2.07.2012

The Importance of Social Media

I was recently asked to on my opinion about social media's importance and value as it relates to forum (web community) experience and use. This is my response.


Social media is the new age of the internet.  I fully believe that if you do not have a social media presence today, then you are at the same position of not having a web page in the 90's.  

Twitter, while abused by idiots tweeting about what they ate for lunch, has really turned into the new news aggregation service.  RSS and news readers are a thing of the past.    News sources (businesses, people, forums, etc.) push out content to subscribers who follow them.  The ideal content to push would be whatever is relevant to your world, out  to people who have interest in it.   Typically it's a headline with a shortened URL.  This shows up in your subscribers timelines and they read through it though the day or in real time, and follow links of their interests.  More so, people who are not subscribers will use this as one of the primary methods to investigate you as a source of relevant content to their interests.  With one click, they can see what kind of content you are pushing out.  Is it relevant forum posts to drive users there?  Maybe sale items, maybe a sale item of the day.  Maybe it's commentary about the topic the source is an expert it.   Either way, it's a blurb of data, typically with a short URL link, that is pushed to subscribers.  My tweet for this post would be "My opinion about social media's importance and value as it relates to business and web communities: http://t.co/7FuFjcxb"

Facebook has done something amazing.  Something I didn’t think was possible.  Ignore all the games and waste of time bullshit on it.   When you work for a large corporation, there is usually digital infrastructure, like maybe an Exchange environment, where everyone's contact information is aggregated and pushed out so that everyone is up to date.  Calendars are shared.  Events created and people invited.  They respond if they are coming or not and calendaring reflects it automatically.  Groups are created to help organize users and communication of subsets of data.  Large organizations would struggle without this.  As a user, I would struggle without these things.   What Facebook has done, is create this for people's personal lives.

Shut up about privacy stuff, I'll get to that in my use case.  That's more for personal concerns than business anyway… I’ll touch on that in my personal use case below.

Facebook creates an environment to help people share their contact info, their data, their calendaring.  What is more amazing is that Facebook has captured the "non-computer" type people; people who are not currently engaged with the web; people who don’t play online anything.  It has even captured a large portion of people who simply have phones.  It's become the software that ties people's personal lives together instead of their professional lives.  Information, video, pictures… It’s all shared with practically a single click via this outlet.

As a business, having a page on Facebook will allow people to like you.  Great.  The more people like you, the more Facebook will recommend your page to other people.  It really is viral in that aspect.  I like your page.  My friends, who have liked similar things as I, suddenly have this page recommended.  When they like it, the same happens to their friends.  Now the page has an audience.  Same as twitter, you can push out whatever content you see fit and it hits your target audience, and via the magic of social networking, becomes visible to people who are not necessarily a part of your business’s network.   It attracts new people to you.  With a single click, users are able to see if you are an outlet for information that is of value to them.   It allows them to see the value in your data without them committing to becoming part of your community and trying to see if it is of value.  More importantly, it integrates your community and/or data into their social lives.  Your events are pushed to their personal calendars.  Your headlines and topics are noticed as they show up in people’s day to day activity instead of just when they actively participate.

Professionally, I am an HL7 Medical Interface specialist and enterprise architect.  I dabble in laboratory medical data, person identity management, and data transfer, analysis, and application of medical data.  I use social media both professionally and personally.  With twitter, I subscribe to new sources to help me keep up in my industry.  I subscribe to web communities that help identify latest trends in software development I work with.  I subscribe to individuals who are leaders and visionaries in my industry.  I also follow my friends, who are the aforementioned demographic of “what I just ate” but I follow them out of friendship.   Facebook is more personal than professional.  I’m part of groups and pages of web communities I’m in.  I read Facebook and it gives me an idea of what is happening today in my world, my friend’s worlds, and the web communities I’m in.   I might not get to the forums daily, but I catch topics I want to know about.  I get event invites that with one click, I respond to the creator and they know that I’m attending or not.  My Facebook calendar overlay my Google and work calendars.  It’s where all my personal events invites come from.  My professional calendar invites come to my work email. 

As for personal privacy concerns, I know that anything I put into a public forum like Facebook or Twitter is public record.  This is where us as users need to draw the line of privacy, not within the application.  If you do not want something public, don’t put it on the web.   That being said, I put a large portion of my life in the web and have it all public.  Photos, Facebook, Twitter.  I’m very transparent.   And as for employers using this against people…  Well I believe you should live your life being the person you want to be.   I do.  I like to have fun, maybe a little more than others.  I probably do things that some employers would use against me as an applicant.   I believe I’m a commodity and not a job.  There are many jobs out there, but not many people who are good at them.  I feel my skills and professionalism speak for themselves and if there was something on Facebook that caused me not to be selected, then I really don’t want to work there. 

