04 Nov 2013
In desktop browsers, Firefox & Chrome, you can select text or a phrase and right-click to *Search with Google*. The desktop browser opens another tab with search results for your selected text. This is a handy feature I miss on the iPad.
How to create the bookmarklet in iOS
1. Create a new bookmark using the Safari Send to button (bookmark this web page).
- Name the bookmark “Search with Google”.
- Select and copy the bookmarklet code below.
- Open Safari’s bookmarks and locate the “Search…” bookmark.
- Edit the bookmark, deleting the URL/link and paste the copied code.
- Save the changes.
Using the *Search Google for…* bookmarklet in iOS Safari
- Highlight text or a phrase on a web page.
- Click the Search… bookmarklet to open results in new tab.
Search with Google Bookmarklet code
javascript:q = "" + (window.getSelection ? window.getSelection() : document.getSelection ? document.getSelection() : document.selection.createRange().text); if (!q) q = prompt("Search words", ""); if (q!=null) window.open("http://www.google.com/search?q=" + escape(q).replace(/ /g, "+")); void 0
39.961767-75.932655
13 Oct 2013
WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for various versions of Microsoft Windows –from windirstat.info
Simply, WinDirStat provides a graphical view of how much space files take up on your drives. So instead of deleting files and folders that may not matter much, this utility guides you to the disk space hogs. Then delete or move stuff where it makes a bigger difference.
It came in handy with a Dropbox folder that was over the free limit and no longer synced with the cloud. We found the mobile phone was syncing videos to the Camera Uploads folder in Dropbox. Photograph and video syncing is a Dropbox feature that can consume all your space, especially on free accounts. You can disable that feature in the iOS Dropbox app, Settings, Camera Upload, Camera Upload toggle.
You can use WinDirStat on a whole disk drive or a folder tree. I’ve used it on USB Flash drives. It really comes in handy for the new, smaller SSD’s (solid-state drives).
07 Oct 2013
RunKeeper 4.0 for iOS 7 is out!
When I first updated to iOS 7 the Wahoo Blue HR Strap didn’t connect to the RunKeeper app. Version 4.0.1 & 4.0.2 came out quickly and we’re back in business!
I was a little unsure about upgrading to iOS 7 because the Bluetooth devices were a little flakey in the past. It was a few weeks before problems were fixed. This upgrade had only a couple speed bumps.
09 Apr 2013
Runkeeper didn’t call out the heart beats at the two minute interval. It called out distance and pace but not heart beats. Runkeeper showed the Wahoo Blue HR monitor connected when the activity started. Ending the Runkeeper app and restarting produced the same results. The monitor is connected at first but then looses the connection.
- The problem appeared since the April 5th iOS update.
- Just replaced the HR monitor’s CR2032 battery a week ago. The documentation said batteries should last a year but I figured the device & factory installed battery could have sat for a while. It is a new battery so that shouldn’t be the problem.
- The Wahoo app maintained connection to the Blue HR monitor for a whole activity.
- The Blue HR monitor was unpaired in Runkeeper and then paired again. That didn’t help.
- The next day Runkeeper connected fine with the HR monitor at first but lost connection before the first update interval.
- Instead of restarting Runkeeper, the Wahoo app was started with Runkeeper in the background. The Wahoo app connected ok. At the next update interval Runkeeper called out the heart rate along with the other data.
- So having the Wahoo app running along with Runkeeper works around the problem. This is good because Runkeeper shows heart rate overlaid with speed, altitude and GPS position on the map display. Seeing all this data together is more meaningful.
UPDATE: Runkeeper is aware and a fix is on the way as soon as Apple approves the update…thanks, Bob!
40.062988-75.641778
02 Apr 2013
I used RunKeeper for a few years . When looking for a heart rate monitor I looked in their online store first and found the Wahoo Blue HR.
A couple other heart rate monitors were considered also. Many health monitoring devices require an Ant+ dongle for wireless connectivity. My iPhone 5 has the new Lightning connector and the Ant+ dongles are for the older, 30 pin connectors. I wanted to avoid too many adapters & connectors. That’s just more stuff to loose or fail.
After reading some of the customer reviews I almost scratched the Wahoo HR Strap. The problems didn’t sound like they were problems with the product though.
Amazon customer reviews of the Wahoo Blue HR Strap
- One of the problems was pairing the strap to the smart phone. The Wahoo Blue HR Strap is pretty simple. There is a strap and the device has a CR2032 watch battery. There are no on/off buttons or display. Documentation was sparse. It is easy to see why many reviewers thought the product was DOA. A big problem was confusion over Bluetooth Smart devices and what that meant. The iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 work with Bluetooth 4 or Bluetooth Smart devices while the iPhone 4, 3 do not. The third gen iPad supports Bluetooth 4/Smart but older ones and most tablets do not. Many Android phones do not support Bluetooth 4/Smart. It isn’t hard to understand the confusion. Wahoo Fitness should have done a better job to make it clear that the Blue HR Strap requires a Bluetooth Smart compatible phone or tablet.
- Another issue that appeared a few times is the HR Strap loosing connection. Wahoo Fitness does state in their instructions that the contacts in the strap should be moistened. The Heart Rate Strap did not show up for pairing in the RunKeeper App until the contacts were moistened pretty well. Once they were moistened it worked fine for the hour or so of exercise.
Wahho Fitness Blue HR Strap product page
Blue HR Strap Instructions
Compatible Apps
39.962026-75.932534