In the upper right corner of the screen enter a username of "whereisjoe" and a password of "password"
A map will load.
In the My Buddies section (upper left) click the name "joereger"
A bubble will appear on the map with my name.
Click the "Zoom In" link inside of the bubble. Or, use the Google Maps zoom slider in the upper left of the map to control your zoom level.
If things work out properly (big IF) then my GPS location will be sent to the site every 5 seconds and you'll see my progress. Note the Last Time Seen next to my name in the My Buddies list... if it's old then I'm probably out of network range. If the Last Time Seen is recent but I'm not moving on the map then I'm probably taking a quick rest.
How's this work?
My Garmin Forerunner 301 listens to satellites to figure out my location. The Forerunner's connected to my Dell D420 laptop using a USB cable. A piece of software called GpsGate collects the GPS data as it comes in from the USB cable and uploads it to the gpsgate.com website. The upload happens over Verizon's EVDO network via the Dell D420's built-in EVDO modem. The laptop is powered by a 200W inverter plugged into a cigarette outlet in the rear of the minivan.
I'll have ICQ and all of my other IM stuff going. Send me instant messages! If you don't have an IM client you can go here, click Contact Joe Reger: Without ICQ and send me a message... of course if you go that route I won't be able to reply.
01:14:35 AM: Ok, I'm up. Wasn't sleeping well at all. Should have switched my sleep to an earlier time on Monday or so. I was planning on getting up at 2am. It's 1am. Any extra time I can put in the bank so that I can rest along the way is welcome. Some final packing to do and then I'll be off.
01:18:42 AM: Test. Can you hear me?
01:48:54 AM: On the road! 2007 Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run here I come!
01:56:30 AM: Slight hiccup. Laptop's power button got hit not 30 seconds out of the gate. Had to reboot. On side of road getting all my tech working again. Lol.
03:04:25 AM: Quick pit stop in Commerce Georgia to pee. Drive going well so far. Getting settled in to my electronics.
03:17:59 AM: Alright. So my first valuable thought so far on this trip has to do with my little travel + technology experiments. I've been putting laptops, gps devices and cell phones into moving vehicles for years. But the nature of this trip's tech is much more compelling... you can see me in real time... and I've got some other tricks up my sleeve coming soon, maybe.
Here's the thought.
The tech is about the same. What's changed is the usability of said tech. It's simply easier for me to do this stuff. Sure, there are multiple moving parts. But all of them are easily available. And in each category there are options for compatibility, etc.
In the past I could have done what I'm doing today. But it would have taken a lot more hacking. Manual installations. Glue code here and there to shuttle bits from disconnected technology to disconnected technology.
Over the years the technology makers listened to users. I know, who'd have thunk it? They made easier install programs. Easer configuration screens. More interconnectivity.
And the net result is to lower the hurdle to make this stuff possible. It took me, what, four (admittedly frustrating) hours yesterday to install all the pieces. That's nothing compared to what it would have taken just a few years ago.
This is the sort of thing that causes tipping points. Focus on the user. Simple ease-of-use is critical. Smoothing out the rough spots and listening to the user.
And doing so isn't geek stuff. It's human stuff. It's creative. It's artistic. It's difficult.
And it's what I have to do with dNeero. I now have a technology that works. Now I need to listen to users and reach a tipping point where it's easy enough to use and adds enough value to the blogosphere that it grows (dare I say virally) on its own.
Ok, that's my first valuable thought for the day. Trying to up the signal to noise here. I'm off on the road again. Heading north on I-85.
03:18:32 AM: Grabbed a cup of "Extreme Very Caffeinated" coffee from a TA Truck Stop. I'm scared.
03:59:55 AM: Joe + Coffee = Pee Breaks. In South Carolina now.
04:03:27 AM: Continuation of the last value thought. Why do all this stuff? Two main reasons. First, to see where the tech is at. Sitting at home in my boxers it's tough to find applications for all this stuff. Travel is a good excuse and focus point to test things out. Second, and ultimately more important, is to connect with people. I love the crossover of humanity and technology. In my experiments I'm trying to bring people along with me on the trip with the belief that this will make the trip more enjoyable and that I'll be able to share more with people. Third (ok, so there was another reason) is that by using the latest tech I can capture a richer version of events for the future. When I look back on this trip twenty years from now I'll have a deeper understanding of what happened.
04:04:46 AM: Me, me, me. It's all about me, right? No, it shouldn't be. I've been neglecting the excellent joereger.com readers... a.k.a. my friends. Just been busy guys and girls. Shouts to Hunter who completed his first triathlon. And to Blair who's doing ORAMM this weekend. Rock on both of you!
04:05:14 AM: Listening to a little James Blunt.
04:08:46 AM: If you instant message me and i reply with something like "fjsdhkjfsdh" that means "hey, you rock! thanks for texting me! i'm driving and can't type."
