Filed under: tools
My Tracks for Android is like having a fitness trainer in my pocket!
I love how easy My Tracks is to use. It's yet another free, awesome app for Android created by Google! It records my every statistic while running, biking, or hiking. Then I can upload all my stats with one button to a Google Spreadsheet and a custom Google Map! Now I can gauge how I'm improving over time. It even tells me vocally how I'm doing during my run.
Rapportive rocks! -via rapportive.com
Okay, just tried this out and I have to say, Rapportive is the most useful and awesome tool I've seen since...well...my last blog post. If you use Gmail or Google Apps and work out of your inbox, like I do far too often, I suggest you give Rapportive a whirl.
Calculate calories burned per exercise with WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha has turned out to be a useful tool for me since I work at home and exercise at home too.
Useful CSV template for importing into Google Contacts
I found the instructions provided by Google on how to create a custom CSV file for importing your contacts into Google Contacts to be lacking to say the least! To figure out what column headings Google Contacts accepts for import, I created a test group and added an example contact with all available fields filled in. Since Google Contacts doesn't let you export individual contacts, I then selected the test group containing the example contact for export in Google CSV format.
When I opened the exported Google CSV file, I discovered many new column headings that map to custom fields. I deleted all of these columns since what I want to know is what column headings map to actual fields not custom fields. I also discovered how Google formates types like Home, Work, Other, etc.
Column headings for the street, city, region, postal code, country did't work. At least I couldn't figure out how to import any text entered in those columns. I could only get the Formatted heading to import address data.
To get started, download the Google Contacts CSV import template.
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Google Groups joins Google Apps
This is a big addition to the Google Apps feature set! Google Groups will be a powerful and useful tool for businesses! I can't wait to hear about success stories from my clients.
Google Favorite Places
Now that I have a smartphone, I've been loving all the useful ways I can use it. It's like a whole new world has opened up to me. For example, if I'm walking by a business that has a Google Favorite Places QR code, I can scan it and instantly get all kinds of info about the place! Very cool.