If personal privacy is a concern, then I would recommend using social media more as an aggregation service instead of pushing your personal content out.  With both Facebook and Twitter, you can subscribe to things of value, both professionally and personally, and have content and more pushed to you.  And you never even have to post a thing.

More so, are you going to work at having your social media filled only with drunk club pictures?  Or are you going to work at having it filled with your professional accolades and commentary that reflect who you are?  I could go into this deeper, but this starts to become a case of balancing your life and actions and not about social media which was the point of this overly wordy commentary.  This point is that if you are active in social media; leverage it instead of being a victim to it.

Here's some word art that is not only entertaining, but gives a nice perspective on stats.


This is the market share to target.  I cannot express that enough to anyone in business today.  

2.06.2012

RC Day at the Park

Super Bowl Sunday!   The weather was mild.  The sky was Blue.  Batteries were Charged.
Seemed like I had little choice to abandon the Super Bowl and head down to the park.

I took my Helicopters and my Min-Z MB-010 Buggy.    Started with the buggy to warm up.  It has not really got a lot of batteries run through it since it's launch and since it was in 100% working condition, I thought it would be fun to tear it up on the ball diamond.  Unfortunately, with all the moisture due to rain and snow melts, the dirt was super saturated and had standing water.  So I threw the buggy down on the street hockey rink and tore it up.  

I took this video to A)  See how easy it is to take videos by myself and B) get some content to post on youtubes and the blog.

The test video came out great (Nexus S camera phone)  but the issue is I had no way to follow the vehicles with the camera.  I drove around the view angle here so you can see how awesome the Buggy tears it up.

You can see the PN 32 Turn Motor really gives it some punch.  And this is dialed down to 70% throttle.

I set up a track using little orange cones and was doing some laps.   I decided to run opposite direction (for tire wear purposes) and had a large sweeper turn to the right I was flying through.  This goes past the metal street hockey goal post.   Well at one point the buggy was tearing through the sweeper and came out a little wide and the left front wheel contacted the goal post.  I thought for sure I broke a dog bone or something common.   Drove the car back to me and was a bit discouraged when I picked it up.

Notice how the front is separated from the chassis right behind the front axle? I think maybe a plate on top is what holds it together, but realistically I might need a whole new chassis to get running again.    I'll be in the Mini-Zracer.com warehouse this Saturday for our first winter series race, so will worry about repairs at that point.   Was a bummer as it felt great to be tearing it up off road.  Makes me want to dig up a dirt track in the back yard this spring.

After near destroying the buggy, I decided to get some Helicopter practice.  I dont have pictures for this, but might post an update.   Brand new Blade mCPX.  First real flight.  Thing took of beautifully.  Was flying a large circuit around the park when I was near trees and lost the orientation.  I've started having a little issue with depth perception that I've noticed since I started flying again.  To prevent any blade strikes against tree branches, or some other silly problem, I decided to hit Throttle Hold and let the thing come down.  

The problem with the mCPX is that there is no auto-rotation.  So while falling ever so gently down (it's very light) it started to tumble in the air a little and luck would have it, rotated enough so the blade struck first.  The ground was so wet, that it drove the blade into the ground enough that the torque from the heli's inertia tore one of the blades off.   The feathering shaft snapped.   Seems to be about the only real issue from the crash.   Annoyed as I haven't had much stick time with the new CP heli.   Picked up pieces and hope to have it ready to go for the indoor flyin on Sunday.

Since the mCPX was out, I brought out my Blade mSRX.   It's much easier to fly being fixed pitch and I flew out all my lipos without incident.  Even pulled a loop off (with a lot of altitude loss).   Was fun, but is not really giving me the practice I need to get into collective pitch and eventually heavy 3D.

Despite all the damage, it was great to be outside with the hobby.  I'm really excited at the notion of spending the day at a field once spring hits.     I just need to get my collective pitch skills in order and build something big.    But that's another story for another day.

1.13.2012

Launch of my blog (sorta)

Today I am "relaunching" my blog.

Well I don't know how well of a term "relaunching" is.  Mostly because the few posts I've made over the past couple years don't really count as an officially launched blog.  I decided enough was enough.  I've got things to say.  I've got the web infrastructure pieced together.  So today is the day.  I cleaned up my template for the blog and... well...  I'm telling you.

