can have an enjoyable life flying and earning a paycheck, but if you’re successful as an entrepreneur you can buy your own helicopter and hire a talented CFI that can give you dual when necessity causes you to have to fly. If you’re successful as an entrepreneur, you are definitely on the better side of the fence.

The best of hacking to all you guys!

David B Robert
Founder of ProximityCast.com

Authorized Social Sharing

2008-04-11T20:35:00.001-05:00

Click Picture to see Larger Image

Photo contributors are now able to select whether or not they want to authorize their photos to be used on Social Networking sites. Whenever their photos are viewed on the "Establishment Details Page" an "Authorized for Social Sharing" button will appear at the top of the "Alternate Images" column to the right of the Image in question whenever the contributor has authorized the sharing of their images by others on Social Networking sites.
Clicking the "Authorized for Social Sharing" button produces a popup from which coping the link to share is easy.
Although there are other ways to acquire a link to an image on ProximityCast.com the only authorized means is by using this button. Users should familiarize themselves with the privacy policy and terms of service before arbitrarily using images from ProximityCast.com. Contributors of pictures own and control the copyrights to their images. Posting unauthorized images may subject you to any legal recourse the copyright holder may wish to pursue.

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Site Promotion with a Benefit

2008-03-31T17:59:00.000-05:00

I've been busy coding and still have much to do, but if a site is ever to go anywhere promotion is a necessary component also. The big question: "How to stimulate interest and traffic in the site?" Promotion can be as much of a full time job as coding. It has sadly been neglected up to this point. Picking what to work on is sometimes a love/hate relationship. Anyhow here is the Facebook component of the promotion puzzel:

I have not tried this in MySpace or Bebo, but the concept should still work. If you want to meet a friend at a particular place, ask a date to go to dinner, or whatnot: CONSIDER POSTING A PROXIMITYCAST PICTURE of the place of interest in a message to your friend, date, etc. Sorry for shouting... smile.
Here is the nice things about using ProximityCast for this:

ProximityCast pictures or location oriented!

It is easy to get the link of a desired picture location!

If you can't find the place you want, it is easy to submit your own picture of the place!

NOTE: See Authorized Social Sharing post for the new approved method for getting a link to share in a social networking site.

See... As easy as 1,2,3. Impress your date or friend by showing them exactly what you have in mind.
Okay, so how do I get the link to a desired location to post in my message?

Cast for the desired category in the area of interest.

Click MAP VIEW when cast completes.

In the SideBar click the desired establishment to make the Info Popup appear.

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Improved Category Selector

2008-03-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

I have known an improved category selector was necessary for a long time. As the category list grew longer it was simply too tedious to wade through all the possibilities. Once again thanks and appreciation to my friend Peter for inspiring me to get busy and tackle this item.

The new improved category is now composed of two parts:

A top textbox where you can simply start typing in whatever it is you want to find. The textbox uses auto suggest to help you rapidly arrive at the desired category.

The old drop down list box. Sometimes we might not really know what we are interested in, so this allows users to browse all the available categories.

If the dropdown is utilized, it will automatically populate the textbox above.
If after using the dropdown you use the textbox before clicking "Perform ProximityCast" the textbox will show a different category than the dropdown. The textbox entry will be the category utilized to perform the search.

Minor Bug

There is a minor bug with the auto suggest tool. If you type very fast, such as "fo" ford will appear twice and the other fo???? possibilities will not be shown. Sorry for this hopefully minor inconvenience.

Credits

A three part article by Nicholas C. Zakas helped me get over the hump to create the autosuggest textbox. Much appreciation Nicholas! I looked high and low for a reference I liked. Your's proved to be straight forward, clear and easy to implement. Thank you!
By the way, take a look at Nicholas's website and it is easy to tell that he is high energy and very talented!

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Coordinates from Google Maps the easy way

2008-03-31T15:27:00.000-05:00

Much thanks to my friend Peter for telling me about an easier way to get Latitude and Longitude coordinates from Google Maps. This reminds me of the time I was a guest IP (instructor pilot) for a couple of students teaching instrument flight for the Army. We were to cover holding procedures this day. I started going over the textbook method I had been taught and continued to teach. The students interrupted me and asked about the method their instructor had taught them. It was new to me, but highly superior to the way I had been doing and teaching the procedure.
That's what happens sometimes when we work in a box without adequate outside interaction. Anyhow if you need to or just want to find the coordinates for a spot on Google Maps here is all you need to do:

Steps to get Coordinates

Move the cursor showing a small hand to the spot on the map for which you want coordinates.

