Maps.google.com distance in Metric

It is very irritating to see imperial distance measure system every time you check the distance in Google Maps. There seems to be no way to set locale.

Actually there is. Just switch to Google Maps in a country that uses Metric system. For example I use maps.google.com.sg instead of maps.google.com.

Displaying routes and Markers in Google Earth

I used Google Maps to define routes and Markers. Only problem with it is that the Markers and routes are related. Upon creating hundreds of Markers and routes, Google Map start to truncate the list and make it into two page. This caused discontinuation of my Markers in relation to the routes. There is no way to show all the data at once.

One way out is to use Google Earth (not the browser version) to display. However, I noticed that there is a bug. Some of the routes have remarks. If you move the mouse over it, it will change to an arrow and you can click to view the comments. The bug caused some of the routes to stop showing the remarks.

The solution is to convert the KML to KMZ. I go to gpsvisualizer.com to do the conversion. Upon opening it in Google Earth. Everything worked just fine.

One guy suggested to do it in Google map itself. Just copy the KML address in the Google Map page. Open a new google map then paste the link into the search. Perform the search then copy the link address by clicking the link icon. Paste this in a new tab then book mark the page. It sure feel stupid just to view my own creation in this way but it worked. The whole list will appear in one page.

It is mighty weird that by posting the link in Facebook, the link will fail unless you convert it into a short URL. The conversion facility is in the link window itself. Just check it and you get the short URL.

Since I am an advocate for one touch easy access, it is deemed very low efficiency for me to create the link through the various steps every time I want to share a map., Thus, I created a custom map to do that. gmaps.js programmer provided this excellent library to create custom maps with various features.

What I did is simply remove the unnecessary elements from the html and modified the style to show the map full page plus replacing the sample KML link with the KML link of my map. I don't even have to post it on line to test the html. It is much slower to display the map. But it sure kills the boredom of generating the link to the map. I could even put all my maps in a selection list and share all the maps in one single map selecting page.

Microsoft Mouse left click sluggish

I bought a M$ mouse for my win7 laptop. It often failed the left click action when I tried to move the mouse fast and click on link. If I slowed down to a halt then click on the link, it worked fine.

A simple way to correct that sluggishness is to go to Control Panel, Mouse,  pointer options, motion and set "enhanced pointer precision" to "checked".

Posting Links in FaceBook

When posting links in FB, it is usual for users to just post the link in "Update Status". You will find an excerpt of the page you linked appearing below your message area. After posting it, you will find two links. One is the link you post another is the excerpt. It is actually a repeat of the link. 

Do you know that after the link excerpt appears, you can actually delete the link that you just pasted. You can then type your own message or just leave it blank. It will look nicer this way.

Handphone camera view turns black on Landscape mode

You might not be aware about this fact. If you happened to have HTC Desire and wears polarized sunglasses, whenever you turn the handphone side ways, your screen will start to dim then turn black at the horizontal position.

The issue is that the HTC Desire screen is partially polarized too. Actually, the screen does not turn totally black. If you are at a dark place and points your camera towards a bright area, you can still see a bit of the display.

To take good Landscape pictures with your HTC desire, never wears polarized glasses.

After reading more on polarized screen in Android, It seems like all LCD screens are polarized. AMOLED screens are spared this problem.

Win 7 Closed popup window not repainted properly

Go to "My Computer", right click and choose "properties","Advanced System Settings", "Performance", choose anything other than "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer". I choose "Custom" and get rid of items that start with "Animate..." and "Fade..." plus some of the "Show shadow.." (all these are nice but unnecessary effects).

Plotting a route using MapOmeter

It has similar feature as Google Maps except it can view OSM maps too. Its "follow road" feature, while plotting the point, is excellent although it sometimes have the same problem as Google Maps like certain part of the screen turn blue as you plot along the way.




What I like the most is its ability to export the route to GPX whereas Google Maps only export to KML. This is surely a plus as I use OsmAnd (for navigation) which only imports GPX. Also the exported route follows the road exactly as plotted using "follow road" method. This means I could plot quickly and accurately the entire route (on road only).