12.28.2010

Frita Batidos - Amazing New Restaurant

Today I had lunch at Frita Batidos and it was amazing!  Run by Chef Eve Aronoff, who is also the chef of 'Eve' and was a Top Chef contestant, Frita Batidos is a Cuban/Latino inspired casual dining experience.  The restaurant features ingredients from local farmers and purveyors, great service, a clean modern appearance, and cuban and latin inspired food and drinks.

5.06.2010

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA - 12.00% ABV


YoYo-Rating: A-

This is a nice and rich beer.  It's tasty and well balanced, nothing really over powers anything.  At 13.6% you can imagine that it's gonna grab you, and it does.  But only in a good way, the way you want to be grabbed after having a couple of your favorites down at the pub.

It pours into a glass a nice dark amber with a dense dark tan head.  It has flavors of citruse and a dark malty way along with it.  The crispness of the hops is still there, all mixing to provide your taste buds a contrast of flavors and tones.  Very heady.

Very Enjoyable and would buy again.

5.04.2010

The Jerk Pit

Went to the Jerk Pit for lunch with coworkers... 

It was exceptional (under new management).  I had chicken leg quarters with veggies and red beans and rice.  All made from scratch and authentic (and had a Ting to drink). - Chef is from Negril and knew Carl (who own's the ital restaraunt next to "De Bus") - He over heard us talking about our trips to the island and came and talked to us.  Very Irie!  http://www.irierestaurant.com/

5.03.2010

Diabolical IPA - North Peak Brewing Company - 6.66% ABV

Beer Advocate Rating: B-

YoYo-Rating: B+

I poured the beer in a pint glass and it had a nice two finger head.  It's a nice amber color with a hoppy aroma.  The beer itself is more on the hop side, and not the most balanced, but that's okay in my book.  I enjoy a bitter, citrusy beer and Diabolical delivers.  It has a hard edge, and almost a slight metallic hint from the hops, but not necessarily in a bad way.  If you like a nice balanced IPA, then this is not your beer.  If you like it sharp, then your glass is full of win.  After taste is pleasant, leaving a hoppy bouquet for your taste buds.

Enjoyable and would buy again.
North Peak Brewing Company

3.30.2010

Current Snapshot of my Phone

Hardware: Motorola Cliq
O/S Build:  Handler 1.5
Morph:       Ultimate Cliq

Applications Visit links from Android device
AndChat - IRC client
AndExplorer - File Explorer / Zip Utility
ApkInstaller - Install APK from SD card
Barcode Scanner - Scan QR Codes
Brightness Level Widget - Widget to toggle screen brightness
Handcent SMS - Text Messaging Replacement
Gmail Unread Count - Unread Gmail Count Widget
Metamorph* - UI Modification Application
My Tracks - GPS Activity Tracking
Phonalyzer - Analyzes Call and Text Usage
TTS Service Extended - Text to Speech Library
Titanium Backup* - Backup Apps and Data for Recovery Wipes
Voice Recorder - Record Audio
WiFinder - Monitor WiFi Networks

* = requires root

This list is mostly for my benefit so that when I load a new ROM I know which apps I had. Need to figure out how to export the Handcent configuration settings.

12.02.2009

Augmented Reality is now a Reality

One of the concepts that I find most interesting it the concept of 'Augmented Reality'. In short, this is computer rendered graphics overlaid on a live video feed of what you see.  Look through your camera phone and see things that aren't there.

There are a few apps out for Android (I expect more as the concept grows and technology and software evolve). 

SpekTrek - Ghost hunting game that identifies ghosts on the GPS, renders 3D ghosts in that area when viewed through the camera, then give you points for catching/shooting them.

Celest - Sounds like google sky, but overlays the data/labels on the image you see on the camera. Includes our local solar system objects (planets, moon, sun).

Wikitude World Browser - Overlays Wiki data via camera view and map view.  See what points of interest are around.

While these apps are more of entertainment type applications, you can see how this concept could be applied to better things.  Overlaying schematics on physical objects.  Directions and Signs that dont exist in reality.  Information that normally isnt available and/or referenced against the real world.

One step further and this concept could be applied to glasses that you would wear to give you a more permanent display of augmented reality.  Think John Carpenter's 'They Live' without all the evil alien stuff.