When over the desired spot, right click to make the popup menu appear.

Click "Directions to here". The coords will appear in the "End address" box above the map.

You can copy the coordinates and paste them into the "Search Maps" box and then click "Search Maps" to confirm they mark the desired location.

ps
I was going to use some more screen shots to demonstrate the technique as I had done previously. Before doing so I once again reviewed Google's Terms of Use. I not sure what clicked different this time, but I felt as if I had been in error for my previous usage. I subsequently blocked the previous images showing screen shots and did not make one for this. If I get a lot of requests for more clarity I can request permission from Google and if received re-incorporate the screen shot images. Until then I will try to explain things in a manner that does not require the demonstrative instructional images that use screen shots of their maps.
Google is very fair and very talented in all that they do. What they allow is quite appreciated for its ability to enhance the ProximityCast product.
It's no excuse, but sometimes we run a little too hard and too fast especially when we're flying solo. I hope no harm was done and apologies are accepted if necessary.

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Inside Establishments

2008-03-16T22:26:00.001-05:00

Definition: Inside Establishment
A unique establishment contained within a Mall, Large Store Complex, Underground Location e.g. "Atlanta Underground"

Inside establishments present a unique challenge for the ProximityCast Establishment photo contributor. GPS only works outside, but some of these inside places could be useful submissions users may also like to be able to find.

An acceptable compromise would be to combine an identifiable outside shot of the entrance with coordinates juxtaposed with the inside establishment.

The example photo shows a McDonalds FastFood Restaurant contained within a Wal-Mart Store. The top part of the picture shows the coordinates along with the above recognizable entrance into the Wal-mart store also showing the McDonald's trademark "Golden Arches" The lower part of the picture shows the McDonalds establishment inside the store.
This would allow a GPS user to identify the entrance to the Wal-Mart that contains the McDonalds.
Well enough for tonight.
ciao my friends,

David

Using Google Maps instead of GPS to Get Latitude and Longitude for Photo Labeling

2008-03-04T21:05:00.000-06:00

The ideal method to obtain Latitude and Longitude for labeling ProximityCast pictures is with a GPS. That is not always practical for some since we are in a time of transition and change. Therefore this blog entry will detail how to obtain coordinates from Google Maps for labeling your ProximityCast picture contributions. Hopefully this will allow those of you who don't have a GPS to still contribute your "Establishment" photographs to ProximityCast.com when you want too.

For this demonstration we will use Landry's Seafood House in Branson Missouri.

Before attempting this method you should have already been to and taken the picture at the establishment location so you will have some familiarity with the location as you attempt to find the building on Google Maps.
BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonA
You can type what information you have into the search box: e.g. Landry's Seafood House Branson, MO Then click "Search Maps" to hopefully get you into the ballpark. You will then want to zoom in and switch to Satellite view if not already there.

Zoomed In Satellite view

BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonB
Once zoomed in you want to try to positively identify the the establishment building and the point from which you took the picture.

Three Potential Establishment Candidates

BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonC
I used Google Maps to get me in the ballpark prior to taking my trip to this establishment. I had no idea whether the restaurant was on the right or left side of the rode. I had no idea if the location was accurate on Google Maps, but it was a place to start. I identified three possible buildings that could have been Landry's Seafood House. After arriving on site and getting my picture I had the advantage of freshly obtained familiarity with the area to make a POSITIVE ID on Google Maps. So was it location 1, 2, or 3?

BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonD
Besides now knowing what side of the rode the building was on, I was also able to make a POSITIVE ID by the signature marquee Landry's seems to have standard on their seafood house restaurants. So, it was now easily obvious that building #2 was the location I needed to identify.

How to Determine Coordinates: Info found here!

BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonE Once you have the green arrow pointing to the spot where you stood to take the photo you can highlight the Latitude and Longitude and paste them directly onto the picture in your Post Processing software.
BLOCKED_IMAGE-LandrysInBransonF Then you can edit the pasted coordinates as desired. Here I replaced the + with a "N" for northern hemisphere for the latitude, and I replaced the - with a "W" for the western hemisphere for the longitude portion. I also removed the comma then simply resize the image for uploading and we are good to go with the use of a GPS.