05:10:04 AM: Pee break outside Spartanburg, SC.
05:36:49 AM: Took a drive break to do some email. Man, I am hopped up on caffeine. Looking forward to sunrise. Had to turn the lid on the laptop down and dim the gps screen because all the lights plus the caffeine were making me jittery and threatening a headache. Got it all worked out and had some good reflection on life, work, etc. Hitting the road again.
07:00:59 AM: Pit stop at a rest stop. Went through Charlotte and just dodged morning traffic. The roads are rather busy right now. Hoping it'll lighten up. Speaking of light... the sun's up! Likin' it.
07:08:08 AM: The reality of the distance that I'm going to cover is setting in. Interesting that the reality of the run I have to do is also setting in.
08:11:32 AM: Laptop connection crapped out as I headed into Virginia, my birth state. But phone's still connected so i'm phone blogging. Danielle's the early bird today. I'm getting tired but am at a rest stop now. Just got some good news as the gps reported i'll get in at 10pm... ahead of the midnight I expected. still, i'll need those hours to rest. May nap in the back seat right now in fact.
09:19:14 AM: For those keeping score my decision to go a night without sleep, chug five caffeinated drinks and then drive the entire eastern sea board puts me somewhere between dumb and dumberer.
09:20:06 AM: Spotty internet as I get up into the apalachians of Virginia. Expect sporadic map updates but every now and then the laptop'll find some bandwidth.
10:15:35 AM: Short nap. Not sure how productive that was. Miserable right now. Have to figure out how much is too much caffeine and how much isn't enough. Also have to figure out whether energy drink or coffee is the best way to go. Low point of my trip thus far.
10:45:32 AM: I went into survival mode. Responded to my situation and adjusted some things. I stopped listening to music... I was lulling me to sleep. Dimmed the screen on the gps unit and shut the laptop screen... trying to keep up with the world and two computing devices was distracting me. I stopped taking on caffeine for a long while to let things settle... in the end I was way, way, way over-caffeinated and that made my eyes twitchy which led to the sensation of sleepiness. Survival is about realizing and adjusting. I think I did a pretty good job.
11:41:36 AM: Out of my dark place. Little better now. Still driving
11:57:03 AM: just passed waynesboro, pa. used to live there.
12:31:59 PM: Rain.
12:51:44 PM: wrong waynesboro. i thought i was in pa. i was in va.
01:15:37 PM: roughly halfway!
01:16:16 PM: odometer 111111. missed the pic by 1.
01:19:45 PM: no stopey last 3hrs+. feeling awake and good. heading east to dc.
01:25:04 PM: downloading a 44mb file at 140KB/sec while doing 80mph is pretty cool.
01:38:31 PM: time's flyin' now
02:11:12 PM: crap dc traffic
02:35:34 PM: crap baltimore traffic
02:43:36 PM: looks like i'm going through dc, baltimore, phillie and ney york city. bad plan at this hour but re-routing adds on the order of an hour... maybe i should re-route to avoid traffic. getting gas. will decide in a bit.
02:55:21 PM: gonna have to bite the bullet and travel via scranton, pa to avoid phillie and nyc traffic. adds an hour to the trip. not cool but has to be done.
03:03:51 PM: nope, doing so made arrival time two hours later. damn. may just have to go through the big cities. really bad timing.
03:04:10 PM: who planned this trip?
04:03:31 PM: holy tolls batman
04:45:37 PM: torrential downpour new jersey
05:15:24 PM: me arse is killin me
05:42:54 PM: Rest stop. Had to do it. Heading into NYC in a few. Actually moving pretty well. Uncle Robert says not to worry too much about traffic. I-95 north of the city will get me a bit but it's always busy.
07:35:56 PM: i'm doing 5mph in traffic
08:06:40 PM: about 9 miles in last hour
10:02:45 PM: Quick rest. The problem with this drive has been that there have been so few places to stop. Since 3pm when I got close to d.c. I've been in a massive big city. Instead of the nice highway exits with 12 gas stations, 32 fast food stores and 2 supermarkets I'm seeing nothing but highway intersecting highway. Or in NYC overly-congested neighborhoods. Or as I've gotten into vermont wild wilderness. There have been places to stop all along but I haven't wanted to risk my life. So I've been sitting in the driver's seat for hours and hours and hours. My butt is truly sore. I'm going into a second dark period. Things are looking frustrating and progress is feeling slow. Only about two hours left but those two hours are imposing. I'm grabbing a final cup of coffee and then I'm pushing through.
11:52:43 PM: I have arrived in White River Junction, Vermont about 22 hours after leaving my home in Atlanta. Virtual touchdown dance. Focker, out.
30 Min Swim, 10 Min Stationary Bike