Daily Archives: October 31, 2009

Gmaps Pedometer + Google Calc = 8.94607843 minutes per mile

0 minutes, 41 seconds

I just got a new pair of running shoes and I wanted to take them for a spin. I have no idea how fast I run because I only run with an ID. I don’t have a watch, a GPS or anything else. Well, OK, I do have my first ever pair of running shorts. However, those don’t tell you where you are or what your mile splits are.

You know how to most easily track your route and distance (again, with out a GPS)? Gmaps Pedometer! It’s a google maps mashup that allows you to easily double click your local (or remote) running route.

After I had done this, and I had noted the time I left and returned, I had this math to do: 4.08 miles per 36.5 minutes to minutes per mile. I thought, heck, why don’t I drop it into google and maybe they’re that smart? Sure enough, they are. Thanks Google!

PhotoRec to the rescue!

0 minutes, 45 seconds

Recently the SDHC card for our new camera went bad. All computers and the camera said that the card needed to be formatted and could not be read. Running windows “chkdsk” reported that “The type of the file system is RAW.” After googling around I found a great app called PhotoRec. This is an open source app for all OSes that focuses on recovering images and movies from a hard drive, USB drive or flash memory. It is DOS based, but is extremely easy to use and does not require you to install anything, just extract the zip contents and away you go.

It not only recovered the images that we recently took and wanted to restore, but also found EVERY photo we’d EVER taken. This, when I think about it, isn’t that surprising given how computers delete data, but I like that it worked so well. I gave a donation with in minutes of seeing my photos restored. I encourage you to download and donate today if you’re data is in peril!

photorec