I hope this entry will be found useful and I look forward to seeing the places you contribute!

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Easy as 123: Performing a ProximityCast

2008-02-27T12:38:00.001-06:00

step #1. Enter your Cast Initiation Point (CIP).
a. The CIP is the anchor point from which the cast net is tossed to find the closest establishments that meet your desired category.
b. The CIP is ideally entered as a Latitude and Longitude, however ProximityCast now accepts street address for your convenience.

step #2. Select your desired search category. e.g. Sushi will search for all restaurants that offer Sushi. Restaurant will search for all restaurants not considered fast food: e.g. steak, seafood, mexican, chinese, etc. Making no category selection will search for the closest establishments to your CIP regardless of category.

step #3. Click the "Perform Proximity Cast" button causes the search to commence. NOTE: you may skip steps #1 and #2 by simply doing step #3 to cause the featured location to be used as the CIP and shown in the Cast Results.

Doing a ProximityCast is as easy as 123. Please consider contributing images of your favorite establishments to make ProximityCast more useful for its users, including you!

Location Technology the ProximityCast Way!

2008-02-13T16:23:00.001-06:00

Blocked Image

The left half of the image shows a partial screen shot after performing a ProximityCast.
The closest establishment is initially displayed as the large cynosure image with the thumbnail images, closest to farthest stacked on the right.
Clicking on any thumbnail image makes it the cynosure image.
Clicking on the current cynosure image opens an "Establishment Details" page where alternative images, reviews, and outside links to the establishment can be found if they exist.

On top of the thumbnail stack is a "MAP VIEW" button that opens a google map mashup with the returned establishment thumbnails stacked on the right.
Clicking any thumbnail opens an info box point to the corresponding location marker on the map. Each establishment info window has a "Directions" link that opens a google map with driving directions from the "Cast Initiation Point" to the selected establishment.

Swiss Chalet Restuarant

2008-02-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile since I've last submitted to the blog. I've been staying quite busy. I've committed myself to putting in a solid 8 hours of coding during the week days. There is so much to do, but by the inch it is a cinch. I completed Another method for extracting coordinates from Google Maps on Friday. I thought it was pretty cool and hopefully helpful. Check it out!

19263 E US Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO
or
38.97800 -105.04117
Which is the superior address and why? Both will work in Google Maps.
Do you own a GPS? If so which one?

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

The Inevitability of Change

2008-01-20T16:45:00.001-06:00

The old~
Street Address: 101 Front St, Boardman, OR
or the new~ Latitude and Longitude: N45°50.23' W119°42.08'
Both work if you copy and paste them into Google Maps.
Which do you prefer?
A picture is worth a thousand Words!
Accurate GPS coordinates TRUMP all street addresses!
One day the street address will go the way of the old covered wagon shown in the foreground.

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
by: Gail Sheehy (b. 1937)
U.S. journalist and author.

Reason for Lat & Long coordinates on an image

2008-01-16T22:33:00.000-06:00

I am attempting a paradigm shift in how the world locates places. This is not necessarily an easy matter since most of us are not given to change too easily, and we are typically map and street address oriented when it comes to finding places. With the increasing popularity of GPS systems I am of the opinion that some pictures are complimented by their coordinate address being placed on the picture. My “Mystery Destination” lounge is just one of millions existing somewhere in our world without the coordinates. But, with the coordinates on the image someone with a GPS can say, “I can find that place! And, it’s close or it’s too far to bother.”
I believe a picture is worth a thousand words and accurate GPS coordinates trump all street address.

Not all pictures lend themselves to be complimented by their coordinate location, a portrait for instance or a rainbow with coordinates would be meaningless. If I go to the location the portrait or rainbow was taken I can’t expect to find them there when I arrive. Also pictures that are an exceptional work of art like your ‘Estuary Reflections VI’ don’t need to be tarnished by the added text. However a shot like my ‘Pawn Shop’ are not particularly artistic and I feel the added coordinates provide extra usefulness for those in need of locating a pawn shop.