Android Developer Challenge 2 Winners Announced

Developers came up with unique ideas and implemented them on the Android platform for some really new and innovative software.  This means there are some new things to download from the market that arent a complete waste of time.

http://code.google.com/android/adc/gallery_winners.html

Overall Winners

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SweetDreams
SweetDreams is a revolutionary tool that will finally allow you to go to sleep without worrying about changing your phone settings in order to avoid unwelcome late night calls. You can even use those inactivity periods to save battery power as well, and of course forget about enabling WiFi, Bluetooth or ringtones volume ...
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What the Doodle!?
'WTD!?' is a real-time online multiplayer game where one player tries to draw out a given phrase and others try to guess it. Features FFA and Team games, Global Highscores, Personal Face Doodles, integrated Voice Recognition and more! Real-time drawing!? Built for performance, you'll really see the magic at first doodle!
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WaveSecure
WaveSecure is a complete mobile security solution that protects your device, data and privacy. 1. Track your phone's location and who is using it 2. Lock down your phone remotely, making it worthless to the thief 3. Backup all your data 4. Wipe out your data remotely 5. Restore your data May the phone be with you!

Education/Reference Winners

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Plink Art
Plink Art is an app for identifying, discovering and sharing art. Take a photo of a painting, and the Plink Art servers will try to identify it. You can also browse our database of artwork by keyword or timeline and share your discoveries with friends.
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Word Puzzle
The Word Puzzle is designed to provide a fun way to learn basic English words for preschool children. Kids can study spelling and pronunciation with flash card and check achievement with word puzzle. Interesting visual and sound interaction with awarding system helps kids to keep learning. Let kids play with your Android.
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Celeste
An educational augmented reality app that displays the Sun, Moon, planets and their paths through the sky onto your camera view. You can navigate through the sky selecting celestial bodies to display interesting information about our solar system. See the exact spot on your horizon where the sun will rise and set.

Entertainment Winners

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A World of Photo
Loosely inspired by the traditional "Spin the bottle", A World of Photo is a casual, geographic worldwide multiplayer online game with a social touch. Players spin their phones and will receive a photo from whomever in the world they pointed to. For best play experience, let the app run in the background.
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SongDNA
Need any information on a song? Practicing for a big karaoke gig? Music quiz coming up tomorrow? The SongDNA widget allows you to quickly look up your favorite song's detailed information. It includes the lyrics, artist's bio, homepage, highest chart rank and video. Handy when you're training for your next karaoke gig!!
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Solo
Solo is a great, easy to play and feature rich pocket guitar for your phone. A must for all guitar enthusiasts! Features include -Huge chord library with 380+ chords & diagrams -Load/save chord layouts -Play along with music on your phone -Overlay music & lyrics from the internet -Various strum modes, including shake strum

Games: Arcade/Action Winners

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Speed Forge 3D
Speed Forge: Heavy duty hover vehicles, normally used for mining are now seen in illegal races organized in abondoned factories and dark Marsian alleys. The rock crushing explosives once used in these machines now serve a different purpose...
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Graviturn
Tilt your phone to move the red circles out of the screen while keeping the green circles. Infinite levels from very easy to nearly impossible. Compare your performance with other players after each level (online highscore and statistics).
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Moto X Mayhem
Jump, lean, and race through seven levels of amazing motorbike action in the best side scrolling bike game! Lean forward and back on your motorbike as you climb hills and fly through the air using accelerometer technology. Witness realistic physics as your shocks recoil when you land jumps! Or just flick your rider around!!

Games: Casual/Puzzle Winners

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What the Doodle!?
'WTD!?' is a real-time online multiplayer game where one player tries to draw out a given phrase and others try to guess it. Features FFA and Team games, Global Highscores, Personal Face Doodles, integrated Voice Recognition and more! Real-time drawing!? Built for performance, you'll really see the magic at first doodle!
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Totemo
Unloose the spirit. Break the spell. Uncover the mystery hidden between the realms in a unique puzzle game. Storm your brain and relax your mind solving over 60 mind-soothing logic tasks. Play the survival mode for extra challenge and write your name into the on-line leaderboards. http://hexage.net
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Mazeness
The goal of the game is rather simple - you need to bring all the balls ( up to 4 per level!) to their goals at the same time, with help of barriers, teleports and holders. It seems simple at first, but it's not that easy. The difficulty is growing steadily from level to level.

