Offline Mapping Application for Nexus 7

Update: Replaced by CoPilot



While on the hunt for better navigation software for the Nexus 7 tablet that will work offline, I came across OsmAnd.

This software works FAR better than the Google Navigate included on the tablet. The free version allows caching 10 items offline, which allows me to save my province (British Columbia) and the English voice recordings.

I am able to set destinations without need for Wi-Fi connection and I can also set "way points" if I want to go through specific points on route -- a feature missing from Google Navigate.

It also gives ample warning and says when I need to turn.

The interface, however, is NOT very intuitive. But the maps and directions, etc are fairly accurate.

One other aspect I like about Google Navigate is that it will tell me the name of the street I need to turn on. This is incredibly useful at some tricky intersections. Adding this to OsmAnd would be a definite improvement!

On the rare occasion, I have had the app go nuts trying to recalculate the route when it's lost the GPS signal. But that usually doesn't last long and it figures out the new directions quickly.

Nexus 7 Android 4.2 32gb wifi: Review

I got a Nexus 7 tablet 2 weeks ago. This is the first tablet I've owned. So far it's pretty nice, but I've noticed a few things:

1. The tablet comes with a user guide (AWESOME!)  
• -- but when you add another user to the tablet, the user guide is not available to them
• for them to view the user guide, they need to purchase it on the Google Play store. Even though the cost is $0, they still need to enter their credit card info.
2. Tablet also comes with a few books/magazines and a movie
• once again, all but 3 books are unavailable to other users of the tablet
3. The clock system application crashes constantly.
• Even if I force close it, a few minutes later a notification will pop up saying it's stopped working.
4. The Navigation portion of Google Maps is buggy.
• While I am able to cache the Google Maps tiles for offline use, it seems Navigation does not use the same map tiles. So if I've just set a route and disconnected from Wi-Fi, I will often see blurry tiles
• While navigating the roads, the voice read out will often just turn into "ding" sounds when I am meant to turn
• It often fails to reroute, and really only succeeds if I've missed a turn by a block
• Navigation doesn't always warn me ahead of time about an upcoming turn
• Occasionally it will tell me to turn where I cannot.
5. Google Talk / Google+ Messenger mess
• the tablet comes stock with Google Talk which works very well. I am able to call other users and video chat just fine.
• when other users try to call me, however, from their gmail, I get rerouted to hangout. They can't call my Google Talk.
• This mess will hopefully, eventually, get sorted out
6. Calendar stock application crashes when trying to find details on certain appointments
7. Launcher crashes on occasion as well
8. I've turned on encryption on the tablet, which requires a PIN to access it.
   This has a side affect: Users may only use a PIN or a password to log into their accounts. They are unable to use Slide/Face Unlock/Pattern

PortableAppsPlatform.exe file is not a valid PortableApps.com release and cannot be launched

Today I started getting this message:

PortableAppsPlatform.exe file is not a valid PortableApps.com release and cannot be launched

I couldn't figure out what had changed or why it was complaining after working seamlessly for so long. I could launch the launcher by going to it directly but not otherwise -- and even then it didn't run correctly.

I tried re-installing but to no avail.

Then turned out the solution was to "run as Administrator".
Strange how all of a sudden it required this additional step to work correctly...

UPDATE:
The key lies in permissions in your C:\Users\*\AppData\Local\Temp folder
A windows update resets the permissions. If you give yourself full permission, everything starts working once more!
No need to "run as Administrator"

Google Chrome slow start up because it's "resolving proxy"

For my own notes in case I can't remember later:

https://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=106010

"Resolving proxy"

If Google Chrome seems to take a long time to load a website or search, it may be configured to acccess pages through a web proxy. Check whether the "Resolving proxy" message appears in the lower-left corner of the browser window.
Follow these steps to change your proxy setting (for Windows):

1. Click the Chrome menu  on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Show advanced settings.
4. In the "Network" section, click Change proxy settings. This will open the Internet Properties dialog.
5. Click LAN settings .
6. Deselect the "Automatically detect settings" checkbox.

The steps above will change your proxy settings, potentially disabling your web proxy. Consult your system administrator if you're unsure about this setting.

Delay Windows startup programs

I needed to delay the programs that launch from my startup folder.

Stick this in a batch file, and stick the shortcut to it in the startup folder

@echo off

::: 20 sec delay

timeout /t 20 > NUL

start /b "" "D:\Applications\App1.exe"
start /b "" "D:\Applications\App2.exe"

Windows 8 DVD drive not showing up

Installed a clean Windows 8 today from a DVD on my work laptop. New OS looks great.

Strange problem though, no CD/DVD drive detected in Explorer.

This didn't work:

1. Run Command Prompt as an Administrator. Type cmd in Windows 8 Metro UI (Start) and press cltr+shift+enter

2. Type following and hit enter

reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

3.Reboot

4. Verify if the problem has been resolved.

But this did

1) Close all open programs
2) Click on Start, Run, and type REGEDIT and press Enter
3) Click on the plus signs (+) next to the following folders

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* SYSTEM
* CurrentControlSet
* Control
* Class
* {4D36E965-E325-11CE-
BFC1-08002BE10318}

4) This folder is the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class Description in the registry. Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.

* UpperFilters
* LowerFilters
* UpperFilters.bak
* LowerFilters.bak

5) If any of the above keys shown in step 4 are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete
6) After deleting the keys, close the Registry Editor
7) Reboot your computer

Mapping Apple TimeCapsule to work with Windows CrashPlan

I've mapped my Apple TimeCapsule as described previously.

When I changed my network setup a bit and gave Apple TimeCapsule a new IP address, it was a bit of an issue getting Windows to drop the mapping.

To get it to work again, I modified the batch file like this:

net use s: /delete
net use S: \\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\TimeCapsule /USER:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\{User Name} {Password} >> C:\temp\mount.log 2>&1

VOIP telephony: which codec (G711 vs G729)

There are 2 main standard codecs used within VOIP: G.711(u/a) and G.729

G.711:
- highest call quality
- doesn't require transcoding
- uses more bandwidth (~ 80-85 kbps up/down)

Note: G.711a and G.711u are comparable in quality. G711.u is mainly used in USA and a few other countries while G.711a is used in Europe and Australia.

G.729:
- Most hardware/service providers support it
- uses less bandwidth (~ 20 kbps up/down)


I'd been running into issues with voice cutting out on my VOIP line. I was using G.711a and I switched over to G.729a. Reading the stats, I would have thought it would have been terrible; but for the most part the sound quality is not noticeably bad, and I've had no issues.