I broke the mold slightly with my ‘Mystery Destination’ and ‘Sail Away’ submissions but I did these two with coordinates to bring attention to the coordinates, and if my response makes sense then it was a great opportunity to explain myself. Tomorrow I will show what we enjoyed at this establishment and that picture will be coordinate free, but the day after I will post the entry to the establishment which in my mind is the quintessential reason for matching coordinates with a picture.

Your suggestion for an added border with the text work contained in that is a good idea and the kind of feedback I was looking for when I decided to start posting on treklens. I believe that would be a perfect way to handle a work of art like your ‘Estuary Reflections VI’ shot where coordinates could compliment the picture. I think other shots can have the coordinates blended artfully with the picture, ‘Sail Away’ and others like ‘Pawn Shop’ make no difference regardless of how you slice it.

I like the coordinates on the picture as opposed to only being in a database, because by being placed on the picture it is like a stamp of accuracy by the photography stating these are where this picture was taken. And, if a database entry typo was made the coords on the picture provide a cross check.

Thank you, David, for your critique and inquiry. Both are most appreciated.

Best regards,

David
Founder of ProximityCast.com
A project in its infancy.

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Original Source of Post

Super Bowl Commercial

2008-01-15T21:48:00.000-06:00

A lot of Super Bowl excitement involves watching the million plus dollar commercials that are featured each year. Today I share my commercial to help make ProximityCast a household word. Watch for it! If not this year, maybe next. TTT...Things Take Time...;-)

A young technically savvy Chelsea Clinton is driving her father Bill somewhere in an exotic location in a far corner of our world.
Bill has a conniption fit when a “Big Mac Attack” hits him.
Chelsea tells her dad to calm down because she has ProximityCast on her blackberry and will have her dad in the nearest McDonald's in the quickest possible time.
As Bill calms down a cast net is seen going out over the entire world pulling in the six closest McDonald’s Restaurants as the catch.
The commercial transitions to a very content Bill, just lovin’ it, in the nearest McDonald’s Restaurant.

Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Another non-coding day

2008-01-10T18:32:00.000-06:00

I plan on coding tomorrow. I will try to create the regular expression I need.
So, How did I like the book: "Mastering Regular Expressions"?
The author had my captive attention through the 1st chapter and much of chapter 2. He highly recommends that a you read through chapter 6 before trying to use the book as a reference. Somewhere in chapter 3,4,5,&6 I started asking myself: "just how far down the rabbit hole to I really want to go?" "Just how far down the rabbit hole do I really need to go?" Well I did not read the latter chapters with the same enthusiasm as the 1st and most of the 2nd. If I'm successful creating and implementing my regular expression tomorrow, I'll be happy.
Mexican food anyone?
Till next time,
ciao my friends!

Non coding day

2008-01-08T21:42:00.000-06:00

Well my new born baby: ProximityCast.com has been kicking for 1 month and 10 days now. And, still has lots of growing and improving to do. I hope I can enjoy the journey and stop wanting the new born to be full grown over night. I have enjoyed all phrases with my human children, although my oldest made me wonder if I would survive the teen years.
I'd rather be coding, but I spent the day reading (and I enjoyed it). Then I reluctantly helped my daughter with her car. I wanted to still be reading.
I'm working through the first six chapters of "Mastering Regular Expressions" by Jeffrey E.F. Friedl So far I am really enjoying it. I'm motivated. I need a regular expression to properly handle my new Latitude and Longitude input box combination street address input.
Geocoding will accept the Lat and Long and regurgitate it, but that is unnecessary usage of the geocoding service, and they give you a limit as to how many can be done in a day.
Boy, right now I'll be amazed and happy if ProximityCast ever starts using their daily quota. I feel like and Edsel Is that good or bad?
Anyhow, I have an inch I have to take care of but I have this yard I have to dig through to get where I can handle the inch properly. Fortunately I enjoy coding as much as I enjoyed flying. I just hope I can get to where I can make some money at it someday and provide something the world likes. Tall order...
ciao my friends!