Lifestyle Winners

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SweetDreams
SweetDreams is a revolutionary tool that will finally allow you to go to sleep without worrying about changing your phone settings in order to avoid unwelcome late night calls. You can even use those inactivity periods to save battery power as well, and of course forget about enabling WiFi, Bluetooth or ringtones volume ...
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SpecTrek
Improve your fitness with this revolutionary augmented reality ghost hunting game. Walk or run around using GPS and your phone's camera to find and catch virtual ghosts. You will experience a new adventure each SpecTrekking session. The game offers statistics, awards, titles, records, and most of all a whole lot of fun!
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FoxyRing
FoxyRing makes your phone smarter by analyzing the ambient noise and adjust the ringer volume. Also: - Sleeping hours to silent your phone during the night. - Geolocated ringer profiles, change ringtone or make your phone vibrate only at work! - Widget to silent your phone for a timed period. - Great interface

Media Winners

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Buzz Deck
BuzzDeck is the quick and easy way to get all the web content you care about most. Flick through your daily hit of favourite news topics. And get Twitter & Facebook updates alongside. BuzzDeck learns what you like and recommends cool new stuff. Simple, elegant & fast. NB: No landscape mode yet. http://mippin.com/buzzdeck
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SPB TV
SPB TV is a highly usable IP-TV solution, optimized to run on mobile devices. SPB TV provides users with lots of channels in multiple languages with easy-to-use features and settings. No subscription fee! Requires a reliable 3G or WiFi network connection for proper streaming. Full-featured 60-days trial.
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FxCamera
FxCamera enables you to take a picture with various effects. - ToyCam (Toy Camera Emulator) - Polandroid - Fisheye - Warhol (Andy Warhol-izer) - Normal *this app requires SD card*

Productivity/Tools Winners

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WaveSecure
WaveSecure is a complete mobile security solution that protects your device, data and privacy. 1. Track your phone’s location and who is using it 2. Lock down your phone remotely, making it worthless to the thief 3. Backup all your data 4. Wipe out your data remotely 5. Restore your data May the phone be with you!
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Hoccer
Hoccer is your application for ad-hoc data exchange. Use gestures to "throw" your data through the air and let the recipients "catch" it. There is no need for prior exchange of contact details.
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Tasker
Tasker let's you link any Task (action set) to the Contexts (application, time, day, location, event, widget press) where it should run. Send an SMS at 3:15 Monday, make per-app settings or locks, map camera button to a menu, launch music app on headphone insert, timelapse photos, encrypt on-the-fly, the list is endless!

Social Networking Winners

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Ce:real - Everyday trends
Ce:real, What's happening in this world? Are you curious about real world? How about North Pole or an edge of Africa? Also, it can be your neighborhood. It is offering to you hot photo stories with Twitter trends keyword which has speed of lights. Enjoy millions of happenings in real world and you participate in it as well.
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SocialMuse
Check out what users on the other side of the world are listening to! Find people with similar musical taste, or just explore the world through music. Browse other users' music libraries, listen to previews of their songs, and buy them if you like them. Check out their profiles on MySpace, Facebook and Last.fm.
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SpotMessage
SpotMessage is a communication tool using GPS. Send a message designating a spot with Google Maps then the message will be notified when the recipient arrives at the spot. SpotMsg finds various uses; as an alarm reminding you of a task at a certain spot or for sending your friend a surprise message on his or her arrival.

Travel Winners

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Trip Journal
Trip Journal is the ultimate trip tracking and sharing solution currently available on Android powered Smartphones. Impress your friends by sending them real time updates from the places you are visiting. GPS route tracking, record waypoints, photos & notes, trip statistics, KMZ & Picasa exports, incorporated Google Maps.
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iNap: Arrival Alert
Ever wanted to get some sleep during a train ride, or a quick powernap on the bus to work? You either hoped to wake just in time not to miss your station, or set an alarm to wake you far too early... Using your phone's GPS it will determine where you are, and wake you when you are close to your destination!
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Car Locator
Save your location whenever you park, and Car Locator will navigate you back to your car should you ever have trouble finding it. - Points in direction of your car using GPS and compass - Radar view, map view, and split view - Parking timer alarm GPS and compass must be enabled. This free version expires after 25 runs.

Misc Winners

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Rhythm Guitar
Plays like a real 6-string, 5-fret guitar. Strum and pick chords, make new chords, string them together to create songs, transpose songs to fit your vocal range. Great for songwriting, chord reference, learning radio hits, or even plugging into speakers and pedals.
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Andrometer
Andrometer allows you to measure the approximate distance from you to an object that you can see. Uses GPS, accelerometer and geomagnetic sensor. Tips: - Keep as steady as possible - The further you walk, the more accurate the measurement - Must be outdoors with clear view of sky - Works best under 1 km
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Calton Hill GPSCaddy
GPSCaddy allows golfers to quickly and easily map any golf course either out on the course using GPS or in the comfort of home using satellite imagery. Then, when they are playing the course, it uses GPS to tell them exactly how far they are from the significant features of the hole they are playing (green, bunkers, etc).