a Favorite Restaurant ~entry #5

2008-01-07T12:33:00.000-06:00

Gaston's Trout Fishing Resort on the White River below the Bull Shoals Dam has a world class fine dining restaurant that is definitely worth experiencing.
Gaston's has a small grass airstrip and many pilots fly in to experience the amazing ambiance of Gaston's.
Depending on your stature in life, the menu may be considered a slight bit expensive, however Gaston's offers a Sunday Brunch that is awesome!
It is a buffet style offering that has fried trout, broiled trout, smoked trout, eggs Benedict, custom omelets cooked while you watch, and much much more.
The dessert selection is always huge. This is an all you can eat buffet you won't want to miss if you're ever in this area.
Gaston's restaurant has huge glass windows that offer scenic views of the river and Ozarks. The ceiling and walls are filled with antiques from yesteryear.
If someone is not satisfied after a Sunday brunch at Gaston's deal, I'd have to wonder if it is possible to satisfy them.
Gaston's is high on my list as a favorite.
So, where is your favorite restaurant?
Perhaps you'd consider uploading it to ProximityCast.com

Today I will continue to work on implementing geocoding. There is so much to do.
Dream big Dreams, but never forget that realistic short-term goals are the keys to your success. Mac Anderson - Founder of Successories from his book: The Essence of Leadership
I have big dreams for ProximityCast. I'm hoping that someday it will meet all of your expectations and provide just what you want and need. Oh yes: I wish it were all here already, however it is happening one step at a time. In The Essence of Leadership Mac says, "Remember, it's a cinch by the inch." That saying has helped me to stay the course I'm on. Mac said his grandmother originally told him the saying. She phrased it like this: "Inch by inch life's a cinch, yard by yard life is hard."

Like I said, today the inch I am pursuing is geocoding. Here is a peek at the yard ahead. Things I need to get too.

Improve my Google Map feature. It does not work that well in Internet Explorer's browser.

My category selector needs lots of work.

I need to implement the ability of users to write reviews.

...and much, much more.

Amazon.com just delivered two new computer science reference books: Mastering Regular Expressions, and Regular Expression pocket reference. So, I guess I need to get busy with some coding...
ciao my friends!

Short Day ~entry#4

2008-01-06T20:27:00.000-06:00

Today was a leisurely day. I had a nice mountain bike ride and didn't do any coding.
I did want to share this link to a gps forum.
gpsreview.net
And here is a ProximityCast picture:

It looks like some of the javascript code I posted yesterday got truncated. I'll try to correct that tomorrow. (Corrected as promised! I set the font for the code at 80%)
Well, nuff said for entry #3. I'm tired. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be ready for some hot coding.
ciao my friends!

Extracting Lat & Long coords from Google Maps

2008-01-05T21:02:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a long day. I've worked on adding geocoding ability and it is almost ready.
Geocoding involves entering a street address, town, or zip code into the textbox and a geocoding service determines the Latitude and Longitude of that spot.
Geocoding has a high overhead. Many geocoding services limit how many can be done in a specific time frame.
ProximityCast.com is primarily designed to be used with GPS coordinates and makes street addresses unnecessary. However the world's citizens are so use to street addresses that a transition period is necessary. And you do need the means to acquire the coordinates of a location if you are not on site with a GPS.

Here is a method I use to extract coordinates from Google Maps. You can copy and paste the extracted coordinates into ProximityCast.com with the parenthesis intact to use as a cast initiation point.

I open Google Maps to the vicinity of where I would like coordinates.
I use my right click mouse button and select "center map here" from the drop down button.
I past this javascript code that I keep saved somewhere convenient on my computer into my browser's URL address window.
Here's the code:
javascript:void(prompt('',gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));
I click the "go to the address in the location bar" button usually to the right of the address.
A popup appears showing the coordinates of the center of the map like this: (43.60336, -110.7362)
I right click on the coordinates the copy and click either "OK" or "Cancel"
I then paste the coordinates into google's "search maps" text box, remove the parenthesis and click "Search Maps"
A popup appears with a marker for the centered spot. The popup has the coordinates in both Decimal Degrees and Degrees, Minutes, Seconds.
I refine as and if necessary and I have my way point for inserting into my GPS or pasting into ProximityCast for a cast initiation point.

Here is a destination for you. You can find a link to their online menu here.
If you are ever traveling along I40 through central Arkansas this is a worthwhile and pleasant eating stop. My favorite is the "Louisiana Hot Shrimp Plump Shrimp, Sautéed in a Very Spicy Cajun Sauce" for 9.99 or 14.99 depending on whether or not you get it as an appetizer or a meal.
If you are a chocolate lover, you won't want to miss having "A Chocolate Mess
The Messiest Chocolate Sundae You Have Ever Eaten! 6.99 " for dessert."
Enjoy!

Well, nuff said for entry #3. Time to go to bed shortly so I'll be ready for a new day.
ciao my friends!

A Day's Work ~entry #2

2008-01-04T11:30:00.000-06:00

I've opened an account with treklens to try and create some visibility for ProximityCast among photographers around the world. "TTT" Things Take Time. Many Americans like their cake and want to eat it too. Usually today is not soon enough, yesterday would have been just fine. So, patience is the order of the day. This quote: "It takes years to make an overnight success." was made by a U.S. entertainer: Eddie Cantor(1892-1964) I think it may apply for some businesses too. Time will tell if it was time well spent... My submission to treklens was for today was an image of a Dutch Bros. Coffee franchise in Monmouth, OR. Participating in sites like this take time, as does doing this blog so hopefully if I sow, so shall I reap, and it will all be time well spent.

I'll start coding after I complete my blog entry and deal with some e-mail. I'm working on an improved coordinate input method and pages that validate. You can try it here: new2u If you use Internet Explorer the castNet page has problems even though it validates. I'll probably try to resolve that issue before making it the active solution. On my faq page you can find a link to download Mozilla's FireFox. It is currently my browser of choice, and so far I've been very satisfied with it.

Anyhow here is a peek at what is on the horizon:

In the OLD you had to select your hemisphere by clicking one of the four corners. This could also be set in preferences if you are primarily always in the same corner of the world. Then you had to tab between Degrees, Minutes, Seconds, and Latitude and Longitude. With the NEW you can simply write your whole coordinate, Latitude and Longitude, with appropriate hemisphere indicators in one text box. It is quicker and easier once you understand the nuances. I'll probably create an educational page for those who need it once I make this the primary method of coordinate input.

I also plan on adding Geocoding capability for those who don't yet know or have access to their Latitude and Longitude, but once people are thoroughly acquainted with Latitude and Longitude I'd bet street addresses will become obsolete.
Well, nuff said for entry #2. Time to see if the coding fires are hot.
ciao my friends!

Raison d'être ~entry #1

2008-01-03T19:52:00.000-06:00

Hello World!

This is not the beginning of my journey, but I am still in the early stages although I've climbed a major mountain and have dug out of a deep dark tunnel.
The dénouement is yet to be revealed and there is much to share.

Familiar with "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki? So where was that mind expanding work in my youth? I guess you could say I've arrived at the party late.
Robert splits income production into 4 quadrants: "E" which is for employees, "S" which is for the self employed, "B" which is for businesses able to continue to function with or without you, and "I" is for investors.

I have been in the "E" quadrant the majority of my life with some minor excursions into the "S" quadrant. I've never had enough marbles in my bag to play in the "I" quadrant, and I am currently interested in transitioning into the "B" quadrant. I'm finding that it is easier said than done. The amount of tenacity necessary to stay the course is huge. The one thing all the business books I have read so far have been spot on the mark with is anyone desiring to start a business needs to find that which they have a passion for. Without a passion for what I am attempting, I would have been dead in the water long ago.

This is what I've learned so far. In my previous occupation where I was in the "E" quadrant. I feel like all of my screws were nice and tight and in place.

Now as I attempt to transition to the "B" quadrant, I find that many of my screws are either loose or missing. So, I guess that means my work is cut out for me. Well it is a blessing to have something to put my hand to, and quite a gift for that something to imbue me with passion. Sometimes I wish the ground I have to travel was easier. Sometimes I wish my way was clearer. Sometimes I wish my burden was shared.
Most of all I hope that when all is said and done the world will have received a cherished gift from my hand. It doesn't have to be the biggest and brightest diamond on the block, but to be recognized as a gem of value that is appreciated will make my journey all worth while.

If you are ever in Little Rock and you have a craving for Sushi, you might try: KOBE Steakhouse and Sushi. For those who are GPS savvy now you have the waypoint you need and a picture to allow you to experience déjà vu on arrival!
Well, nuff said for entry #1.
ciao my friends!